My top games of 2009 (blog)

2009 was a slightly rough year gaming wise, especially for PC. Most of this was because many games simply got delayed into 2010. However I still managed to gets some enjoyment out of familiar titles so without further ado here are my top games of 2009.

1. Uncharted 2

A PS3 game gets my number one slot due to exceptional presentation and flow. The pacing rivals Valve games, the action is great, the dialogue is superb and the whole game is really well executed. You have a likeable hero in Nathan Drake and it improves in almost all areas over the original. I completed the game twice and all it did was show me how smooth the overall game was with only a few hiccups. The multiplayer is also great fun, mostly in co-op as I didn't really enjoy the competitive mp much.

2. Batman AA

A game I had low expectations for came through as a smash hit for me. Again I loved the dialogue in this game, the Joker and Harley Quinn in particular. The stealth setup as Batman was close to perfectly executed and aside from a little repetition it was great fun. Throwing in things like the dream sequences with scarecrow, the generically enhanced foes and the enjoyable fist combat helped greatly.

3. Dragon Age Origins

I only got to play this game in the last few weeks of 2009. But I'm glad I did. I was very impressed by the detailed side stories of the members of your team. I liked the hard moral choices that all seemed valid. I felt strongly attached to many the characters in the game. The game took be about 40 hours to completed and I didn't do all the side quests – the ones I did were mostly good. And I didn't work hard at getting all my companions to 100% like. A little bit of grind and some of the combat and was overly difficult in places (boss battles) even on Easy for me then again I haven't played any tactical RPGs before.

4. Trine

Such a simple game that for me has the best art sty-le of 2009. It's such a polished experience and works so well just with the Trine device being able to change your character between different allies mid combat and for simple puzzles. I think they could even step it up a notch for clever action and puzzles if they decide to continue the game.

5. DiRT 2

A great racer, the car handling is really good and you feel the traction on the road. Love the long rally tracks and the graphics are amazing in dx11. The multiplayer racing is pretty good too although it has a little bit of waiting.

Other games I enjoyed this year that just missed out on my top 5.

Cryostasis – superb atmosphere and story

Machinarium – charming with great puzzles

Red Faction: Guerrilla – killer destruction and open landscapes

Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood – interesting story, solid shooting elements, great voice work

Modern Warfare 2 MP – the best competitive mp of the year for me, fast and smooth pity about the lack of dedicated servers making me pull my hair out on occasion. (e.g. host rage quits)

Prototype – lots of action with some cool devastator attacks

List of 2009 games I've played:

Mirror's Edge, Fallout 3 Operation Anchorage, F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin, Flower, Killzone 2, Cryostasis, Burnout Paradise, Fallout 3 The Pitt, Dark Sector, Zeno Clash, Prototype, Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, Trine, Wolfenstein, Red Faction Guerrilla, Batman AA, Resident Evil 5, Risen, Uncharted 2, Machinarium, Torchlight, Borderlands, Dragon Age Origins, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, DiRT 2

Action this year looks to start early with Mass Effect 2, Call of Pripyat, Bioshock 2, Assassin's Creed 2, Splinter Cell: Conviction, Aliens vs Predator, Metro 2033, Bad Company 2, Supreme Commander 2 and C& C 4. And that's all before the end of March 2010! That line up looks more like a Q4 release list to me. That's what you get when games get delayed from their previously expected Q4 release. On the upside this means the first half of the year won't be a dead zone where very little games are released.

Hope you guys are doing well in 2010