Game Of The Year Picks: Jamil Moledina, GDC Director

As part of Gamasutra's end of year round-up, we've asked our readers to submit their choices for top three games of 2005, which we will publish over the next 10 days alongside picks from the Gamasutra staff. Today's further picks come from Game Developers Conference director Jamil Moledina, whose top titles are as follows: "In order of release date, my top three games of the year are WipeOut Pure, God of War, and Project Gotham Racing 3. I’ve played these games the most (excluding Metroid: Zero Mission, which wasn’t released this year) in 2005, and each of them had the effect of bending time and obligations in very strange ways (meaning I had a lot of fun). WipeOut Pure is pure magic, a beautiful and beautifully balanced game that reminded me of why I loved the franchise in the first place. The new skins and level downloads were a great touch for a very polished experience. The music, art, and sheer kinetic energy of the title validated the PSP launch, although I loved Lumines also. God of War is sheer fun. The controls and scaling complexity of attacks makes this a great game to pick up and play for 10 minutes or 10 hours. I love the look of it, and the basis in Greek mythology, which remind me of Jason and the Argonauts and Clash of the Titans (in a good way). The first time that hydra charged through the ship was a humbling moment for me, which I get to enjoy again vicariously by handing the controller to NPGs (Non-Player Guests). Project Gotham Racing 3 blew me away. I was already a fan of the franchise, but firing this up on a 50” HD plasma set is equal to taking a first step into a larger world. Putting the HD part aside, the game has to deliver the goods. Kind of like how, no matter how good it looks on Discovery HD, American Chopper is still just American Chopper. And PGR3 definitely satisfies. The cars control very well, and the courses are cleverly designed. The authenticity of the cars and the locations, combined with a more arcade style of play make for a perfect match for me. The HD element brings a high level of immersion, such that NPGs are completely thunderstruck by the illusion of reality." Anyone else interested in answering this question should use the official Question Of The Week page until January 2, 2006. Respondents should ideally keep their answers under 500 words.