threevue

And there you have it folks, the recipient of our 2009 game of the year award. The process used to determine which game would reign supreme was a fairly straightforward one:

• Each writer selected his top six games
• Each writer assigned 6 points to his #1 game, 5 points for the #2 game (etc, etc)…
• A little mathamagicks
• Game with highest cumulative score wins!

Here’s the top 6:

Uncharted 2: Among Theives

Assassin’s Creed 2

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

The Beatles: Rock Band

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Battlefield: 1943

Individual lists and point totals after the break!

The games of 2009 won’t be known for pure innovation but they will be remembered as incredibly well crafted, unique gaming experiences. There’s no redefining of genres or reinvention of physics here. I think our top games represent the pinnacle of what we know and love.

Perhaps it was suitable to be going back to our gaming comfort food? The tone of 2009 certainly favoured towards established fundamentals and games that didn’t fit within conventions were few and far between. That’s why Flower made my list. A truly divisive game, it revels in its inability to be categorised. I know some people may not ever understand its abstract nature but I found myself arrested by the experience and deserving of a place on my end-of-year list.

Oh, GOTY 2010 The Last Guardian.

1. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
2. Assassin’s Creed II
3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
4. The Beatles: Rock Band
5. Battlefield: 1943
6. Flower

I’m not going to say that there is a “correct” GOTY list, but I will admit that some lists may be a little more, umm…accurate than others. While some editors may become putty in the hands of a scruffy adventurer that may look good on the surface, but is ultimately pretty shallow, other more enlightened writers appreciate aspects such as a robust story, innovation, and diversity.

I’m just kidding. I truly understand why Uncharted 2 tops some people’s list, I just feel that Assassin’s Creed 2 offered an unparalleled gaming experience this year. Either way, I was glad to see that it was such a tight race between the top three games of the final list, being only separated by a slim three points. I wish we all would have been able to spend some more time with Borderlands, though, because I think it would have found a spot in the final six.

Other than a few courageous new IP’s, 2009 was obviously dominated by sequels, but you know what? They are good. And I like that.

1. Assassin’s Creed II
2. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
4. Peggle
5. Battlefield: 1943
6. Brutal Legend

2009 felt like a year of polished, comforting, and unsurprising games. My entire list consists of sequels (Beatles RB, AC2, CODMW2, Uncharted 2), re-releases (GoW Collection) or throwbacks to previous games (Shadow Complex), and I’m okay with that. Taking into account that my family grew from two to three this year, I didn’t have much free time to spend on games; and having familiar games to jump immediately into was a big bonus in my book.

My selection this year felt surprisingly natural, they all fell into place perfectly. The list’s black sheep is definitely the God of War Collection, simply because these are games that are several years old. But I think what made it such a must-buy for me is the fact that Sony did such a nice thing for us – re-releasing two PS2 classics for a bargain price – that somewhere deep down I secretly hope that Sony is reading this post and will re-release more PS2 classics.

1. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
3. God of War Collection
4. Assassin’s Creed II
5. The Beatles: Rock Band
6. Shadow Complex

Personally, I think 2009 was a fairly poor year for games, and one which lacked both the the quality and quantity of triple-A releases seen in the previous two years; especially given that most of the games I was really psyched for were pushed back to 2010. As such, I found it really hard to pick a clear winner this year, especially seeing as I didn’t pick up a PS3 til late December, so my list only comprises Xbox games; I’d say that my biggest regret with this list is that there doesn’t seem to be enough diversity.

However, when it came down to it, I chose Batman: Arkham Asylum as my GOTY for a couple of simple reasons:
1. I loved the game’s mix of third-person action and Metroid-esque action-adventure dynamics. In fact, everything about this game felt like a marriage of “best in class” elements; the game’s atmosphere and art style which draws from the comics, animated series, Tim Burton movies, and Christopher Nolan movies; the mixture of stealth and all-out Gears Of War flavoured action (minus the guns, natch!). It all just feels like Rocksteady cherry-picked the best bits of their favourite games and blended them all seamlessly together.
2. The controls just work so perfectly. This is a big thing for me in games; it doesn’t matter how compelling or satisfying the game is, small control issues really stop me from enjoying a game. It’s partly for this reason that Assassins Creed II placed at No. 3 in my list. However, when playing Arkham Asylum I always felt like I was completely in control of Batman, and never had any issues with the game based on the controls.

1. Batman: Arkham Asylum
2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
3. Assassin’s Creed II
4. Borderlands
5. ‘Splosion Man
6. Street Fighter IV

I’m a little worried, guys. Are we there? Are we at the gaming pinnacle for this generation? Looking at this year’s list I see a lot of sequels, iterations and reinventions of previous titles; and most of the titles are either FPS or 3rd person action. Not a lot of new IPs (I miss you 2007).

However, like Giang said, the amount of polish and quality about the games that are on the top is amazing. I’m just worried that the lily has been gilded enough, let’s start putting some gold on other things. My underdog this year was The Beatles: Rock Band. I couldn’t think of a better way to introduce the Beatles in to Video Gamedom than with this respectful, heartfelt documentary of their career.

1. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
2. The Beatles: Rock Band
3. Assassin’s Creed II
4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
5. Red Faction: Guerilla
6. Battlefield: 1943

Points total:
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves: 23 points
Assassin’s Creed II: 22 points
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2: 21 points
The Beatles: Rock Band: 10 points
Batman: Arkham Asylum: 6 points
Battlefield 1943: 5 points
God of War Collection: 4 points
Borderlands: 3 points
Peggle: 3 points
Red Faction: Guerilla: 2 points
‘Splosion Man: 2 points
Brutal Legend: 1 point
Flower: 1 point
Shadow Complex: 1 point
Street Fighter IV: 1 point

Previous lists: 2007 / 2008