I've highlighted the games that really stuck out this year, and I thought I'd take a moment or two to throw down some thoughts about my reactions to them off the top of my head.
Halo 3 ODST was a romp, and I enjoyed the story. It's not the story of Master Chief, and the openness of the worlds in some of the levels was a bit surprising. It had the feel of Halo, but with the depth and story that the Master Chief focused games of the past were lacking. My only complaint was that it was a little anti-climatic. In fact, I was mildly shocked when the credits started rolling.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 was so well done that I overlooked the fact that it was Marvel Superheroes, who I normally loathe. As a side note, if MUA2 was such a success, and it was basically X-Men and MUA 1, doesn't that mean there's an audience out there that just loves those games? Like me? And doesn't that make you wonder why nobody has thought about doing that exact same game for DC? It sure makes ME wonder...
The Beatles Rock Band was just stunning. The entire experience of playing that game from beginning to end was just pure joy. Everything about that game just underscored the attention to detail the EA team put into that game and it paid off in spades. I only wish I could've played with Paul's left handed bass. I'll be on the lookout for a used/previously played controller and will pounce on one when I see it.
Batman Arkham Asylum was perhaps the biggest surprise of the year. When I saw the trailer, and learned of the details about the gameplay, I was a little put off. I wasn't sure I'd be into the game ("You're telling me I have to SNEAK everywhere? Ugh..."), and I didn't even try the demo. However, when the reviews from friends (See? Social Media WORKS, people!) started coming in and unanimously people were overwhelmingly positive, I went ahead and added it to the queue sight unseen. Boy, was I glad I did. That game was just straight up fun. The accomplishments were great, just challenging enough, and it had a fantastic story. And let's be honest. It was the Joker. Not to give anything away, but the ending has me dying to play the obvious sequel starring the notably absent former Gotham City District Attorney.
Wolverine Origins was extremely well done, followed the movie without actually following the movie, and had really enjoyable gameplay. I loved the "Feral Senses" game mode, and it made sense (no pun intended). After all, this is Logan we're talking about. He's always had those senses and integrating them into the game in a way that added to the experience was a minor stroke of genius on the part of the developers and only served to make a good game better. Well done.
That brings me to the last game I highlighted, and my choice for game of the year.
But first, a bit of explanation...
Fallout 3 was released by Bethesda Studios in October of 2008. I got the game in December, again, based on word of mouth reviews from friends, played it during the entire Christmas break and into January.
Then my wife picked it up.
She played the game from January into February and fell in love with it. She played her game almost completely different from the way I played mine and we had a great time yelling at the screen as the other went about their way in the wastelands of post-apocalyptic Washington D.C. It's a credit to the game that two people in the same place, one male, one female, picked up the same game, played it two different ways, and got just as much enjoyment out of it.
Then the DLC packs hit the Live Marketplace. We immediately purchased "Operation Anchorage" and had a blast playing MORE of the game that we loved. Then in May, Bethesda released "Broken Steel" which had the most impact on the game. Anchorage was just another set of objectives. It existed somewhat "outside" the game, and didn't really impact the original game that much. Broken Steel however, deeply impacted the game by changing the potential ending of the game and extending the player levels another 10 levels and adding more weapons, characters and gameplay. By this time, I had used several Gamefly Dollars coupons I had accumulated thru their rewards program and had purchased the game specifically because of the additional gameplay provided by the DLC.
All in all, there have been FIVE additional DLC (Downloadable Content) packs for Fallout, adding an incredible depth to a game that already had an astonishing amount of gameplay. Three different levels of "Karma" play, altered endings, additional chapters, and an almost infinite amount of choices, each altering your experience tremendously make this game a no-brainer for "Game of the Year". In fact, it's been out for over a year, and my wife has been playing it all morning on this rainy, cold, wintery Saturday morning, and as soon as she gets done, I'm going to go in there and download one of the three remaining DLC packs that I haven't purchased and start playing it again myself.
Hope you had as much fun playing games this year as we did, and I'd love to hear any additional games that I might've missed.
The Games of 2009 A chronological list of the games I played this year.
- Ghostbusters (Xbox 360)
- New Super Mario Bros. Wii - (Wii)
- Halo 3: ODST - (Xbox 360)
- Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 - (Xbox 360)
- The Beatles: Rock Band - (Xbox 360)
- Batman: Arkham Asylum - (Xbox 360)
- Red Faction: Guerrilla - (Xbox 360)
- Marvel: Ultimate Alliance - (Xbox 360)
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - (Xbox 360)
- Ghostbusters - ( Xbox 360)
- X-Men Origins: Wolverine - Uncaged Edition - (Xbox 360)
- FIFA Soccer 09 - (Xbox 360)
- UFC 2009 Undisputed - (Xbox 360)
- Resident Evil 5 - (Xbox 360)
- My Fitness Coach - (Wii)
- Left 4 Dead - (Xbox 360)
- WWE: Legends of Wrestlemania - (Xbox 360)
- Fallout 3 - (Xbox 360)
- Bond 007: Quantum of Solace - (Xbox 360)
- Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon - (Xbox 360)
- Mirror's Edge - (Xbox 360)
- Prince of Persia - (Xbox 360)
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