I’m still in the middle of BioShock 2, so I’m going to kick this week’s gaming entries off with a gaming topic that I’ve been wrestling with for a while now: “open-world” sandbox gameplay design. It seems like it’s getting more and more popular these days, and while I may be in the minority for this, I don’t think I am a fan. Grand Theft Auto III made sandbox gameplay popular, and ever since then, we’ve seen several games in the last few years implement this “feature’ from Burnout to Halo. The addition of basically being forced to travel everywhere to actually start a mission certainly makes a game longer, but does it make a game more enjoyable?

Sandbox/open-world gameplay design is really tough to naildown, as there are many games out there that have some implementation of it while not necessarily relying on it. I think back to the old school NES days, and games like Kung-Fu, Super Mario Bros. 1-4, etc. all were pretty much focused on the missions. While the later Super Mario Bros. games started drifting towards more traveling between missions (like Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World), it wasn’t until Super Mario 64 that you were forced to go open doors to start a level on a huge castle map. And it’s that jump to all this “downtime” between the missions is what is starting to annoy me. Here are some examples of recent games that tackle (or deal with) open-world gameplay.

Burnout Revenge vs Burnout Paradise
Burnout Paradise is probably one of the strongest examples of a sandbox style game. Prior to Burnout Paradise, the previous Burnout games, including my favorite, Burnout Revenge, were all level based and selectable from a mission menu. You would choose which race/challenge you wanted to compete in, and the race would start. If you lost, you could simply start the race/challenge again from the menu.

When Burnout Paradise was first released, the game was an open world so you actually had to drive everywhere in order to find a mission to start it. Is there really a lot of fun in having to drive several minutes to find a mission to take on? What if you don’t want to do that particular mission? You have to drive across town in order to do the mission you want to do? And on top of that, when the game was first released, if you lost a mission, that was it. You would end up somewhere else on the map (wherever you lost in that mission), and you would have to drive all the way back to the mission start location to start the mission again. Thankfully, that has since been patched so quick restarts are now in the game (after a lot of people complained), but my annoyance remains that I have to physically waste time driving everywhere I want to actually start a mission.

I do realize that it’s fun to play through an open world sandbox with friends online, but it’s not something that really provides a tangible benefit from gameplay. It’s like I’ve now being forced to commute anywhere I want to start a mission when it was fine before that.

Halo 3: ODST
Halo 3: ODST was the first Halo to implement a sandbox-style world, forcing you to travel through the streets of New Mombasa in order to find equipment from your squad that would trigger their flashback missions. While I still prefer no sandbox to sandbox style game design, I thought it worked quite well for ODST and I probably enjoyed the Halo 3: ODST campaign more than any other Halo’s campaign. I’m still trying to determine why I wasn’t as bothered by the Halo 3: ODST sandbox, and I think it’s most likely because the primary aspect of Halo 3: ODST, the combat, was still present during the sandbox mode. As you moved from one area to another, you still had to take on enemies, so it almost didn’t feel like a sandbox at all. In my previous example with Burnout Paradise, the driving from one mission to another was NOT the primary aspect of Burnout Paradise. Driving is not the same as racing.

Grand Theft Auto IV (& its expansions)
Having recently beaten The Lost and the Damned expansion, I was annoyed that I had to keep traveling across the map in order to get to a new mission. The problem with the Grand Theft Auto games is that if the sandbox was taken away and the game was just a series of missions, I think the game would probably fall on its face and not get the high marks it usually gets. If you could take away the driving between missions in Burnout Paradise, and even all of that hub traveling in Halo 3: ODST, both of those games would still be quite enjoyable to play, and would thus be played like a Call of Duty campaign: mission after mission after mission. And that’s honestly the gameplay design choice I would always prefer.

Grand Theft Auto IV is tough because the sandbox + mission structure are so intertwined in that both of the parts together are what make the game enjoyable. If the game was just one or the other, neither is strong enough to be entirely fun, but I can see why the kids like it. The combat system in GTA IV is laughably poor compared to any 3rd person shooter these days, and the only reason anyone would enjoy the sandbox gameplay of having to drive anywhere you need to go is because you enjoy stealing vehicles and killing civilians. It’s just not my thing. To be fair though, GTA IV implemented taxis, allowing you to fast-travel to anywhere you want to go, which was a MAJOR reason I was able to beat this game but none of the previous GTA games on the PS2. Thank you for that. And The Lost and the Damned allow you to call your friends to bring you weapons or motorcycles, which also eliminate needless commuting and errands you would be forced to run otherwise in order to actually play the game.

Assassin’s Creed 1 & 2
The Assassin’s Creed games are like historical Grand Theft Auto games, in that they are open world and you move across town in order to pick up new missions. Of course, back then you didn’t have cars so you would have to run across rooftops and use a horse to travel from one town to another. Assassin’s Creed 1 was pretty bad when it came to being forced to “commute” through its open world, but Assassin’s Creed II fixed a lot of problems that were inherent in the first game to make it much easier to play. In the sequel, you no longer had to ride a horse for like 15 minutes to get from one town to another – instead you just warped to it. Assassin’s Creed II also had fast-travel spots in various towns, allowing you to quickly move from one point to another on a map. This didn’t eliminate all “time-wasting commuting” between missions and such, but it made the game a lot less annoying. It’s a step in the right direction, and one of the reasons why I consider it to be the best sequel of 2009.

The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion & Fallout 3
Both of these games have huge sandbox style worlds from Bethesda Softworks. You could honestly travel on foot throughout both games for hours and still feel lost. I actually think that Oblivion and Fallout 3 handle their sandbox gameplay design the best. In both games, you have to physically commute to any new location in the world, but once you have gotten there, you can always fast-travel back to that spot. This allows for exploration, but doesn’t force you to waste unnecessary time commuting back to the spot. No complaints here, and if future sandbox games all incorporated fast-travel like this, maybe sandbox games are evolving.

Final Fantasy X & Final Fantasy XIII
RPGs may have been the first real games that forced this “open-world” sandbox into gaming as you had to navigate across an overworld to go from a town to a dungeon and such with random encounters along the way. But like Halo, RPG games primarily focus on combat so the random encounters in the overworld are not so bad. The Final Fantasy games are going a little bit crazier in this aspect and really evolving. When Final Fantasy X released on the PS2, it was the first Final Fantasy game with no overworld map. People were gasping that you just got in your airship, and selected the zone you wanted to travel to you and you would just start there. It may have been jarring at first, but it turned out to be awesome. The overworld was commuting that I don’t miss at all.

Final Fantasy XIII is going even one step further – apparently there are no towns in this game. I don’t know how it works since I haven’t read too much about it, but my impression is that a “town” will simply be a location you can go to, and then you will have a menu of some sort that you can navigate and pick “Armor shop”, “weapon shop”, “Item shop”, etc. all from a menu as opposed to running around town into various buildings looking for the shops. If I’m now being forced to travel through a menu to get what I need to do instead of running around a huge town for hours, that works for me.

In Conclusion
When done right, sandbox style games can work, as I’ve mentioned several games that have ways that don’t force you to commute – at least all the time. But what I’m hoping for is that the future’s games don’t rely on the sandbox gameplay design to artificially lengthen their games. If Crackdown 2 is being heralded as a 30 hour game but 15 of those hours are actually traveling to get to each mission or boss, then is it really a 30 hour game?

If I were to give my opinion to game designers, it would be to focus on the actual gameplay itself. Make everything as simple as you can such that we gamers can actually enjoy the game. Games like Burnout Revenge, Gears of War, and Modern Warfare all have missions that are forced one right after another or are selected from a menu. If you want to make players travel across a sandbox to get to these missions, please show some consideration as to whether or not the forced commuting really adds value. Sandbox gameplay is not necessarily a step forward in gameplay design!

The last time I played the PS3 was when Metal Gear Solid 4 was released. Since then, Sony has released Trophy support: PS3’s answer to Xbox’s Achievements. Back at the old site, espion4ge and I discussed whether the achievement system could be improved. Now that I’ve experienced Trophies, I’m finally able to compare and contrast the two systems. I think it’s awesome that Sony has gotten on board with Trophy support, but I still prefer Microsoft’s Achievement system.

Points or no points?
The biggest difference between Trophies and Achievements are that Achievements have point values associated with them. Trophies, on the other hand, are broken down into four categories: bronze, silver, gold, and platinum. Bronze, silver, and gold trophies are awarded for feats of varying difficulties, with gold obviously being the hardest. You receive a platinum trophy for earning all the trophies in any given game, the equivalent of a 1000 Achievement point Gamerscore.

There are pros and cons to having point associations. On the Xbox, you have people playing games just to pad their point total (ahem, Avatar), which I think is a negative aspect to having points. Other than that though, I prefer having points associated with my Achievements. It makes it easier for me to compare game completion with friends. It’s annoying when games have 2 point achievements though, because it really makes your score ugly if you can’t balance it out. When the game developers put thought into how many points are given to each Achievement, it really makes the tougher Achievements feel worthwhile. I don’t know if a gold trophy feels as satisfying.

On the PS3, you can compare the number of bronze, silver, and gold trophies, but it just isn’t the same. Plus, if you get a platinum trophy and then more trophies are released via DLC or whatever, then does it become cheapened? At the same time, I think it must be a great feeling to get a platinum trophy, much like getting a 1000 score. If your friends see your platinum trophies, they know that you have done everything there is to do in a given game. I’ll take the full 1000 on the Xbox, but I don’t think platinums are very far behind.

boop-boop
There is something about the Xbox Achievement sound that triggers an endorphin rush in my brain. When I am expecting an Achievement to unlock, I wait until that notification and sound trigger and then do a little fist bump. Sometimes I get excited when my friends sign on because I think I’ve unlocked an achievement I didn’t know about. Sony’s trophies have a sound as well, but it didn’t carry the same weight for me, but that’s probably because of the Pavlovian Xbox training I’ve had. Anyway, it’s the little things about Trophies/Achievements that make them so addicting: the small notification, the tiny sounds, the clever names. I love it!

Accessorize!
Although this isn’t directly related to Achievements or Trophies, I think Xbox has another slight leg up on Sony when it comes to Avatar awards. 360 has its Avatars, and PS3 has Home, and both systems have awards unlock for certain games. The thing is, you have to go into Home to see your awards, whereas with 360, you can customize your Avatar awards to appear on your Avatar at all times. For example, my Avatar is wearing the Depeche Mode shirt from Left 4 Dead 2. It’s not as easy to see your Home awards – you need to load up Home and visit your friends’ spaces. I think BOTH systems should offer more of these awards – I think these free unlocks benefit both gamers and Microsoft and Sony’s bottom line.

Bottom Line
The bottom line is, I prefer Achievements to Trophies, but not by much. Now that Sony has mandated Trophy support in all of its games, PS3 only owners have the chance to display their gaming accomplishments like 360 owners have been. Of course, Trophies/Achievements are mostly an indicator of how much time you spend playing games, but hey: that’s where all the fun is.

We live in an interesting time for games. In the not too distant past, gaming genres were clearly delineated: you’d play Doom to get your first-person shooting on, Starcraft to focus on real-time strategy, platformers like Super Mario Brothers 3 for throw your controller out the window experiences, and the turn based Final Fantasy role playing series for some heavy stories and to prove that “video games can make grown men cry”. But then, a funny thing happened on the way to the 21st century…

In the present gaming world, formerly clear cut lines delineating genres have begun to blur, and overall this has resulted in deeper, more enjoyable experiences for gamers. Take Modern Warfare 2, for example. With the amount of customization available to an individual player in multiplayer, people have compared the game to a role playing game, or even a MMO. This has served to make the game incredibly addictive and enjoyable: you keep fighting to ding that next level (and gain a corresponding “loot” drop). Moreover, since there are so many customization options, you find players of different “classes” forming squads in an effort to dominate their opponents.

Meanwhile, role-playing games have edged in the other direction. Mass Effect 2 is essentially a 3rd-person shooter whose role playing is focused in the dialogue and story choices a player makes. The Final Fantasy series has moved away from turn-based comment and has its battles in real time. The biggest series to remain true to traditional RPG trappings is DragonQuest, which is so old school that its ninth iteration was a Nintendo DS exclusive. Even platformers have had their share of genre-bleed (see: Henry Hatsworth and the Puzzling Adventure).

It’s pretty awesome that this evolution in gaming has occurred. It has provided gaming experiences that couldn’t be accomplished when developers stayed locked in to one game type. What does that mean for the future? I think tried and true franchises will continue to survive if they don’t keep up with the “evolution”. But gradually, even the big guns might get left by the wayside. Take the Halo series as an example. When ODST came up, sure, it was on a short development cycle, but I’m sure Bungie was hoping that it would reinvigorate the Halo multiplayer community again, and to some extent it did. But if Bungie doesn’t design some sort of leveling system akin to Modern Warfare 2 in Halo: Reach, I don’t know if I’ll still be interested.

That’s what I love about video games: developers are forced to “out-innovate” each other, and I’m sure we’ll see other great leaps forward in gaming evolution soon. And since we, the consumers, determine the weakest link, I’m confident that this will lead to the survival of the fittest game innovations. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some more action-game-with-classes-and-dialogue to play.

I had a hard time determining my five most anticipated titles for 2010. This may have to do with the fact that not a lot of stuff has been announced for the second half of the year or the fact that maybe there’s just too many sequels coming out in 2010 that I’m not completely interested in. While I should be more excited about them, I’m thinking I’m just mildly anticipating them because many of them could potentially suffer from either a new development team behind the sequel or the first game wasn’t so great to begin with. I loved Dead Rising 1 and BioShock 1, but with them both being developed by different studios, who knows how they will turn out? And will Lost Planet 2 and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 be that much better than their relatively mediocre predecessors? Of course, Assassin’s Creed 2 was an awesome follow-up, so there is hope.

In any case, to recap on my most anticipated titles for 2009, the list included: Steet Fighter IV, Dragon Age: Origins, Bayonetta, Alpha Protocol, and Starcraft II. Only the first two from my list made it out in 2009, and both were highly respected games. Bayonetta also just released at the beginning of the year to good reviews as well. Now that I have it in my hands, I hope to get some time with it and will share my thoughts on it soon. Alpha Protocol got a “stealth” delay to this year, meaning there was no announcement of any sort that it got delayed so some people even found out on the day of release that the game was delayed to summer 2010. While I anticipated that game a lot last year, this year it’s off my list. Starcraft II is still on my list for 2010, but what are the other four?

Final Fantasy XIII (360, PS3)
Outside of Starcraft II, Final Fantasy XIII is no doubt my most anticipated title of the year (from what has been announced so far as a 2010 release). I grew up on Final Fantasy, played through practically every single one of them (except Final Fantasy VIII – ugh for some reason I just could not enjoy that one). After the masterpiece that was Final Fantasy X on the PS2 and its lovable characters like Wakka, Riku, and Lulu, we had the MMORPG FFXI (which I tried briefly but did not enjoy), and the single-player MMORPG FFXII. I must have put in 60-70 hours into Final Fantasy XII, but at the end of the day I just didn’t really like it too much. The characters were not developed and the story was boring – FFXII ended up being a single player RPG that I could not get attached to, which is a big no-no for RPGs in my book. I’m hoping all of this changes when Final Fantasy XIII releases – sort of “righting the ship” and bringing the franchise back on course. I remember Square did the same thing when FFVIII was a little too out there for the Final Fantasy fans, so they brought things back to the classic gameplay with FFIX (which I did enjoy a lot). I hope FFXIII returns the Final Fantasy franchise to grace like FFIX did.

Resonance of Fate (360, PS3)
I like RPGs. For any of you longtime readers of the blog, you probably know that by now, and so I’m sort of concerned that Sega has decided to release Resonance of Fate on the same day as Final Fantasy XIII here in the states. It’s going to get demolished. But why is Resonance of Fate on my list of 2010 anticipated titles? It’s developed by tri-Ace, the studio behind the Star Ocean series, the Valkyrie Profile series, and Infinite Undiscovery. Contrary to what anyone will say about Infinite Undiscovery, I still enjoyed it a lot. Resonance of Fate seems to have a look and polish rivaling that of Final Fantasy XIII, and not only that, but the game is being directed by the planner of a couple of my favorite PS1 games: Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story. What also is a little different about this game is that it’s not going to be fantasy based, but rather, the characters are going to be using firearms in a more modern setting. The last time I played an RPG with firearms in a more modern setting was Parasite Eve, so I’m anxiously awaiting to see if Resonance of Fate takes elements of all of these classic PS1 RPGs I loved and brings them to the current generation.

Medal of Honor (360, PS3, PC)
This is a surprising pick for me, as I didn’t come up with this until I serious scanned the list of titles for release in 2010 for this article. EA’s Medal of Honor series has gone downhill ever since several employees left the team to create a studio named Infinity Ward, most famous for Call of Duty. The last Medal of Honor game released for this console generation, Medal of Honor: Airborne, was pretty bad. What has me most interested in this game is that EA has decided to bring the Medal of Honor franchise into modern day combat, having the game take place in present day Afghanistan. EA’s plan is to directly compete with the Call of Duty franchise, which means in order to do that, Medal of Honor will have to be a triple-A title. If EA wants to make a modern warfare game better than Modern Warfare 2, I’m all ears and I would love to see what they have in store. It’s also coming out at a good time – about a year after Modern Warfare 2 so maybe by then I’ll be ready to try something different for my online multiplayer needs. Apparently DICE, the studio behind the Battlefield games and Mirror’s Edge, will be handling the multiplayer for Medal of Honor. One thing that worries me is that with another franchise jumping into the modern combat train, does this mean the modern warfare genre will get over-saturated and go the way of WWII games? And is DICE going to do anything different for the Medal of Honor multiplayer besides stick Battlefield’s Conquest mode into it? I guess we will see this Fall.

Elemental: War of Magic (PC)
Stardock is my new favorite PC gaming development studio, and although I was less than pleased with Demigod, I think Elemental: War of Magic is the next big title from what the studio excels at: the 4X strategy game. I’m still slowly making my way through Stardock’s Galactic Civilizations II: Ultimate Edition, and prior to that I  thoroughly enjoyed the Civilization games (not by Stardock though). Each of those franchises has the 4x strategy gameplay applied to different genres: Galactic Civilizations II goes more sci-fi with the space and future route, while Civilization 4 goes more accessible with the historical and modern route. Elemental: War of Magic will bring the 4x strategy genre into the fantasy realm, and as someone that enjoys my fair share of RPGs, I am quite interested in seeing how I will be able to apply 4x strategy to a game where magic and dragons exist. What’s also piquing my interest about the game is that I’ll be able to recruit heroes, explore dungeons, and amass treasure. Just how much of this game is 4x strategy and how much of it is RPG? While the cell-shaded graphics are a little bit offputting for me, I think this new combination of 4x strategy and RPG may be just the type of gameplay combination that I’m interested in trying out.

Starcraft II (PC)
Starcraft II was the only game that both cmfl3x and I had on our respective 2009 anticipated titles list, and it continues to remain as the only title in common for our 2010 anticipated titles list. I’ve played my fair share of RTS games ever since Starcraft was released over a decade ago, but since then, nothing has compared (although Warcraft III was excellent in its own way). Even today, I have Starcraft installed on my netbook and not only does it run perfectly, but it still is as good as when it first came out. Hearing the sound of your siege tanks switching into siege mode just doesn’t get old. What I also love about Blizzard is that the studio makes its games compatible with the Mac from day 1, so I’ll be able to still play this game with those of my friends that decided to convert to the mac route (sellouts!). Like Modern Warfare 2, I believe that Starcraft 2 has potential to bring several of my gamer buddies out of retirement and ready to go back into arranged team matchmaking. It can’t release soon enough.

Crazily enough, this site has been around for over a year already. Looking back, I noticed that my first ever post was on my top 5 most anticipated games of 2009, and here I am, anticipating 2010 with two repeats from that list. That’s kind of sad, but at the same time my excitement keeps building and I am hoping all these games live up to the hype…in my mind.

The games I listed last year were Mass Effect 2, Starcraft 2, The Conduit, The Beatles: Rock Band, and Halo Wars. Halo Wars and The Beatles: Rock Band turned out to be pretty awesome, The Conduit, not so much, and Mass Effect 2 and Starcraft 2 are still MIA. So what am I looking forward to this year?

Mass Effect 2 (360, PC)
As I replay Mass Effect for the game club and look at coverage for the sequel while counting down the days to January 26th, my anticipation is reaching a fevered pitch for this game. Yes, the first one definitely had issues, especially combat wise, but supposedly the combat is supposed to be more “shooter-like” and there are supposed to be a lot more options in dialogue. I’m also super excited to see how decisions I made in the first game affect the second. Here’s hoping BioWare delivers again: I believe!

Miles Edgeworth: Investigations (DS)
I’m a huge fan of the Phoenix Wright series, and this March Miles Edgeworth, the lead prosecutor in many of the games, is getting his own game! I have no idea what this game is about or even how it’s going to work, although I hear you won’t be in the courtroom anymore. Who cares? As long as Miles Edgeworth brings the same brand of wacky humor as the rest of the Ace Attorney series, sign me up. And if you’ve never played the original, even though it’s near impossible to find on DS, you can now pick it up on Wiiware for $10!

Splinter Cell: Conviction (360, PC)
Although I’m more of a Metal Gear Solid fan, I’ve still been a casual fan of Sam Fisher and the Splinter Cell franchise. It was starting to get stale, so in the fifth iteration Ubisoft has decided to try something new by introducing a new objective system that seems really interesting. To keep the player immersed, objectives will be placed on walls or parts of the environment (as opposed to needing to pull up a menu or having someone constantly update your objectives). There are also some new bells and whistles, like the ability to know where an enemy thinks you are and the ability to mark targets behind doors for attack (kinda like Rainbow Six Vegas 2).

Heavy Rain (PS3)
Regulars to the site may have heard me talk about Heavy Rain before, but since we mostly cover Xbox stuff, you may not know too much about the game. Heavy Rain is a very different type of game. You play as one of four characters who are trying to hunt down a serial killer called the Origami Killer. The best way to describe it is it’s like watching a movie but getting to control the characters in it. If one of the protagonists dies, you take the shoes of another, and everyone dying can lead to “The End.” You are supposed to be able to play through multiple time with different outcomes. Anyway, I’m excited because this is supposed to be a “mature” evolution of games, so even if it doesn’t turn out well, hopefully it will push the industry forward. Now, how will I get my hands on a PS3…

Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty (PC)
Sigh. I was just going to grab the text from last year, but that made me too sad. Blizzard STILL hasn’t announced when this game will be coming out, so I will be even more depressed if I’m writing about this again in 2011. Anyway, Blizzard just announced that the Protoss will be playable for a short section in the single player campaign, so I’m looking forward to that! Every single video or screenshot that comes out of this game makes me more and more excited, so hopefully it will come out…ever…please?

Just Missed: Zelda, Metroid: Other M, Bioshock 2 (again)

Although it is likely this information is only interesting to me, I’m so excited about all the video game related stuff I’ve gotten that I just have to write about it. As you can see, I got a lot of stuff, some as gifts, some borrowed, and some as gifts from me…to me. Here’s the rundown of what I got and my expectations for each, in order of my current level of excitement.

120 GB Hard Drive – I’ve been toying with upgrading my storage for months now. It’s a luxury, and not a necessity, but I’ve becoming increasingly frustrated juggling my limited hard drive space, especially since I like loading games to my hard drive. I kept bugging my wife to buy it for me for Christmas/my birthday, but to no avail. Finally, I managed to “negotiate” a purchase at cost: both financially and chores-wise. Transferring my data over was relatively painless, and now I’m enjoying quieter, fan-free gaming. Worth it! Hopefully.

DJ Hero – My sister bought this for my birthday, and I broke it out over the weekend and put in a few hours. I’m pretty excited about this game, if only for the music. It seems like it could be a cheesy idea, but from what I’ve read, it really seems like a solid first entry in the series and a refreshing change of pace for music games. Too bad nobody bought it, except for my sis! Expect espion4ge’s impressions soon, and my review after that.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii – Another system, another gift. I absolutely loved Super Mario Bros. 3, and NSMBWii, besides having a horrible name, is a spiritual successor to that game. I missed out on New Super Mario Bros. on DS, but I blew through this game on the 3 days during the break that I had access to a Wii. I’m not done with it yet, but a review will be coming soon. The short version: great game, but don’t play with friends if you don’t want to throw your controller out the window.

Resident Evil 5 – I picked this up for $13 in the Gamefly End of the Year Sale, and I’m actually looking forward to it. Going to try to convince a friend to pick it up so I can play it through on co-op, but after reading a bunch of game of the year stuff, the game looks really good and hopefully it won’t remain on my backlog for too long. One thing in the way though, is…

Mass Effect DLC (Bring Down the Sky and Pinnacle Station) – EA had a “buy 3 Xbox Live products get 800 points” promotion over the holidays so I picked up the two DLC packs for Mass Effect and Boom Boom Rocket. I’m planning on replaying Mass Effect before the sequel comes out at the end of the month. I’m thinking about putting something up in the forums akin to a “Game Club”, so if anyone is interested in playing through at the same time keep an eye out in the forums.

LEGO Rock Band – I met up with LargeLobster and he gave me his copy of LEGO Rock Band after he downloaded the music to his console. We played a bit…it’s okay, but I’m probably just going to use this game for some music-related achievements.

Boom Boom Rocket – I downloaded this Xbox Live Arcade game because I heard it was pretty fun. I needed something else to get the 800 points from EA! They better credit my account.

I also received a couple scarves and sweaters, but I’m certain nobody cares about that. Instead, I leave you with a few awesome Christmas present vids. Anybody else get any new games to play?

We’ve finally reached the last day of our 2009 Xbox 360 Awards & Holiday Shopping Guide, culminating in our Game of the Year. For those following the awards throughout the week, you may have a good guess as to what game will be our game of the year. Is it the same as your pick?

In any case, please remember that while we’ve chosen only one winner from each category, all games nominated within each category are all worth considering, depending on how much you enjoy that category. This week’s feature has doubled as a shopping guide as well as an awards “ceremony”. With that, let’s draw back the curtains for the finale…

Summary of Awards so far:

2009 Xbox 360 Best Fighting Game: Street Fighter IV
2009 Xbox 360 Best Role Playing Game: Dragon Age: Origins
2009 Xbox 360 Best First Person Shooter: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
2009 Xbox 360 Best Action/Adventure Game: Assassin’s Creed II
2009 Xbox 360 Best Music Game: The Beatles: Rock Band
2009 Xbox 360 Best RTS Game: Halo Wars
2009 Xbox 360 Best Live Arcade Game: Shadow Complex
2009 Xbox 360 Best Multiplayer Game: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
2009 Xbox 360 Best New IP: Batman: Arkham Asylum
2009 Xbox 360 Best Sequel: Assassin’s Creed II
2009 Xbox 360 Best Story: Batman: Arkham Asylum
2009 Xbox 360 Best Value: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
2009 Xbox 360 Most Overrated: Batman: Arkham Asylum

And for good measure, I’ve been playing the 360 since 2006 so here are my Xbox 360 GotY picks for the past three years:
2006 Xbox 360 Game of the Year: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
2007 Xbox 360 Game of the Year: BioShock
2008 Xbox 360 Game of the Year: Fallout 3

Counting up the tally, we have Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 leading the pack with 3 awards, Assassin’s Creed II with 2 awards, and Batman: Arkham Asylum with 2 awards (and 1 “negative” award). Street Fighter IV, Dragon Age: Origins, The Beatles: Rock Band, Halo Wars, and Shadow Complex all earned 1 award in their respective categories. Let’s see which game gets propelled to the top.

Xbox 360 Game of the Year 2009

Street Fighter IV
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Assassin’s Creed II
Left 4 Dead 2

I’ll start with the least likely candidate for game of the year from the list of five games above: Left 4 Dead 2. Compared to the other 4 games in this category, Left 4 Dead 2 is the only game on this list that did not win any awards at Leveling Down. However, it’s here and recognized for two reasons – the first reason is that if there were a Best Co-Op Game of 2009 award, Left 4 Dead 2 would have won that. The second reason is that Left 4 Dead 2 is a game that does many things correct in its execution, but it just kept coming in second place compared to the other games on this list. It never truly trounced any other game among our major categories. Suffice to say, being nominated for game of the year on this site means we recognize how good of a game it is, but Left 4 Dead 2 just doesn’t have enough to pull in the gold.

Up next is Street Fighter IV, our winner for Best Fighting Game of the Year. Does being the best fighting game of the year make it deserve the game of the year award? It’s debatable. On the one hand, fighting games are only a small subset of the overall 360 fanbase, compared to say, FPS games. But on the other hand, Street Fighter IV was a revolutionary title within the fighting game genre – taking the classic series and injecting it with an amazing graphics overhaul while keeping the gameplay accessible yet competitive. It practically did everything right for a fighting game on the console (including having minimal lag!) except the curiously missing party mode. Unfortunately, if you’re not a fighting game fan, Street Fighter IV is not going to change your mind and thus, falls short of winning Game of the Year.

Third place for our Game of the Year this year goes to Batman: Arkham Asylum – our winner for Best Story and Best New IP, but also the winner of our “Most Overrated” award, taking it down a notch. I agree with cmfl3x’s assessment that Batman: Arkham Asylum was the most overrated game of the year. It seemed that reviewers were drunk with the fact that they were actually playing a good licensed title and were quick to hand out practically perfect scores to a game that had glaring gameplay negatives. I still argue that if the game didn’t have the Batman license on it, it would have been scored lower. In any case, it’s still one of this year’s best action/adventure games due to its enjoyable story, familiar cast of characters, and a well designed combat system.

Coming in second place for Game of the Year at Leveling Down is Assassin’s Creed II – the winner of our Best Action/Adventure Game award and Best Sequel award. Assassin’s Creed II truly improved upon its predecessor, and does a fantastic job of letting you take on the role of an assassin in Italy during the Renaissance. Unlike the original game and its questionable required boring submissions, Assassin’s Creed II’s story progression was overhauled to be a lot more in line with Grand Theft Auto. In fact, I would go so far as to say Assassin’s Creed II is basically Grand Theft Auto IV in the Renaissance era. There’s a main quest-line you can follow, but there are always optional sidequests you can take on such as assassination contracts and deliveries for fun (and extra money). It’s one of the longer action/adventure games this year, and is definitely worth your money.

Does it come as any surprise to us that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is our 2009 Game of the Year? The winner of our Best First Person Shooter, Best Multiplayer, and Best Value awards had such high expectations, yet Modern Warfare 2 filled every one of cmfl3x’s and my hopes for the game. It delivered a thrilling campaign, dozens of co-op missions, and a multiplayer mode that just keeps on giving. If you think back to the “Most Overrated” category, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is basically the only highly scoring title this year that we did not feel was overrated. I would even argue that it’s underrated with it only scoring a 94/100 average on Metacritic. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is basically gaming perfection on the Xbox 360. Put it up against any other game released this year and there’s really no competition. If you have a Xbox 360 (or even a PS3), you must own this game as it’s the pinnacle of a multiplayer first person shooter done right on the console.

That concludes our awards/holiday shopping guide this year. Feel differently about your game of the year? Please share! Have a safe and happy holiday season enjoying the best of what 2009 offered us in gaming. While 2009 didn’t seem to offer us much until November 2009  when Modern Warfare 2, Assassin’s Creed II, and Left 4 Dead 2 released, the first quarter of 2010 is shaping up to be very promising with many titles I’m looking forward to playing such as: Bayonetta, Army of Two: The 40th Day, Mass Effect 2, BioShock 2, Dante’s Inferno, Splinter Cell: Conviction, Lost Planet 2, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Resonance of Fate, Final Fantasy XIII, Crysis 2, and Super Street Fighter IV. All of these titles are scheduled to be released in the next 3 months so if there’s no other games you want for Christmas this year, start asking for gift cards. You’ll be burning through them pretty quick in the next few months!

In Part 4 of the Awards/Shopping Guide, Leveling Down will be tackling some of the more controversial categories: Best Story, Best Value, and Most Overrated. Admittedly, these categories are VERY subjective and are only our opinions, and on some counts even espion4ge and I don’t see *exactly* eye to eye. Nonetheless, controversy is a lot of fun, so might as well give it a shot!

Best Xbox 360 Storyline of 2009

Batman: Arkham Asylum [winner]
The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition
Halo 3: ODST
Brutal Legend
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Assassin’s Creed II

As I’ve stated before, I love a good yarn, so if a game’s got a great story, I’ll forgive a lot of its flaws. I originally got into video games because of story, which is why I was so into role playing games when I was a kid. There were some games with great stories this year, so if you are interested in a game with a good story, this category is your best bet.

All six of the games above have great stories, but I loved Batman: Arkham Asylum the most. It’s challenging to take a character who has been used in so many other mediums and create a new, unique, and gripping story, but the writers in Batman: Arkham Asylum did a marvelous job of pulling it off. The premise of the story is awesome: the Joker gets himself arrested so that he gets locked up in Arkham in order to hatch his diabolical plan. It’s a classic comic book story, but the story is paced extremely well and features a lot of guest cameos from classic villains. The island of Arkham comes alive as you make your way through it, and I wanted to keep playing to see what happened in the end. Sure, you know you’re going to defeat the Joker, but the ride was one well worth taking.

The Secret of Monkey Island is an old classic that was re-released with redone graphics and voices for XBLA this summer. Its story is great because it’s so unique: you are a wanna-be pirate who gets caught up in a zany adventure that pits you against a zombie pirate.

Halo 3: ODST is on this list because it had such a unique take on storytelling. The game is set in an open hub world and you find yourself separated from your squad-mates. You gradually discover what happened to them by reliving (playing) through their memories. It’s a great way to tell a story, and probably would have won the category if it were not for weak characterization. I couldn’t really tell the difference between the ODSTs…not a good thing.

Brutal Legend is my runner-up in this category, and as I’ve stated elsewhere, it is a well-written heavy metal epic. The story is much deeper than it has any right to be, and there are some instances where I was genuinely shocked by what happened. It’s a bit weird that you can’t have more than one save game, which is really unfortunate, since I would love to replay the game and story again without resetting my stats.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has been praised enough on this site and elsewhere, but its story is to be noted for its absolute insanity. It is a roller coaster of a thrill ride that is not to be missed.

Last, but not least, Assassin’s Creed II tells a great story about revenge. The main character, Ezio, is much more likable than Altair was, and he actually shows growth throughout the course of the game…albeit not much. The intertwining of Ezio’s storyline with what’s going on in the contemporary world with Desmond Miles is pretty cool too. The biggest drawback of this game is they somehow completely messed up Kristen Bell’s character model…unacceptable.

Honorable mention goes to Dragon Age: Origins and Ghostbusters: The Video Game, two games that we haven’t had the chance to play through yet, but that we’ve heard great things about. Dragon Age: Origins is supposed to have a great storyline affected by your choices, though I’d expect nothing less from Bioware. Many also claim that Ghostbusters is practically a sequel to the movies. Expect our impressions on both games in the coming months when we get through our backlogs.

Best Xbox 360 Value of 2009

Battlefield: 1943
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Borderlands
Dragon Age: Origins
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 [winner]
Left 4 Dead 2

When thinking about best value, I always think about how much gaming and enjoyment I can receive for a title relative to the amount of money I spent on it. Since multiplayer-focused games have the most legs, usually they end up being the best value (since you never “beat” the game, there’s rarely a reason to stop until you get bored). But to be a good value, a game also has to be worth all the hours you pour into it. All of the games in this category will give you plenty of gaming for one fixed price.

Unsurprisingly, the one XBLA title in this list is a multiplayer game. You can pick up Battlefield: 1943 for the low price of $15 and get a nice pick up and play multiplayer first person shooter. The three maps are pretty well balanced, and the vehicles are very fun to use. DICE’s Frostbite engine is holding up nicely: huge explosions and breakable cover prevent people from camping too much, speeding up the action. Unfortunately, most people have moved on to Modern Warfare 2, so this train has more or less left the station.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is a single player title with a good amount of re-playability. The story mode is lengthy, but where you will really find a lot of value is in the combat and predator challenges. If you want to get 3 bats (stars) on each challenge, it will take you much longer than the story mode. You also need to be a bit of a glutton of pain, so it’s not going to be for everyone. But if you love a hefty challenge, there is a lot of value to be found in Arkham Asylum.

The first person shooter WoW-type game Borderlands needs to be mentioned in this category because if questing and looting is your type of thing, there are 50+ hours of gameplay for you in this game. Grab three friends and run around Pandora killing everything that moves and looting every chest you find. Then, after you finish the game, do it again until you hit the level cap! Borderlands features addicting gameplay that is slightly marred by some curious design decisions, but is a good value for your money nonetheless.

Dragon Age: Origins is this year’s Fallout 3 and this category’s runner up. You’ll pour 60+ hours into the game’s main quest and then you will be tempted to play it again to see what happens as a different character! Though the game is better on the PC, Bioware did a good job with the 360 port (with Achievement support!). If you are a solo gamer who nonetheless wants to get a lot of playtime into one game and one game only, you could probably survive all of 2010 with Dragon Age. Unfortunately, Dragon Age isn’t for everyone, which is why it came in second to…

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Would you expect anything else? You’ll spend 6 hours on the campaign. Then you’ll spend another 10 doing it on Veteran. Then you’ll spend another 10-15 hours trying to get 3 stars on every Special Ops mission. Then, if you feel like it, you can dip your toes into multiplayer. Oh, and if some of those things don’t sound appealing to you, you’ll STILL get your money’s worth from the aspects that are appealing to you. I’ve poured over 36 hours into this game, and I’m not even halfway to my first Prestige in multiplayer. Modern Warfare 2 is the perfect game to bring with you to a deserted island…provided that deserted island has a high speed internet connection. (Note: I wrote this BEFORE I saw espion4ge used the same analogy yesterday – great minds think alike I guess.)

In case you don’t feel like fighting humans, you could always pick up Left 4 Dead 2. It features the same addictive gameplay of the original, but with more game modes and more maps. You can pick up the game for $40 in most places now – an amazing value. The only thing is, you really want to be playing this game with friends, so make sure you party up!

Xbox 360 Most Overrated Game of 2009

Street Fighter IV (Metacritic: 94)
Batman: Arkham Asylum (Metacritic: 92) ["winner"]
The Beatles: Rock Band (Metacritic: 89)
Left 4 Dead 2 (Metacritic: 89)

This is a tough category to call, and definitely controversial. To me, an overrated game is hyped more than it deserves or scored higher than it deserves. Obviously, it’s a very subjective category, but it’s also a lot of fun to think about. So every game on this list is a game that I, cmfl3x, believe isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. For the record, I love all four of these games, so before you flame me, consider that!

Don’t get me wrong: I think Street Fighter IV is a great game. I also think it benefited from being the most mainstream Street Fighter game since Street Fighter 2. The game is very well done and well balanced, but are the new characters that great? Do I really care about Rufus and EL FUERTE!? The online multiplayer’s lack of quarter matches is also inexcusable and just detracts from the fun. So despite all its great qualities, I think Street Fighter IV was definitely overrated.

Street Fighter benefited from nostalgia, while the “winner” in this category, Batman: Arkham Asylum, managed to become overrated due to the relative mediocrity of its competition. Outside of Marvel: Ultimate Alliance and a few other exceptions, there haven’t been many good superhero games, so when Batman came out, it blew people away, and rightfully so. Yet the game does have flaws which all the positive press managed to ignore. There really isn’t a lot of exploration to be done, and some gameplay sections are a bit repetitive and oversimplified. For example, the Scarecrow portions of the game are awesome story and setting wise, but incredibly lame gameplay wise.

The Beatles: Rock Band is a pretty amazing experience, but the fact of the matter is, it’s just too short. There are 45 songs, but remember, many Beatles’ songs are under 4 minutes long. Compared to other music games, there is much less re-playability. And of course, if you don’t like The Beatles, you are out of luck. The game is great, especially for fans of the Beatles, and its presentation is top notch, but you’re still paying top dollar for a much shorter experience.

Finally, after all the hype, controversy, and anticipation, Left 4 Dead 2 unfortunately feels like an expansion. An excellent expansion, no doubt, but the game still is a bit overrated. There are some new modes, maps, and weapons, but does that justify a full-on sequel? I guess I’m kinda of biased, because I still wish Valve had taken more time with this game (and not released it after Modern Warfare 2). Regardless, the game is definitely worth playing, just be aware that it’s basically a refined version of the first…without Louis.

Our 2009 Xbox 360 Awards/Holiday Shopping Guide will wrap up tomorrow with both espion4ge and me sharing our own nominees and winner for best game of the year. Stay tuned!

One of the Xbox 360’s strongest features compared to other consoles is its multiplayer gameplay, which can probably be attributed to the Live infrastructure. It is thus not surprisingly to see strong multiplayer games on this system. For today’s awards, I will be discussing the best multiplayer games released this year, and the one better than the rest.

I will also be discussing the best new IP and best sequel of the year. It’s good to see that in 2009, there were nearly an equal number of good new IPs and sequels. The moment we begin seeing only sequels releasing and new IPs no longer developed is the moment the game industry stops advancing. It’s easy to support sequels since you know what you’re getting yourself into, but this year was perhaps the year with the largest number of development studios shutting down. Continue to take a chance by supporting new IPs – the developers need this type of support to stay in business and come up with new and exciting games to push our industry forward!

Best Xbox 360 Multiplayer Game of 2009

Street Fighter IV
Halo Wars
Battlefield 1943
Halo 3: ODST
Borderlands
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 [winner]
Left 4 Dead 2

In determining the best multiplayer game of the year, I’ve considered not only whether the game itself is fun to play, but various other aspects that come with multiplayer: customization options, co-op, ease of use, appeal, etc. In short, the best multiplayer game should provide for the best overall multiplayer experience.

Street Fighter IV took several steps forward in the online multiplayer arena for fighting games – most notably the automated matchmaking while you played Arcade mode and the ability to unlock and use titles to further personalize yourself online. The big misstep in Street Fighter IV’s multiplayer was the lack of any sort of party room where multiple players could join and take turns fighting each other together. This will be fixed when Super Street Fighter IV comes out in March of 2010.

While Halo Wars was the only serious RTS game released on the 360 this year, its multiplayer was quite well done and the gameplay was simplified enough to be quite playable on the console. Matchmaking was in-place, allowing you to take on 1v1, 2v2, or 3v3 matches with either random partners or arranged teams – just like in Blizzard’s Warcraft III games. Borrowing a page from the Halo games, Halo Wars has extensive stats tracked for every game played, and you can access these stats through the website to see how you perform, what your opponents were ranked at, the results of each match, etc. In short, the game provides a very strong multiplayer infrastructure to be a competitive game. Unfortunately, not many Xbox 360 players are still playing Halo Wars these days, as arranged team matchmaking can take several minutes before you’re able to go up against another team.

Battlefield 1943 belongs up here as the only “multiplayer” only title of the list. At $15, 360 owners are able to download this Live Arcade title and jump right into a handful of online maps and play the beloved primary Battlefield mode: Conquest. The vehicular combat that the series is known for is present, as well as stat tracking on the EA website. One minor thing to consider about Battlefield 1943 is the simplification of the game by having unlimited ammo and only three distinct, yet intuitive classes. It works, and while I would have loved to see more maps, it was certainly fun for the $15 we spent playing it this past summer. Playing with friends can be a little dicey in the game though, as you can still be split onto separate teams from your squad from time to time if your squad dominates too much.

Halo 3: ODST is a controversial multiplayer package. Within the game comes a new multiplayer Firefight mode, allowing for you and up to three buddies to take on wave after wave of Covenant as long as you can stay alive – injecting an enjoyable arcade style co-operative mode to the Halo universe. But is that really enough to make Halo 3: ODST stand out as one of the stronger multiplayer games this year? Nope. This is why Halo 3’s multiplayer and every charged map to date is included with the game. This stands as potentially a fantastic bargain for those that have never played Halo 3 multiplayer before, but for 360 owners, if you haven’t already played Halo 3 multiplayer by now, you probably never will. For many of us, we bought the game, played some Firefight, and were done with it.

Borderlands gets points for the thought that was involved in implementing a RPG game like this with up to three other buddies. The enemies scale in difficulty, the loot gets more impressive, and every player can go back into their own solo games with the progress and quests they made in multiplayer. Everything seems like it’s going to be an enjoyable multiplayer game – and it is, provided that you and all of your buddies only play together when everyone is on. Unfortunately, people can’t realistically all maintain the same gaming schedules, and thus the RPG element of Borderlands hurts the game’s multiplayer component enough to make it a difficult game to enjoy with friends. This is not really inherent to the design of the game, but the mere limitations of making an RPG have multiplayer.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is Leveling Down’s vote for Best Multiplayer Game of the Year. If it’s one game that you are stuck on a desert island with but have an Internet connection, this is your best bet. The amount of multiplayer customization the series has become known for in this game is ridiculous, allowing any player to focus on his strengths when playing competitively. With so many guns, accessories, Perks, Killstreak rewards and the like, you can play multiplayer however you want. And while Modern Warfare 2 also has an addictive experience level system, it doesn’t hinder your progress in the game – it merely provides you with more options. Throw in the ability to unlock new custom emblems and logos to display in-game, over 20 co-op missions, and many different game modes besides the traditional Team Deathmatch, and we have a multiplayer game here that some players may not budge from until Modern Warfare 3 comes out. The only negative issue about the multiplayer is that Party Chat is disabled for several of the game modes, but there are manual workarounds.

One thing that Left 4 Dead 2 excels in on the multiplayer side that the other games nominated in this category can’t touch is co-op. Left 4 Dead 2’s primary campaign focuses on just you and three buddies trying to make your way through over 20 well-designed levels and specifically for this aspect, the game cannot be beat. There’s no experience levels you need to worry about in this game (like Borderlands) – grab three other guys and start killing some zombies. On top of that, Left 4 Dead 2 has a few more competitive modes if co-op isn’t enough. There’s a Survival mode where you compete to stay alive the longest against ridiculous odds, and a Versus mode & Scavenge mode where you and up to three other players can take on four other players with one side playing as the Survivors and another side as the Infected and the two sides switching every round. From what I understand, new to Left 4 Dead 2 is team matchmaking, allowing you and your buddies to go up against other teams within the Versus mode. The adversarial modes in Left 4 Dead 2 don’t play as well as they do in Modern Warfare 2, due to a lack of customization, unlocks, and even simple stat tracking. Still, Left 4 Dead 2’s co-op makes it still a game worth considering for multiplayer fans.

Best Xbox 360 New IP of 2009

BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger
Shadow Complex
Batman: Arkham Asylum [winner]
Brutal Legend
Borderlands
DJ Hero
Dragon Age: Origins

While some companies are content to release sequel after sequel for minimal risk, others take a chance and decide on something completely new. Ironically, these games themselves have potential to spawn sequels, so my criteria in determining which game is the best new IP is the one that I am anticipating the sequel from most.

In a fighting game world populated with sequels such as Street Fighter IV, Soul Calibur IV, Virtual Fighter 5, Tekken 6, and King of Fighters XII, BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger stands alone as one of the only new fighting game IPs to the market. It’s also a very good fighting game with fresh character design, an innovative gameplay style that keeps all the characters very unique, and excellent presentation. If you tire of all the other fighting games on the market and want something completely fresh, BlazBlue is the one to check out.

Some consider Shadow Complex their game of the year, and while I may not feel that strongly about the game, I believe it does deserve a spot here on the best new IPs list of 2009. Shadow Complex successfully combined a “2.5D” Unreal graphics engine with Metroid style gameplay, and the result was a modernized version of the beloved classic. Unfortunately, its primary drawback is that the story was practically non-existent. I also don’t see how a sequel to the game could work – will you find yourself in a new abandoned base and unarmed, only to look for new gear upgrades in order to unlock new rooms? Shadow Complex is a great game, but whether it can be a great franchise is yet to be determined.

Batman: Arkham Asylum is our Best New IP of the year. This was somewhat of a technical call, as the Batman IP has been around for quite a long while. However, this particular Batman gaming IP is new, and it looks very promising. The graphics engine was phenomenal, the combat system perfect, and the amount of lore in the Batman universe can easily lend itself to more sequels. Of all the nominees in this list, I’m most anticipating a sequel to Arkham Asylum, with the hopes that the investigation gameplay is more refined (Batman is the world’s greatest detective, after all) and the bosses more unique and better designed next time around.

Brutal Legend was an interesting “experiment” for Tim Schafer. It combined action/adventure with real time strategy, and infused that combination with heavy metal and humor. The storyline, voice actors, and presentation were well regarded, but the gameplay itself fell a bit flat. Apparently the mixing of the action/adventure and RTS genres left out enough aspects from both genres to not really please fans of either genre. Fortunately, Tim Schafer has been building a fanbase with every new game he designs, and whatever he designs next is sure to keep the charm that all his games have had. To be honest, I’d be more interested in seeing a completely new game from him rather than a sequel to Brutal Legend. Does he even do sequels?

Borderlands is one of the bigger new successful IPs this year, and for good reason: it is one of the first games to successfully combine FPS with RPG. While its multiplayer suffered due to the inherent limitations of RPG aspects in general, the combination was solid from a single player standpoint and I’m sure there are many new fans of not only the game, but the genre. My hopes is that in future sequels, the weapon types are a bit more varied and items are less randomly generated.

DJ Hero is also one of the new interesting IPs created this year. It actually had a lot going for it: an exciting track list, a new peripheral, and innovative gameplay. But perhaps people have already tired of music peripheral games, and the lack of any sort of real party mode for DJ Hero led to its poor sales and probably the end of the franchise. One also has to wonder at this point whether or not the Hero name in the title helps it or hinders it due to the over-saturation of Hero games nowadays.

Rounding out the top new IPs for this year is Dragon Age: Origins, a new RPG from the makers of Baldur’s Gate, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and Mass Effect. While this looks to be a solid RPG (and winner of our best RPG of the year), the game doesn’t seem to bring many new innovations to the table as an epic fantasy RPG and a spiritual successor to the beloved Baldur’s Gate series. With this first game being titled “Origins”, sequels in the Dragon Age franchise are bound to be released. Note that some complain that the game is too long and it has too many moral choices with game-channging consequences, so perhaps there’s such a thing as too much RPG in an RPG!

Best Xbox 360 Sequel of 2009

Street Fighter IV
Resident Evil 5
Guitar Hero 5
Tekken 6
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Assassin’s Creed II [winner]
Left 4 Dead 2

In determining the best sequel award, I’ve evaluated the winner based on how much better a game is than its predecessor(s). If the jump is significant, it has cause to be considered an amazing sequel. But what if the game before it was already amazing? That begs the question of whether the sequel is even really necessary. Regardless, let’s get to the list.

Street Fighter IV is our runner up for Best Sequel. It’s tough to really think what Street Fighter IV is a true sequel to: Street Fighter II or Street Fighter III. Unlike the other games in this category where their predecessors are on the same console generation or only one console generation prior, both Street Fighter II and Street Fighter III were on consoles several generations prior to the Xbox 360. While each of these earlier Street Fighters stood out strongly on their respective console generations, it wasn’t until Street Fighter IV was released that many fighting game fans finally felt that Street Fighter had caught up to the present. Let’s face it: Street Fighter IV closed the generation gap by wowing fans, and for that it is recognized as an outstanding sequel.

Resident Evil 5 is a pretty good game in its own right, but an example of a sequel that is worse than its predecessor. Of course, being the sequel to a game that many considered game of the year (and even game of the system for the Gamecube), meant Resident Evil 5 just had too much pressure to live up to. If you can deal with the AI partner or find a friend to play it through with, the game is actually quite enjoyable.

Guitar Hero 5 – while rated pretty highly and many call a definite improvement over Guitar Hero World Tour, the question that many of us are wondering about is whether this was even a necessary sequel. Sure it was slightly better than its predecessor, but when the bulk of the enjoyment for these types of games falls merely on the songs, implementing a Rock Band based DLC store may be a better way to go than to churn out sequel after sequel onto disc with limited export functionality. Still, it looks like Neversoft is finally catching onto what Harmonix has been trying to accomplish. Perhaps there won’t be the need for a Guitar Hero 6. Wait, who am I kidding?

Tekken 6 is also starting to get a bit guilty of the “over-sequel” syndrome as it’s a sequel that plays it safe and continues to satisfy the fans. But does it reinvent itself? Does it succeed in driving new players to the genre? No. The core gameplay is present, with tons of characters (the character select screen is actually pretty overwhelming!), and Namco is again off to their old antics of creating some single player beat-em-up mode that sucks. I feel like they’ve been experimenting with this since maybe Tekken 2, and they still haven’t gotten it right. Fortunately, the fighting game itself doesn’t suffer so I’ll simply conclude that it’s a decent game, but not a huge improvement over its predecessor.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 actually did everything right for a sequel. It continued the over-the top yet captivating storyline of Call of Duty 4, while introducing a completely new Special Ops mode for co-op. On the multiplayer side, the amount of improvements may seem minor for those that haven’t been following the series, but Call of Duty 4 fans do notice everything. Now the question I ask myself with this game is, “Is Modern Warfare 2 that much more awesome than Modern Warfare 1?” I can’t help but say no. Modern Warfare 1 was a phenomenal package when it was released back in 2007, and Modern Warfare 2 is no different when it was released this year. It just continues the high standards set forth by its predecessor.

It may be surprisingly for some of you, but Assassin’s Creed II is our pick for Best Sequel of 2009. In a way, our Best Sequel award is also comparable to a “Most Improved” award, and Assassin’s Creed II improves over the original Assassin’s Creed in many ways, making the sequel far better than the first. While the first game polarized players, the sequel is unanimously applauded. Take cmfl3x for example – he couldn’t even get through the first game before getting bored, but he’s already gone through the sequel in the span of practically only a week and loving it! This game deserves a look from those that had problems with the first as it’s not only an excellent sequel, but a lengthy and enjoyable game in its own right.

Rounding out the Best Sequel category for this year is Left 4 Dead 2. Left 4 Dead 2 falls into a similar problem that Modern Warfare 2 does when being considered for the Best Sequel category: the original one was awesome during its time already and the sequel, while quite good, doesn’t quite put the first one to shame. I would argue that the Left 4 Dead 2 sequel lacks the charm of the first, but from a technical standpoint, Left 4 Dead 2 provides lots of new enjoyable content and is well recommended for anyone that is eager for a new setting in the Left 4 Dead universe.

Rounding out our main categories, today we will be looking at Best Action/Adventure, Music, Real-Time Strategy and XBLA games. Looking at the list of titles from this year, there were a surprising number of good action/adventure games out this year, and even though neither of us owns a PS3, you can’t talk about action/adventure in 2009 without mentioning Uncharted 2. I’m glad I didn’t have to nominate that game though, since that would probably have made for some tough decisions. Music games, on the other hand, seemed to take a step backwards, or maybe we are just getting sick of them. Meanwhile, Live Arcade continues to put out good titles worth taking a look at.

Best Xbox 360 Action/Adventure Game of 2009

Resident Evil 5
Prototype
Ghostbusters: The Video Game
Shadow Complex
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Assassin’s Creed 2 [winner]

This was the most difficult category to decide on, as there were a lot of worthy nominees this year. Resident Evil 5 kicked things off to much controversy. Over the course of Resident Evil’s history, it has been the quintessential survival horror game, but RE5 changed the series game by focusing the game on co-op. This turned into a love it or hate it situation. For the most part, RE5 was a success, and if you are a fan of the Resident Evil series you should definitely check it out. I’d recommend playing with a friend, since the AI is a bit wonky.

Prototype is an open world action/adventure game featuring a protagonist wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt whose claim to fame is being compared to Infamous, another open world action adventure game featuring a protagonist wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt (PS3 exclusive). The game got pretty good reviews, but most people prefer Infamous to Prototype. The game deserves mention though, since it is a victim of it’s release date.

A surprisingly strong game this year was Ghostbusters: The Video Game, which is a game that is perfect for anyone who loves the movies. Generally, these licensed games are a bust, but this 3rd person shooter is a lot of fun and serves as a sequel to Ghostbusters 2. It’s too bad it’s the 1980s anymore, because Ghostbusters is sure to be a hit with kids!

Those three games were merely appetizers to the main events this year, though, which kicked off when Microsoft released Shadow Complex on Xbox Live Arcade. Shadow Complex is a spiritual successor to Metroid, set in a universe created by Orson Scott Card, and a game worth much more than its $15 price tag. Between acquiring power-ups, finding hidden secrets, and exploring the expansive map, there are hours of enjoyment to be found in this game.

The runner-up in this category also released in August. Due to its pre-holiday rush release, Batman: Arkham Asylum was primed to do well, and it made a modest killing in sales. More importantly, Arkham Asylum solidified its place as one of the best superhero games ever made. With an engaging story, a surprisingly deep combat system, and lots of fun gadgets and tools to play with, this was one of my favorite games of the year. Unfortunately, the game misses out a bit on the “adventure” aspect of things, but if you’re a fan of comics, it doesn’t matter. This game is awesome.

Finally, the last action/adventure game and the winner is Assassin’s Creed 2. First, Ubisoft should be commended for not delaying the game because of Modern Warfare 2, something a lot of publishers were doing this year. They were rewarded for their boldness, and so were gamers. Assassin’s Creed 2 brings the series to Renaissance Italy and is a resounding success. The majority of the flaws from the first game have been fixed, and Assassin’s Creed 2 has really gotten me excited about the conclusion of the trilogy. This game can take up 30 hours of your time, so it’s a great value too. Buy it for someone you love and you can’t go wrong!

Best Xbox 360 Music Game of 2009

Guitar Hero 5
The Beatles: Rock Band [winner]
DJ Hero
Band Hero
Lego Rock Band

This was a tough award to pick this year because, frankly, music games may have reached their saturation point. I basically bought my 360 to play Guitar Hero 2, but I just wasn’t as pumped up by the games this year as I have been in the past. A lot of this was due to curious decisions made by the publishers, and I don’t only mean Activision.

But let’s start with Activision. In the course of this calendar year, they released Guitar Hero: Metallica, Guitar Hero V, Guitar Hero: Van Halen, DJ Hero, and Band Hero. Metallica was pretty good, but Van Halen supposedly is terrible (though espion4ge liked it well enough). I actually think DJ Hero looks pretty awesome, and if I had 120 dollars to spend (or 90 at this point), I would have checked it out and it might have won this category due to its innovative gameplay. But that’s the problem, I have way too many plastic instruments and thus didn’t want to dip my toes into the DJ Hero pool. Meanwhile, Guitar Hero 5 suffered with its all over the place tracklist. Though the game made a lot of improvements in the interface, and is much easier for party play than Rock Band these days, it’s just weird to switch between Megadeth and Grand Funk Railroad. The game has no identity. Band Hero is basically the same game, but it features Taylor Swift. I actually think if you want to buy one of the “Hero” games, you’re best off getting Band Hero or DJ Hero, as those are probably the games with the most enjoyable soundtracks for the general public. Of course, you could always just refer to our import/export guide and play all your songs off of one disc.

Harmonix, which has been king in the music game genre, hasn’t had the greatest year either. The Beatles: Rock Band is my winner in this category, due to its unique take on the genre. The Beatles is more of an experience: you follow the career of the Fab 4 and the graphics, music, and presentation all work together to create a cohesive, spectacular experience. Unfortunately, the game is too short, and only features 45 songs. Also, DLC is more expensive (about twice as much). This is a great game to buy if you plan to play with your parents or someone of an older generation, but it’s not going to be for everyone. Lego: Rock Band, on the other hand, is probably the weakest nominee in this category. It features a casual-friendly tracklist, but Harmonix really missed a huge opportunity here to build on the humor and fun block loving gameplay of the Lego games. Lego: RB is just Lego David Bowie playing Rock Band – but it could have been so much more.

Best Xbox 360 Real-Time Strategy Game of 2009

Halo Wars [winner]
Brutal Legend

I think people are still surprised to find out that Brutal Legend is a real-time strategy game, but with a cult online multiplayer following and a lot of RTS gameplay, it deserves to be mentioned in this category. Brutal Legend is a great game with a great story, and I had a blast playing it, but the truth is it isn’t for everyone. Aside from the story elements, Brutal Legend does a bunch of things well, but doesn’t do anything great. Its RTS component focuses more on using your hero character correctly – it’s almost as if it’s a third person brawler with other units to command. I almost put this game into the music category though – its soundtrack is SOLID.

Halo Wars wins the real-time strategy hands down, and really did not have any serious contenders. It was Ensemble’s swan song, and the studio can be confident that it went out on a high note. Halo Wars successfully blends an interesting story campaign with a robust multiplayer component, one that unfortunately did not receive the popularity it deserves. I continue to be impressed by the slickness of the controls – Ensemble did a great job customizing the controls for consoles. Moreover, the balancing in the game is spot-on. Real-time strategy is all about counters, and like Starcraft before it, EVERY unit in Halo Wars is useful for countering something. Well, maybe not Brute Choppers, but hey, who’s counting?

Best Xbox 360 Live Arcade Game of 2009

The Maw
Peggle
Puzzle Quest: Galactrix
Magic: The Gathering – Duel of the Planeswalkers
Battlefield: 1943
‘Splosion Man
Marvel vs. Capcom 2
Shadow Complex [winner]

Microsoft continues to put out some quality Arcade games, and I hope they keep it up because I really enjoy the Arcade titles. Since these games are shorter for the most part, I will do the same with my descriptions!

The Maw is a short but sweet 3-D action/adventure game that has you following a cute, but growing alien. As you progress through the game, The Maw acquires more and more powers and gameplay options increase exponentially. By all accounts it’s a great game, but it ends a bit too soon for it’s $10 price tag.

Peggle and Puzzle Quest: Galactrix deserve to be mentioned because these two franchises are universally popular. Peggle is a perfect Arcade game, one you can pick up and play for 5 minutes or 5 hours straight, depending on the circumstance. Puzzle Quest: Galactrix is not as strong as the medieval entrees in the series, but a worthy game nonetheless.

Magic: The Gathering – Duel of the Planeswalkers does a great job of translating the classic card game to the console, but lacks one key feature: fully customizable decks. But if you’re into Magic, and you have some friends, the game is probably worth the $10 price tag.

Battlefield: 1943 is the runner-up in this category and for good reason. For $15 you can get a surprisingly deep multiplayer experience that you can play for months without getting bored. There are 3 standard maps to play on and one airplane only map, but the game’s maps are well designed, and the gameplay is simplified enough to make it easy to pick up and play (if you’re already familiar with FPS). There are no persistent upgrades like Modern Warfare 2, but it doesn’t really matter – as an arcade game, Battlefield: 1943 succeeds in every way.

‘Splosion Man and Marvel vs. Capcom 2 were featured in XBLA’s Summer of Arcade, and are throwbacks to former generations. Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is basically the same game you remember from the Dreamcast, for better or worse. Don’t bother playing online, you will get pwned. But if you are a fighting game master, it’s worth a shot. ‘Splosion Man is an incredibly hard platformer with a unique presence: you “blow yourself up” to jump which leads to all sorts of puzzles. Just make sure there aren’t any windows nearby, you might throw your controller out of it.

Topping all of these quality games, Shadow Complex is the champion in this category. I chose Shadow Complex as the winner not only for the reasons outlined above in the Action/Adventure category, but also because it’s the best value out of all of these games (Battlefield: 1943 or Peggle are the only competition). It’s a great game, and one every Metroid fan should not hesitate to check out.