End of the Year Awards
by mgsolid86
Best Podcast Game: Forza Motorsport 3 (360) Runner up: Borderlands (PS3) Forza 3 is a great game to play while listening to podcasts. I leave the sound effects on and crank up the Giant Bombcast, Rebel FM, Joystiq or one of the other podcasts I listen to. The rewind feature in combination with podcasts makes those LONG races in the later seasons really fun. Best TV Show Game: Torchlight (PC) Ru...
Best Podcast Game: Forza Motorsport 3 (360)
Runner up: Borderlands (PS3)Forza 3 is a great game to play while listening to podcasts. I leave the sound effects on and crank up the Giant Bombcast, Rebel FM, Joystiq or one of the other podcasts I listen to. The rewind feature in combination with podcasts makes those LONG races in the later seasons really fun.
Best TV Show Game: Torchlight (PC)
Runner up: UFC 2009 Undisputed (PS3)I've been watching Friday Night Lights on my 360 on Netflix and I've also been playing a lot of Torchlight. It doesn't require a ton of concentration and has allowed me to get three seasons deep into Friday Night Lights. It's a great show, by the way. Give it a watch if you've got Netflix.
Most Fun Start To Finish: 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand (360)
Runner up: Shadow Complex (XBLA)I rented this game back in March through Gamefly and couldn't put it down. Sure the game isn't perfect, and sure it's a rip-off combo of Gears and The Club, but it doesn't apologize for it's non-stop action all the way and it's satisfying from start to finish. There are no boring puzzle sections, and the only time it slows down is to show you a (probably unintentionally) hilarious cut-scene. The constant goals and points giving a minor sense of achievement every few seconds doesn't hurt either. I played through the game twice, and it's even more fun playing co-op, as most games are.
Most Improved Sequel: Assassin's Creed II (360)
Runner up: Killzone 2 (PS3)I rented the first one in March of 2008 and played it during my spring break. It was decent, but I found it very repetitive as most people did. Once I beat it I realized that it's one of those slow-burn games that I blew through in 4 days. This gave me some reservations about Assassin's Creed II, but after hearing people praise it on podcasts (my main deciding factor when purchasing a game) and seeing the great reviews, I decided to pick it up. This game blows the prequel away! This turned out to be my second favorite game this year, next to Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. I actually care about the story this time around, the Desmond sections are more interesting and the varied gameplay kept me coming back for more.
2009's 2008 Game Of The Year: Fable II (360)
Runner up: Fallout 3 (PC)I simply didn't get this game until Christmas of 2008, and was away from my 360 until January 5th, 2009, so I didn't get to play it until this year. While I beat the game and the Knothole Island DLC all in January and only played it once since, it's still my 2009's 2008 GOTY.
Disappointment of the Year: Halo 3: ODST (360)
Runner up: Prototype (360)While I was semi-interested in this game, this was ultimately an impulse buy for me. At $60, I probably shouldn't be making impulse buys and this game reminds me of that. I've played some Firefight and I've played through maybe a third of the single-player campaign, but I'm not compelled to play anymore. Once I booted up the multi-player again, I was missing the unlockables from Call of Duty 4 (the "carrot on the stick," if you will), and was reminded of why I didn't go back to Halo 3 once I picked up COD4 two years ago. ODST turned me from being a former Halo fan (picking up Halo 2 and Halo 3 at midnight launch) to having no interest in Halo: Reach.
NOTE: This will be a blog that I update until January 2010, so keep checking in for more awards.