Zereta's Top 10 Games of 2009
By Zereta 3 Comments
So, watching the GB crew run down their Top 10 lists got me thinking of my own and well, 2009 was awesome. So many amazing games came out, so many great announcements. Hell 2010 is gonna even more fantastic because if anything, 2009's got me hyped for damn 2010. So I break it down. Here are my top 10 games I played in 2009.NOTE: THIS LIST INCLUDES GAMES NOT RELEASED IN 2009 BUT THE ONES I PLAYED IN 2009, SO IT MAY INCLUDE GAMES FROM YEARS PAST.
10. Modern Warfare 2
The first Modern Warfare was hot in a lot of ways but something a lot of people failed to realize was the many flaws in the multiplayer system. Its addictive and kept me playing regardless my many problems with it and eventual hate for it but all in all, a good game. With Modern Warfare 2, its obvious that Infinity Ward wanted to beat the craziness of the first in every way and this does not necessarily pan out to make the amazing game, anyone expected. Modern Warfare 2's story takes a turn from the semi-realistic plausibility of the first to a complete Micheal Bay movie and in an attempt to make Multiplayer even better, they ended up making it impossible to enjoy unless you invested a lot of time into it by reaching the higher levels. Its addictive though and I just can't stop playing it but its problems hit me and hit me hard. Still, I like Micheal Bay films and well, I had a good time with Modern Warfare 2.
9. Borderlands
Man, Borderlands is such an amazing game. It just, well... amazing. All those guns. All those quests. Everything just feels so good. I would even go on to say Borderlands feels the rightest to shoot. And each gun feels unique in some way. Hell, look at me! I can't even properly justify Borderlands. Its just good. Sure, things got repetitive and the story was horrible but it got me hooked and well... Dude, its BORDERLANDS.8. Grand Theft Auto IV
I thought GTA IV was horrible. I hated it. Back in 2008, I felt disgusted by the very thought of it. They took the fun of the previous GTA games and threw it right out the windows. I couldn't play it anymore then. Coming back to it in 2009 and slowly, patiently playing through it, I still can't forgive Rockstar for such a shift in the way GTA played. Going down the path of realism isn't really the best way to go but what kept me hooked was narrative. Rockstar wrote a brilliant story and that's what kept me playing it despite frustration.7. Fallout 3
Oh Fallout 3! Again, I hated this game at first. Nothing was really the game's fault though. It just was such a slow burn in the beginning. But the more I played it, the more I was hooked. The more I wanted to keep going. As I played the game, the DLC came out slowly and it was the first Non-Halo game that I ever bought ALL the DLC to. Amazing story, amazing premise and well, such an amazing mood and tone to it. Bethesda truly created an amazing world to play in, despite the bombed uo-ness of it.6. Halo Wars
I don't typically care for RTS games. But as a Halo fiction whore, I had to buy this, just to see the story. And well, it got me. I've played RTS games before and never liked them so the fact that the gameplay of a Console based RTS got me hooked was just mindblowing to me. It had a relatively good story, though only meaningful to Halo fans. Its a nice little RTS tribute almost to the Halo series and for me, for more than anything.5. Halo 3: ODST
What can I say? Bungie is still amazing at making First Person Shooters. For anyone who has played a lot of Halo: Combat Evolved, ODST is obviously pure fan service. A nice tight focused story, with a brand new set of characters. Some people lamented that the story would have nothing to do with the original trilogy but hell, we were proven wrong. ODST's tight story makes the events of Halo 3 make a lot more sense and offers great insight into how Halo 3 even happened. A short campaign, though solid, left me wanting more. The many Bioshock-esqe Audio Logs scattered around the city actually provided a much better story than the already good ODST tale and even made me shed a tear at one point. It was that powerful to me. Firefight, the Halo take on the now popular Horde Mode style of gameplay, might just be the best iteration of that kind of stuff to date and even 2 years later, the Halo 3 Multiplayer has yet to be beat. Definitely the most solid, tight and balanced Multiplayer suite, hell, Ever.4. Assassin's Creed 2
It says a lot that an hour into the game, I got so invested into the character than I changed the language to Italian, just for a much more authentic experience. Like Borderlands, I can't quite put my finger on it but AC2 just feels damn good. A brilliant story all around with an amazing ending. Much more refined than the first, though some of the repetitiveness from the first bled into this game. Still, an amazing experience from beginning to end.3. Dragon Age: Origins
Disclaimer: I played this on the inferior Console version. So, with that taken into consideration, it just shows how FUCKING amazing Dragon Age is. I'm not one for High Fantasy stories. I sleep during Lord of the Rings but it was the story of Dragon Age that kept me going and the moral choices, oh god, the moral choices. The point where I had to make a choice and the choice I made caused one of my dear party members to leave my party forever... by making me kill her... At THAT point, I had to switch off the game. And think about it. What did I just do? Such powerful decisions you have to make. So powerful that I didn't even want to reboot the last save like I typically do. Gameplay is fine but damn...2. Forza Motorsport 3
I make it a point to try every Racing/Driving game when they come out because I always felt that this genre is something I should like and always, I am disappointed. Nothing to date has made me like the Racing genre... Until Forza 3. The driving in Forza 3 just feels good. And well, I really have nothing more to say about it right now. Forza 3 is just a damn good game. Go buy it. Done.1. Batman: Arkham Asylum
Yup. Of course. Batman: Arkham Asylum is the best game I played in 2009. It came as a shock for me when I started playing it. How does a game based on a comic book franchise be not only good, but FUCKING Phenomenal when almost every other game is a load of crap? Arkham Asylum is a reward for Batman fans and probably also made non-believers fans of Batman as well. An amazing combat system. An amazing stealth system. An amazing blend of the 2. An amazing story. An amazing feel. Just all around amazing. And the Scarecrow parts? Boo. Fucking. Ya.The announcement of a sequel coming so soon is slightly off-putting, since its now obvious that the suits have reached this franchise but hell, Batman: AA has built some a good core, it can only get better. Hell, talking about this now makes me want to play this again.
Final Thoughts
So yea, that's my list. Thoughts? Comments. I'll have another list up with the other awards.