Swing a dead cat and you’ll hit a top ten list. They’re easy, they’re sometimes fun and they show up in truckloads every December. And since this year is the end of the decade-we-can’t-name, you’re getting hit by top ten lists for the year and the decade. Oh joy!
But everyone has an opinion and the Internet is this miraculous tool that makes us all think our opinions are important and that people actually listen to us. So, I’ll subscribe to that same idea and present my list of the best my favorite games of 2009.
In no order except which one I thought of first:
Red Faction: Guerilla
So good I bought it twice. My first play through was on the PS3. Then it was part of the THQ Steam pack. So now I can play it through GFW Live and get gamer points. And because this game is all about destruction, and jetpacks, of course I want to play it again. No other game had the same level of just-fun-fucking-around gameplay that this one had.
Infamous
Easily better than the overworked Prototype, Infamous was the best super powered experience of the year. Lightning powers were focused and the leveling up was timed welled. Add in a decent story and a game world so well-designed that you just want to run around, climb up buildings and slide down power lines and you get a great first effort in a hopefully long lasting franchise. Can’t wait for number 2.
Shadow Complex
2D awesomness. It was like seeing the future as imagined in 1994 before 3D gaming became a reality. Gorgeous and so, so much fun to play. This is how you reinvent an old school game and make it relevant to today. Forget the controversy that went nowhere, Shadow Complex is just a great game well worth your time and money.
Batman: Arkham Asylum
The best Batman title ever. Brawling, stealth, detective work, a brilliant voice cast and it’s all dripping in Batman respect. A sequel announcement already? That’s because the game is damn good. It was the biggest surprise of the year and deserves all the success it got.
Modern Warfare 2
Sure, the story may be on this side of ridiculous, but the shooting mechanics and the immersion are still there and there’s nothing like settling in to a game of MW2 and feeling like you’re one of the badass soldiers you can never be. And I’m just talking about single player. Sure, most love the multiplayer, but for me it’s that single player experience first and foremost and MW2 made me feel just a little like I was playing Red Dawn. And that’s badass.
The Beatles Rock Band
There’s nothing to say about this. It’s the Beatles.
Uncharted 2
Better than the first and the first was damn good. Polished controls, graphics, and more importantly, story. While still so derivative, Uncharted 2 shows what happens when time and care are put into a game. You take the best of another medium and you present it as only a video game can: as an immersive, entertaining and engaging experience. Game of the year.
