Alright. This is it, the 5 best gaming experiences I had in 2009. Buckle up.
5: Batman - Arkham Asylum
(Rocksteady / Played on: Xbox 360) Beforehand this game didn´t really catch my interest..because...well.. its Batman. I´m not a big Batman fan nor a big comics fan in general but man, it totally dosen´t matter. Arkham Asylum is still such a masterpiece of a game. Its a fresh blend of Dead Space / Bioshock and a 3rd person shooter. The campaign is perfecly paced, has a cast of great characters and a dark psychological tone that plays alot on your own mental strenght to get through. The game also managed to be a stealth game without it feeling frustrating and the difficulty was spot on all the time to keep you on your toes without it ever getting too much. Batman is a very tense and exciting game to play and all of the story twists the game throws at you combined with the great use of the Unreal technology makes this a must play, Batman fan or not.
4: Warhammer 40.000 - Dawn of War 2
(Relic / Played on: PC) I said it in my review back then and i´ll say it again. PC RTS havent been this good outside of a Blizzard title in a loooong time. Its fantastic on all levels. Warhammer is a great well to drain from when it comes to lore, artstyle and strategy. It blends to form a RTS/RPG hybrid that wont let go and make you lose your interest like so many PC RTS games does these days for me. This game drips of personality in every aspect of its execution and the blend of genres is taken to perfection. The campaign is a really nice display of progression with its loot and leveling mechanics and the stellar presentation makes every mission of it a battle for the ages. I can´t say enough good things about Dawn of War 2 and how tragic it is that many console players wont even think about playing it. But if you´ve ever enjoyed a Blizzard RTS in your life you owe it to play this perfect evolvement of the genre. It wakes up the sleeping RTS need you thought you didn´t have while playing on the strenghts of the WoW addiction of the world today. 4 distinct races to learn and play in skirmish and multiplayer and all of them reeks of personality and style.
Its a heavy, gritty gaming experience that stuck with me as one of the absolute best of the year.
3: Resident Evil 5
(Capcom / Played on: Playstation 3) One of the most rewarding Co-op experiences I´ve ever had. Few games was made for co-op like this one and if you didn´t like it chances are you either played it alone or have a dislike for Resident Evil already. Its a reminder of what made Resident Evil 4 one of the best games ever all over again but with added co-op.The game also features a great build up of the story and a great new character in Sheva. RE5 is also easily forgotten when it comes to graphics of 2009. This is easily one of the best looking games of the year and the facial animations in particular is nothing short of stunning. But as I said it was really the co-op that did it. Playing the game through twice with a friend easily contributed to some of the best gaming memories of the year and cooperative bossfights took gaming fun to a place it havent been for a while for me. Its a pure Resident Evil experience of the post RE4 era with over the top awesome cutscenes, panic inducing enemy encounters & plenty of unlockables to make you come back time and time again. Already super hyped to jump back in next year with the DLC.
2: Borderlands
(Gearbox / Played on: Xbox 360) A TOP NOTCH first person shooter of old where awesome gunplay and cool enemies gets to take the front seat. Weapons are superb and they come in so many different flavors that you´ll never see them all. Layer on top of this a Diablo style leveling, class and loot system and you have something that is simply impossible to stop playing. Its a game that makes sure you have a blast playing it before anything else. The gameplay fun here is something that has to be experienced to be believed. It is not a game you watch a trailer of a instantly want to play but when you get into it theres no stopping it. It also has the best humor of the year and it conveys it in a very subtle way. Achievements, quest names, NPCs, monsters and small details in the enviroments are often nods to other games as well as a big chunk of pop culture. It dosent take itself seriously and manages to keep a tasteful amount of self distance to everything it does. Borderlands is a tribute to what makes games fun and 50 or so hours later you´ll still enjoy leveling up and finding new loot because it never feels like a grind, it feels like youre playing an awesome first person shooter that also features a great and unique artstyle to go with it.
1: Street Fighter IV
(Capcom / Played on: Xbox 360 & Playstation 3) SF IV cannot be denied as the effin mammoth of this year for me. I´ve never spent this much time with a fighting game in my whole life. Its resurrected a genre and my interest in it completely. Ive played almost 100 hours of this beast at home but this game has been played at several SFIV parties and has become something of a mainstay through everything else. Its inspired me to put down $170 on an arcade stick and its inspired me to start watching loads of professional players go at it aswell as studying tacticts to get better on it.
I´ve talked, breathed and enjoyed SFIV on so many different occasions this year that this game alone pretty much defines what 2009 was for me in terms of gaming. It brings people together and creates a party atmosphere that is just pure awesome sauce. Whether you are a pro or just started, a gathering with SFIV is such a good time ! I also usually dont play alot of stuff online on my consoles but I´ve probably played around 800 matches on Xbox live and even more with people in the same room. Plans are already in place for even bigger gatherings in 2010 and chances are this game will stick with me for the next year aswell with the release of the Super edition. Memories of gaming 2009 pretty much begins and ends with SFIV. I´m not even going to go into what an insanely well crafted fighting game SFIV is because at this point I´ve experienced it so much that I couldnt even begin explaining it.
I think that might be it for my 2009 GOTY awards. I might add some more special categories that have popped up in my mind.
Feel free to write you own lists in the comments and thanks for reading !
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