Jumping right in:2008 Q4 overlooked games??

Q4 of any given year is always a time for video game developers to bombard the gaming community with video games of all types. 2008 was no different with fallout 3, left 4 dead, and gears of war 2 being some of the AAA titles 2008 had to offer. But, with all the buzz and hype surrounding these games and funds running low, many games were not bought and are diamonds in the rough as some may say. Games such as the EA releases of Mirrors Edge and Dead Space saw poor sales. Well, I beleive these two games to be very inticing and at least worth a rent if not a buy. Dice truly brought gamers a new experience that can be described as Assasins Creed or Prince of Persia (another Q4 title) in a first person perspective. While Mirrors Edge has a much more distinct appearence of a brightly colored city rather than taking advantage of natural beauty this style works very well for the first person perspective. I say this because it provides a beautiful view but most beauty lies in front of the player. Yes to the sides there is a city that can be viewed in times of leisure but when the running is "intense" the faith still offers the player spectacular scenes in front of the player. The controls take some getting used to but as you play they become as natural as using the right trigger to shoot in any fps. While there is no multiplayer the leaderboards for time trials and speed runs offer a close to multiplayer experience. The game allows you to download ghosts of other users time trials. While this is not direct multiplayer you can race any ghost, including your friends, and try to beat them or get some ideas for a better route to improve your time. Mirrors Edge is a must play, whether its a rent or a buy is up to your specific tastes. If you are expecting lots of combat this is not your game. There is limited combat and most of the fun is avoiding combat and finding a way around it. The story mode has limited replayability except to find the runners bags and increase the difficulty level. I will say that the time trials has lots of replayablity and contains hours of entertainment.  Any person who owns a gaming console (not the wii) must play this whether it is rented or bought is up to the particular person but it is a must play game for everyone, hardcore or not. 

The second title I beleive has been overlooked is Dead Space. I rented this game and want to play it again. Again there is no online play and is purely a single player game. The lack of a HUD seems like the experience would be different from any other game and it is, but it makes the experience so much better. The weapons are very inventive and all have a second attack. The first weapon received can be shot with a vertical bullet line or horizontal bullet line. While this seems like a useless tool the main (and basically only way) to kill an enemy is to shoot off the limps of all enemies. This mechanic makes the game somewhat harder but can also be easier in some scenarios. The third person camera rarely gets caught on object but it can and when your view is blocked it's problematic. As portrayed by the "lullaby trailer" the game is supposed to be scary. The main scare is the mood and music rather than shock value. Yes there are some jump out of your seat moments but the horror is mostely in the suspense and the sheer look and difficulty of ememies. The ending is truely scary and the story is very interesting. This game has lots of replayability and is required to get most achievements. This game is very original and entertaining. Dead Space and Mirrors Edge are among many games overlooked in 2008 and I'm sure there are many more to come in 2009.