Game of the year 2009

 

So I figure, it’s the end of the year which means everyone will be doing year end countdowns of best, this and best that.  Since I have a blog, I figured I would dabble a bit in the whole list making craze and create one myself. I’m a big gamer, it’s a huge part of my life.  It’s my hobby, it’s my job, and it’s a passion of mine, so I figured I should stick with what I know and talk a little bit about gaming. 

2009 was a good year for gaming.  Maybe not “sales” wise, ( thanks economy!!) but there was a lot of titles that got released this year that achieved high honors, but only 1 can make my list as the top game of 2009.  But before I give that away, lets take a look at some of the games that came out in 2009 that made a big splash.

 

The first half of 2009 saw big releases like Killzone 2 for the PS3.  Killzone was supposed to be the “halo killer”, it was supposed to be the game that put the PS3 on the map and into the homes of every house across the world.  Sony spent a ton of time perfecting this game, even delaying it numerous times to ensure they got it just right.  Did it work? Well Sony promised us a game that would look better then any other console game out there, and on that front they delivered.  No one can deny how impressive Killzone 2 looks.  The detail to every character, and the look of Helghan immersed you into the game.  This game looked amazing.  The sound design was pretty top notch, and the music was great as well. The multiplayer was unique and a ton of fun.  However it takes a lot more then just graphics and sounds to make a game great and this is where Sony dropped the ball a bit.  Though on it’s own KZ2 is a really good game with an “ok” story, when it’s pinned next to other games in this genre it just doesn’t compete.  It doesn’t do enough to set itself apart from other games, you fight the same looking characters over and over again, and you are pretty much forced to use the same 2 guns the entire game, though at times they were nice enough to throw you a new gun, only to take it away for no good reason.  To a fault, Sony really tried to make the game too realistic, even with the controls which on purpose they gave a very sluggish feel to them.  Every weapon has a ton of weight so moving around with them and aiming is very non-responsive.  For the hardcore gamer this is probably not a problem, but for people looking to buy a ps3 and a game to own, this did not fly at all and was a huge mistake by Sony.  If you are trying to create a system seller you need to make sure everyone and anyone can pick it up right away.

 

Another good game that came out, this time across both PS3 and 360 was Resident Evil 5.  Many games will point to Resident Evil 4 as being one of the greatest games of all time.  So for that, RE5 had a lot to live up to.  And in my opinion lived up to most of it.  The game looked great, and controlled great ( once you get used to the RE style of gameplay ).  The addition of co-play was amazing and worked really well…..as long as you were playing co-play.  You see, even if you are not playing with a friend, the computer takes over and you are forced to play with a dumb AI.  Though I will say that the AI is not the worst AI I have seen in my life ( hi Left 4 Dead! ), it wasn’t perfect and I had a lot more fun playing the game with my friend Tim then I did alone.  That’s where the game really shined.  Playing co-op in RE5, really felt like co-op. The survival modes were a ton of fun as well and added some replay value for the game.  Though this game was great it still isn’t the #1 game for me.

The Beatles: Rock Band.  Harmonix entered into Guitar Hero territory ( and by that I mean lets try to make as much money off people by creating a game based off a band, but really just has the same gameplay as our other game so you are not really getting your money’s worth in value territory ).  But like everything else Harmonix has done, they do it better.  With Beatles, they took Rock Bands core gameplay, but changed up the UI a ton, added a really cool “story mode” where you get to see the Beatles progress through their career and added vocal harmonies.  This game was no Rock Band rehash, and for that I give Harmonix a ton of credit.  I liked the game a lot.  I beat it once through on guitar and once through on drums, ( even got the achievement of beating the game once, and then again in less then 24 hours!).  But I have to say, after that I haven’t put the game in again.  I guess it just didn’t have the staying power that I thought it would have.  The fact that you can’t play any other songs with it, or transfer the songs to regular Rock Band probably have a lot to do with that, but I understand Harmonix couldn’t do anything to get around that.  So though it was a great game, it still is not the game of the year for me.  Though I recommend to to anyone who is a huge Beatles fan, or wants to introduce their music to a younger audience.

Sometimes a game, just wants to be a game, and for 2009 that game was Borderlands.  The purpose of Borderlands?  Kill lots of stuff, upgrade your character and get tons of loot ( IE guns )…….yup that’s it, and that is why it’s such a good game.  Gearbox didn’t worry about an amazing story, or try to reinvent the FPS, ( though by adding some really cool RPG elements they kind of did…sort of ).  Borderlands is a great game to play when you just want to plop in a game, and start shooting and there is nothing wrong with that, if that is what you are trying to create!  The art style was very unique and Jesper Kyd’s sound track was amazing.  The game truly shines in co-op, as it scales in real time depending on how many players are in your group and their level.  Once they leave, it scales back down, so it provides a constant balance no matter how you play it. A great and fun game but still not my GOTY.

Tim Schafer, not much to say about him other then he’s a great game designer with a great sense of humor.  In 2009 he tried to strike a chord with audiences ( yup I did that on purpose ) with Brutal Legend. At it’s core, Brutal Legend is an amazing concept. #1 Create a world that is run by Heavy Metal.  #2 Create a mythology that contains creating this world through Heavy Metal.  #3 Make it very violent. #4 Put in Tim’s sense of humor.  #5 Top it all off with Jack Black, and BAM you got a great game.  But that’s just at it’s core.  Though it was still fun cool to play it just didn’t live up to what a lot of gamers wanted it to be.  The forced RTS elements felt…well forced, and the gameplay felt very repetitive.  Again, it was a great concept, and I think if you played it you would enjoy the game, but you won’t love it…and neither did I.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.  You should all know about this game.  It sold over 4.5 million games in it’s first week alone to become the biggest game launch of all time.  The sequel to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare ( go figure ), ups the ante a ton by adding more explosions, with a few more added explosions to top it all off.  This game is all about being big, and it excels at that.  It’s a Michael bay movie on crack, which is not a bad thing at all, ( especially if you like crack!). The game looks astounding, and the sound will blow you away.  My only big gripe about the game is that it took me just under 5 hours to finish the single player campaign.  Way to damn short.  However, the amount of time I have put into the multiplayer more then makes up for that.  At the time of writing this, I have about 34 hours, I’m a lvl 50, and I have a ways to go before hitting lvl cap.  Multiplayer is where it’s at for this game.  It’s addicting, it’s a ton of fun to play, the weapons are great, the perks are fun, and the killstreaks are awesome, ( ac-130 anyone?).  It’s just an all out ton of fun to play, ( not to mention kicking Derek and Mike’s ass in a private match).  That being said, though I really, really like the game, for me it just doesn’t fall into GOTY.  I need a game to be all encompassing.  If COD was just multiplayer with no single player campaign, I might feel different about this game.  But they put in a really short single player game, with not a ton of depth, and I need to judge it on that as well.  Though it’s up there on my list, it’s not GOTY.

Remember when Dark Knight came out?  Yea I remember that too.  Mostly because it was one of the best movies I have ever seen.  I’ve always  been a fan of Batman, ever since I was a little kid.  He’s my favorite of all the comic book hero’s.  So you can imagine how excited I was when I first heard of Batman: Arkham Asylum, you can also imagine who nervous I was when I remembered that there has never been a “good” Batman game released!  I bought the game anyway, ( actually got the collectors edition because I am that much of a fan of Batman,oh and waited inline at midnight ).  I got home, put in the disk, warily pressed start with 1 eye closed in hopes that I wouldn’t be disappointed, and then it happened.  The camera panned down over a sign that read “Arkham Asylum”, and the batmobile came screaming down the road.  My other eye opened, and to my pleasure never closed again.  Batman: Arkham Asylum is hands down the best Batman game ever made.  It’s the first game to truly get what Batman and even the Joker are all about.  For Batman it’s not about running into a room and killing everyone, it’s about using his smarts, figuring out the best way to take everyone out silently so not to get caught.  It’s about using his toys to figure out clues, and take down badguys.  For the Joker, it’s about being a sick and twisted man with no regard to any life at all.  This game, nails it on both fronts.  I’ve haven’t been so into a game as I was with Arkham Asylum, in a really long time.  The designers nailed almost every aspect of gameplay.  The combat is as fluid as you can get, the look of the Asylum and the characters is as perfect as you can get.  The soundtrack screams “BATMAN!!”.  All of this is why Batman: Arkham Asylum is the best Batman game ever, and also in my opinion the 2009 game of the year.  Do yourself a favor.  If you haven’t played this game.  Please go out, and get it.  You will not be disappointed. 

Feel free to comment and tell me what you think about this list.  Anything you’d add? 

 

NOTE: You will notice that Uncharted 2 is not on this list.  That’s because I didn’t get it until recently.  Though it’s received many many game of the year nods, since I haven’t played it  yet, I didn’t feel it was fair to mention.  It might change my mind on the GOTY, but since I probably won’t finish it until early 2010 I didn’t want to wait.  Also I just started playing Dragon Age: Origins thanks to my brother in law’s awesome xmas gift, and I have a ways to go before completing that.