Phil Kollar's Personal Top 10 Of 2009

So I realize I’m incredibly late to be doing a “Best of 2009” post, but I blame a month of crazy deadlines. With the March issue of the magazine wrapping up production, I’ve finally got a free moment to breathe. Instead of doing that, though, I’m going to take a look at my personal Top 10 of 2009, which was featured in our February issue on “The Editors’ Top 10 Picks” page. As a bonus, I’ve included a couple of honorable mentions that came VERY CLOSE to making my list.

Honorable Mention: Demon’s Souls

I actually feel genuinely bad that Demon’s Souls didn’t quite make the cut for my list. I was a huge supporter of this game both on the staff and in the media in general. But the fact that it missed my top 10 is not a judgment on the game; it’s simply a sign of how many incredible gaming experiences 2009 had. If you’ve ever ached for a Japan-developed RPG that tries something truly unique and if the difficulty doesn’t scare you off, Demon’s Souls is absolutely a must-play game.

Honorable Mention: Retro Game Challenge

A few editors managed to cram Retro Game Challenge onto their top 10s, which made me happy. Behind Dragon Quest V (see below), this is easily the handheld game I spent the most time with in 2009. It managed to totally capture the feeling I had while hiding in the basement as a kid and playing NES games late into the night. Anyone with similar memories owes it to themselves to check out Retro Game Challenge. I’m looking forward to the sequel.

Honorable Mention: Shadow Complex

At E3 2009, I called this "the best new Metroid game announced at E3." With all due respect to the upcoming Metroid: Other M (which I'm still very excited to see more of), I still stand by this statement. Here's hoping that Chair Entertainment's stunning homage leads to more of this style of meaty downloadable game on Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, and WiiWare.

10. Flower

For as much crap as gamers can talk about Sony -- and believe me, there's plenty -- there are a couple ways in which they unarguably rise above the competition as a console manufacturer. Flower is the perfect representation of Sony's surprising willingness to take chances on games that are more art-house than mainstream, more of a pop experiment than a guaranteed hit. This isn't just limited to downloadables either; for every sure-fire system seller like God of War, there's an intriguing attempt to move the medium forward that could fall flat on its face, like Heavy Rain or The Last Guardian.

Flower, thankfully, does not falter at all. Many have called it the video game equivalent of a poem, the message that creator Jenova Chen drove home during demos. The description fits, but I fear that people are missing the significance of that. Yes, it's short and beautiful and breathtaking, like any good poem should be, but it also has meaning like any good poem. Flower carries a message about nature and its relationship to modern culture, and it does so through some of the most impressive tech we've yet to see in any game.

9. Red Faction: Guerrilla

Now that I think about it, it's kind of depressing that the deep, artistic choice in Flower fell just behind the big dumb summer action game, but...maybe it's not so strange. Like Flower, Red Faction: Guerrilla is a game that knows exactly what it's trying to achieve and goes for it whole-heartedly. It's just that in Flower's case, that point is a serene meditation on nature, and for Guerrilla it's an intense reminder of how awesome it feels to blow stuff up. I was psyched that the first time you drop a building in Guerrilla made our Top 10 Moments of 2009 list, because there really wasn't a more fantastic gaming moment for me all summer.

It's also worth noting the against-the-odds nature of the game's origin. The Red Faction series wasn't an abject failure last generation, but it definitely wasn't triple-A by any means. Still, Volition managed to breathe an amazing amount of life back into the franchise, enough so that I'm really looking forward to seeing what they do with the sequel. This release also cemented my growing respect for THQ as a more serious publisher, something that seems to be continuing into 2010 with games like Darksiders.

8. Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride

I believe this is the only choice on my list that made no other editor's top 10. The simple reason for this is that the rest of GI's staff are heathens. I'm as tired of JRPG conventions as anyone -- probably more so, since I play so many -- so you can imagine my surprise at a game originally released in 1992 showing me how much joy can still be found within those conventions.

The core combat of DQV is nothing special; it's more or less the norm for the series with some Pokemon-esque monster-collecting thrown in to add a bit of depth. But the plot manages to play with expectations and throw in numerous unbelievable twists and turns while remaining simple and charming. Few games with massive next-gen budgets and a fully-voiced cast can come close to the brilliant storytelling techniques used in Hand of the Heavenly Bride.

7. Borderlands

Borderlands is one of two entries on my top 10 that I actually have not completed yet. However, I have played enough to know how much I completely freakin' love it. This addictive loot-fest from Gearbox continues a trend I've started to notice of developers borrowing liberally from World of Warcraft's design philosophy. From the three-tiered talent tree to the color-coded weapon drops to the just-one-more-then-I'll-quit questing system, Borderlands has plenty. To be honest, that's a brilliant idea, and it paid off. The game sold far better than expected, and a sequel is almost certainly on the way. I expect to see many more games taking similar notes from Blizzard's runaway MMO success in the coming years.

6. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Though I never doubted that it would be in my top 10, Modern Warfare 2 jumped around my list more than any other game. At one point, it was at the top. At another point, it was the very tail end. Eventually I had to settle for a middle spot before I drove myself crazy. All the pre-release controversy aside, the latest Call of Duty brought exactly what the series has become synonymous with: a new batch of some of the most intense, mind-boggling shooter set pieces we've ever seen. Unfortunately, in their attempt to one-up every level from the first Modern Warfare, Infinity Ward crafted a nonsensical plot that seems clearly made solely to justify the big set pieces. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but the faint glimmers of promise hidden in the story segments, the hints that they might have had bigger and smarter ideas in mind, left me a bit disappointed.

But then you throw in an unrivaled multiplayer experience and an extremely difficult but extremely fun co-op mode? That's not even fair. Infinity Ward has once again proven themselves at the head of the class amongst shooter developers. I'm just hoping next time they'll bring in some writing to match their extreme talent at level design, set piece creation, and pure gameplay.

5. Dragon Age: Origins

And here's the second game on my list that I haven't yet completed, but I feel like I have a totally fair excuse: Dragon Age is really damned long! In all sincerity, I feel like between this coming out in November of 2009 and Mass Effect 2 hitting this week in 2010, it's enough to make me question if there is such a thing as too much BioWare. (The answer, of course, is no, but you understand where I'm coming from, I hope.)

My biggest surprise with Dragon Age was just how popular it was. When I heard that BioWare was doing a spiritual successor to the Baldur's Gate games, I knew that I would be really into it, but it also struck me as a very niche title, something that the average mainstream gamer would probably shy away from. Well, thank you, average mainstream gamer, for proving me wrong! BioWare's dark fantasy epic sold strongly, leaving the developer as the most likely choice for best studio at EA in 2010.

4. Assassin’s Creed II

There are an overwhelming number of great features in Assassin's Creed II: the vast recreated cities of Italy, the sheer number of things to do at any one time, the Dan Brown-worthy conspiracy-laden meta-plot that ties everything together, and more. But what truly impressed me was Assassin's Creed II's commitment to improving the problems so many people had with the first game. Ubisoft very well could have simply released a second game that iterated on the first rather than actually building it up. In fact, given Ubi's track record with sequels this generation -- see GRAW to GRAW 2 and Rainbow Six: Vegas to Vegas 2 -- that's absolutely what I expected. And as someone who enjoyed Assassin's Creed 1, I would have been fine with that.

Instead, Ubisoft Montreal took the time and care to get rid of the required repetitive side missions, to make the combat much more complex, and to add in more assassinations, more awe-inspiring set pieces, and more clues to move forward the overall fiction of the Assassin's Creed universe. This wise choice skyrocketed the franchise from a so-so success to the realm of generation-defining must-plays. Now let's hope they don't mess that up by rushing into whatever this new Assassin's Creed with multiplayer is.

3. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Now here's a sequel that really was mostly just iteration...but what sweet iteration it was. Naughty Dog, one of my all-time favorite developers, took the Gears of War-inspired shooting and Tomb Raider-inspired platforming and ruin-diving from the first Uncharted and ratcheted up the cinematic awesomeness by approximately 500%. With Uncharted 2's smooth camera and top-of-the-line graphics, there are numerous moments where friends passing by the television might believe you're just watching the latest Indiana Jones flick.

Oh, except it would be a new Indiana Jones flick where the plot doesn't suck. Uncharted's cast of intriguing characters grows in Among Thieves, introducing a couple new likable sidekicks, one British *** that you'll love to hate, and a kind-of-forgettable but workmanlike bad guy. The plot flies all across the world to some insane set pieces -- will anyone ever forget the train chapters? -- at a pace that's comparable to Modern Warfare 2, except that it actually makes sense.

2. Batman: Arkham Asylum

Someone actually made a good Batman game. After letting the shock of that revelation sink in, the next thought hit me even harder: Someone actually made a great Batman game. Rocksteady rose from the depths of obscurity to create what is hands-down the best licensed superhero game I’ve ever played. Taking cues from the Metroid and Zelda games, Arkham Asylum allowed players to step into the black leather boots of Bruce Wayne and explore an island full of secrets and riddles.

I knew Batman would make the upper regions of my top 10 of 2009 when I realized that it was one of the few games that demanded my attention long enough to hunt down and unlock 100% of the game’s secrets. Sure, there were a couple lame boss fights, but hopefully that’s an issue Rocksteady can resolve in the sequel.

1. Infamous

If Batman: Arkham Asylum is the best licensed superhero game ever made, Infamous is without a doubt the best original superhero game ever made. With a fascinating tragic origin story that would fit in perfectly amongst Marvel’s best, protagonist Cole MacGrath and his small band of friends brought a unique and exciting twist to the normal superhero formula. The plot flagged at points, but overall there were just enough twists to keep me hooked, and the M. Night Shyamalan-style WTF ending fully guaranteed my investment in the game’s world.

So why is it number one? As with Arkham Asylum, there was a telltale sign that this was going to be high on my list: Unlike any other open-world game, Infamous compelled me to complete every single side mission possible. And to play through it twice (once as good, once as evil). And to play through on the Hard difficulty setting. If you knew my play patterns, you’d know that this is extremely rare. Infamous is the only game in all of 2009 that I played multiple times and with a focus on getting everything possible out of it. It was just that good.