Here’s some thoughts on the games I’ve played in 2009 in executive-bullet-point style. Lists are in no particular order.
There’s some big games missing from this list. As you probably know my birthday is 12/24 and I have a reasonable amount of disposable income. So it’s around this time of year when all the holiday game releases come out that I’m banned from the store or else I ruin gift giving opportunities.
The Great - Highly recommended
- Warhammer 40k, Dawn of War II – Impressive twist on RTS conventions.
- Plants vs. Zombies – Tower defense with Popcap style. Fun casual game.
- Section 8 – Great take on class based multiplayer FPS. The next Tribes.
- Red Faction: Guerilla – One of my two most favorite games this year. Everything should blow up this good. Takes the crown of open world destruction from Mercenaries.
- Brutal Legend – Other favorite game. Don’t let Jack Black, Metal, or the RTS scare you. Great story, great gameplay. Try something different instead of Call of Duty 6 or Madden 10.
- Forza Motorsport 3 – If you’re a car nut, get this game. If you like Top Gear, get this game. If not, then get this game anyway and you will be.
- Sword of the Stars: Argos Naval Yard – My friends made the perfect send off for 3 years of expanding and tweaking a great game.
The Good - Not bad, worth your time
- Left for Dead 2 – New maps, new weapons, new special infected. $50 for something that could have been dribbled out through DLC.
- Shadow Complex – Metroidvania in 2009. If you like that kind of thing.
- Splosion Man – Silly puzzle platformer. Chuck Jones kinda style.
- The Beatles: Rock Band – Beautiful tribute to an amazing band. Refines the Rock Band experience even further.
- Torchlight – Methadone for WoW addicts, something to tide you over until Diablo III.
The Meh - Dissapointing, some redeeming qualities
- Puzzle Quest: Galatrix – None of the charm of the previous Puzzle Quest.
- Arma 2 – Massively ambitious, too bad it’s broken in many ways.
- Hearts of Iron III – See Arma 2.
- Empire: Total War – Big leap forward for the Total War series. Too bad the AI doesn’t know what to do with water among other problems.