Game Of The Year 2009

There hasn’t been a lot of activity on the site lately and the reason is that I’ve been playing an absolute shit-ton of games to get all caught up for 2009. Only now, nearly a month into 2010, do I feel like I have the right top 10 list. Without much further ado here is my top 10 for the year:

10. Shadow Complex

Shadow Complex is one of those games that brings back a whole lot of memories and reminds me that classic gameplay is still viable. A 2D game with solid, classic mechanics is something truly rare and left an impact on me this year, hopeful for more games to follow suit.

9. Batman Arkham Asylum

Batman is another example of a power up/exploration driven game in the vein of Metroid or Castlevania that delivered this year. The combat was interesting but felt slightly off, the story was top notch, and the stealth felt really good. Batman was one of those games I almost passed over this year and I’m glad that I didn’t.

8. New Super Mario Bros. Wii

Few games do local multiplayer really well, and I feel like this year none did it better than NSMB. Mechanically this game had a lot of stuff that I really hope other developers consider putting into their games. (My whole time playing through LittleBigPlanet I kept wishing for a few of them) That alone probably isn’t enough to make this list, but the fact that the game is a balls-out difficult Mario game with plenty of secrets makes it stand out.

7. Borderlands

Though Borderlands has pretty broken stuff about it (online specifically) it still managed to impress me enough to make it this year. The way that it mixes genre’s along with some very addictive gameplay will keep me coming back time and time again, be it alone or with friends. Borderlands has a completely unique feel to it that leaves me extremely hopeful for what comes next.

6. Red Faction: Guerilla

As far as open-world games went this year I feel like Red Faction was the most interesting. Multiplayer, both local and online, is what really took me off guard about this game though and is why it ranks where it does. The local multiplayer is an absolute blast to play, and the online is solid and makes for a lot of cool situations.

5. Dawn Of War 2

RTS games got a big push this year from DOW 2, it basically changed the way I think about the genre. I’m not sure that I’ve ever played an RTS in single-player mode and enjoyed it as much as I did DOW 2. I think the big moment for me was the first boss fight where it was crazy, hectic, and made me use the full potential of all of my units just to stay afloat. Online the game is also a lot of fun, I can’t really speak to the balance of the game since I don’t play nearly often enough, but as a casual player the competitive matches were always really intense and fun. I also am a huge fan of the add-on survival mode that they made.

4. Street Fighter IV

If only I could count how many hours SF4 has taken from me this year I think that this alone makes it have a mandatory spot on this list. I love the mechanics of this game, the focus attack is my favorite counter system ever in a fighting game. Before playing the game I would have called you crazy if you had told me that I would actually end up liking it more than SF2, which did take a while but now I just can’t imagine going back with 4 available. Even though Super Street Fighter IV is a bit iterative I am extremely excited to get my hands on it later this year.

3. Modern Warfare 2

Modern Warfare 2 was one of the best experiences I had this year. Through the course of the campaign there were a whole lot of “wow” moments and it was just a complete roller coaster the entire way through. Spec-ops may be the most creative coop mode I’ve seen all year and it certainly provides a ton of challenge for even the most advanced player. Of course MW2’s real strength is in the online multiplayer and I think they may have perfected their own recipe this time around.

2. Dragon Age: Origins

Dragon Age impressed me right off the bat and hasn’t let up yet. My understanding is that at 8.5 hours in I haven’t even scratched the surface of what this game is but I’ve already been blown away. I love the mechanics, the story, and the interesting situations in this game. A couple of years ago Mass Effect really shifted my thinking about RPGs and I’m glad that BioWare proved that you can still do a traditional RPG and make it extremely playable and fun. Ask me a year from now and I might tell you that this should have been the game of the year, but for now it just barely takes the #2 spot.

1. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

I played through the first Uncharted and walked away with mixed feelings, I liked the story, I mostly liked the mechanics, but I hated the balancing and the ending sequences. Fast forward to this year and the sequel basically fixes all of my issues, the shooting feels spot on, the story is even better, the balancing is improved (though still not perfect), and they surprise me with my favorite multiplayer experience of the year. I can’t rave enough about the online component of this game, both the coop and the competitive. I don’t think I had as much fun this year with any other game, so Uncharted 2 wins in my mind. (As a side note all games should have the grenade throwing mechanics from UC2, it’s the best ever done)

So there you have it, there were a ton of good games to choose from this year and though nothing jumped out at me like Braid did last year I definitely had a blast and am really impressed with the general quality of games that came out in 2009. Now I’m on to play Demon’s Souls (which won GOTY from GameSpot?) and see how much torture I can handle…