The Top 10 Games of 2009

The other day Peter and I were floating around on our hoversofas being fed grapes by our sexy robot servants when the question of the year’s top 10 games came up.

It seems ridiculously early in the year, but for various reasons having to do with the exciting field of magazine production, we have to start thinking about it.

So here are the slam dunks from where I sit:

Killzone 2. God, was that this year? I guess it was. It seems like it came out several historical epochs ago. I still don’t think it’s enough to justify buying a PS3, but I guess the best-looking shooter, like, ever should probably go on the list.

Halo: ODST. A model for how to refresh a franchise. Yeah, it’s not a technical breakthrough or anything, but they took the existing tech and universe and used it to generate a totally different experience, narratively and emotionally. I wouldn’t have thunk it possible.

Prototype. OK, I didn’t finish it. But it was jazzy, and I’m pathetically partial to anything that can be called original IP. I think Penny Arcade made the only point worth making about this game.

Scribblenauts. The possibilities are endless! Look, it says it right there on the box! Endless.

Geo-Defense Swarm. We should do something to honor the continued maturation of the iThing as a gaming platform. Plus, I’m better at it than Quittner.

Five down, five to go. What am I missing? More grapes here, CyberCheryl!

Related Topics: lists, playstation, top 10, vidoe games, xbox 360, Gaming & Culture
  • ljolsen

    I’m playing through Resident Evil 5 now and thoroughly enjoying it. The co-op is exquisite and the game structure is much more forgiving/less frustrating than RE4. Not revolutionary, maybe, but I’d put it on the list.

    Also: Batman Arkhum Asylum.

  • http://youtube.com/churchhatestucker Church

    Well, Beyond the Redline has forked, so they’re spinning their wheels…

    Ninja Ropes made it into the Doctor Horrible musical commentary. That’s gotta count for something.

  • Tom Shaw

    Continuing from last year’s nominations, any thought of splitting the list up between sequels and new I.P.? Maybe 5 & 5?

    And yeah, good luck having a decent list without having time to properly evaluate the titles releasing in November.

    But here’s an attempt:
    New I.P. (Well, maybe “not a direct sequel” would be more accurate.)
    Scribblenauts
    Geo-Defense Swarm
    Dragon Age
    Brutal Legend
    Batman: Arkham Asylum
    Borderlands
    Shadow Complex

    Existing I.P.
    Uncharted 2
    New Super Mario Bros Wii
    Ratchet & Clank: Insert Subtitle Here

  • http://twitter.com/thepeterha Peter Ha

    Not that I’m endorsing any of the following, but we still have: AssCreed 2, Tony Hawk Ride, MW2, L4D2, Rogue Warrior, The Saboteur, and the new Ratchet title.

  • Kemper

    “Sexy robot servants..”? I’ll be Caprica 6 is mad that you won’t even watch her show.

  • Kemper

    Take two…

    “Sexy robot servants..”? I’ll BET Caprica 6 is mad since you won’t even watch her show.

    Stupid ‘t’…..

  • http://www.walkingraven.com ckrisos

    Is World of Warcraft in the running, or does it just go without saying, or what?

  • http://www.twitter.com/leverus Lev Grossman

    Gotta be released in 2009

  • thebro88

    Demon’s Souls: It takes a huge investment of time/patience to handle its difficulty. Very rewarding, even though I’ve died more times than Æon Flux.
    Uncharted 2: great sequel. I enjoyed all the globe-trotting, dialogue, running & gunning, etc… blurring the line between movies and games. But did the mechanics change that much from 1st installment?
    Other nominees include Batman AA, Killzone 2, Flower, InFamous (obvious what system i own?) Ton of good opps coming down the pipeline in Nov/Dec.
    Tough list. Good luck picking 9 and then choosing between the 20 way tie for the 10th spot.

  • Dave

    Technically, since it’s subscription based, couldn’t you count major patches as individual game releases? I suppose it’d be kind of unfair to give WoW 2 slots out of the top ten (assuming 3.3/ICC lives up to the hype… and is released in 2009… both of which aren’t givens, granted).

  • Cliff

    AssCreed? Who came up with that abbreviation?

  • gamerstuff2010

    SHADOW COMPLEX and BATMAN!
    Looking forward to MW2 as well.

  • http://nerdworld.blogs.time.com/2009/10/27/review-dj-hero/ Review: DJ Hero – Nerd World – TIME.com

    [...] Earlier this year, Jay-Z said, "A DJ has the ability to use music to control people's emotions and is responsible for the entire vibe of a room, a club or a party." And DJ Hero delivers in every way. It's far from perfect, but neither was Guitar Hero 1. Forget about the rest of the music-based games on the market right now, DJ Hero is the real deal. And don't be surprised to see this make our Top 10 Games of the Year list. [...]

  • tyrantking

    All bets are off until Left 4 Dead 2 has been played.

  • jeffrubenstein

    Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is the best-reviewed game of the year – and for good reason: http://www.gamerankings.com/ps3/955125-uncharted-2-among-thieves/index.htm

  • http://loonyboi.com/ loonyboi

    Best I’ve played this year is Batman: AA. Phenomenal game.

    But Dragon Age is still to come, and I’ve just started Ratchet & Clank, which is excellent as well.

    Also looking forward to Torchlight, an inexpensive Diablo-clone that oozes style: http://torchlightgame.com/

  • truevcu

    Uncharted 2 and Infamous, which was like protoype only good.

    Also every bone in my body screams out to pick Fallout 3. Yes it came out this time last year but PS3 only just got the expansions and I’m STILL playing like I never stopped.

  • lotboyhd1

    MW2 is so good it gave me carpal tunnel syndrome.

  • grape_crush

    Scribblenauts is teh awesome…nothing like ordering up a black hole to suck up the garbage you have to pick up or a pterodactyl to fly you around or an invisible suit to keep you from being seen. The replay-ability is amazing.

  • http://cicko8.wordpress.com cicko8

    This guy is a wanker, like what the heck, prototype is preety gay like what does he mean when he commented on Killzone 2, it’s so worth getting a playstation3 for and it’s way better than halo. And where the heck is Call of Duty there? It should be first or even Assassins creed. Man this guys a butt-breath!!!

  • cspinc

    Try some pattern recognition games from Creative Signal Processing for Windows, MAC, IPHONE & Windows Mobile,

    http://www.eyepuzzles.net

  • http://http//insidelicensing.com williammfelix

    Why??? Why???

  • http://http//insidelicensing.com williammfelix

    Why fallout 3 are not included???

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