GTA IV tops Time 2008 top ten

US news journal Time

has listed

its top ten picks for the games of note in 2008 – and it’s Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto IV that claims the top spot.

Time said of the game: It’s ironic that GTA became a football in the debate over sex and violence in video games, because where it belongs is in the debate over whether video games count as art.

No game developers are more radical and more passionate about the storytelling power of their medium than folks at Rockstar North, and GTA IV is the company’s most ambitious work ever. It’s the story of Niko Bellic, an Eastern European soldier-for-hire fighting his way up the organized crime ladder in an archly satirical version of New Yo – I mean, Liberty City. It’s a grade-A shoot-’em-up that doubles as an interactive novel and triples as a sly critique of American consumer culture.”

Other entries of note include celebrated indie title Braid, Sony’s wonderfully characterful LittleBigPlanet, EA’s new survival horror IP Dead Space and LucasArts’ Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.

There was also praise for two of the year’s most successful casual games – Flash outing Hunted Forever and iPhone title Fieldrunners. CasualGaming.biz has the low-down on them.

Time’s top ten in full:

1. GTA IV
2. Braid
3. LittleBigPlanet
4. RockBand
5. Gears of War 2
6. Dead Space
7. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
8. Hunted Forever
9. Fieldrunners
10. Spore