Your Top 10 of 2009

I only got around to playing the first Modern Warfare this summer, and I absolutely loved it. The singleplayer was intense and cinematic, and the multiplayer was as addictive as all hell. Modern Warfare 2 took most everything I loved about CoD4 and improved it exponentially. Yeah, the campaign's story wasn't quite as plausible as CoD4's, but it was still action-packed and filled with myriad cinematic moments. However, the biggest improvement was in the multiplayer. By the time I got around to playing CoD4, I felt like I had missed it. Yeah, it was still a good experience, I just felt a little late to the party. Modern Warfare 2 added a slew of new and more interesting weapons, challenges, and more options. I've spent close to 40 hours playing Modern Warfare 2's multiplayer, and there's no end in sight. That, and the fact that Spec. Ops is just a fantastic co-op experience definitely make MW2 one of my favorite games of the year.

Fire Emblem is one of my favorite franchises. Even though the stories, characters and difficulty may be uneven in the series, I can always count on a Fire Emblem game to provide an addictive, strategic and challenging experience. Shadow Dragon may be a port of a 20 year old game, but despite a story that's a little bit on the generic side, its age rarely shows.

If you were to ask me what I thought about Halo 3, I would just reply "trying too hard". Yes, it had a stellar multiplayer component, but I still prefer the more class-based styles of multiplayer over weapon-drop multiplayer. I just thought that Halo 3 was trying a little bit too hard to tie up the lose ends started by Halo 2, and having a bunch of repetitive vehicle sequences than it was focused on delivering an actual experience. ODST, on the other hand, was an experience. The striking dark atmosphere of the night missions, a protagonist who didn't create a disconnect from the player, and countless similarities to Firefly actually made me really like ODST. Oh, and there's Firefight, too.

I love super heroes. While yes, I may have never actually finished reading a comic book in my life, I still love super heroes. As someone who has played dozens of pen and paper Super Hero RPGs, InFamous actual captures the slow, turn-based interactivity of a pen and paper RPG, and actually brings it into a fast-paced action game. InFamous also threw in some great platforming, a gripping story, and some moral choices that were actually kind of difficult to make, even though they were still very traditional black and white decisions. All in all, InFamous is just one of those dream games that you'd think would be super cool if someone actually made and put effort into, except actually in real life.

At first, I didn't really like Arkham Asylum that much. I thought it had clunky controls, weird animation, and some major plot holes (re: Batman not having all of his gadgets at the start of the game for no reason at all). However, by the time the Bane fight came around, I was hooked. Much like InFamous, Batman: Arkham Asylum made me feel like a super hero, but this time, it was my favorite super hero of all time. Even though it isn't always perfect, Arkham Asylum was a thrilling and atmospheric experience that I won't soon forget.

Few games can spark the pure emotion that flower can. Yeah, it was a short game, and the second last chapter did nothing but piss me off and highlight the control oddities of the game, but it truly is a beautiful game. It's just a tranquil and entrancing experience, and is just one of those games that I'll always think of fondly.

Uncharted 2 is a really, really, really good blockbuster game. It's got great action, memorable and well-acted characters, beautiful settings, and a cohesive story. I really liked the first Uncharted, and I didn't really mind its combat that much. However, Uncharted 2 took the giant leap of improvement that the franchise needed. You could actually hit people with grenades, stealth was a viable option, and enemies didn't soak up quite as many bullets as they did in the first game. Still, what really got me was the massive set-pieces it had. From leaping from truck to truck, train car to train car, and collapsing building to stable building, Uncharted 2 never had a dull moment, but still managed to maintain some fantastic pacing.

I really like the Beatles, and I really like Rock Band. Need I say more?

What? An iPhone game? But the iPhone isn't a legitimate gaming platform! You're right. You are very much right. But it can still have someone tap the screen to jump, while a very stylized man animates very well along a very stylized building. Even though it is a very basic game, it's as fun as all hell. The hours I have pumped into it trying to beat my high score (current record is 6476m) and its addictive format make it one of my favorite games of this year, and easily my favorite iPhone game.

Yeah, it didn't come out this year, but it did come out in Europe this year, which kinda makes it still count! No point in talking about how incredible it is, because it's been already said by me, and countless other individuals whose opinions are much more valid than mine.