Which of these mouse-and-keyboard marvels drew us in most in 2009? You're so close to finding out that you can practically taste it! Gross!
While the release of Windows 7 certainly grabbed a lot of headlines, there were also plenty of games out in 2009 that really took special advantage of the benefits that being on a PC brings. But none took better advantage of that extra power and control than our PC Game of the Year! Â
 It's pretty fitting that the best PC game of 2009 is a game that, if not for its impressive graphics, feels like it could have been released on the platform a decade ago. No other 2009 release felt more like a PC game than Dragon Age: Origins. Hell, even if you were playing BioWare's latest on the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360, you probably still felt like you might be able to Alt-Tab away to a browser to read up on spell combos. And you know what? That's awesome.
There's a reason why party-based, strategic, 50-hour epics were fun ten years ago, and that reason is why Dragon Age still works today. That part wasn't really much of a surprise, though. It was the ease at which this type of game shed its Dungeons and Dragons backdrop and ruleset and fully embraced a whole new world that really made it work. BioWare came up with something that not only kept the complexity of its lineage, but made it accessible to a new crop of high-fantasy players. That's pretty hard to do when you consider the game's main audience were the same people that ripped Fallout 3 to shreds last year.
Similar parallels could be drawn to Dawn of War II, which proved that the PC is still the only place you really want to play a real-time strategy game, even when it removes the need to manage dozens of on screen troops like the latest Warhammer 40k game did. Both titles showed that old tricks still work, and work even better with a new perspective. Â Â Â Â
lol you're right.. then what are we talking about here? best PC game not necessarily an exclusive? Kay.  hey paa "
They probably decided the PC did not have enough big name AAA exclusives to have a PC-only award. The PC has a ton of exclusives but they are mostly smaller titles like Zeno Clash or League of Legends, nothing that gets the mainstreamers excited. "
There were a few actual exclusives that sold 'mainstream' numbers this year (GB reviewed at least 4 of them and scored them all 4 or 5), but I can maybe see why they handled the PC category the way they did. Technically, it would be wrong to call Dragon Age a PC exclusive, but the difference in how it plays between the console version and the PC version is perhaps enough to to treat them as different games. I think this was the best way to give the award to the game they felt deserved it, without people bitching about it not being an exclusive. (I haven't watched the video yet, so apologies if they address this issue).  Dawn of War 2 is PC GotY for me, exclusive or non-exclusive - it may even prove to be the most mechanically influential game released this year on any platform. I think you could release a game not dissimilar to DoW2 on the consoles and it would play fine and be relatively successful. I think they invented a console-friendly RTS/RTT, without it being patronising and shit.
" i still really need to try this  think i could get it at a decent framerate with an ATI 2600 with 256mb?  at least on medium settings? "
Doubt it. It's still a great game on consoles though so you shouldn't miss out just because you don't have a gaming PC. It's graphics (compared to a good gaming PC) and the GUI isn't quite as good on consoles, but everything else is very much the same game.
lol you're right.. then what are we talking about here? best PC game not necessarily an exclusive? Kay.  hey paa "
They probably decided the PC did not have enough big name AAA exclusives to have a PC-only award. The PC has a ton of exclusives but they are mostly smaller titles like Zeno Clash or League of Legends, nothing that gets the mainstreamers excited.
Good choice, it may not have been an exclusive but it felt like one. Dragon Age is a statement that the PC still offers some gameplay not able to be done nearly as well elsewhere. I personally think that is still true for shooters but obviously the mainstream disagrees with me, still this time it was good to see the PC get its due.
This game makes me with I could tolerate using a mouse and keyboard to play a game. And have a computer that could do more than surf the web and type shit.
I liked DA:O quite a bit even though I played the PS3 version and the controls can't quite hide the game's PC origins. BioWare created a deep, lore-filled universe with some amazingly interesting characters and the combat and skill system is much improved from the at times dreadfully slow-paced D&D. As great as the interactions between characters were though, the overarching story was rather bland and predictable and sadly, I for one never had a real wow-moment with the game. Still great choice.
@Sargus: Yeah I know, just as someone who recently picked up both and is playing both simultaneously I'm finding it odd that I'm enjoying Witcher more. Dave's making me want to go try a mage out though..looks hella more fun than my warrior.
This is one of those moments where if you pick any other game, I tell you you're wrong. My common theme between games of the year (last year would have been Fallout 3) is that I spent over 120 hours on them, and I'm still going strong.
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