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The Gamingforce Game of the Year 2009: Use Your Vote Time
It's that time of year again; it's the time of year when everyone starts evaluating the 12 months that have just passed us, those games released and which deserves to be named the best of the year. The various critics and pundits are all having their say, but what does Gamingforce consider the best of 2009?
As with the 2008 voting here's how this is going to work: each person has 100 points to vote for games released in 2009 (doesn't matter where, but games have to have been commercially released in 2009) and you can allocate them to as many games as you like as long as it totals 100 in the end. The only rule is that you can't award any single game more than 40 points. So you could vote two 40s and a 20, or a 40 and six 10s, or any other combination of points as long as it adds up to 100. To vote all you have to do is post a reply with your top games of 2009, how many points you're giving each, and a brief explanation of why you feel the game deserves your points. Example: GAME A - 40 points Man I loved game A because... GAME B - 20 points I ended up playing so much of game B that... GAME C - 15 points Game C gets some points because... GAME D - 15 points I couldn't decide between this and C, so gave both points, but D rocks because... GAME E - 5 points Good, but not necessarily great, but I figure E deserves some points because... GAME F - 5 points Like E, F gets a few points because... -------- Voting will close on Saturday 9th January at 18:00 GMT (that's Englandland time), at which point I'll add all the points together and work out GFF's top 20 games of 2009, posting the results in a new thread for discussion/people to bitch about. Get voting. Oh, and get other people to come vote too. :) Disclaimer/Rules: 1. If you allocate any game more than 40 points your vote won't be counted. 2. If your points allocation totals more than 100 points your vote won't be counted (totals less than 100 are fine). 3. Votes for games not released in 2009 will be ignored. 4. Only official commercial releases in 2009 count. 5. No negative points. I'll point and laugh and then ignore your vote. 6. Whole integers only. Fractions and decimal places will also lead me to ignore your vote. 7. Any other such idiocy will also probably lead your vote not being counted. And as ever, I take no responsibility for Skills fucking with stuff, which if you ignore these points he almost certainly will do somehow. |
Hahaha, nice timing. I might as well copy-paste from my entry ='D
GTA: Episodes from Liberty City - 40 points A compilation of two utterly fantastic additional stories to GTA4. Both are relatively short, making the story in each more tightly paced and the experience more compact and focused. Not that there isn't tons of additional stuff to do outside the main story missions. Completely excellent writing (far exceeding even GTA4) with some great new characters, superb voice acting bring them to life, fun fun fun gameplay and a chance to see the same amazing, living, breathing Liberty City from a different perspective. Essential. Borderlands - 20 points I wasn't even going to buy it originally. I was wrong to think so, and while many people will cite Demon's Souls as the gem of the year, I feel this one is it. It's Diablo with guns and it's utterly, utterly addictive. Somehow the combat never gets old and I never tire of doing quests, shooting peeps, looting corpses, trunks, cabinets, trashcans and mail boxes, levelling up, finding new guns and doing it all over again. By myself or online with friends. Gamespy sucks, but Gearbox managed to make their best game yet, a game that is both fun, funny and pretty, and I hope they make a great sequel eventually. Halo 3: ODST - 20 points Alongside Borderlands, probably the most overlooked FPS of the year. Halo games are always enjoyable, but ODST provided the best campaign since the first game, a wonderful jazzy soundtrack, and some terrific setpieces. I loved the atmosphere. A very pleasant experience I will want to replay again Machinarium - 20 points An utterly charming and beautiful point & click adventure, with a lovely visual style. Very funny, very atmospheric, with a rich world and a great soundtrack. |
Batman: Arkham Asylum - 40 points
The best single-player experience I've had since Half-Life 2. The game moves you along so well it was hard for me to really stop playing until I beat it, then until I found all The Riddler's trophies. I was actually a little disappointed when the game ended, as it felt like it ended too quickly. Torchlight - 25 points Up until I figured out how to completely ruin the game (that Enchanter, man...he's really good at his job), I couldn't really stop playing this either. It will serve as a nice holdover until Diablo III. Pro Evolution FOOTBALL 2010 - 20 points Another year, another good PEF game. Was it better than last year? Absolutely. But it feels like there's something missing, and I'm thinking it's a feeling of not actually being at a game. The crowds look and sound too generic, and FOOTBALL is a sport that has so much atmosphere it's really disappointing that they aren't conveying that enough. Left 4 Dead 2 - 10 points Haven't had the time to play it much, but what I did play was certainly enjoyable. I'm still split on whether making things more complicated (more weapons, more Special Infected, Uncommon Infecter) made it a better game than L4D1. Plants vs. Zombies - 5 points PopCap makes another game that's fun until you beat it. It's a good challenge at times, but really once you got into a particular mindset there was no reason you couldn't breeze through each level. |
I only bought about half a dozen games during 2009, but the ones I did buy were all very good.
Uncharted 2: Jar of Tears - 40 - I wasn't expecting Uncharted 2 to surpass its predecessor, after all, Uncharted the first was the one game that made owning a PS3 worthwhile. Uncharted 2 is more fun, has better pacing, and doesn't have zombies. The chemistry between the characters and the "flavor" dialog are unparalleled. There is a part in the dilapidated mountain temply when (what else?), the bridge leading forward is destroyed and Nathan must find an alternate route. Nathan groans "Ugh, I'm tired of climbing shit." The closing dialog between Nathan and Elena is priceless. Dragon Age: Origins - 25 - Take Knights of the Old Republic, set it in the world of Lord of the Rings without the hobbits, and you've got Dragon Age. You've got your standard warrior, rogue, and mage, but there are so many different ways to play each that you could easily play through the game ten different times with ten different builds. The story is pretty standard, but it is well executed, and the player is presented with several very entertaining characters. It is a very Bioware game and very good. Halo ODST - 25 - Easily the best Halo game. They take the basis of the Halo story, aliens versus humans, and they finally inject a human element in it. The Halo engine isn't bad, and in ODST, we get placed into a lot of really fun scenarios. Exploring the city was really cool, and the general tone and feel of the game, its setting, were great. Captain Mal and Jayne. Firefight mode. Modern Warfare 2 - 5 - I think we can all agree that at its core, Modern Warfare 2 has a lot of good qualities. The Cliffhanger mission, with the sneaking around a blizzardy enemy base and then driving snowmobiles, the Favela mission escaping bad guys by running around on the rooftops, slow motion door breaches, the mission in the plane graveyard, followed by the assault on the shadow forces cave base. Lots of good stuff. Spec Ops has a lot of fun (and a lot of frustrating) stuff in it. Multiplayer has more than its fair share of problems, such as bad spawning, lots of cheaters/standbyers, and ping being the single most important contributor to your success, rather than tactics or skill. Forza 3 - 5 - It is a great game that doesn't rate higher simply because it doesn't show significant improvements over Forza 2. The "season" mode is a nice improvement, there are a lot of cool cars to drive, and most of the new tracks are very nice. I think that adds up to 100. |
Well, I accidentally hit something and sent my browser back to the previous page. This is what I get for using quick reply.
Bionic Commando - 40 Points Probably doesn't deserve this many points, but I'm hoping it might break the top 10 and get a little recognition. It was a flawed action title, no doubt, but acrobatics and grappling were so amazingly fun that they really need to be replicated in future titles. If you somehow got sick of Zipline Kicking people into another Zipline Kick, you were doing something wrong. Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story - 25 Points I love bright and colorful settings, and Bowser's Inside Story was definitely full of 'em. Beyond that, it was a pretty simple and familiar cast that didn't rely much on the introduction of new, dime-a-dozen characters. Demon's Souls - 20 Points I'm not concerned about this one not making the top 10, so I gave it less points than it deserves. Still, it's so good that I had to allocate something to it. Creepy and challenging, Demon's Souls gave a breath of fresh air to a genre than sees far too many bad sequels. Throw in fun online play and thoughtful combat and you have one of the best RPGs of 2009-- and quite possibly one of the best ever. Suikoden Tierkreis - 15 Points A good effort by Konami, and the decision to eschew the original Suikoden world didn't repulse the community as much as I thought it would. A lengthy, enjoyable RPG for the DS. That's all for now, since I don't feel like retyping anymore. I may edit it later. |
World of Warcraft Patch 3.3 - 40
Are you fucking stupid? This patch single-handedly counts for a full-priced retail game. Cross-server PuGs, built-in quest-helping interface, renovated leveling gear for starting characters, the ability to gear up before you even get to 80, and more. A ton of love went into this patch, and I can only wait with bated breath for the release of Cataclysm this year. Jesus Christ. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 - 40 Game of the Year, imo. Take everything good in FPS games and make it even better, with completely streamlined and balanced gameplay offline and online and you've got a recipe for sex. This shit right here? This shit right here? Fuck the naysayers, Infinity Ward can do no wrong. Dragon Age: Origins - 15 While fun, the dated graphics and clunky combat system (especially on the 360. Why wasn't this developed for the PC and THEN ported to consoles?) irked me pretty bad and ruined what could have been at least a 20 on my list. The voice acting was also not up to snuff -- I felt FF12's was superior to much of DA:O's own. Bayonetta - 5 Listing this simply because the game was released in Japan last year and I got the chance to play through it at a friend's last week. While initially awesome, the game suffers from terrible lag during complex and enemy-filled battles. The music is atrocious (why are they using the ending theme from Evangelion as fight music?), and the main character looks more and more like Sarah Palin the longer you play. Shittiest game of the year, all years. It's even worse than Devil May Cry 2. |
Assassin's Creed II - 40 Points
I was probably one of the few people who really enjoyed the first game despite all of its shortcomings, so even if this game was more of the same I'd probably still rank it as high. But the fact that they manged to improve on it at every level made this a no-brainer for being my favorite game of the year. They managed to improve some of the problem areas a lot of people had, and they added a ton of depth which wasn't even needed but certainly welcomed. And luckily those of us who quickly devoured the game in such a short period of time still have more to forward to in the form of the two upcoming DLC episodes. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - 30 Points I just got around to playing the first game earlier in the year, but as awesome as it was the sequel managed to do everything it did even better. Everything about this game is top notch, making it stand firmly on top of the list of best PS3 exclusives (which, in all honesty, it probably won't be removed from until Uncharted 3 is released). And even if the game had just released with a single player mode it would still be this awesome, but the fact that they managed to add both cooperative and competitive multiplayer modes makes it even more awesome by adding longevity to the title (though admittedly, I haven't managed to play them as much as I've wanted to). Also, Elena<3. Resident Evil 5 - 30 Points Resident Evil 4, plain and simple, did not do it for me. It had way too many nagging issues that prevented me from being able to say it was as great as everyone else thought. But RE5 managed to fix every single issue I had with RE4, and managed to improve on it with some new features as well, namely co-op. I probably put in more time with this game than the other two on my list, simply because playing co-op was so much of a blast that I not only played it splitscreen with my sister, but online with some of my friends as well (and this was just for fun, as I had already managed to unlock everything in the game). |
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Man this list is going to be all kinds of short because I didn't play much in 2009.
Modern Warfare 2 - 40 Points The online is broke in more ways than you could possibly count and the campaign is painfully short, but nothing really can compare to a major FPS release. All the trolls, internet tough guys, 12 year old kids, rednecks and would-be-thugs all come together to bicker and insult each other over a bunch of shit that doesn't matter for anything. Plus the MP comes with all kinds of exploitable bullshit like the Jack the Ripper build and the 1887s, how could you possibly go wrong? That and people have reported various degrees of success and failure over the balancing, but my K/D remains well around 1.25. FAMAS NIGGA http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e1...t-whatup-1.gif Halo 3: ODST - 30 Points Hey check that out, Bungie finally remembered they can actually make an entertaining single player experience. Firefight was also pretty cool for all the bullshit insanity it brought about. Also Dutch. Everything needs more Dutch. Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon - 20 Points Still probably my favorite set of SRPG titles ever, and I'm pleased Nintendo is still giving the franchise the respect it deserves. It's a port of an older title so the story isn't anything to write home about, but the updated mechanics and graphics take the tale of the rather feminine looking Prince Marth and the Pegasus Knight who wants to jump his bones, and makes it entirely worthwhile. Tiki's cuteness is a miracle of the universe. Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 - 10 Points Gundam is awesome. Mobile Armors are awesome. F91 is ridiculous. End of story. |
These games are definitely worth more than I'm about to give them, but with the 100 point limitation and the number of games, this is the best I can do.
Torchlight - 30 Points I may still be intoxicated by Diablo 2 nostalgia, but this is definitely one of the best games of 2009. Even with only three characters, the game is a solid and fun dungeon crawler, and though I haven't beaten it yet, I can tell it has loads of replay value. I wait with bated breath for the supposed multiplayer version. Borderlands - 30 Points Like Torchlight, fond memories of Diablo 2 is what makes this game great for me. There's no bigger rush than finding a new weapon that's better in every way than the one you have, and at the same time, no bigger disappointment than buying something cool from a vendor only to find something of equal or greater value dropped from an enemy. Holding off on tempting purchases can work in your favor more often than not though. Just last night I reluctantly left the vendor's deal of the day on a sweet class mod only to find almost the exact same one mere moments later in a drop. Batman: Arkham Asylum - 20 Points Worth so much more, but it felt wrong not to include this. Given Batman's video game track record, a lot of people were jaded about this game when it was announced and didn't expect it to be any better than the tie-in game for Batman Begins. Once it was revealed that Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy would be reprising their animated roles, however, expectations skyrocketed and I think they were met in spades. Aside from Commissioner Gordon, the voice work is outstanding and the combat never gets old. The Silent Predator segments are probably the best parts of the game; skulking around on gargoyles and dropping down for the kill, stringing Joker's goons up from said gargoyles, the game goes to great lengths to make you feel like you are Batman. I was a little disappointed by the last boss fight, but everything else about the game is a blast. Call of Duty: Not so Modern Shotguns 2 - 10 Points As many problems as the multiplayer has, you can't deny its fun and addicting nature. I can't tell you how many times I've stayed up later than I wanted to just so I could level, only to stay up even later because the next level after that unlocked a new weapon. The game really knows how to grab you and hold you until either you drop from fatigue or you just have to go to work or eat or other things that don't seem so important at the time. Honestly, though, as fun as the mutliplayer is, I'm more looking forward to MW 3 to see if they finally conclude the ridiculous but epic storyline. Street Fighter 4 - 10 Points Another game I feel deserves more points, but I just wanted it on the list. I'm shocked and appalled no one's mentioned it yet. Everything you loved about SF2 and its endless revisions has been revived and polished to near perfection. Ken fags aside, the online multiplayer is the best I've seen in a fighting game, just barely surpassing Soul Calibur 4. There's almost nothing not to love about this game. Except Seth. Fuck that guy. I almost certain I would've voted for Demon's Souls, but I haven't played it yet. |
Dragon Age: Origins - 40 Points
I've had as much fun with this title as any game I played in recent memory. It basically took all the things that were bloody horrid about Mass Effect and made them good. The characters were unique from each other and interesting. The writing was sharp and entertaining while not getting bogged down by taking itself to seriously. End of the day, this was a game that used lord of the rings music in a lord of the rings world with some george rr martin tossed in. It should have been nothing but cliche, but they managed to make it work. And anyone bitching about the battle system or the graphics should have gotten it on the PC instead of the 360. Just saying. Secret of Monkey Island: HD - 15 points These points are as much for Dominic Armato, Earl Boen and Alexandra Boyd as it is for the game itself. Probably the most lovingly redone game I've ever played, this crew had such respect for the original material. It played great, it looked good, and it sounded fantastic. Normally I wouldn't toss a remake on this list, but I grinned like a monkey the entire time I played it. Sheer joy. Uncharted 2: Clowns Are Scary - 15 points It's Uncharted (which was awesome) with a much more eased-into paranormal ending (which was better) and superb voice acting (using half the cast of Dragon Age, which made playing them at the same time hilarious). The game play was cinematic and tight, the set pieces were a blast, and the story was fun. What more do you need? Machinarium - 10 Points This studio continues to churn out genius title after genius title. I think I've played through it over four times already, and will no doubt do so again. It was the definition of the word whimsical. Somehow these titles always seem to remind me of the same feel I got from playing ICO and Shadow of the Colossus. I'm just sort of along for the ride, in the best sense of it. Tales of Monkey Island - 10 points Dancing. Guybrush. Threepwood. Why is this game on the list? Because Telltale managed to make a new Monkey Island that felt like old Monkey Island. Good for them, cause that is hard to do. Why isn't it higher? Lousy control scheme. Batman: Arkham Asylum - 10 points Had a blast with this guy. Kevin Conroy and Luke Skywalker were fantastic with their voices, the game was easily the best super hero game ever made, and man, did they nail the ambiance of the world. Nicely played. Honourable Mentions Left 4 Dead 2 Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story BlazBlue Magna Carta II Wallace & Gromit Demon's Souls Shadow Complex Axel & Pixel Ghostbusters: Bill Murray Returns |
Left 4 Dead 2 - 40 points: While I haven't really had the epic stories about this sequel that I did about the first, I've also not played it as religiously as the original. The new game mechanics were tough to work out for the first week, and I know Daravon was with me that first night where the game was *impossibly* difficult. Like - return to store in anger difficult.
Ghostbusters - 30: God everything about this game is great great great. It was like they asked me at age 8 what I'd want in a GB game and did it far better than should be possible. My single complaint is that I'd've liked a little bit more of an "open world" like the beginning of the game which feels like you're doing random jobs. The story is okay, but the idea of a free-roaming GB game is too good to pass up. Borderlands - 20 points: I like the idea of this more than the actual result but I've also only played MP once with a friend. I like its sense of humor and its not quite real, not quite comic book design. Chronicles Of Riddick: Assault On Dark Athena - 10 points: The amped up the difficulty on this WAY too high but the game is so goddamned great. So goddamned great. Deeply satisfying gameplay. Never cared for the MGS games really, or Manhunter or whatever - but the whole sneaking around in this game works REALLY well. Special Mention to Batman: Arkham Asylum and Dragon Age Origins. They're the ones everyone will talk about for years to come but I never cared for either game very much. I just started playing DA:O so maybe I'll warm to it yet but Batman was very "been there, done that" with better games. I'm also not a big fan of the Gears Of War design on a lot of the stuff. |
Batman Arkham Asalum: 40 points
had the most fun with this one this year, great game design and it was pulled off close to perfection. Modern warfare 2: 30 points Great fun, mp might be unbalanced but it's still fun. Single player was not as great as the first one but it came damn close. Really digged the last half of the game. Ballad of Gay Tony: 30 points Was so fun, i didnt care for Lost and the damned, waas so boring and stiff. This one tho! Great fun, great writing and gameplay. Yusef is character of the year, no fu he really is. This dlc and the original adventure compliment eachother perfectly. Cant wait for gta: on to the next one. |
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Anyway... Tekken 6 - 40 Points A beautiful fighting game that's been around for almost fourteen years now. The system, although it's horrendously juggle heavy now, is still a great fighter to play. The fact you could jump right into the game without the need to unlock any characters is a huge plus. Scenario Mode isn't too shabby either. New Super Mario Bros. Wii - 30 Points I can't believe that this one almost slipped my mind. I had to go back and change my vote after Meia mentioned it. The classic Mario formula, now with the insanity of three other people trailing behind you. For all the times everyone accidentally gets themselves into bubbles to end the level, and for all the times you mistimed a ground pound, it's a blast from start to finish. I've only played this at a friend's place, but the moment I get my Wii replaced, this game is an immediate buy. beatmania IIDX 16: EMPRESS + Premium Best - 20 Points Sure, let's toss a music game in here. The one Bemani game that's run longer than DDR. This, for the most part anyway, blows it's previous versions out of the water. With some of the most challenging charts as well as the most music out of any IIDX version to date (99 songs on each disc), this will keep any IIDX fan busy for a while. Borderlands - 10 Points I haven't finished the game at all, but nonetheless, it's still a fun game. A large expansive world, online co-op, and the customizations for the game make this a blast to play either alone or with others. If you enjoy the premise of Fallout 3, then you'll probably enjoy this one as well. |
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 - 40 points
Inspite of so many people feeling let down by this game, I felt the opposite about it. There was no point in having access to as many powers as we did in the previous game since most of them weren't worth using. The game is also is still fun on repeated playthroughs for me, while the first put me to sleep after I'd already beaten it. Left 4 Dead 2 - 40 points Because honestly it had everything that was good about the first game and then some. Borderlands - 20 points Because I enjoy playing it with my friends and most the other games I've played this year weren't actually released this year. |
Alright, something new and something outstanding!
Flower - 25 pts Beautiful? Check. Innovative? Check. Cheap? Check! Short? Check! Liberating? Check! Extras? Check! Awesome? DOUBLE CHECK! Katamari Forever - 20 pts I loved the Damacy series but good lord were they impossible to achieve everything out of it. I had had complaints not being able to replay the levels on a comfortable setting because really, this game is the kind of game you really want to just "roll" at ease and have no worries of timer to start with. Especially when you're just barely recognizing what you're rolling up. But this game FIXES everything that we had griped about. Can't get across? JUMP! Can't gather items fast enough, here HAVE A HEART! There's two type of hearts (depending on which king you go with) one is a instant pull of items you can pick in the surrounding vicinity and the other picking up close to you like a magnet for a several seconds as you roll. Not only it gives you Drive mode to go really fast (AND EASIER) on all of the levels, you also get Eternal on most of the levels and Classic Mode in just about all of them too. This is TRULY the Katamari Damacy I came to love. And for the record, I already achieved 100% in collections and done all of the levels' modes. New Super Mario Bros Wii - 20 pts LOL too many words for this, but really. 8-7 was just the level I want you to check out to understand just how great the level design is. I had played and beaten this solo so most of my highlights were playing this solo although, most people could see this as a very fun group setting multiplayer. There's laughs to be had for sure. We had two of our closest friends to play with us, so it was blast there too. Dark Spire - 15 pts Took me by surprise from renting it. I haven't played old school dungeon crawlers in ages, and this game touched upon the difficulty we used to see then in the old pc/nes days. If that's what deterring you from playing it, shame on you. The music is what kept me playing it despite of the lower floors turning into something awful. Trying to beat down enemies on a determined destination in fear of dying and losing a hour long trek is addicting to a stubborn/determined player like me. ;) Avalon Code - 15 pts Like above, awesome rental, I couldn't really possibly describe this game very well without getting you confused. But yes, its an oddball of a game, and a fun one at that. You're a hero/ine that found a book that allows you predetermine your own enemies' weakness by shifting/switching "codes"; ie put a "SICK" code on a enemy will lower its HP. Not only that, you can determine your own weapon's element and making it stronger. There's that interesting plot that involves the 4 elements of the book, that assists you for magic, concerning with the original owner of the book. Miner Dig Deep - 5 pts Too awesome for a honorable mention. Its a relaxing title with new upgrades for every horde of minerals you sell. Your main goal was get to the bottom safely without causing a cave in. This is considered a steal at 3 bucks for its worth of hours of addictive digging. Honorable mentions: Shadow Complex, Prototype, and A Boy and His Blob |
Suikoden Tierkreis - 10 points
It was a decent game, but the compressed voice acting of the main Character got annoying after a while. My first real experience with a Suikoden game. Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon - 30 points I still have yet to finish this game, primarily because I refuse to let my people die and compulsively restart the level every time i lose someone, leading to months long departures from the game. I didn't play a lot of new games this year. Spent most of it trying to finish/replaying old ones. |
Just to note: I edited my votes since Meia ended up mentioning an awesome game I almost completely forgot about. :gonk:
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Rock Band: The Beatles - 30 Points
I've spent many sleepless nights playing this online with friends on a borrowed PS3. Beautiful artsy graphics and rebuilt singing engine with one of the best soundtracks of any game in history. If you love The Beatles and you don't own this game, you don't really love The Beatles and are a disgrace to the human race. Brütal Legend - 20 Points A game like Brütal Legend is really the sum of its parts. But those parts were all stylistically delivered with the might, humor and wit that only Tim Schafer can produce. When you burned rubber, cleaved demons in two, and rode untamable beasts all around a titanic world like the one that was so lovingly crafted as a labor of love to pay homage to metal music, it was clear that we were always in for a fuckin' rockin' good time. Sure, Jack Black is an awful actor whose only truly good movie is High Fidelity but, along with a cast of legendary rock stars, this world was give a voice that only they were gifted enough to give it. It also boasts one of the best soundtracks of any game. Period. Then, on top of that, Lemmy Kilmister was IN THE FUCKING GAME. I was literally covered in metal god love. Street Fighter IV - 20 points This game has kept us playing far into the night as well and many a beer has been spilt in the patio during arguments that have erupted among friends over razor-close victories in this household. Wonderful graphics, actual online playability and a fantastic checks-and-balances Super and Ultra Combo finishes made this game one of my (and lots of drunken friends') favorite fighters of all time. Left 4 Dead 2 - 20 Points OK. So it was groan-inducing to find out that Valve would be releasing a game that could easily have been downloadable content for the original but this sequel took everything that was good in the first game and somehow made it better. And then they gave us a chainsaw and I was carving through zombies while creaming my shorts with my peeps online. Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition - 10 Points Pretty much the reasons Deni stated. This is a perfect recreation of a nearly perfect title. I'm kind of sad I never played the originals up until a few months ago. |
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Dragon Quest V (40 points) - I had always heard about the legendary Dragon Quest/Warrior series. I even played and beat the first one way back. However, I played and beat that game more because I was a hardcore gamer than because I really enjoyed it. I tried the other Dragon Quest games but never got far into it. Dragon Quest V though is different. It is really the first RPG I found myself playing until one in the morning. It actually perks my interest both in Dragon Quest IV and the upcoming Dragon Quest VI.
New Super Mario Bros Wii (40 points) - I played this at my parents' house with my mother. Absolute fun. It does bring back the Mario of old but with new twists. Multiplayer is also fun. I can tell you, it is quite fun (and funny) to do something like jumping on whomever I am playing with's head to make a jump I'd otherwise miss. In addition, the controller response is excellent. I would have died in many a lesser game had the controls not been done so well such that I could attempt those last second wall jumps. Devil Survivor (20 points) - When I took advantage of Gamestop's buy 2, get 1 free deal, I wasn't sure what to get. I had heard this game was decent but was still unsure. However, I took a chance and have not regretted it. This game is difficult but the fun type of difficult in which you go through a battle, maybe get crushed, learn a few things, think things through a bit, then come back and go at it again, hopefully wiser, smarter, and with a much better, well-thought out plan. |
After looking at everyone's lists I can safely say I have different tastes from all of you, not that it's really much of a bad thing.
Harvest Moon: Animal Parade - 35 points Quite surprising that this game made it to the top spot on my list, and I've only played it for a few days. I haven't played many HM games, but this one is definitely the best I've ever played. Quite simply, it adds lots of new features that makes farming a lot easier and gives the game more customization than ever before. I love the idea of purchasing new clothing/accessories for yourself and your children and using the camera to take pics of your family and your animals, etc. The town's nicer and there's more animals to take care of, etc. The new pet system is great. With all the game has to offer, I decided to put it on this year's list. The Sims 3 - 25 points I love the Sims series, but the newest addition to the franchise doesn't take the top spot. Don't get me wrong though. It's the best one in the series. It added some much needed improvements such as diagonal positioning, no more needing to befriend 20+ people just to advance in your career, and no loading screens. The new trait system is leagues beyond the original personality system from the first two games (your Sim can be a Grumpy Unlucky Slob who is Frugal and Hydrophobic). The career system is much better, and you can dictate how your workday goes. There are lots more ways to make money without actually having a career, like painting, writing and selling minerals/space rocks/insects that you find outside. There are oodles of other features but I won't go into them. The only reason why it ranks lower than HM though is that although it is clearly a better game than the first 2 games before it, it is still a base game and therefore not much to see and do. However, that will change when the expansions start coming out, and they promise to have a lot more depth to them than the Sims 2 expansions. King's Bounty: Armored Princess - 20 points The sequel to King's Bounty, one of the games I've also mentioned in this thread last year, AP has the same gameplay but with new items, new units, a flying horse, and a new pet dragon system that replaces the Chest of Rage from the original. It's no surprise it shows up also on this year's list. Only reason this didn't rank higher than the original though is because it's shorter and, other than the new stuff, it still plays exactly like the first game. That could be good for some, bad for others. The gameplay is awesome already though so it's not such a big deal. Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection - 20 points Yes, this game came out last year, but I'm talking about the PS3/360 versions which came out this year. It outdoes the PSP/Wii/PS2 versions by adding HD graphics, achievements (for those who like that sort of stuff), and three brand new tables to the already impressive line up: Tales of the Arabian Nights, No Good Gofers and Medieval Madness. Out of all the video pinball games I've played, this game has the best presentation and polish. The only reason it doesn't rank higher is because although I love pinball, there are lots of other people who don't. Also, the other games obviously are more indepth than a simple game of pinball. HONOURABLE MENTIONS Dark Spire I had to put this somewhere in here. I don't think it's GotY material, but it's very good for what it does. It's quite an old-school 1st person dungeon crawler with a very nice Shadowgate graphics style and some impressive music to boot. It also is challenging, full of puzzles and has the sweet 'classic' mode that renders everything in wireframe to traverse the dungeon faster. For what it is, I very much preferred Dark Spire over the ever popular Etrian Odyssey series. Too bad it didn't get many sales though. I'd sure would love to play a sequel. Props to Meia for mentioning the game. One word of advice though. The music on the lower floors are much better in Classic mode. There's no sign of a singing voice anywhere. I think I've already mentioned it on your backloggery though. Resident Evil 5 I'm tossing this one in mainly because of the co-op. It's fun playing with a friend although that kinda sucks the whole scary aspect out of it. Also, the PC version (what I have) is simply flawless. No glitches or bugs whatsoever and it runs incredibly smooth. It also has the 3D mode which I haven't tried. I hear it's awesome, having enemies pop right out at you. One thing for sure though, it's no RE4. |
Wow, I completely forgotten about the Classic mode in Dark Spire. I didn't use it by the way, but its a very cool feature nonetheless! :D
And yes you did mention about the music being better in classic, I recall just breezing through that last floor with no sound (it was played early in the morning). And don't ya worry, I'm sure having a different taste will certainly remind others to remind themselves of THESE gems too that was released last year. Like that NSMBW, huh Chaotic? ;) |
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - 40 Points
It does everything better than the first and is my Game of the Year for 2009. It's such a blast to play and everything felt tight and well put together. Between the script and the set pieces, the characters and the mystique, it was the best experience I had in gaming this year. I never wanted to put my controller down (even though school made me), and it deserves all the awards and praise it got. Batman: Arkham Asylum - 30 Points Definitely the surprise of the year. I originally wrote it off after seeing the first screens of Killer Croc and some of the henchman, a lot of people did actually. I'm not sure what made me change my mind and pre-order the game, but it ended up replacing all my free time for the first couples weeks of the Fall semester. Combat felt fluid and right once I grasped how combos worked (AKA not button-mashing). Voice acting was among the best of the year from people who knew Batman better than anyone. I wished there was more at times, but I can't complain with what Rocksteady gave us in the end. Killzone 2 - 15 Points Almost forgot this game came out in 2009. People hated the controls, but I enjoyed them. I wasn't coming off playing Call of Duty for hours and hours like a lot of people, so there really wasn't a learning curve - I actually picked up Call of Duty: World at War AFTER finishing Killzone 2, so that was something I had to get used to. Multiplayer was fun, among the most fun I've had with competitive online. And although I wish the story was something more, I guess it wasn't as bad as Modern Warfare 2's attempt at an overly dramatic one. Definitely deserved to have co-op as it would have made it a far more memorable experience for most people, I think. Not too big on the story as it left much to be desired. Nevertheless, the controls were tight and the gameplay was fun as I've come to expect from Call of Duty games. I didn't enjoy competitive multiplayer too much (my brother pretty much did all that), but co-op (Spec Ops) was a blast, and it was, honestly, the most fun I had with the game. MW2 did co-op right, and I hope more games follow suit (though not necessarily in the exact same manner). Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time - 5 Points Something about this game just clicked with me. I had never played any of the games in the series before (although I did have Tools of Destruction in my collection), and it blew away my expectations. I've read reviews from people saying that this was the closest thing to a Pixar experience in game form, and I have to agree. It has a quirky humor with enjoyable characters and a good script. Plus, it's one of the only games I've actually stayed up into the early hours of the morning to play (and finish), which is why it deserves a mention. Total: 100 Points |
New Super Mario Bros Wii (Wii) - 40 Points
The most fun I've had playing with others in a long time. It has such potential for hilarity, as you bounce off each other's heads, compete or co-operate, steal or share power-ups, and generally crack each other up laughing as you work you way through the levels, which by the way are great. A few annoying gimmicks, but for the most part... awesome. --- Batman - Arkham Asylum (PS3/X360/PC) - 30 points Best comic book game I've ever played, no contest. It feels right, everyone moves as you'd expect. Batman looks great, even if his jaw is inhumanly huge. The voices... well, several are from the animated series, and as such rule. Beautiful environments, wonderful puzzles, lively gameplay. Only slightly marred by the fact that swinging down from gargoyles to slug a bad guy makes the fights almost too easy. --- GTA: Episodes from Liberty City (XBOX 360) 15 Points It's two short GTA games on one disc, it's more than just downloadable content... it's a pair of whole new stories. For some reason I've played a lot of sandbox titles recently, and GTA4 has one of the most polished engines going. I was one of the few who really loved the game, and more content set in the same world, using the same engine works just fine for me. --- inFamous (PS3) - 10 Points What, did everyone forget this game? It's a basic sandbox game dressed up in Zappo The Superguy pants. What more d'ya want? It's a game that fully deserves 10 points, and fully deserves to be played. It's not deep, it doesn't have an epic narrative, it just delivers simple fun. I loved it. --- Miner: Dig Deep (XBOX 360 Indie Games) - 5 Points For all the reasons mentioned above. It's a game which largely clones an old DOS title I played years ago, but then adds to it, and improves every aspect. Relaxing, and genuinely addictive. Of course I don't expect it to win, but hey... it deserves a few points. --- |
Editting this as I go along.
Borderlands - 20 Points The first thing that came to mind when I thought FUCK YEAH of the year. Despite some odd design choices and a lazy PC port, the core gameplay mechanic is fucking awesome and addictive as hell. One of the first games I've played in years where I immediately went to the NG++ right after the credits finished. Super. Bionic Commando - 20 Points Holy fuckshit this is awesome and everyone who didn't like it is a giant pile of dog shit. It's extremely satisfying and playing it is a rite of passage. Only afterwards are you a true man. Mushihimesama Futari - 40 Points FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF. Holy crap you are the greatest home Cave port ever. SO BEAUTIFUL. SO INTERESTING. SO AWESOME. Bowser's Colonoscopy Adventure - 20 Points I have nothing to say other than it more than makes up for Partners in Time. The funniest, most well rounded and generally flat out enjoyable thing that Nintendo's handheld has seen in FOREVER. Bravo, AlphaDream |
Left 4 Dead 2 - 30 points
blah blah should've been DLC fuck you. Everything L4D1 was and then some. Only bad part of the game is Rochelle. Muramasa: The Demon Blade - 30 Points About once a year there's a game on the wii that makes me glad I haven't sold mine yet. Muramasa was this year's game. beatmaniaIIDX 16 EMPRESS + Premium Best - 20 Points I had grown tired of IIDX games until this one. Fabulously pink interface, fabulously awesome mix of songs and fun notecharts. Demon's Souls - 20 Points Rageworthy, satisfying, awesome. Japs can make better WRPGs than western devs. |
Left 4 Dead 2 - 5 points
Got it's predecessor for 25 bucks, got this one for 30. I only play when a friend invites me and only on the campaign because I suck at versus. I hate the majority of the characters except for Coach. Why is this even here? First of all, the melee weapons have gotten a huge upgrade and nothing is more satisfying then taking a samurai sword and slicing the shit out of the infected (haven't gotten a chainsaw yet). Secondly, well... Coach: GRABBIN PUKE!! It never gets old. XD However, the best time I ever had with the game was this part: Friend (as Coach): Healing up, I'll grab the last med kit on the table. Me (as Nick): Okay. *Rochelle (CPU) takes the med kit* Friend: Did that bitch just take my med kit? Me: Yep. *Coach revs up the chainsaw and cuts Rochelle with it* Rochelle: AHHHHHHHHHHHH!! Coach: Hahahahahaha!! Punch-Out!! - 10 points Straight up fun and a tough workout with the Wii Balance Board. However in the later levels I had to dodge faster, so I stopped using the Board. Good graphics, circuit music is great, and the controls with the WiiMote and Nunchuk is flawless. This is Little Mac's greatest venture yet. Sonic and the Black Knight - 20 points Contrary to what others believe, Sonic and the Black Knight is a major improvement over Secret Rings and a helluva lot better than Unleashed. Everything is improved over its predecessors: the controls, the story, the FRIGGIN MUSIC IS AWESOME!! Sega should never make a game with Sonic using a sword ever again...but it damn sure worked well here. This is the most fun I've had with a Sonic game in years. New Super Mario Bros. Wii - 30 points You want to talk about fun? Look no further. New Super Mario Bros. Wii takes elements from its NES and SNES predecessors and wraps it all into one beautiful package. The nostalgia factor is off the charts, but it has enough freshness to make it feel like its own game. Bringing back the Koopa Kids was surprising enough, but the real kicker about this game is the multiplayer. Simultaneous 4-player action in a Mario game? Unheard of! The more players you have, the more difficult and chaotic the game becomes...but it also becomes much more fun. The game also leads you to believe it's easy at first, but as you get further...damn does it get difficult, especially at the last areas! With these elements, multiple power-ups, and unlockable hint videos that can either help or just make you sick to your stomach, NSMB Wii is the best title the Wii has in 2009! Batman: Arkham Asylum - 35 points GAME OF THE FUCKING YEAR! I was very worried when this game was hyped so much. Not only did it live up to the hype, it surpassed it. This game makes you truly feel like Batman as you face some of his greatest adversaries such as Bane, Scarecrow, and the Joker. The gadgets are great, the fighting system is fluent, and the visuals are amazing. Bringing back voiceover talents such as Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill really added more to the game's dialogue. Seriously, I can't go five seconds without hearing Joker say something and just laughing my ass off to it. The game also has plenty of secrets to look for and the best part of it is you can actually find these on your own. You don't have to go online and look on where to locate them! This trailer does a good job of letting you have a feel of what's to come.
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Killing floor - 30 points
Well, it`s not exactly my type of game but design and outstanding soundtrack force me to give it 30 points Dreamkiller - 30 points It has normal single player then why just 30? Because some levels are so prolonged that you wil be tired of them (especially #4 & #9) and there`re only 12 levels, a small amount I`d call more games that I played this year but none of them was released in 2009 |
I'll be fair; 2009 was not a banner year in gaming for numerous reasons:
So this list represents not the games I played and enjoyed, but the games I most wanted to play and thought I might enjoy. A couple, I did get to try but not even close to the amount that would've satisfied me, mostly because the fucking nine year-old brat with the My Chemical Romance t-shirt behind me in the Game Crazy wouldn't stop whining that I'd been there almost five minutes already, when am I going to let him play for an hour, sheesh! 10 Points: Street Fighter IV - I loved the look and feel of this game, and have always been a Street Fighter fan. Online play was a nice plus, and the series was long overdue for a true sequel. I actually own this game, since I found a used copy for good price. But three days after I bought it, Merv hid his 360 and connected it to his PC with a screen saver password. In before owned. 10 Points: Punch Out Wii - This was the game I looked forward to most, being a longtime fan of the first two. I managed to purchase and play this for a little while, so I can vouch for the fun and quality. It is seriously a wonderful, if mildly frustrating experience, and the little touches they put into the game - like each fighter having his own variation of the in-ring theme -made me feel like a kid again. Unfortunately, my dad interfered with the cop drama offensive described above, then further complicated matters by connecting the Wii to a complex system involving a channel selector, three different output channels, a television PC, three remote controls and the new digital cable box. Since I am not a fucking computer engineer, I never got to lose to Mr. Sandman again. But trust me, this game is totally worth the time, if only to hear Bear Hugger's thick Canadian accent shout "Timber!" when he falls. 10 Points: Scribblenauts - Yeah, there were flaws but this game gets points for ambition. A shame I never beat it because some fatass custodial bitch backed her enormous ass into my bedside hospital tray, causing my DS to fall off and into her bucket of ... whatever the fuck vomit-smelling cleanser they put in there. She didn't even speak English (conveniently) so I was unable to explain that she had to buy me a new one. And the administration claimed no responsibility for lost items, even ones destroyed by their own employees. Lost the Scribblenauts game too. Fucking banana-boat whore. 10 Points: Sims 3 - Another game that looked great. Pang's pre-meet Journal entries pretty much cemented my interest, even though I already had no doubts about the quality. My shit-tastic computer stood no chance of running it, since it could barely watch ten minutes of anything on Hulu without spontaneously giving up and shutting down, but Sims 3 is the #1 game on my list once my new computer arrives in a couple weeks. 10 Points: Torchlight - I am giving this points mostly because people say it's a lot like Diablo, and Diablo was a pretty awesome game. Fuck you. Nothing in the rules said my reasoning had to be rock solid. Not to worry, though, I'll have a Steam account shortly enough and will definitely be giving Torchlight a go. Consider this an award of good faith! 10 Points: Orbital - I am pretty sure 98% of you have no clue what this is. It's a game for the iphone and it's motherfucking addictive. You shoot balls that ricochet around. When they stop, they expand into spheres which must then be destroyed by subsequent balls you shoot. Each sphere must be contacted three times before it is destroyed. If you're sloppy, your screen will fill up with enormous spheres and nowhere to shoot without ricocheting the ball below the safety line. It's deceptively tricky. So yeah, I'm certain I'm the only person who loves this little game but whatever. It earned its points. 10 Points: Ghostbusters (PS3/360 - fuck the animated Wii crap) - Sooooooooo wanted to play this, if only for the fact that they got the fab four to do the voice acting. The cake was the fact that it turned out to be a truly great game. Well, the first level is, I know that much. I thoroughly enjoyed running around the hotel, blasting walls and chandeliers, until that little fuckwad kept kicking my calves because his drunk mama never taught him how to wait his goddamned turn. Damn kids. Get off my lawn!! 10 Points: A Boy and His Blob - This gets points merely because someone had the brass coconuts to propose remaking this game, and someone else had even bigger coconuts to say "Sure, why the fuck not make nine people happy? Let's do this thing!" But yeah, surprise remake of the year and a game I'd love to play if I ever figure out how to work the technological maze of channel selectors and remote controls. 10 Points: Borderlands - I honestly don't know a ton about this game since it seems to be one of a number of "world is fucked so let's run around, kill scavengers and mutants, collect some leftover shit just to survive, and also stumble across an inscrutably high volume of usable weapons and ammunition" type of games. But after having watched Merv shoot countless scavengers and mutants, and scour what must've been the lost continent of Howitzer, Borderlands appears to be a rather good iteration in the genre and something I'd like to try for myself. 10 Points: Machinarium - Soooooo fucking gorgeous. I long for more developers to place such an emphasis upon the unity of story, presentation and the sheer magic of imagination. Few games achieve this for me - Braid, Aquaria and Ico are great examples. I was absolutely heartbroken when I first saw this game and knew my computer could never handle it. But soon, soon I shall experience its wonder and it's something I eagerly look forward to. There ya go. I think that's 100. |
I guess I should post my votes up, and after some deliberation here they are:
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - 30 points Having thoroughly enjoyed the first Uncharted I was excited for the sequel, but even so Uncharted 2 blew me away. The first game was an assured title but every aspect has been improved for the sequel and the game does everything so well and with such confidence that you can't help but get swept up with it. The story may be fairly silly at heart, but this is a big fun adventure romp with the emphasis on the fun. This is also a game that is near impossible to put down: the pacing is top-notch and flows so well, keeping the story compelling throughout that it's far too easy to lose track of time whilst playing. Oh, and let's not forget that it's also simply gorgeous, a vibrant and stunning looking game. Given that the amazing package also includes a load of interesting behind the scenes stuff, some fun unlocks and a pretty excellent multiplayer mode (showing how well it can be done on the PS3), Naughty Dog delivered an embarrassment of riches that everyone owes it to themselves to sample. Uncharted 2, for me, was the best gaming experience of the year without a doubt. Batman: Arkham Asylum - 20 points The previews always looked fairly cool so I gave it a chance with a pre-order, but man I was not expecting the bundle of excellence that this ended up being. Anyone who uses the phrase "This is a good Batman game" is doing the title a disservice as this is just a great game period, it just happens to feature Batman. The exploration, the combat, the way locations change subtly as the game progresses and the way new areas become available as your arsenal changes, the challenges and puzzles integrated to each area, it all makes for an incredibly solid core experience. Then you add in the fact that it is a Batman game that has an incredibly well realised location (perhaps the best atmosphere in a game since Bioshock) and some fantastic characterisation (that's expertly voiced too) then it's all elevated to a new level. Sure some of the boss battles are a little cliché but when the rest of the game is so expertly put together and is so much fun can you really complain? Plus once you're done with the main story you have the Challenge Rooms to play which are ace and a fun challenge. This was definitely the biggest surprise of the year and it 100% deserves to counted amongst the very best of the year's offerings. Borderlands - 15 points Until a few days ago this wouldn't have featured on my list of top games, but after just a handful of days in Pandora I'm a convert and I now understand why people were raving about this game. Gearbox have absolutely nailed the feeling of a satisfying shooter, which on that level alone is a ton of fun to play. Add in the looting and chance of finding some new toy or upgrade just around the corner and there's always motivation to go exploring and the addiction level ramps up. On top of that there's a really neat class system which allows some nice tailoring of your character and it's delicious icing on an already tasty cake. Oh and the game also looks fantastic and has a lot of amusing little touches here and there. Kudos to Gearbox they really pulled off something special here. Assassin's Creed II - 10 points I was a fan of the first Assassin's Creed and loved the world Ubisoft Montreal created for me to play in. However, it was a bit of a divisive game and I could certainly see where the complaints came from and how the repetitive missions could rub people up the wrong way. And I would certainly understand why those people would be sceptical about giving Assassin's Creed II a chance as on the face of things not much has changed. But the work done with this sequel, structuring the mission in a cohesive story, tweaking the gameplay slightly, a few new abilitys and adding new side-missions and stuff to do and suddenly things are transformed. As with the first game Assassin's Creed II delivers a luscious playground to enjoy and some incredibly fun toys to play around with (killing two guards with your hidden blades by leaping off a roof never loses its appeal) all wrapped around a story that keeps driving things forward to the extent that I just wanted more of it. Colour me excited for number 3. Orbital - 10 points I was incredibly pleased to see Crash mention this game as it means I'm not alone in my love for this little title. It'd be incredibly easy to dismiss iPhone(/iPod Touch) games, but there's a few fantastic titles out there that can easily eat your time and make excellent use of the device. Orbital is one of those games and has held my attention for a considerable amount of time over the last month or so since I picked it up. Like any such game it has that just-one-more-go nature to it as you try and push your high scores ever higher. It's also a fantastic looking little game with some really neat effects. If you own an iPhone or iPod Touch you won't regret spending the 59p on this one. Flight Control - 10 points Yep, a second iPhone game; between this and Orbital I put a rather large number of hours into game playing on my iPhone, which is something that rather surprised me this year. I grabbed Flight Control on a whim and thanks to being a great game, plus some superb support from Firemint, I spent a lot of time playing it trying to best my high scores. The gameplay works wonderfully with the touch controls (you draw lines mapping out a landing path for planes and helicopters) and each map offers a slightly different challenge to keep things interesting. Fun, addictive, challenging, great art style and, again, all for 59p; it's hard to think of many games that deliver quite as much bang for your buck. Another must have for any iPhone/iPod Touch owner in my book. Street Fighter IV - 5 points It'd been many years since I was excited about a Street Fighter game, and it'd been a while since I was in properly excited about a fighting game of any kind, but SFIV lit a fire inside me and really captured my imagination. It's easy to forget about titles that came earlier in the year, but it's near impossible to forget the anticipation for this game and just how much it delivered. Now I look forward to SSFIV. Honourable Mentions: Brutal Legend Canabalt DiRT 2 Forza 3 Halo 3: ODST Killzone 2 Left 4 Dead 2 Modern Warfare 2 Need for Speed: Shift Resident Evil 5 Scribblenauts The Beatles: Rock Band |
Wow, I hardly bought any new games this year it seems.
GTA - Episodes from Liberty City - 40 points I was seriously disappointed by GTA IV. Sure it was technically incredible but in making such a technical masterpiece, it seemed to me they forgot to make the game actually fun. With the episodes however, needing to spend no time on the engine or city, they concentrated on making a really good, fun couple of games. The missions are so much more varied, the characters are better realised, riding in a convoy of bikers is wicked, the new weapons in Gay Tony are hilarious, if a little OTT and the world they created in GTAIV just seems so much better realised. Having played the episodes, I once again have hope for the series. To be fair, I thought GTAIII was pretty dull too whereas Vice City and San Andreas were both great so I'm optimistic for the future. Sacred 2 - 30 points Loot 'em ups are all about endless farming, something a lot of people find pretty dull but I rather like them when they're done well and Sacred 2, though light on originality and suffering from a few technical flaws, delivers a ridiculously large game world and hundreds of quests, meaning the potentially boring task of killing monsters forever is made 100 times more interesting as you explore Ancaria. I played this for 180 hours, managed to finish it once and didn't really explore the last two chapters properly. Massive, massive game and a hugely enjoyable time-sink. Gran Turismo PSP - 20 points Yes it's at least four years late and yes it has it's limitations but as a way to pass the time on long journeys, for my money GTPSP takes some beating. Huge variety of cars, all the tracks you could wish for and the legendary GT physics model. There are better racing games certainly but no better driving games in my opinion. Guitar Hero Metallica - 5 points The only GH game released this year I own, GHM is awesome, assuming you're a Metallica fan. I know it's cool to rag on Guitar Hero and suck the Rock Band cock but the only difference between them really is the song selection and when I'm with a bunch of mates, pissed up and wanting to pretend to be in a band with plastic instruments, we want to pretend to be in Metallica because singing harmonies along to the Beatles is gay. I'm not actually that good at GH so Medium mode presents something I can play along to comfortably whilst needing to concentrate and hard mode presents a genuine challenge. Nobody can really sing like James Hetfield and the drum tracks are ridiculous on anything above easy but that's kinda why it's fun when you're drunk. Soul Calibur PSP - 5 The best beat 'em up on PSP. Classic Soul Blade gameplay, loads of retarded outfit customisation options, tons of blocking challenges to hone your reactions and Soul Blade has always and will always be better than Tekken. |
Bionic Commando- 40 points
Had a hard ass time creating this list as this was pretty much the one game I can remember loving from 2009. The only things I can hold against BC is the lack of more awesome boss fights and a ton of screen tearing. Everything else is gravy. Batman: Arkham Asylum - 20 ponts BATMAN UNDER PRESSURE: THE GAME. I can't even begin to express how much I think the combat in this game is the most visceral and rewarding combat system I've had the pleasure to enjoy in an adventure/action game. I feel like Bats through out the entire thing. The gadgets are awesome, the voice acting is great, the atmosphere rocks and setting makes me feel like a rich playboy who wears masks and kicks ass. Dragon Age: Origins - 30 points My favorite fantasy rpg in recent memory not named "The Witcher." It doesn't do dark fantasy quite as well as that other game but man is what here amazing. Great characters. Majority of my 76 hours was probably spent sitting in camp talking to just a handful of them! I never messed with Shale, Zevran or Sten too much as much as I wanted to (saving them for another run). I restarted pretty much as soon as I finished, just couldn't wait to talk more about it. Great quests and side quests, amazing voice acting, just awesome. Man, I could listen to Leilana talk ALL GOD DAMN DAY. Prototype - 10 Points I might have been one of the few people looking forward to this enough to have pre-ordered it. I loved the actual game so much I made a couple youtube videos for it via fraps. The feeling you get, from divebombing into a crowded NYC street and killing hundreds of people, blowing up cars and body surfing dudes is unmatched by any other game. I fucking love my murder simulator. Honorable Mentions: Brutal Legend, 50 Cent: Blood On The Sand, Fight Night Round 4, UFC 2009, L4D2, Shattered Horizon, Assassin's Creed II, Ghostbusters, Killing Floor, Dawn of War II, Forza 3, Modern Warfare 2, Halo 3: ODST |
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Borderlands - 35 points
Borderlands is seriously one of the best games to come out in a long time. In a year full of sequels, rehashes, and tired genre games, Borderlands represents a company trying to put two seemingly separate genres together (Shooter, RPG) and coming out with a game that is more than the sum of its disparate parts. It is fun to play, has one hell of a personality and art style, and has been one of my favorite games of the past year and of the past generation of games. I love it. Dragon Age: Origins - 20 points It's a gigantic fantasy RPG with a shitload of things to do, a world that's deep without being daunting, and a rather interesting overall combat system. Their consistent and rapid support for the game after release, while being rather expensive, is a nice touch; Oblivion got barely anything until that one expansion, and then nothing. Torchlight - 15 points While I did just go on about games sticking to genre traditions, the fact of the matter is when a game sticks to genre traditions REALLY FUCKING WELL, it can overcome how stale the genre itself is. Torchlight does everything about a Diablo-style action RPG right and only screws up little inconsequential bits like the narrator being overbearing. It is incredibly resource light while still looking fantastic, and I really hope that in the future more games will take this "Do something simple but right and cheaply" philosophy in the future. Modern Warfare 2 - 10 points The multiplayer is broken as hell and yet incredibly addictive, the singleplayer is hilariously ridiculous, and the whole game reeks of Infinity Ward sitting on their laurels and doing next to nothing to the first game. They only get away with it because the first game was so goddamn amazing that they didn't HAVE to do much to it. Bionic Commando - 10 points It's a shame GRIN went under, because this game is severely underrated. Sure, the game was short, and sure the multiplayer was pedestrian at best, but the gameplay was just so god damned FUN that I can't help but think a lot of people missed the forest for the trees on this one. The reviewers seemed to miss the fun factor in lieu of "hurrrr 4 hours? fuck that" and that's a damned shame, because now we'll never see what GRIN could've accomplished on a longer game. Groov - 10 points Groov is emblematic of what can be done right with the Indie Games service on Xbox. It's a short little game, it's a dual-stick shooter, but the aesthetic and music syncing are neat ideas, and the whole thing is executed competently and looking good. As I said in my Prime Gamer review ages ago, it's a diamond in an extremely rough rough. |
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http://blakstone.com/Dragstravaganza...unny_shame.jpg Quote:
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Quote:
Spoiler:
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You were playing a game called "Bionic Commando" for the STORY.
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The whole thing is an homage to terrible 80s action movies.
"This is like a terrible 80s action movie!" is subsequently the entire point, see. Perhaps the tongue-in-cheek thing wasn't handled correctly. Only about half of the people who played it seemed to pick up on it, so I don't blame you. |
"Woaaaah! IS that a long health bar or are you just happy to see me?"
"Spencer! There's no way out, you'll just have to fuck it!" "...umm" Bionic Commando is fucking great. Looking back on it, I REALLY REALLY enjoyed it. Also, fuck the haters, the ending was BADASS. Spencer ain't taking no shit. It also has the best score of 2009, right up there with ODST and the score for Neotokyo. Glad I gave it 40 points. |
Alright, time to dodge Skills' wrath (or further incur it) by voting.
Muramasa: The Demon Blade - 25 points Sure the story isn't as coherent as it could be, but the game looks gorgeous and plays fantastic. This is one of the few games that's a joy just to look at, and on several occasions I've actually stopped playing for a minute just to look at the backgrounds. Besides, you get to bathe with wild monkeys. That alone is worth some points. Batman: Arkham Asylum - 20 points I was worried about this one right up to its release. All signs pointed to it being good, but a good Batman game? Could it be possible? Oh my, yes. The announced VAs clenched it, because for me Kevin Conroy will always be the best Batman and Mark Hamill will always be the best Joker. There's just no contest. Arkham Asylum was not only a fun game that really felt like Batman, but the Riddler challenges also provided a nice way to tie together multiple sidequests that encouraged thorough exploration without being impossible to find. Retro Game Challenge - 10 points Despite Rally King sucking, the rest of the fake retro games are all pretty fun. I still pop it in once in awhile to play a bit of Haggleman 1&2, Cosmic Gate, and Star Prince. Guadia Quest, the RPG on par with early Dragon Quest games, is surprisingly good once you get into it complete with secret bosses and everything. Prototype - 10 points You can punch an old man through the chest, eat him, become him, and then glide through the air fighting Infected as an elderly superhero. You can slaughter 2,000+ Infected in 3~ minutes with a thermobaric tank. Tentacles. Whatever failings this game may have are redeemed and then some. Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes - 10 points I haven't had it long, but it's one of the best puzzle RPGs I've ever played. There's something very satisfying about pulling off a successful combo strategy to quickly take an enemy from full HP to death or close to it, especially when that combo involves BEARS. The 5 very different races manage to stay balanced once you understand how they work, aside from the humans. Humans kinda suck. BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger - 10 points Ordinarily I'm not a fan of fighting games. This is partially because I'm not very good at them, and partially because I dislike everything relying on memorizing combos. BlazBlue manages to stay simplistic as far as combos go without being overly so, and the characters are pretty neat. I'll take a black blob of sentient, insect-filled goo over Ryu any day. Rune Factory Frontier - 10 points This took everything Rune Factory 1 did right and made it better. There's really not a whole lot to say here aside from that, since you either like Rune Factory/Harvest Moon games or you don't. Henry Hatsworth and the Puzzling Adventure - 5 points The levels get a bit too long and are kind of repetitive in design, but it deserves some points for being hilarious fun. Any game that shouts TEA TIME to summon a steam-powered robot suit to the tune of the British national anthem is okay by me. Honorable Mentions, Now With Less U - New Super Mario Bros. Wii Haven't played it enough to accurately proclaim it a GOTY, but what I did play was some of the best multiplayer action ever. - Borderlands I considered this for the actual list since it's great, but as much fun as it is, it just didn't feel like a GOTY to me. |
Not going to have the time to do good writeups on most of these, but just to get my votes in:
30 Points - Borderlands - The game doesn't excel in any one area, but the way of the disparate elements come together still works quite nicely. Still has some flaws and other issues that are frustrating, but I still kept coming back more and more even while complaining about it. 15 Points - Shadow Complex - Super Metroid for a new generation (although let's be clear, not as good as Super Metroid). Also really like that it's an Arcade/downloadable title, among other games this year it really raises the bar for that space. 10 Points - Modern Warfare 2 - Having never played MW1 online, this is a weird one for me. The fact that with all of it's XP and progression hooks you always feel like you're doing something seals it for me. Especially as opposed to games like say Halo, where all that matters is if you win or lose, in this it doesn't matter nearly as much. Also single-player is completely ridiculous and nonsensical, which I'm all for. 10 Points - Left 4 Dead 2 - Left 4 Spreadsheet 2. 10 Points - New Super Mario Bros. Wii - Holds up well as a single-player game, but playing this with 4 people people was honestly probably the most fun I had multiplayer this year; if it had good online support for that it'd probably be in my top 2 or 3 games. 5 Points - Halo 3: ODST - Campaign is pretty great, and I really enjoy the overworld area. Firefight is also fantastic, if it had freaking online matchmaking for Firefight this would have placed a hell of a lot higher. 5 Points - Resident Evil 5 - Ultimately despite it's flaws this was a pretty fun co-op game. As a single-player experience I would still give it to RE 4 over this, but co-op pushes it over that. 5 Points - Sacred 2 - A really good console hack/loot/Diablo game that seems to have sold pretty well, but was generally overlooked. There's really nothing else like it on the consoles that's not crap (Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom anyone?). The world is HUGE, and with 4 player drop in/out co-op and world consistency across 5 difficulties, you could spend a long ass time with this. 5 Points - Dragon Age: Origins - Truly, the Age of Dragons. 5 Points - Trials HD - Would have placed higher if the difficulty didn't scale so dramatically so quickly. Don't get me wrong, I beat it (FUCK YOU INFERNO 2), but on replaying it I would always go back to earlier levels. DLC didn't do a whole lot to address that either -_-. Honorable Mentions: Phantasy Star Portable - A very streamlined portable version of PSU that eliminates almost all of the bullshit it's console cousin has. Lack of a proper online mode kicks it out of the top ten for me. Battlefield 1943 - A great multiplayer shooter to jump in and out of, but some technical issues (especially early one) and the lack of post-launch support drop it for me. Excitebots - SUPER SANDWICH. This game is completely insane and I love it, it just has a hard time competing against top-tier games of this year. Also the fact that local 2-player is only the two of you and not AI as well is a major bummer, but they do get props for having proper online. Street Fighter IV - I was really torn between this and Trials HD for my #10 slot. I think ultimately the fact that an improved version of this is coming in a few months dampens my enthusiasm for this one. Even though there are very few fighting games that I've ever gotten into, SF4 just felt really good and solid to play. Miner Dig Deep - An awesome little Xbox Indie game. Almost kinda like Dig Dug with RPG elements? It's 2 or 3 bucks, everyone should go check it out. Games that would probably be on this list if I had played them yet: -Uncharted 2 - Probably the big one looking at basically everyone's list. Got it for Christmas, just haven't gotten to it yet. -Assassin's Creed 2 - Same, got it for Christmas. -Batman - Playing this right now actually. -Torchlight - Picked it up on the $10 sale a few weeks ago and love it, but haven't had the time to really get into it yet. -Bowser's Inside Story - Haven't gotten to it yet. -Demon Souls - Haven't gotten to it yet. Daravon's 2008 game of 2009: Tales of Vesperia Yeah, love this game. Actually spent the time to 1000/1000 it. Arguably the best Tales game in my opinion. Biggest Disappointment: Star Ocean The Last Hope Seriously, fuck this game. Possibly the worst RPG I've played in 10 years, without exaggeration. I'm the only one of the group that bought it that beat it, and that was out of pure spite for paying $60 for it. The combat and graphics are passable, everything is total dog shit. Most of the cutscenes actually made me embarassed to be a gamer, and this is coming from someone who will gladly tell you that he beat and enjoyed games like FFX-2. The plot makes no fucking sense; hell, at one point YOU DESTROY A PLANET which winds up only to be a plot device to make a character emo for about 5 hours until they snap out of it, and then IT IS NEVER MENTIONED AGAIN. If you're looking forward to the PS3 version, fuck you. |
25 borderlands: it is a good game, but I can't get past the many flaws it has, they keep churning out DLC after DLC and they don't bother to fix the bugs it had from release day.
20 Street Fighter 4:some could say it is a prettier street fighter II, I say it does a great job at it. 25 Dragon Age:Origins: The game is just another iteration of a winning formula some would say, I didn't care much about this as my warrior was killing darkspawn left and right, I would have hoped for some actual innovation. 15 Machinarium: I honestly don't think I can add much about this game, though there are much bigger games out there, they aren't any better or more entertaining than this is, to be honest I can never say why this happens... I found all the puzzles to be challenging enough and it was strange having the answer right there and fighting so you don't use it. honorable mention: World of Goo: too bad only the linux version was released this year, but since I got it this year I have fresh fond memories of it. |
I just wanted to take the time to get my votes in for this. The only thing that I wanted to say is that in terms of all the games that have been released for 2009, I didn't get a chance to play a lot of them. I've been playing a lot of retro-titles, and kind of put a lot of the newer games on the backburner, but there have been some games that I have absolutely enjoyed this year.
King of Fighters XII - 40 pts I know this game will come to a surprise to most people. When you compare this game to every other fighting game that has been released this year, this would probably rank as the worse one in terms of replay value. The fact that this game had a lot of flaws such as the lack of a final boss, no story mode, not a lot of characters, and not a lot of replay value didn't really help this game. In my eyes, the reason why I love this game so much, is that it was one of the most beautiful fighting games I have ever played. I thought the character designs were incredibly beautiful, and the backgrounds were so beautifully animated. I thought the fighting engine was incredibly smooth, and the fighters were also beautifully animated. SNK, please take note, what you did with King of Fighters XII is that you made a very beautiful and very smooth game, but next time try to add a little more depth to it. Muramasa: The Demon Blade - 35 pts I love this game for pretty much the same reasons as I loved Odin Sphere. Just good ol fashioned 2D hack and slash in such a beautiful and rich environment. It is games that like these that show the beauty of 2D games on current gen consoles. It has a beautiful soundtrack and it is just a game you just have to sit back and appreciate all the beauty this game had to offer. Vanillaware you can go ahead and put out titles like this anytime. Street Fighter IV - 25 pts It doesn't matter how long I have played the Street Fighter series, I will never be good at it, but it doesn't stop me from trying. This game proves one thing, that Street Fighter will always set the benchmark of what makes a great fighting game and this game is no exception. You have a ton of characters, an excellent soundtrack, and just so much replay value with this game. Even if I was not fond of the art-style of this game, most of the characters are very evenly matched and you absolutely get your money's worth when you get this game. |
Voting is now closed. I'll sort out the votes and get something put up tomorrow.
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