The personal site of Christoffer Radsby

The best games of 2009

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Best Singleplayer experience of the Year

Uncharted 2 : Among Thieves
Why? Uncharted 2 had an intense, explosive and dramatic storyline and I enjoyed the hell out of it. From the moment I picked up the Ps3 controller til the moment I put it down I was in ecstasy. The game is all high, you might think that the game will have up-and-downs but for me this game was an all high. It built momentum and kept it, it was awesome. Combined with some fierce-looking graphics and humor this game is easily the best game of the year.

Uncharted 2 fixed and improved on all the issues I had with the first game, you got really interesting locations and graphics, super-intense moments of mind-numbing physics, this time around the controller feels much more precise, the animation looks awesome, no super-high accurate grenades, no “arena-feel” gameplay. It’s pretty hard to convey they feeling but this game is absolutely brilliant, and we get to see how it’s like working with the Naughty Dog-team with the “Behind the Scenes” videos. Great stuff.

Follow ups:
Batman -- Arkham Asylum
Call of Duty -- Modern Warfare 2

Best Multiplayer experience of the Year

Call of Duty -- Modern Warfare 2
Why? There is something magic about Infinity Ward, they’ve created the best FPS games in history and keep doing it. I loved the multiplayer of the first game (Modern Warfare), and this time around Infinity Ward actually manages to top the first game, amazing stuff really. I’m having a blast playing online with my friend, of course there are some frustrating moments , like balance-issues and what not but in the end they will all probably be fixed. The game also had the spec-ops game mode, which I enjoyed together with my good friend Jacob Rastad , great mode and hopefully we will see some DLC coming for MW2 next year.

Follow up:
Left 4 Dead 2

Best Co-Op Experience of the Year

Resident Evil 5
Why? There has been a lot of co-op games this year (HAWX, OP2:DR, Borderlands, Trine etc) , but the campaign I actually enjoyed the most was the Co-op campaign of Resident Evil 5. It was an intense and interesting experience, one of the levels I enjoyed the most was probably the one where you and your partner has to go through a pitch-black cave, one of you have to hold and aim the light whilst the other take out the enemies. Great stuff. Resident Evil 5 also had some really nice looking graphics, eerie atmosphere and the camera-work in the cut-scenes were superb.

Resident Evil 5 is a co-op experience from the start, and you will probably not enjoy it as much when playing it alone. I definitely recommend everyone to play this game with a friend.

Follow up:
Left 4 Dead 2
Trine

Best Overall experience of the year

Call of Duty : Modern Warfare 2
Why? Well, CoD: MW2 has a really intense singleplayer campaign, together with spec ops and the multiplayer mode I feel like I’ve got a lot of bang for my bucks. Modern Warfare 2 is a game that you can play online even if you’re not that serious about competitive gaming. Unlike other multiplayer games where there are mostly veterans left playing, the CoD-series always has newbies.

Art-Direction of 2009

Since I’m into Game Art, I have to talk a little about this category. In the last few months I’ve been feeling like most creativity in game industry has been lost. But sometimes the industry shows glimmers of hope. Those glimmers are games like Ratchet & Clank, Little Big Planet, Brütal Legend etc. Games that isn’t realistic, and I love that. We got tons of games trying to do realistic stuff and yet so few trying to bring something more colorful and creative to the industry. Recently I saw the movie Avatar and I was really impressed by the world they had created, how colorful and alive it was. That’s the kind of creativity I want to see in video-games, that’s the kind of fantasy or sci-fi I want to create one day. There will always be Call of Duty-like games but I still want to sign up with a company that loves to create more creative stuff. I think that this years best art-direction goes to Brütal Legend, what Brütal Legend lacks in gameplay it makes up for in style. Brütal Legend offers action, adventure, strategy and humor all in the same awesome-looking package. Combined with the talent of Jack Black you’ve got a real charming game.

Best Boss Battle 2009

The Mohole, Bionic Commando is a game created by the Swedish game developers GRIN (does not exist anymore), I think that they created the best boss this year. The Mohole is giant worm-like robot which you happen upon in the game, the boss offers some epic moments where you have to throw cars and what not to best it.

Most overlooked game 2009

Bionic Commando is probably the most overlooked game of this year, sure it’s not in the top-tier but hell, it’s a good game created by great developers. Bionic Commando delivers a sweet single-player experience with some really nice environments and solid gameplay, nothing wrong with that.

Most improved sequel of 2009

Fight Night Round 4
Why? Fight Night Round 4 and Fight Night Round 3 is like night and day. I gave this game this special achievement mostly because how stunning the game looks and plays. Mostly due to the sweet new physics EA developed just for this game. This game is a ideal for all other sports-games on how a sequel should progress. We got technical and artistics improvements all over the place and the best thing is that they work together. If we look at other sport-games like NHL, FIFA or Madden or even games like Killzone 2 or Call of Duty : MW2 , you can see that the changes are minor in comparison. Fight Night Round 4 is a new game completely where the physics/technology/Game-mechanics and art actually works together to create a stunning fighting experience.

This game is easily one of the most good-looking games of the year.

The NR.1 Game that never came to EU

Demon’s Souls, I haven’t had the chance to play this game yet. Mostly due to the lack of highlight here in EU. This game seems to be the game everyone wants to be released here in Europe. Gamespot already awarded Demon’s Souls the GOTY (Game of The Year).

Games from 2009 I’ve played and finished

- Assassins Creed II
- Batman: Arkham Asylum (Hardest Difficulty)
- Bionic Commando (Hardest Difficulty)
- Borderlands
- Brütal Legend
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Hardest difficulty, campaign/spec ops (all stars) in 23hours)
- Dragon Age: Origins
- F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin
- Fight Night Round 4 (Hardest difficulty)
- Left 4 Dead 2
- Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising (Hardest difficulty)
- Prototype
- Red Faction: Guerrilla
- Risen
- Silent Hill Homecoming
- Skate. 2
- Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. (Hardest difficulty)
- Infamous
- Uncharted 2 : Among Theives
- Killzone 2
- ArmA II

No time or money to play 2009

These are the games that I haven’t had time/money to play this year, and every year the list gets longer, it’s sad really. I really wish I had the time and the money to play all these awesome games. It’s sad that in the end I end up playing the most anticipated games.

- Demon’s Souls
- DiRT 2
- Ratchet & Clank Future : Crack in Time
- Street Fighter 4
- DJ Hero
- Forza 3
- Wipeout HD
- Wii Sports Resort
- NHL 10
- Need for Speed: Shift
- Halo 3 ODST: Co-op Mode
- Overlord II
- MotorStorm: Arctic Edge
- Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood

Last words

Overall it has been a great year for gaming, I look with positive eyes on the coming year with great titles such as Crackdown 2, Lost Planet 2, Splinter Cell Conviction, Mass Effect 2, Bioshock 2, Bayonetta, Darksiders, Dead Rising 2, Final Fantasy XIII, God of War III, Gran Turismo 5, Mega Man 10, Red Dead Redemption, Alan Wake, Super Mario Galaxy 2 , The Last Guardian, Heavy Rain, 3D Dot Game Heroes, Just Cause 2, Army of Two: The 40th Day, StarCraft 2, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 … The list goes on, it seems like 2010 will be another great year of gaming and hopefully I’ll be a part of a dev-team and enjoy the magic of developing video-games.

Happy New Year to all you guys reading my blog!

Tags: GOTY 2009