2008 has proved to be another stellar year for gaming. It's incredible to think that last year's offerings have ostensibly been topped by nearly 12 months of relentless high-scoring game releases. While our final judgment on our own Game of the Year looms in next month's annual mega-blowout feature, we thought it would be interesting to take a look at some of the highest scoring titles released from January through June of 2008. It's going to be interesting to see if any of these titles are still going to vie for the overall Game of the Year awards but stranger things have certainly happened.

Without further ado, here's some of the best games that you may have overlooked or completely forgotten about during this record manic run up to the end of the year.



March 2008

Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)

Killer Quote: "This is going to be the game that Wii owners will be playing for the life of the system."

Score: 4.5 out of 5 stars


Here at GameSpy, we went ape over Nintendo's third entry to its genre-busting fighting game. We even imported two Japanese Wiis and two copies of the game so we could get a three-week head start on laying the smackdown. Brawl took everything we loved about the first two titles and made it even better. Plus, it was one of the first Wii games to get online multiplayer nailed down. Great stuff.

Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 (360/PS3)

Killer Quote: "Suffice it to say that if you enjoyed the first Rainbow Six: Vegas, then you will undoubtedly find considerable value in Vegas 2">
Score: 4.5 out of 5 stars


Sin City got a second helping of terrorist-squashing shooter action earlier in the year with Ubisoft's excellent sequel. The second effort introduced a new skill and rank leveling system for both offline and online modes, and brought to the table new maps and single-player challenges. One or two GameSpy editors even spent a stupid amount of time trying to earn all the achievement points in the Xbox 360 version; it was that much fun.

Bully: Scholarship Edition (360/Wii)

Killer Quote: "Bully is a game that transcends the technical limitations of its programming, achieving despite its flaws in ways that few games have dared to try."

Score: 4.5 out of 5 stars


Rockstar's wicked high-school romp found a welcomed home on both Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii in this revamped, upgraded version of Bully. Little Jimmy Hopkins' trouble-making antics proved to be just as fun and entertaining as in the original PlayStation 2 incarnation, and the extra content and beefed-up visuals were icing on the cake.