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

[mutopian]

As usual World of Warcraft has pretty much dominated most of my game playing time, and patch 3.3 has revitalised it for me, but I have managed to break away from it back and forth to play a few other titles this year.

Batman Arkham Asylum - game of the year for me.
Demon Souls
Prototype - picked this over inFamous as I've had a lot more fun with it
Dawn of War 2
Uncharted 2
Borderlands
Little Big Planet (PSP)
GTA Chinatown Wars
Torchlight
Flower

[louiecat]

MW2 is the first MP game where I have actually gotten addicted. Wonderful fun.

[Jamesac]

Demon's Souls (ok, this one's in order as my favorite game of the year)
Trials HD
Shadow Complex
Gridrunner Revolutions
Torchlight
Serious Sam HD
Little King's Story
Flower

And to that I add Machinarium. Easily the best adventure game I've played in years.

I've still got one spot left, and Bayonetta may be dropping in the US this week. Pixeljunk Shooter was too flawed to make the list, and while I'm getting a kick out of Half-Minute Hero I'm not sure it's earning a spot due to me running out of steam before even completing the first mode. Or maybe I'm just tired and grumpy due to winter. Hard to tell, but even so odds are good it won't top Bayonetta.

James

[Flabio]

Bayonetta counts anyway, because it was released in Japan this year, but so few of us have played it that you might be better off saving her for next years vote. Same as how Final Fantasy 13 is eligible, but only available in Japanese so far.

Some of the placings in the list so far are very close indeed, remember, voting closes tomorrow. Writeup should go up on the 30th.

[evilpaul]

Haven't played many games this year really.. my gaming habits have certainly shifted after having a kid! However, here are a few that have really grabbed me:

GTA: Chinatown Wars DS
Everything I love about the GTA series with most of the things I hate removed, and perfectly paced for me to play on my commute. What really sold it for me though were the touchscreen sections. I forced at least one of our designers to play this just to see how much they add to the game and how immersive they are. In fact, I think I probably came in to work every morning for the month or so that I was playing it and eulogised about some new mechanic or mission that I'd played on my way in. Can't believe how badly it's sold though... I actually nearly shouted at a guy I saw playing this on the tube on an R4.

Retro Game Challenge DS
A great idea and very well executed. The games themselves are all good but the meta-game is the genius touch here. So many retro games compilations throw in achivements in such a lazy way, but in RGC they are absolutely integral and really add to the flavour. The whole magazine spoof thing was brilliant too.
Guadia Quest was my most favourite and the Rally King games probably my least. But even the games I didn't enjoy playing so much were a fun challenge, and you could use the cheats if you didn't want to do things the hard way. I felt genuinely sad when I'd completed this game! More people need to buy RGC so that we get the sequel!

PixelJunk Shooter PS3
Discovered this last week while the office has been quiet. Sat and played through most it with a couple of workmates. Can't believe how beautifully it's been put together. Everything that's in there - from the obvious things like the ship controls right down to the little things like the noise when you pick up diamonds - has been expertly crafted. The progression is particularly sublime - they are constantly adding new mechanics and twisting the old ones to keep things fresh. Anyone know if Q-Games hiring at the moment? ;D

Spelunky PC
I've always loved Rogue and I've always loved platformers, so this was one of those games that I was either going to love or hate. In the end it was both. The controls annoyed the hell out of me and sometimes it was incredibly unfair, but for every time it cheated me it made up for it with a comedy shop-keeper interaction or a seat-of-your-pants Indiana Jones style escape. Played this religiously for a few months until it started to get hard. Damn.. might have to start it up again now..

Rhythm Paradise DS
I absolutely loved this game and it loved me back. From the first game to the last, from the music to the scenarios to the graphics both me and the game were smiling and laughing. I don't think I've ever played a game that is so damn happy or so positive before. I can't remember a single time where the game either told me off or made me feel like I had failed - make a mistake and it'll console you and encourage you to try harder, do well and it'll pat you on the head.

[Terrypantsman]

Right ho I think that's me done for the year, phew, what a year when you think about it:


1:Modern Warefare 2: love the last level in single player, but its the multi-player that rules, as long as they correct imbalances I suspect I will be playing this for the best part of the next 2 years now.

2:Machinarium: Wow, inspiring, charming and brilliant. love the sketched style, one of the effects Valkyria Chronicles did beautifully.

3:Uncharted 2: What video games should be like in some aspects, the action sequences in some of the levels are some possibly the only time a game has ever captured that action cinema blockbuster film spectacle in a video game. Fun to play from start to finish as well.

4:Demons Souls: I blame a misspent youth playing Dungeons and Dragons and the C64 adventuring to the likes of sadistic games like Last ninja, and Staff of karnath. Brilliant game mechanic if you like a bit of Dungeoning

5:Plants Vs Zombies: This had me stuck to my seat for a week.

6: Flower: f**F the Wii mote, this proves you can fly in video games.

7:Pixel Junk Shooter: what a Charming set of mechanics love it, I find it more chilled than gravity crash too.

8:Defence Grid: Not the best TDG but It had me completely absorbed for a while and looks good.

9: Halo ODST: It is Halo, it does tickle my balls, I did enjoy fire fight while it lasted Shame we did not play it more on the Thursday sessions.

10: And that's it, no others I can think of, still to play Batman AA & Borderlands. Wish I could include Valkyria chronicles as that took most of my game play this year, but I was late to the party on that one.

Funny looking at my list, I hadn't realised it before writing this but for me, its the year of the PS3

So I would like a raise a Toasted Sandwich to the George Foreman of Games consoles. Shit controllers, beautiful silent running reliability, Sony are a butch of shits, Great big unnecessary Blueray player and Bring on the 'Last Guardian' baby.

[SimSimSan]

When not devoting huge chunks of time to WoW, I've found time to play a few things this year that really stood out.

Demon's Souls (PS3) - At last, a real game with real difficulty and reward.
Uncharted 2 (PS3) - Polished.
MW2 (PC) - Tactical knife and shotguns, 'nuff said.
RE5 (PS3) - A very different beast to RE4, flawed but great fun in two player.
Noby Noby Boy (PS3) - Marmite. Very, very daft marmite.
Dead Space Extraction (Wii) - Not a ground breaker but well designed.

[Flabio]

We currently have a cutoff of 3 votes, giving us a top 31. Couple of games making a late surge...

[disciple]

10 games is a lot. I'm not even sure I've played that many this year!

Here's a few I enjoyed.

Batman AA
Bit Trip Beat
Demon's Souls
GR Revolution
Left 4 Dead 2
Muramasa: The Demon Blade
Shadow Complex

[Jamesac]

If voting is just about done, then #10 is Half-Minute Hero. It's brilliantly deranged, and I always appreciate that.

James

[Jimaroid]

Not been able to play many of the games out this year so I'll keep it simple.

Modern Warfare 2
Trials HD
Streetfighter IV

[GeeZa]

A strange year where almost everything on the Wii and PSP seemed to fly under everybody's radar, the hugely hyped titles left some sour aftertaste, the iPhone took over from the DS, and most of the truly great games this year were all pleasant surprises launched with little or no fanfare.

1. Demon's Souls (PS3).
Came from nowhere and has dominated gaming forums since the US launch. Unlike most RPGs it's short on narrative and big on gameplay challenge. It's not afraid of what it is, a demanding and difficult VIDEO GAME. Hugely atmospheric and tense with superb level design and a brilliant networking implementation. A stone-cold classic in every sense.

2. Drop 7 (iPhone).
The iPhone's Slitherlink. Massively addictive, stupidly simple and will eat up literally hours and hours of your time. Perfect brain-mashing puzzling. My most played game this year by millions of miles.

3. Uncharted 2 (PS3).
Visually the best thing there is. Period. Production values that make even the biggest-budget games look amateurish and rubbish. Great enemy AI (on Hard) and pretty much full-on action from start to finish. I'm still not sure whether there was enough game in there. Actually no, there wasn't, but my God the graphics. And a lead character you care about, how rare is that?

4. Knights In The Knightmare (DS).
More bafflement from Atlus, another game that confuses and delights in equal measure. Completely bonkers game mechanic that mixes styles that quite frankly only the insane would attempt to combine. Just about pulls it off and very satisying when you 'S' a level with a set of perfect combos.

5. Wipeout Fury HD (PS3).
Criminally under-appreciated, it's another technical masterpiece. The Fury update cleaned everything up, added superb new modes and polished what was already something genuinely awesome. Both the music and the visuals (particularly in Zone Mode) are to die for. Hard as nails too.

6. Space Invaders Infinity Gene (iPhone).
Initially a bit off-putting but the more you play it the more it makes sense. Bucket-loads of unlockables, challenging gameplay and fantastic music. Weirdly minimalist sci-fi visuals just add to the overall psychedelic excellence. I loved it and still do.

7. Scribblenauts (DS).
Almost genius. The heavy backlash was warranted but I still couldn't hate on it. I still found the game to be fun, thought-provoking and challenging. Needed more time in development to iron out the kinks but it was cool if you had the patience. Best attract mode ever.

8. Zelda Spirit Tracks (DS).
Maybe, just maybe, the last Zelda game of its type. Much improved level design and difficultly make this almost the de facto sequel to Wind Waker. Over-flowing with charm and sheen, it's only hampered by unnecessary microphone use and well, a certain amount of predictability. But what is more Christmassy than traveling in a blizzard by train in a Snow World? Nothing is.

9. Canabalt (iPhone).
Probably the simplest game of 2009 that somehow manages to be a tense and rewarding experience. Stunning and superbly appropriate music and the much-needed update adds a few twists to the game along with a humbling leaderboard. Butt-clenchly tense when you approach your high-score and try not to die.

10. Killzone 2 (PS3).
A technical marvel that when it's good, it's *so* good. Let down by loathsome buddies, their dumb AI and a slightly disjointed single-player experience with comedy voices from the Helghast. Still, a firefight on Veteran is an utterly visceral and overwhelming audio-visual holocaust. Grim and grey in a good way.

Fwiw I didn't like Resident Evil 5 at all, and Modern Warfare 2 was too inconsistent and just not as good as COD4 imho. Games that I didn't play that I really wanted to were all on the Wii, Muramasa, Little King's Story, PES 2010, The Boy And His Blob, Dead Space Extraction, NSMB Wii and Nyxquest just to name a few. Would have liked to have had a proper go on Bowser's Inside Story and Clash Of Heroes on the DS but ran out of time. And the iPhone/iPod is a monster, it's going to destroy in 2010. I must have bought close to 30 games for it in 2009, it has changed everything for me.

[Muttley]

I'd like to add Torchlight to my list please.

[Xstreme]

I always look forward to the YakYak GOTY list however almost didn't vote due to my lack of playing new titles this year. The majority of my gaming time (which hasn't been nearly enough) has been split between Modern Warfare 1 and Grid on the 360 along with Geometry Wars on the DS. Modern Warfare has probably become my most played game ever beating even Defender and Elite!

Anyway I think Geeza's absolutely on the ball when he mentions ipod/phone is going to be a monster gaming device in 2010. I downloaded 'GOALS' for it the other week and have been playing it ever since. It's a top down footy game in the vain of Sensible Soccer/Kick off and it's been implemented superbly. I think this is the beginning of a real shift in my gaming habits. I've since downloaded Rolando 2 and N.O.V.A which must be one of the most ambitious titles to arrive yet and have now added toucharcade into my RSS feeds. I can see me spending a fair amount at the app store on mobile gaming next year.

So my vote for this years game of the year goes to.....:

GOAL - ipod/phone. Perfect gaming for making you miss your stop on the metro.

[legion]

Like others I have spent most of this year playing games from last year.

New Super Mario Brothers (Wii)
Left 4 Dead 2 (360)
Little Kings Story(Wii)
Beatles Rock Band (360)
Shadow Complex (360)
Trials HD (360)
1 vs 100 (360)
Art Style Orbient (Wii)
Mirrors Edge (PC)
Bit Trip Beat (wii)