freezerr: Best of 2009
Halo 3: ODST is my GOTY by a close margin over Assassin's Creed II. As I mention below, the tonal shift for ODST, combined with the best story in the franchise, push it over the top. There are several games I haven't played from 2009 yet - it is possible but unlikely that I might end up liking one of these more: Batman: AA, Dragon Age, Uncharted 2, Red Faction: Guerrilla, Modern Warfare 2, and Dawn of War II.
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Shows that Halo's superb gameplay can be translated into a different style of game and still succeed. The music, setting, storytelling, and overall atmosphere are so evocative and different from past Halo games. This could have been a cheap cash-in on the Halo name, but instead, the team created something interesting and lasting in the campaign. Now if only Firefight had matchmaking...
Amazingly improved over the first game. Ubisoft didn't just add more sidequest variety; they added an upgrade system, money, vastly improved combat, and much more interesting out-of-the-animus scenes. The assassination assignments are also more open-ended this time. Oh, and by the way, you can play this game with full Italian voice acting.
Takes everything great about Forza 2 and polishes it. The menus are dramatically understated and elegant, the cars and tracks rendered better, and the rewind ability allows Forza to be played as a casual game. Now if only the P.I. didn't wack out every so often.
Very inventive and entertaining. As I got more abilities during the course of the game, I kept expecting the game to get way too easy. That never happened: the puzzles just kept getting more difficult to match my expanded tool set. It's a stretch to call this more than a 5-hour game, but it's some of the best-done 5 hours of gaming I've seen this year.
Very awesome and original game. Like Spore's first stage, except really good. Challenging, physics-based, and with a great ambient soundtrack.
Amusing and well-done tower defense game.
Fun, polished loot RPG from some of the makers of Diablo II. The randomized dungeons are a nice touch. For whatever reason, the classes, talent trees, and stat system didn't grab me as much as some other games in this genre.
On here exclusively because of the original game, which I had never played. The remade graphics and audio were workman-like, at best. The original game has so much charm and is such a well-done adventure game that I had to include it here.
Very derivative from RE 4, but a very fun game in co-op in its own right. The graphics are top of the line, and the upgrade system is pretty well done. Unfortunately, the game doesn't work nearly as well playing solo.