Playing the Games: Game of the Year 2009 - VOTE NOW

[Loada]

Best for me this year (with a heavy 360 bias I might add) was Batman: Arkham Asylum. Echoing the comments of others in this thread; it was generally excellent with only a few niggles (yes, we all know which one ). Superb voice acting (Mark Hamill ftw!), a great engine, wonderful 3d modelling and animation, fantastic sound, solid gameplay mechanics and a genuine love and respect for the license material made it brilliant to play.

My other choices in no particular order are:

TrialsHD - great fun until it became ridiculously difficult (if you don't have OCD). Props to Jedburgh (and co) for seeing this one through.
Halo:ODST - Nice little riff on Halo3, still as good to play as ever with some deft touches (the visor effect). A bit short (but great while it lasts).
IL2:Birds Of Prey - Not everyone's cup of tea but a welcome stab at bringing a "proper" flight sim to the xbox. Fantastic visuals let down in part by fiddly controls and the usual IL2 traits of almost suicidal difficulty curve. Credit to MS for giving it a shot, would be interesting if Flight Simulator X was ever "allowed" near the 360.
FIFA10 - Still the best footy game (there I've said it). More of the same from '09 with a few new tweaks.

Will add a few more when I have a bit more time.

[Terrypantsman]

well I'm not voting until I get my copy of Demons Souls sometime within the next week.

trusting opinions on here I hope its worth the wait.

[Mark]

And I'm not voting until I've had a proper chance too play Borderlands and Assassin's Creed 2. Most of my game time is eaten up by Demon's Souls, so those two aren't getting a look-in. If you can stick with DS through the tricky and sometimes frustrating early part until you've beaten Phalanx, then chances are it'll get its claws into you real deep.

I'm also waiting for Pixeljunk Shooter, which should turn up next week.

[disciple]

well I'm not voting until I get my copy of Demons Souls sometime within the next week.

trusting opinions on here I hope its worth the wait.

Ditto, got Arkham on the way too.

[Terrypantsman]

fucksticks I'd forgotten about the Pixel junk Shooter.


and I'm trying to Ignore Batman way to much to play on the Horizon at the mo

[Jamesac]

I really enjoyed what I played of Pixeljunk Shooter at E3, so I'm hoping the full game can fill in one of the spare slots on my list. It was one of those obnoxious demos that thinks it's clever to take you all the way to an epic boss battle, show the boss's dramatic entrance, and then flash a Coming Soon! on the screen, though. That kind of thing always leaves a bad taste.

James

[flookster]

2009 for me can probably be defined as a catch up year. WoW took up most of gaming time for the first third of the year. Motorstorm 2 I also played a huge amount of (local MP with my nephews is tremendous craic). I rebuilt my gaming PC early in the year so I spent some time catching up on 2007/2008 titles. I also replayed a few old favourites (GTA3:SA, SotC and Ico). Next year will also probably be a catch up year as going by some of the lists here I've missed some awesome games. I've already picked up Killzone 2 and left crimbo hints regarding a couple of others. iPhone gaming has also taken a significant % of my idle time this year.

Regarding this years games Uncharted 2 is so far above anything else I've played in the last decade I'm hesitant to end the experience and have been saving the last few chapters - the pull to finish it today is strong though. Everything else is roughly in order.

Uncharted 2
Wipeout HD/Fury
Torchlight
Flower
InFamous
Drop 7
Sacred 2
NSMB Wii
Orbital
Mr. AahH!!

There are a few other games that could have made the list but 10 is more than enough for now.

[fog]

With everything getting equal points I'm tempted just to say Uncharted 2 because it's in a different league to everything else, but sod it ....

1. Uncharted 2 (PS3) - The best game I've played in years. Stunning in every single department.

2. GTA4: Episodes from Liberty City (360) - Nobody writes memorable characters and story lines like Rockstar. The gameplay isn't too shoddy either.

3. Trials HD (360) - Joypad throwing frustration at times, but only because you know that last mistake was all your fault. The most rewarding game of the year when you get it right.

4. inFamous (PS3) - Underrated IMO. Not as good overall as Crackdown, but it does a lot of things better so I'm hoping they get "borrowed" for Crackdown 2.

5. Flower (PS3) - The best gaming experience of the year. Beautiful.

6. FIFA 10 (360) - No other game in any genre on any system does its chosen subject better.

7. Civ Rev (iPhone) - The only problem is the hell it plays with the iPhone's battery life.

6. Peggle (360) - It should be rubbish, but it's addictive as hell.

9. Little Kings Story (Wii) - A couple of niggly flaws can't stop this being one of the most lovable games of the year.

10. Noby Noby Boy (PS3) - Short lived, but utterly insane fun while it lasts.

[Flojomojo]

I'm all about the iPhone this year; I've sunk more into the App Store than on all the big-boy consoles and portables combined. Yeah, I'm shallow.

[CarlBillen]

I still had a tenth slot left in my list, so :
10. Pixeljunk Shooter : it's quite different from Gravity Crash, it doesn't feel Thrust-like at all, you may bump into walls, but the fluid mechanics, oh boy, are they beautiful. The gameplay is really good and when you look up to look at the clock you will say "Is it already that late?". It just "feels" good

And there you have it; my 10 games. I don't think I will be buying anything anymore this year, so it should be pretty definite.

I am wondering for the end results though; I guess it will be either Arkham Asylum or Borderlands thanks to their multi-platformness; on the PS3 front I guess it'll be a fight between Uncharted 2 and Demon's Souls. I guess Uncharted 2 will be something for me to play early next year.

But it sure has been a damn good harvest of games the last few months of this year

[CharlieF]

Now I come to think about it, I've not played many 2009 games. I've spent the year playing catch-up.

So, my sole vote easily goes to:

Demon's Souls

[Flabio]

Just done a provisional count so I can start trying to dig up trivia. Cutoff is currently only two votes (giving 34 games for me to write about) but there's still more than a week of voting to go. So if 4 of the games on 2 votes get a third vote, the cutoff ups to 3 and we'll have a top 30 (I try to get it as close to a top 30 as I can without having to kick out games that have the same number of votes as ones in the final list).

Keep voting folks!

[Mr_Loon]

Here's mine :

Wii Sports Resort
New Super Mario Brothers Wii
Machinarium
Torchlight

and of course

GRR

[grue]

I'd like to add Machinarium to my list.

[Tarjei]

I'd like to add PixelJunk Shooter to my list, if there's room for it.