Ah, and so the aughts come to a close with 2009. For gamers, it was a great year filled with some excellent titles, technological advances galore and, if you looked really hard, a masterpiece or two. Here's what we at Loading Reality thought stood out most in an exceptional year of video gaming.

#10: Brutal Legend

Comedy in video games has always been a tad strange. A lot of games that have made an attempt to be funny have failed. The main reason is that the writer is unable to translate a script from what would make a film funny into what would make a video game funny. Nevertheless, this year has brought us two games that are genuinely funny. One of these is Tim Schafer's new metal-tinged project, Brutal Legend.

Brutal Legend, on a presentation level, is a very creative game. The concept of making a game that revolves around the “power of metal” must have been a tough idea to conjure. Yet, the decision to follow through on this concept made the world, story and characters unique. The amount of love that Tim Schafer placed into his game is undeniable, and the final product (for its presentation) is fantastic.

One special mention of the game is needed: the voice-acting. Schafer’s ability to find people to voice these vivid characters is something of another nature. One of the main voice actors Jack Black (who plays Eddie Riggs), is simply astounding and could almost be considered the best voice actor of this year (sorry, Black, but Nolan North took the prize for his role in Uncharted 2).  Hell, how many people can say they made Ozzy Osbourne actually understandable?

While Brutal Legend has its problems like the length and gameplay, its pros outweighed the cons and made a splash (in my pants) as number 10 on Loading Reality’s Game of the Year list. Now all I need is an announcement for Brutal Legend 2 and I’ll be a happy man.

--Austin Ashby

#9: New Super Mario Bros. Wii

When I first saw New Super Mario Bros Wii at the Nintendo Press Conference at E3, I thought it was going to be a pure rip-off of the DS Mario game. Well, it’s December now, and Loading Reality has proclaimed this title to be ranked number 9 for “Game of the Year.” No mere rip-off.

New Super Mario Bros Wii is a game that every type of player will enjoy. The multiplayer allows players from different parts of the market (i.e. the hardcore and the casual) to settle their differences concerning what “makes” a game, and travel through eight marvelously-crafted worlds. Meanwhile, they will likely say hateful things to one another as they kill each other during their stay in the Mushroom Kingdom.

Even without the multiplayer component, New Super Mario Bros Wii has a glorious single-player, which made me burst into tears several times because of the (fair) difficulty of the game. However, the game will always allow you to take the cowardly way out and pass the level with the Super Guide; the Super Guide only leaves small wounds in your heart knowing that you failed to complete the level. Also, it simply doesn’t hurt every level has its own slice of variety in the respective level.

Only Nintendo would know how to remake one of their most beloved titles (Super Mario Bros 3), and make it a game that the majority of people will adore. In its essence, this is what New Super Mario Bros Wii is: a nice little fan letter submerged in nostalgia. However, while it is a remake, it’s a remake that builds on its ancestry and improves the formula. For example, the new power ups that are introduced to the game add a lot (like the ability to kill those nasty dry-bones).

Super Mario Bros was released on 1985, so the Mario platforming formula has been around for more than 20 years. Even after all this time, the formula still feels fresh and a lot of fun to play. Mario has proven that he is an amazing, enjoyable man midget after 20 years of his games; what more could you ask for? New Super Mario Bros Wii truly deserves its spot as number 9 on Loading Reality “Game of the Year” list.

--Austin Ashby

#8: Forza Motorsport 3

Hearing the title 'Forza Motorsport' tends to scare most gamers off, suggesting just how much it is meant for hardcore grease monkeys. Turn 10 has done such a fantastic job of changing what people thought they knew about the series and turned it into something that anyone who put their hands on it can really get into and be fairly competitive. Putting in the new manual with clutch option is great for the junkies, and adding assists all the way back down to the one finger driving for the noobs is something that is awesome and opens the game up entirely.

The game's 60/fps means it runs beautifully all the time. Anyone who has a complaint with the graphics may just turn out to be Gran Turismo fans who is jealous that they don't have an Xbox 360 to get their hands on this gem.

Even the content on the second disc that includes 10 cars, 18 tracks from Forza Motorsport 1& 2, along with 12 new tracks is simply awesome. They could have easily thrown that into a DLC pack and possibly gotten away with it. That brings the game to over 405 cars from 50 different manufacturers and 100 different track variations; a staggering number.

To complete every single race in the game, you'd have to put countless hours in... it is 220 events after all. After you race your first few races, you can back out, grab a new car, and head back in to race in an event of your choice, not be thrown into the next pre-determined event like in Forza Motorsport 2. You can choose to race in 1 of 3 different events, see new tracks, use the car you're in or try a new car events. The amount of options available is amazing.

This game truly is the ultimate racing experience, and will stay that way for years to come. Everything from the user friendly controls to the hardcore racing modes out there is done perfectly. The plethora of tracks and cars is really something when flying through the game at 60/fps and 200/mph. Having this game in your collection is a must for anyone who thinks they might even have an inkling of interest in the game. Once you play it, you'll understand why the gaming world is gushing over Forza Motorsport 3.

--Kyle Suttles

#7: Street Fighter IV

As we look back at 2009, we see a great year for gamers.  A high number of quality titles has resulted in a crowded field of candidates for Game of The Year.  In spite of the fierce competition, however, I’m confident that my choice, Street Fighter IV, stands out above the rest.  While Street Fighter IV could easily win out based solely on its merits as a game, what really puts it over the edge is its impact on gaming.  I submit that few games contending for this year’s title of Game of the Year can boast breathing new life into a venerable franchise, and possibly an entire genre among their positive attributes.

Street Figher IV has reinvigorated the Street Fighter franchise and interest in fighting games in general to a degree not seen since the debut of its early 1990s ancestor, Street Fighter II.  With arcades in the US essentially on life support, it seemed improbable to me that anything approaching that game’s epoch-making release would be seen again.  What I failed to account for, however, was the the excellent competitive experience that could be delivered online.  While not duplicating perfectly the grungy arcade full of hypercompetitive teenagers I remember, Xbox LIVE and PSN deliver as close an experience as one can expect in the comfort one’s living room.

That the first sequel is, Super Street Fighter IV, is already in the offing is clear proof of Street Fighter IV’s well deserved success.  A nearly flawless experience delivered over the wire allows players to deliver a beat down even if they don’t have friends handy.  And the game would have been a top notch fighter even in an era without robust online play.   The character and stage design is undeniably gorgeous, while the animation is every bit as fluid as that found in the game’s hand drawn predecessors.  I was a skeptic about the transition to 3D models, but have since been won over.  Controlling fighters is a breeze thanks to responsive controls.  Adding a six button fight pad or stick makes the experience even more enjoyable.

To recap, Street Fighter IV has brought the franchise up to date with a more polished 3D look and top notch online play.  Unlike other contenders for Game of the Year like Uncharted 2 and New Super Mario Bros. Wii, which are but slight variations on familiar (though admittedly excellent) themes, it has the distinction of reigniting interest in an entire genre.  For this reason it deserves title of game of the year, even considering the bevy of excellent titles released in 2009.  Anyone who disagrees with my assessment has obviously taken one to many dragon punches to the gourd.

--Tom Mainville

#6: Dragon Age: Origins

Origins is, in my opinion (and several others’), the best RPG we’ve gotten in a long time. As stated in the review written for Loading Reality, “few games of 2009, and probably in the last few years, have been as ambitious and true to their fanbase as Dragon Age: Origins.” An incredibly well-written plot, top-notch character voice acting, and a “true to life” relationship mechanic all support the game’s well-functioning combat and gameplay.

An old-school RPG at its heart, Origins is amazingly successful at presenting a time-consuming, emotion-stirring, single-player experience. The hook of addiction will, almost guaranteed, hook players within the first two hours. Jumping immediately into one of six separate plotlines, players will find that the first several hours of gameplay are unique to the selection of race and standing (royalty vs. peasant dwarves, for example). Once jumping into the story, the strong gameplay supports the party-based, tactical RPG element of combat well. With each party member being responsible for unique actions, the ability to pause the combat to control and queue abilities is key.

One of the greatest accomplishments of Origins is the morality mechanic. Better than the “karma” systems in recent RPG’s, Origins shies away from black and white, static decisions for a more convincing moral system. Whether it be deciding to aid the elves in their quest to rid their woods of werewolves or engaging the wolves in polite conversation; assisting a lost child in finding his mother or telling the boy that she’s obviously dead and he should be gone from your sight; or even electing to spawn a demon child of your own, Origins leaves the side-questing and decision making to you. Each choice and quest accepted will affect the relationships players’ characters have with party members.

With the sole significant downfall of the game being outdated visuals, BioWare has surely delivered something in league with the incredibly high standards that they’ve set, falling in line with KOTOR, Baldur’s Gate II, and Mass Effect.

--Brandon Tabbert

#5: Red Faction: Guerrilla

Volition released one of the big surprises this year when Red Faction: Guerrilla landed this year in the summer. With the most impressive destruction engine combined with an ambitious online multiplayer Red Faction sold mainly based on word of mouth.

Running around Mars has never been so much fun, and this time around all you need is a hammer and some creative positioning to bring down every building in the game. The physics engine has yet to be topped and nothing on the horizon even comes close to what this game did under the hood. No other game had gamers wishing future titles such as Crackdown would use the Geo Mod 2.0 engine. Developer Volition really had a great engine, and its what gave Red Faction: Guerrilla such a long, successful shelf life.

Rounding out this impressively packed game was a long fun creative single player campaign  and the on-the-couch multiplayer mode called wrecking crew, both of which, while not the main focus, were remarkably well done, fresh endeavors.

As for that main focus? You'd be hard pressed to find a game that racked up more hours of Xbox Live domination among the Loading Reality community this year than Red Faction: Guerrilla. The online multiplayer was a stunner. Perfectly balanced and entirely rewarding of a good team that worked together, it was the game of choice for the better part of 2009 to come home to. What did it for us? The backpack system was so fresh and enjoyable that, coupled with the physics engine, it turned into an addictive experience we hadn't ever seen before. The different modes, especially damage control, contributed to this, as well.

One of the surprise moments of 2009, Red Faction: Guerrilla was a fantastic romp on a far away world. Let's cross our fingers for RFG 2.

--Ryan Kwyzla

#4: Borderlands

Borderlands proved to be the magic recipe of 2009, a perfect blend of loot-heavy role playing game and honest-to-dog shooter. In fact, for those (many) players weened on a Fallout 3-style of RPGFPS, this concept of actually working as a shooter must seem like a miracle. More than anything, Gearbox nailed the feel of a shooter and the addictive nature of an RPG.

And oh how addictive it is. Thanks to the full co-op that the entire game sports, looting with 4 people will take over your life. You might think the multiplayer experience of the year would be rushing B in Modern Warfare 2, jamming out to The Beatles: Rock Band, or maybe even losing friends over Street Fighter IV tournaments... but that's only because you haven't gone through Borderlands with a full party. Trust me, you might think the game is addictive alone or with a single friend. With 3? It's a miracle of multiplay.

Not to be outdone, however, is the studio's remarkable scope and ambition. Taking on a loot whore's shooter is daunting in and of itself, but the span and (maybe most impressive of all) the style of the world impress on a level unparalleled by anyone this year not named Naughty Dog. Borderlands looks and feels like a desolate paradise thanks to its gorgeous cell shaded visuals and has more visual charm than all the other titles this year put together. The world feels large and daunting, as well, daring you to hop in a rocket-mounted set of wheels and cut a swath through its ugly face.

In the previous year, did you really think of Gearbox as a top-tier developer? Hell, did anyone even know they existed? Probably not. Now that Borderlands is out, I wager it's going to be nigh impossible to shake them. And as long as they call on their magic recipes and keep whipping together games as weird, as innovative, and as fantastic as Borderlands, well that just thrills me.

--Aaron Marsh

#3: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is quite simply one of the best shooter games ever developed - period. Improving upon what has been considered the studio's "masterpiece," Infinity Ward has delivered an intensely emotion-driven and impressive single-player campaign. While basing itself in a "tried and true" method of military plot, the story of MW2 quickly becomes complex and the plot arcs shove players from direction to direction. The solo campaign never ceases to deliver excitement and brings several envelope-pushing moments so key to the Call of Duty franchise.

Outside of the single-player action resides Call of Duty's signature: multiplayer. Having added an incredibly fun gametype, Special Ops, to the mix, Infinity Ward gives gamers a bit more meat before diving full-on into online multiplayer. The ability to run cooperative missions with friends, each with specific objectives, that steadily increase in difficulty for even the hardened player. Composed of 23 unique challenges - some of which border on insanely difficult - Special Ops is a more than welcome addition.

All that aside, online multiplayer is what Call of Duty has at its heart, and MW2 doesn't stop pumping the blood. Class customization has expanded dramatically, with plenty of new weapon attachments and perks to keep players testing their skills. New rifles, handguns, and shoulder-fired rockets add new playstyles to the mix, as well. Adding verticality to the level design brings with it a new take on multiplayer gaming; having to watch corners, rooftops, and ditches all at once will, at times, cause even a veteran of the genre to swear under their breath. That said, the very same gamers will undoubtedly smile with glee upon taking down an enemy using this new design feature to their advantage. While the new maps may take a bit more time to learn than their predecessors, the addition of verticality and removal of a primarily corridor-based design brings an entirely new level of difficulty to the game.

In all, Infinity Ward has delivered something completely different from a sequel. Modern Warfare 2 functions as a completely independent piece of entertainment that, save for a few plotlines in the campaign, anyone can enjoy without prior Call of Duty experience.

--Brandon Tabbert

#2: Assassin's Creed II

Earlier this year, if you had pulled me aside and told me that Assassin's Creed II would rank among 2009's best games, I would probably have slapped you in the face for saying something so absurd. Honestly, only hopefuls and diehard fans had high expectations for ACII. The reason behind this was because the first Assassin's Creed was too hyped up for its own good, and when the game had finally come out, although it was a technological marvel, it packed plenty of flaws and devolved into a tedious cycle of "Kill. Report. Sleep. Repeat". Ubisoft heard and corrected the complaints of fans and critics alike. Instead of giving players some emotionless, "know-it-all" schmuck to control, Ubisoft cut out Altair and swapped in the lovable, charismatic Ezio, whose journey was fueled by justice and vengeance.

In addition to creating a protagonist whom players could care about, Ubisoft also made sure to give Assassin's Creed II a sense of replayability after everything was said and done. Of course, as ACII neared its release date, the main concern that plagued the minds of most fans was whether or not the game would have a repetitious mission cycle, and Ubisoft succeeded in fixing this too. To top things off, ACII's surprising ending did not fall into the same pitfall that its predecessor had previously fallen into. Simply put, ACII was Ubisoft's official apology gift.

Even if you are a die-hard fan of the first Assassin's Creed, you have to admit that ACII was one of the year's biggest surprises, and of all games this year, it was the most successful improvement over a predecessor. And for that - and because we at LR simply love stabbing virtual people without getting into trouble with the law - Assassin's Creed II earns the no. 2 spot on our list.

--Philip Vasto

#1: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

The things I heard about Uncharted 2 before I began playing it set up an almost unclearable bar. "Insurmountable masterpiece," "unrivaled," "the best action game I've played this year," "the very best single player game I have ever played," (that one coming from our very own Ryan Kwyzla/U2NUMB) and about 300 people crying GAME OF THE YEAR about as loudly as they could. No game should be able to live up to this kind of ridiculous overhype, right?

None of Uncharted 2's praise is hyperbole. Not one word.

Naughty Dog, in the quest to make a sequel live up to the insanely popular, if slightly over praised Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, just happened to make one of the greatest games of all time. And oddly enough, its strength doesn't lie in just one place. Rather, the game as a whole is so incredibly strong in every area that it boggles the mind.

Certainly, Uncharted 2 is the most beautiful game of the year, perhaps even the most beautiful game ever conceived, but this time that's at the bottom of the list of what makes this game so remarkable. Most noticeable is the pitch perfect pacing that has you adventuring, platforming, shooting, puzzle solving, and switching back and forth with such grace that you'll swear it's a breeze to make a video game. Make no mistake, though; this is a high wire act of champions, and all further action games should feel the sting of their bar now having been raised to an unreachable point.

The writing is another bar Naughty Dog sets with ease (and a bit of a smirk). The way it utilizes the action movie formula, the way it plays with your expectations of the characters, the way it makes fun of itself and its hero, all of it is top tier. Even the little things Drake will say randomly will make you smile. Not since GLaDOS has a video game character been so thoroughly charming and alive.

As if this campaign sent straight from Mount Olympus itself wasn't mouth watering enough, Naughty Dog saw fit to include a multiplayer and co-op mode to sweeten the deal. They are both icing atop an already dazzling cake, and only further cement the studio's commitment to excellence and to their entry in the canon of "video games as art." It's funny how easy the developers make this look.

Grotesquely beautiful, breathtakingly exciting, and paced so perfectly you'd swear you were knee deep in a Pixar film, Uncharted 2 is a downright revolution of cinematic gameplay, and is the perfect way to close such a remarkable decade for the medium.

--Aaron Marsh

GOTY Awards:

• Best Xbox 360 Game: Borderlands
• Best PS3 Game: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
• Best Wii Game: New Super Mario Bros. Wii
• Best Handheld Game: Scribblenauts
• Best Downloadable Game: Battlefield 1943
• Best Action/Adventure Game: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
• Best Music Game: Guitar Hero 5
• Best Platformer: New Super Mario Bros. Wii
• Best Strategy/Puzzle Game: Defense Grid: The Awakening
• Best Racing Game: Forza Motorsport 3
• Best Role Playing Game: Borderlands
• Best Shooter: Red Faction: Guerrilla
• Best Sports Game: MLB 09: The Show
• Best Fighting Game: Street Fighter IV
• Best Graphics: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
• Best Sound Design: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
• Best Score: Halo 3: ODST
• Studio of the Year: Gearbox

Loading Reality's Top Ten Most Anticipated Games of 2010

• #1: Bioshock 2
• #2: Star Wars: The Old Republic
• #3: Mass Effect 2
• #4: Final Fantasy XIII
• #5: God of War III
• #6: Heavy Rain
• #7: Alan Wake
• #8: Bayonetta
• #9: Battlefield: Bad Company 2
• #10: Super Mario Galaxy 2

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Axe Argonian

Loading Reality's Top Ten Games of 2009 & GOTY Awards Dec 28 2009 22:41:46 I'm pleased with the Top 10 list, but I can't really say the same with the actual awards given. I personally felt 2009 was a lame year for gaming in general, and only several games were even notable. 2010 should probably be the awesome year we're waiting for; I just hope there's a specific game that blows away the competition, so the awards can be much more simple next year.

#14501

PhantumPhyr

Loading Reality's Top Ten Games of 2009 & GOTY Awards Jan 01 2010 07:30:59 xD Sports should have definately gone to NHL 10. And Best Score should have gone to ACII. But thats just my opinion.

#14516

Ethan

Loading Reality's Top Ten Games of 2009 & GOTY Awards Jan 01 2010 17:34:58 I played Uncharted 2 and really liked it, but to me, it's not GoTY material. Still, I haven't played very far into the campaign... Also, I call bullshit on best score.

#14517

Aaron

Re: Loading Reality's Top Ten Games of 2009 & GOTY Awards Jan 03 2010 00:41:21 Anyone who thinks ODST didn't have an incredible score didn't play it.

#14523

Kyle

Re: Loading Reality's Top Ten Games of 2009 & GOTY Awards Jan 04 2010 00:47:47 As Aaron said, anyone who's not played ODST would say it doesn't deserve Best Score.. It's clearly the best of 2009, hands down. I've not played NHL10 but I hear it's a great game.

#14531