Action, action and again: action!

You can find very good action games for Xbox 360. One game outperformed all others in 2008, not just considering sales figures. This is Grand Theft Auto IV, with which Rockstar games created a masterpiece again. The mother of all open-world games, which was meanwhile titled “Sandbox Games,” went to a new level, after the GTA III trilogy came to an end with San Andreas years ago. The almost indisputable GTA IV was named Action Game of the Year.

When it comes to “Beat ’em Ups,” the Xbox 360 is a little less chock-full of action games, which mostly try to shoot like crazy. But one game found its way into the hearts of players: Soul Calibur 4. Here, great timing and reactions were of the essence. A Japanese version of the fantasy heroes. As a bonus, Xbox gamers got Yoda himself as a character. Perhaps that is why Soul Calibur 4 was ranked second in the category.

Open World, the Sandbox -Principle, was followed by even more games than GTA. Although none of these came close to the huge hit of GTA, but looking at position number 3, you will see Saint’s Row 2, with the nice “Koop-Mode”.

But some of us need something more from Shooting Games. A little more “Story” and “Plot”, a little more other elements. In early 2008 a story was published about a Viking, Heraus, who had to go to war against an overwhelming force. We are talking about Viking: Battle for Asgard. Stealth attacks, difficult tasks and missions, and large battles led to position three in the “Action-Adventure” category.

A bit of innovation, minimal graphics, and a host of Jump n ‘Run elements, called “Parcour” these days, propelled the story about Faith into second place. This is why we are talking about Mirror’r Edge, which could win users ‘hearts instead of many Trial n’ Error sequences. And as it also surprised many users with its quality, it also ranked second in the “Surprise of the year” category.

It’s scary in the “Action Adventure of the Year”: Dead Space. If you know the movie “Event Horizon”, you know that you can expect Horror at its best. Armed with a “Plasma Cutter”, you fight your way through hordes of tentacle aliens to restore the lost Ishimura ship and save your girlfriend. The German USK (the indexing authority) agreed and even German players can enjoy full “tactical dismemberment”.