Best of 2009
Shayo: Best of 2009
List items
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When I talked about setpieces and how they should be used, this game is a perfect example of how the game offers you the tools of execution awesome Batman-like moves with determined objectives. You find yourself in an area with thugs that you have to silently take out one by one in order to reach the next area. Batman's ninja hidding skills? Check. There's an area of thugs and you have to beat the shit of out them? The game gives you the moves and a fighting system that is easy to learn and has a deep value of execution. Batman ninja fighting skills? Check. You are Batman of course, which means you are the greatest detective that ever lived and you find yourself being able to solve all of these little puzzles placed by the Riddler. Batman detective skills? Check. All of these systems with its main story that drives the game forward make an excellent package that everyone should experience, even if you never read any Batman related comics or just watched at least one Batman movie. The game could be described in one sentence. Batman: Arkham Asylum makes you feel like you really are Batman. And a video game that can simulate that kind of a feeling and execute it spectacularly, is a video game worth placing highly in the annals of video game history.
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This was the year where developers did the superhero video game genre justice, by making those games right. inFAMOUS places you in the position of a regular dude that gets electric superpowers. And then he does whatever shit he wants to. As in our deepest dreams, the developers made a successful superhero game that has a more than solid and fun gameplay, an amazing story which leaves you wanting for more. The fact that the game has a morality system, gives you the chance to play the game through two different perspectives, with two different superpower mechanics, once as an evil dude and once as a good dude (the morality system itself is actually dumb of course, but it does the job). The game is simply awesome in its execution and does the job more than right.
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The game was mentioned before as my personal game of the year pick for the PC, but in the overall picture, it deserves to be third on the list. This is mostly because of its lack of an actual story to drive the game forward. Sure, the FPS gameplay is fantastic, the loot system is fantastic, the gun system is fantastic, but it lacks that small piece of a meaningful story, that would give some sense to why you're doing the stuff you're doing, to actually place it higher on the list. But still, number three is still pretty good. Looking forward to some more DLC in the future and hoping that Borderlands will become next year's Fallout 3 in the sense of DLC support. For me, Borderlands is how Fallout 3 should have been, without the VATS system that I absolutely loathed.
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I was one of those few people who adored the original Assassin's Creed, even though it had the typical repeated gameplay elements, you can usually find in Ubisoft's games. The game had this weird movie-like holy feel and setting to it, and was really a gem. Assassin's Creed II fixes all the issues that the original game had and expands on the concept of you being an assassin. You go through the actual process of becoming a killing machine in the, oh so beautiful renaissance Italy in the 15th century. I originally placed Assassin's Creed II on the #2 spot on my list, but after a closer consideration, it was not worthy that high of a spot out of one main reasons. The game lost its holy setting in the Holy Land, which impressed me in the first game. There aren't any explicit religious reasons, it's just that the story had more meaning. Altair was on a quest to redeem himself and protect the Holy Land from the Knight's Templars and Ezio just wanted to get some payback for the death of his father.
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Resident Evil 4 was awesome and we all knew it. The new gameplay format was beyond godlike had a very special feeling to it. So when they announced a new Resident Evil 5, we we're stoked and in high expectations. And it didn't disappoint me, with one little exception. In RE4, you we're alone in an unknown location in Spain at night, where creepy stuff happened. In RE5 you're stuck 24/7 with a woman that is essentially you're mule, which you use to carry around weapons and ammo you don't need, in daylight Africa. And there's more action. A lot more action. But you still felt the core of RE4's gameplay and fighting your way from one area to another was never more exciting. Which is what makes me wonder why most people behave like RE5 never came out this year and don't speak about it.
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I'm a huge Left 4 Dead fan. The structure of the game was perfect. There were zombies and you and three other people had to survive. No plot, just survive through this campaign and experience awesome moments of horror and agony. So when they announced a sequel after a mere eight or so months, I was sceptical. And I still am. Even after beating the game. Sure, they added more contents, one more campaign and new modes. And chainsaws. Out of some unknown reason, I keep coming back to the original Left 4 Dead, with a crew I'm far more familiar. Because of the fact that I would rather play more of the original L4D, L4d2 just didn't score higher on this list.
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As with Modern Warfare 2, this was also a game that everyone waited for and held their breaths until they were released, consequentially climaxing at their cinematic value and fun multiplayer. But not me. I do appreciate setpieces, but when I saw that Uncharted 2 was built all around them, constantly placing me in cool moments, it just didn't do for me. You could say that Uncharted 2 is played like a movie, which is totally fine. But a movie is a movie. For me a very good game gives me the tools to create my own awesome and unforgettable moments, which is what counts. Similarly as with Modern Warfare 2, Uncharted 2 is a popcorn kind of game, one that you enjoy while it lasts, but it's easy forgettable and doesn't really stand the test of time.
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I don't know why, but I feel kind of guilty placing Modern Warfare 2 on the list. I played the hell out of the original Modern Warfare's multiplayer, but here I didn't touch it on purpose. I only wanted to see one thing. The story mode. I wanted to see what kind of cinematic and insane crap they placed in four hours of gameplay. A friend of mine lend me the game and I wasn't impressed. The original story and setting were spectacular, but this time, shit just got too surreal for my taste. I have no doubt that the game is really a high quality game, but I already knew what to expect from the game. So that's why it didn't do it for me. But if someone says that Modern Warfare 2 was an amazing experience for him and that the multiplayer is still awesome, I'll agree with him.
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This year was a really good year for digital releases of retro-themed games on both PSN and XBLA. After a large number of bad Arcanoid that rampaged through years, Shatter brings a new and innovative game mechanic into the overall gameplay. Sucking and blowing (no sexual innuendo intended). Thanks to trophies, I've managed to beat the game three times and I still found myself even today trying to get the last three trophies, after a four month hiatus. The game is fun. What more can I say? Also, buy the soundtrack, it's really good. Anyone that you'll speak to about Shatter will mention this, even me.
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I don't know how to skate, but I do respect people that do know how to skate. Thus the medium of video games is my only resort to actually getting the feeling and sensation of the sport. And man, does the feeling kick you in the groin and kicks you again after you fall down in pain. The game is better than the original that I loved last year and even more realistic, which means it's much harder. I never really was a fan of Tony Hawk's button control and the million combos you can do with a press of two buttons, but the stick control in Skate 2 still feels natural and fun. Even if it makes you almost break a controller or two in the process.
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