Top game(s) of 2009

[Cayal]

I know it's a few weeks past the end of 2009 but better late then never. Anyway, what were your top choices for 2009.

Mine are:

Uncharted 2
Resident Evil 5
Infamous
Killzone 2
Demon Souls
Batman Arkham Asylum

-I know this looks like a very PS3-centric list but I did not play any 360 exclusive that was released in 2009. I did play Mass Effect and it remains one of the best games I have ever played, but obviously that was not released last year.

[CyBeR]

Well, it's been a good year for gaming...console gaming more particularly.

I most enjoyed in 2009 (and this WILL be a PS 3 list since I don't own a 360...and besides "Forza 3" there hasn't been anything worth owning on the 360 in 2009):

- "Uncharted 2: Among thieves" - good story, great acting, good gameplay and superb graphics; I loved the first game, the second simply blew me away in some of its moments.

- "Ratchet & Clank: A crack in time" - I'm a great fan of the Future series of R&C (never played the PS 2 parts) and I've been waiting for this one for quite some time...and it was great to play it, and had a pretty good story overall.

- "inFamous" - I've trusted this game from the start and it hasn't let me down one bit...I loved the story and I loved climbing building and whatnot in the game; there's really very little wrong with this, except for the town being too barren for a sandbox game.

- "Batman: Arkham Asylum" - I've yet to finish the game, but I love it as far as I've played. Batman really deserved a good game after all these years.

-"Dawn of Discovery" - ok, so it's a Wii game. I'm a huge fan of "Anno 1602", and this game simply quenched my thirst for the series (did not find the other entries quite interesting)...I had a borrowed Wii for a couple of weeks...you can imagine I couldn't put down the game hehe.

[Moontravler]

Hmmm, I'll carry the flag for PC gaming, then, since we seem to have the consoles covered already. I'm mainly an RPG/strategy/Adventure game person, so for me the choices would be:
Dragon Age : Origins and er..-if King's Bounty wasn't released in 2009, then let's make it the sequel/expansion, Armoured Princess.

Not sure if I should put Dawn of War 2 here... aw, what the heck, leave it in.
I'm almost thinking of putting Risen in my list, but the ending disappointed me a tad too much, or am I just being nitpicky here?

I haven't actually played the new Monkey Island releases, so I can't comment on those...

Oh, yeah - I haven't played much of Batman Arkham Asylum yet, but it does seem to be a hit for 2009.

Oh! I guess I should put Sherlock Holmes vs Jack the Ripper on my list - not my fave enjoyment wise, but a very well-made game with a lot of thought put into it.

[Overread]

Hmm 2009 has been rather a dead year for me gaming wise - a lack of funding for either new consoles or an upgrade to the main computer means I've been revisiting a lot of older classic titles (thank you GoG and Steam). Infact I've had a hard time just trying to work out what new released games I have bought and played through 2009.

Owned and played games:

Torchlight - its Diablo 2.5 and by most peoples standards it is lacking a few things - no multiplayer and the gameplay is linear and simplistic. However it achives this in such a classy and funfilled manner that these short comings hardly get noticed. Its a good old hack and slash RPG that really does not try to be anything but a hack and slash. Its graphics are clean and cartoony, and not system intensive (something that the other hack and slash games like Sacred have failed to achive with their higher grade visuals causing slowdown even on highend computers). Its open source design also means that there is an active and highly creative modding community built around the game and new additions from them prove to renew what is possible in the game and keep interest levels high

Red Alert 3 - If EA can manage to do one type of game outside of sports its a Red Alert game and this is no exception to that rule. Though the maps still feel constrained when compared back to the old Red Alert days there is a lot ot be had in this game still. First and formost is the move from a tank rushing game into a micro managing game with three levels of management.
Enter first the soviets - a good brute force army as always and not in need of too much micro management to remain an effective fighting force
Then the Allies - a bit more micro management brings the best out in this army
And Finally the new army of the Rising Sun - this army relies heavily on micro management with many units having dual forms which correspond to alternating dual roles in the army. To not use micro is greatly weakening for this army.
Overall a fun and quirky game with some new features that helps to make it a little bit more than just another RA game.

Infact there are a few which through reviews and opinions of others I think would have been added to the list if my computer were up to the challenge:

Those games stared at through the window:

Fire Emblem DS - probably the only game I have not got this year that I actually regret not having (mostly because the UK has no stock of it at all) and I am glad that the DS is still getting some more mature games which are not hell bent on abusing the stylus feature. If its anything like its previous incantations it should prove to be one of the harder strategy games - especailly when one does not want to lose a single unit on the battlefield (that is harder than chess that is )

Fallout 3 - Inovative combat setup and stunning graphics as well as a good nuclear storyline. I've heard a lot of fun things about this game!

Dragon Age Origins - though I remain skeptical that this has "beaten Baldur's Gate 2" it does seem to at least have achived a very high standard of RPG gaming for the single player experience. Something that both it and Fallout 3 have done and for which I am glad in this age of WoW and the online RPG maina

Dawn of War 2 - surprised us all by moving away from a "typical RTS" formula and instead aimed for a more in depth tactical gaming experience. A misatake or a sucess? Well on one level the reduced army sizes mean that it could soak a higher level of detail whilst not making systems suffer and it does appear to have achived a high level of interest and skill into the game.

Those of you wondering what was new through 2009 might find the following (very long) link to be of help: 2009 « reasons why it’s worth to be a pcgamer

[Shadow Trooper]

For me it was:

Dawn of War 2
Dragon Age Origins and
Total War Empire.

[Devil's Advocate]

My all-PS3 top five would be:

- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - I know the game is older, but I only played it last year, and dammit! This is my list!

- inFAMOUS - Very good game; I particularly enjoyed the choice of being good or bad (naturally, I chose the latter). I wish the choices had more impact, though.

- Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - Terrific game. I hate the name, though. Did we really have to have the '2' in the name? The first one was called Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and usually, when a game/movie has that sort of name with a 'sub-title', you don't really need the number of the sequel. It's more consistent to just call it Uncharted: Among Thieves.

- Assassin's Creed II - I'm actually only playing the game now, but it came out in 2009 and dammit! This is my list!

- Batman: Arkham Asylum - I suspect there were better games released in 2009, but I haven't played them.

[devilsgrin]

Dragon Age: Origins - DLC issues aside (and those were all post '09) this has to be simply the best game i played in 2009.

[Tansy]

Fall Out 3 and Dragon Age Origins for me, Uncharted impressed me so far but I need to play it some more

[onebigpotato]

I agree with a lot of the games mentioned above, but seeing as I have no idea when they're released I'll just make wild assumptions as is my want.
Fallout 3, inFamous, Uncharted 2...the other games I want to list I think come before/after 2009.
What about Braid, (2009?) it was an amazing game, better than the VAST majority of games and to top it all off, it was cheap as chips.

[Connavar]

Assasins Creed II - a big surprise this one for me. Ezio,his story was much better than the first game.
Uncharted 2 - a disappointment compared to the first game but still a very good game.
Killzone 2


I plan to get Infamous,Batman next.

[thaddeus6th]

Dragon Age Origins for me.

I do think there's real scope for improvement in some areas (a bit less linearity, and more variable companions instead of minimal mage/rogue choices). Very much looking forward to DA2.

However, I'm also eagerly anticipating Formula 1 2010. I'm an F1 fan, the game looks phenomenal and has variable difficulty (you can have a stack of driver aids and AI set to easy, or you can adjust aerodynamics and stuff like that yourself, and drive without aids).