Assassin’s Creed II was one of the top games of last year, so it’s no surprise to see that Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, a direct sequel to Assassin’s Creed II, is also scoring highly in reviews and doing well in sales. I’ve recently completed all I wanted to out of this game, and while I think it’s a good game, I can’t help but feel like it’s not as great a game as the reviews make it out to be. Hit the jump for my take on it.

Assassin’s Creed II …Part 2
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood picks up literally right where Assassin’s Creed II left off, and therefore, is not easily recommended if you have not played Assassin’s Creed II yet. The entire game takes place in Rome, and several of the gameplay mechanics that were improved in the second game also continue to be present in Brotherhood. However, the general storyline was a bit weak in Brotherhood – it seems like there was little character and plot development this around. The game starts off strong, but then as soon as soon as our protagonist Ezio makes his way to Rome, the storyline just becomes bland and uneventful. On top of this, the ending is quite abrupt, and the actual gameplay in the last section of the game was a complete shift from the rest of the game, making me wonder if the developers simply ran out of time with the game.

What’s sad for me to say is that I actually found Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood kind of a chore to play through and therefore had a hard time beating it. Like Assassin’s Creed II, Brotherhood implements a money-making aspect of the game by allowing you to purchase various merchant shops and such in order to “rebuild Rome”. While this mechanic was a lot of fun in the second game since you set all of these up in your base in Monteriggioni, Brotherhood now spreads all of the shops and buildings that you can buy across the huge map of Rome. Did I say the map was huge? It’s so large that I actually grew tired of having to push through crowds and slowly climbing up the sides of buildings to get through it. Fortunately, there are “warp gate” type structures around the map for quick traveling – without those, I probably would have given up playing the game completely.

The thing is, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood is not unlike past Assassin’s Creed games – it’s still foremost a huge sandbox game where if you have tons of time and love everything Brotherhood provides, you will definitely get your money’s worth. Besides the primary storyline missions, you have various missions for the different guilds you recruit to your cause, assassinations of various targets, mysterious secrets to find on key landmarks, hidden treasures and collectibles, etc. In my “gaming prime”, I would have devoured all of these Crackdown-like time wasters and enjoyed the extra dozens of hours that all of these sidequests provided. But today, with so little gaming time I have left in my life, I can no longer afford to waste my time on these distractions – even though this game does provide maps for nearly all the collectibles in the game.

Taking down guard captains at the various towers in Rome allow you to rebuild in that area.

The Brotherhood
The biggest new gameplay feature touted in Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood is the brotherhood. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood is the first game in the series that allows you to recruit new assassins to your cause, and up to 12 assassins can join you. The assassins can all gain experience and level up, allowing them to be stronger defensively and become more efficient killers. Unfortunately, their inclusion into the game doesn’t really add much gameplay. You can send each assassin on a quest where they disappear for several minutes, and if successful, come back with money, treasure, and experience points. If you decide to keep them around, you can call on the assassins at almost any time to take down targets of your choosing. While unnecessary, this new feature certainly adds more convenience to the gameplay, as the assassins are not automatically linked to you. For example, you can just walk along and tell the assassins to attack the group of guards ahead of you. Even once they attack, as long as you are not attacking, the guards don’t have any reason to think that you are involved so you can move along your merry way. Once called, the assassin meter must refill over time before you can call the assassins again. That little amount of new gameplay makes me wonder if the game was really justified in being called Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. I guess it beats Assassin’s Creed 2 – Part 2.

Leonardo Da Vinci returns to provide for a few technologically “advanced” missions.

The Challenge Rooms
Even though the primary campaign can’t quite hold up to Assassin’s Creed II, Brotherhood does add in a Mirror’s Edge-like Challenge Room gameplay mode. In the Challenge Rooms, you are tasked with making it through various obstacle courses under a certain amount of time, killing enemies in a certain amount of time, etc. These can be quite enjoyable for the more competitive players, as you can see on the Leaderboards how fast your friends make it through the different Challenge Rooms and you can strive to beat their times. This was the strongest aspect of Mirror’s Edge, and while it is nice to see its inclusion here, I don’t know if gamers really find the mastery of the gameplay of Assassin’s Creed to be something they care to compete on.

Walking next to a computer-controlled character like yours can make it harder for your multiplayer assassins to figure out who to kill.

Multiplayer
One of the primary reasons why I decided to pick up Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood in spite of my enormous backlog was the new multiplayer that the game was sporting. From what I learned, it seemed innovative and fresh enough that I thought it was worth checking out before the game hit the bargain bin. Therefore, most of my review will be spent on this portion of the game.

The primary mode in the game is Wanted, a “deathmatch” style mode that consists of six players dropped in a map where each player picks from one of several unique characters. No two players can choose the same character. Once the match starts, all six players spawn in a world completely populated with dozens and dozens of the same six different character models that the players have selected. Each player then has an assassination target along with a radar that indicates the general location of the target.

The most innovative and enjoyable aspect of this entire mode is to figure out how to differentiate your target from all of the AI characters that are the same as your target. You cannot defend against a kill, but because you are always trying to kill someone and often are a target as well, the game is suspenseful since you don’t want to run to give away your position to your target or the assassin hunting you down. Sneaking by your target and making the kill is quite rewarding, but what is even more rewarding is playing defense. When you set yourself up in a crowd such that your assassin kills an NPC standing next to you instead of yourself, I think that player loses points and no longer has you as a target. So playing defense is nearly as important as playing offense in this mode.

The match is score-based rather than straight up kill-based. You score points for getting kills, but you get more points for making stealthy kills (as opposed to ones where you just run up to your target and kill him), and you also score points for evading your assassin if they make themself known to you. As you score more points and move higher up the standings in the 10 minute match, more assassins are sent to target you. In first place, it is not surprising to find three of the other players all with you as their mark. Consequently, if you are in last place, you often do not have anyone going after you so you can focus on hunting.

The other two modes in the game are team-based, but neither of them can compare to the primary free-for-all mode. In Alliance, you play with a partner against two other teams of two. You and your partner are the same character, and because there are only two other opposing teams against you, the amount of fear and tension goes way down compared to the Wanted mode. In all of the games I played in this mode, none of the players would be stealthy – everyone would just climb up and use the rooftops to kill each other. The whole premise of stealth assassination was thrown out as players just ran after each other due to the lack of any real fear.

Manhunt is the final of the three unique multiplayer modes, setting up two teams of four against each other. One side plays the hunter and the other the hunted, so it’s similar to Wanted but one side solely is offense and the other side is solely defense. The two teams switch sides and try to amass points. I couldn’t even get a game started in this mode after waiting so many minutes so I can’t give my impressions on this one. By default, it’s basically a fail since I couldn’t even play it – and this leads me to how I feel about the multiplayer.

While the original Wanted game mode and even maybe the Manhunt mode could be quite enjoyable due to their innovation and semblance of being an assassin, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood multiplayer as a whole isn’t worth sticking around for. The biggest problem with it all is the terrible matchmaking. I am a huge fan of matchmaking in all my multiplayer games, since it allows for you to play with your friends easily on the same team and eliminates the need to figure out a room to join, host, etc. I am NOT a huge fan of having to wait 10 minutes or longer to just get into a match. There’s a matchmaking option that is called something like “Quick Match”, which will put you in the fastest mode available. That thing still took me 10 minutes. So while I initially found the Wanted gameplay type innovative enough to want to keep playing it, I could not get over the fact that I was spending more time looking for matches than actually playing them. This was strike number one against Brotherhood’s multiplayer.

Strike number two appeared for me once I finally got into a match and discovered that I was a level 7 against a room full of level 30+ opponents. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood multiplayer decided to try to implement the addictive nature of Call of Duty’s customizable equipment and perk system. With Call of Duty’s system I will argue that it is pretty fair since your starting equipment and perks are quite viable to compete against fully decked out high level opponents. Such is NOT the case in Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood – I was appalled over the fact that your level not only determined what skills you had available, but whether you were even able to use skills at all. To use Call of Duty again as an example, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood would be like if you were Level 1-10, you couldn’t use Perk slots 1, 2, or 3. If you hit Level 10, congrats – you unlocked Perk slot 1! I had no chance when I was in a room full of level 30s as they were busting out abilities and tools I had never seen before.

I thought that the pure multiplayer gameplay mechanics were enjoyable and stayed true to the series. Unfortunately, the terrible matchmaking, the imbalanced multiplayer, and generally weak multiplayer gameplay decisions (Seriously, three teams of two? That is one of your three primary multiplayer modes Ubisoft?) had me trading in this game as soon as I beat the campaign.

The multiplayer can actually be quite enjoyable when the matchmaking works and you play in a room with opponents your level.

Final Thoughts
The campaign was decent – it should be fun for fans of the second game that are eagerly looking for more. The second one is more enjoyable to play due to the deeper storyline and gameplay elements feeling more fresh and exciting. I almost feel like Brotherhood to Assassin’s Creed II is like BioShock 2 to BioShock 1 – not really necessary, new multiplayer that sucks, yet a competent single player for those that still love the series. With Brotherhood’s campaign being quite lengthy (and not always in a good way, I would argue), Assassin’s Creed fans looking for more single player will find Brotherhood worth the purchase just for its single player.

I still can’t help but feel that Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood missed several opportunities to be an excellent game. A more captivating story, a more refined “Brotherhood” gameplay system, and a working and balanced multiplayer component would have all made this game more enjoyable. Maybe one year to make a sequel really isn’t enough time. Still, the lengthy campaign carries the game, and there’s enough going on with it that the game overall is worth playing if you aren’t tired of Assassin’s Creed yet.

Final Grade: B

Our Awards & Holiday Shopping Guide are just about done, but today I get to talk about some of my favorite categories. Which stories really stuck with me this year? What new IPs are out there that might stand the test of time? And how do all the sequels this year stack up? Hit the jump to find out!

Best Story

Mass Effect 2
Alan Wake
Heavy Rain
Red Dead Redemption [winner]
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
Fallout: New Vegas

I really enjoy the stories in games, and this year had a few good ones. Mass Effect 2 didn’t necessarily live up to the story of the original, but I still enjoyed the story a lot. Even though it was mostly about building up your squad, I found the back stories and personalities of each character very compelling. Mass Effect 2 isn’t the greatest story, but it’s still an enjoyable ride, and the last mission is a great payoff.

Alan Wake almost won this category, until we realized the ending was a bit cheesy. It’s too bad, because this story about a horror fiction in a creepy lake town had all the makings of a real winner. The ambiance, the twists and turns in the story, and the premise are all great. It’s just too bad the “twist” at the end is a little too cliche. Still, Alan Wake is a story worthy of Stephen King.

I loved Heavy Rain and was seriously considering picking it as the winner as well. Then I started thinking about it more, and realized that if this is the STORY category, Heavy Rain just has too many plot holes to win the category. It’s still a great story, but there is a website out there that points out all the plot holes (Google it if you’re interested). I really enjoyed searching for a serial killer and the dark story – it’s just…did I mention plot holes? As a game, though, the plot holes are kind of fun!

At first, Red Dead Redemption seemed like a long shot, but I eventually decided to give the game a try. I’m glad I did, and Red Dead Redemption ended up winning Leveling Down’s Best Story award. Red Dead Redemption is a great……redemption story, one with a cool main character, a unique old school western world, and a lot of fun side missions. GTA IV kind of wore on me at the end because Niko’s character rang hollow – I don’t feel the same way about John Marston. The story keeps you wanting more, and the ending really tugs at the heart strings.

My runner up in this category is Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. Red Dead Redemption is a deeper, more nuanced story. Enslaved is a summer blockbuster. The story is a fast and action packed ride that never stops. You are moving from locale to locale, set piece to set piece as the game just barrels on towards it’s conclusion. It’s a lot of fun: the popcorn flick of this year’s crop of video games.

Not surprisingly, Fallout: New Vegas rounds out the nominees in Best Story. Obsidian, the makers of the original Fallouts, did an amazing job with the story. They have taken all the great things in Fallout 3 but improved on the story. New Vegas involves a series of different warring factions and you have to decide where your loyalties will lie. It’s a lot of fun and feels a lot bigger and graver than Fallout 3′s story: that’s a great thing.

Best New IP

Bayonetta [winner - tie]
Darksiders
MAG
Heavy Rain
Alan Wake
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West [winner - tie]
Vanquish

It was actually kind of tough to come up with a winner in this category. As espion4ge has mentioned, 2010 kind of feels like the year of the sequel.

espion4ge chose Bayonetta as his winner in this category. He absolutely loved this game, and this is what he had to say about it:
When I think of the Best New IP category, I think of the game that I would like to see a sequel from moreso than any other. Since Bayonetta was my favorite action/adventure game of the year, I can’t imagine anyone being surprised that this is the game I would love to see a sequel from most. The game had what I considered perfect gameplay design, oozed a sexy style in its female protagonist and combat mechanics, and has set the new bar for action/adventure games. If other current action/adventure games matched the level of gameplay that Bayonetta provided, I wouldn’t be as zealous to play a new Bayonetta sequel. Unfortunately, I’ve yet to see anything out now or on the horizon that can provide this old-school hardcore gamer the thrills and highs that Bayonetta could. Even if the sequel has a storyline as non-coherent as the first, with the gameplay so good, I won’t even care. Now Platinum – please release a sequel!

Darksiders feels like a Zelda knock-off, but in a good way. The game feels like an homage to Zelda, but a worthy game in and of itself. Even though it feels like Zelda, the premise is very un-Zelda: in a post-apocalyptic world, you play as one of the four horsemen in the apocalypse. Instead of killing weird things that shoot rocks out of their mouths, you are killing angels and demons. Anyway, Darksiders is a lot of fun and a nice little new IP.

MAG (Massive Action Game) is a super ambitious first person shooter on the PS3 that almost lived up to the hype. It allows up to 256 players to duke it out in massive battles. More interestingly, there is a promotion system where you can work your way up from a grunt to a commander who oversees squads in battle. It takes unlockables in a new direction, and a sequel should be coming soon.

Now while the story was riddled with holes, Heavy Rain as a whole is an amazing new IP. Quantic Dream billed it as interactive drama, and it stands as one of the most unique games released this year. The control scheme makes a player really feel like a part of the action, and the different ways that the story can play out really make your decisions feel weighty and important. I doubt there will be a sequel (it wouldn’t make sense), but I’d love to see another game in this vein released.

Alan Wake is also a great new IP, and the story was continued through various DLC offerings. I’m pretty sure the series could still sustain a sequel, although there’s not much more for me to say that I didn’t say in Best Story.

My winner in this category is Enslaved: Odyssey to the West. Besides being a popcorn flick, this game is also a lot of fun. The gameplay is pretty simple to pick up, but deep enough not to get boring. It also takes place in a unique post-apocalyptic world, a completely different world than Darksiders. I really hope this game gets a sequel, but I don’t know if it has the niche following that Bayonetta does – my fingers are crossed!

Rounding out this category is Vanquish, a third person shooter that takes place in the future (but not post apocalyptic! Seriously, what is with the future!?) You have an awesome suit. You fight Russians. DARPA is involved. It’s kind of like Metal Gear Solid, minus sneaking and extended cut scenes but plus Gears of War type action. The game has kind of flown under the radar, but with mostly positive reviews, it’s worth a look.

Best Sequel

Mass Effect 2 [winner - tie]
BioShock 2
Dead Rising 2
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Civilization V
Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty [winner - tie]

To start things off, here’s espion4ge:
How does one decide on the best sequel for a game among this year’s so many sequels? I like to think of a Best Sequel as a sort of “Most Improved” award. What sequel among this list of nominees has considerably improved over its predecessor? While all the games in this category are good in their own way, some of them are arguably not better than their predecessor. Mass Effect 2 is a definite huge improvement over the first one. In my review of the first one years ago, I was actually not a huge fan of the game at all. The storyline was interesting, but the game itself was short, the scope of the world was tiny with mundane optional planets to drive around, and the Achievements were poorly designed (how many times am I supposed to go through this game?). Bioware listened to all of the negative feedback from the first game, and fixed every issue I had with the original game – making the sequel an amazing product. The game is lengthy now, the galaxy feels a lot more vast, there are new characters to recruit, and even the choices you made in the first game affect the sequel – something that I have not ever seen done before to this degree. In short, Mass Effect 2 is the best sequel of the year and I applaud the developers for learning from the first game.

People weren’t sure that Bioshock 2 should even have made, but in the end it turned out pretty well. Even though it couldn’t top the story of the original, subtle tweaks to the gameplay and plasmids along with a brand new protagonist AND antagonist combined to make a game that drew on all the great aspects of the first. Thus Bioshock 2 is a solid sequel, it isn’t a major improvement but it didn’t feel like a cheap cash in either.

Dead Rising 2, on the other hand, did feel a bit like a cash in. Ameliorating that feeling is the fact that the original came out like four years ago. Dead Rising 2 is one of those sequels that feels exactly like its predecessor, for better or worse. It’s still the same zombie killing fun you remember from Dead Rising, but it also contains a lot of the same glitches and bad design choices as well. It’s a game for fans of the original, but I’d personally recommend Case Zero.

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, feels like a major expansion pack to Assassin’s Creed 2 – an awesome one. You get to gallivant through the one major city in Italy you missed, Rome, while advancing the story and setting things up for Assassin’s Creed 3. The combat has been streamlined for the better – one of the few things I didn’t like about Assassin’s Creed 2. More importantly, there is this awesome new guild of assassins that you can use to do your assassinations for you. How is that not a winner?

Of course, a list of best sequels wouldn’t be complete without the token Call of Duty game. Treyarch seems determined to get out of Infinity Ward’s shadow, and Call of Duty: Black Ops is their best Call of Duty game yet. With an interesting single player and a slower but more balanced feeling multiplayer, Black Ops is a solid entry in the series. I wish they could have included SpecOps, but with so much to do on one disc, it’s tough to complain.

As espion4ge pointed out elsewhere, if you are interested in jumping into a time machine and traveling 24 hours into the future without knowing where the time went, Civilization V is your best bet. The game has become more user-friendly and accessible and is still just as addicting. What that pretty much means is that you’ll get addicted faster. Civ V is THE turn based strategy game, and you could feasibly get by playing ONLY Civ V for the next year.

Speaking of games you can play for one year straight, my winner in this category is Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty. Although it feels a lot like the original, Blizzard has made a lot of tweaks for a better experience. The interface has become easier to use with “smart” groups, making the gameplay more accessible and less frustrating. The addition of the Wing Commander-esque navigation menus between missions is a lot of fun, and the story is great and ends on a nice cliffhanger. The only thing bad I have to say about Starcraft 2 is that it gets me in trouble with my wife. It’s difficult for me to pay attention to her when my allies are in combat!

Welcome to Leveling Down’s 3rd Annual Gaming Awards/Holiday Shopping Guide! For those of you that are first time readers of our awards/holiday shopping guide, cmfl3x and I have basically compiled a list of various games released this year into different categories. We choose a “winner” of each category, but at the same time, all games mentioned as nominees in each category are worth considering – hence, the shopping guide aspect of it. If you can only pick one game from the category, go with the winner. If you enjoy that category a lot, consider checking out all of the nominees on that list!

As cmfl3x and I discussed the various categories and selected winners for each one, some categories we did not always agree on the same winner. This year, instead of forcing one another to see agree on the same game, we have instead allowed for ties – so there is a potential of two winners for each category. Our gaming tastes are not exactly the same and I didn’t think any of you would gain much from us forcing only one winner.

Our 2010 Gaming/Awards/Holiday Shopping Guide will span across all gaming platforms, and will run over the next two weeks on our normal Monday, Wednesday, and Friday posting schedule. Next Friday’s entry will conclude this year’s feature with our 2010 Game of the Year.

Without further ado, hit the jump for today’s categories: Best Action/Adventure Game and Best Role Playing Game.

Best Action/Adventure Game of 2010

Bayonetta [winner - tie]
Darksiders
God of War III
Alan Wake
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood [winner - tie]

For those that don’t know much about Bayonetta, it’s basically like Devil May Cry, but on crack and stars a female protagonist covered in her own hair. Everything is over the top: guns strapped to boots, combos that end with her hair forming huge fists to crush opponents – the list goes on. The crazy part about it all is that everything about it works. While the storyline is lacking in Bayonetta, it’s a game that is an exhilarating rush from start to finish and the most enjoyable action/adventure game I’ve played this console generation. Of course, Bayonetta is a little more heavy on the action than the adventure part of the category, but for those not bothered by the lack of a strong storyline will be in for a treat with this game. It’s my pick for  2010 Best Action/Adventure game of the year.

2010 kicked off the year with a great start with same day release of both Bayonetta and Darksiders. For those of you that recall, I was dismayed how when I went to pick up Bayonetta on launch day at my local Gamestop, I was surprised that there was a lot more hype for another game called Darksiders – a game I had never heard of until the day I picked up Bayonetta. I’m actually about to start playing Darksiders (finally) for the first time now, and from what I hear, it’s gotten good reviews as it seems to combine the adventure elements of Legend of Zelda with the darker themes of God of War. In short – if you ever wanted to play a darker Zelda-like game in HD, Darksiders is the way to go. The sequel has already been announced, so get a move on!

God of War III is the final God of War game in the epic trilogy that began on the PS2. For fans of the first two games, God of War III is a spectacular and epic conclusion to the tale in glorious HD. One of the major strengths of the God of War games is its epic storyline revolving around the God-killer, Kratos. God of War III is no exception, but if you have not played the first two, I highly recommend picking up the God of War: Collection as they have been redone for the PS3. Don’t start the God of War series with God of War III – end with it!

I just completed Alan Wake this past weekend, and while my conclusion about the game wasn’t exemplary, I realize that it’s mainly because it doesn’t pander well to a hardcore gamer like myself. But for those that sit in-between the hardcore “Bayonetta action gamer” and the “Wii Sports only” casual gamer, Alan Wake is great. It presents an interesting tale with enough hand-holding that it makes for a great action/adventure game to share with those that are looking for a game with a more spooky theme and yet aren’t too quick with the controller.

Surprisingly, I have not picked up Castlevania: Lords of Shadow yet. It’s a reboot to the series developed by a small Spanish studio with Hideo Kojima, the guy behind Metal Gear Solid, overlooking part of its development. I got a chance to check out the demo, and it seems to play similar to the God of War games, but with a more European look and feel. God of War fans will most likely enjoy this game, as it felt very similar to me but I’m sure it has Castlevania touches.

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is developer Ninja Theory’s first multi-platform title after their 2007 PS3 exclusive, Heavenly Sword. In Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, players control a man named Monkey, who travels with Trip, a woman who has pretty much enslaved him and “forces him” to help her in her quest. The action/adventure aspect of the game revolves around Monkey’s vast combat abilities as they encounter all manners of mech-like enemies on their travels. cmfl3x got a chance to play through this one and had a lot of positive things to say about it.

The final major action/adventure title released this year was Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. cmfl3x felt that this was his winner for Action/Adventure game of the year, and here’s what he had to say about it:
While Bayonetta is a worthy winner in this category, that game is a bit too crazy for my tastes. I personally prefer the simple running and jumping in the Assassin’s Creed series, and the ability to be stealthy and sneaky. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, adds another fun gameplay element to the mix – now you can use your guild to assassinate people. This involves assassin’s dropping in from the sky, appearing from the shadows, and other awesome methods of murder. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, has also simplified the fighting, adding an Arkham Asylum-esque button press/timing system. Sure, the game is pretty similar to Assassin’s Creed 2, just with a few new bells and whistles, but I asked myself, “Is that such a bad thing?” Probably not.

Best Role Playing Game of 2010

Mass Effect 2 [winner]
Final Fantasy XIII
Resonance of Fate
Nier
Fallout: New Vegas
Fable III

Among the role playing games of 2010, it was an easy choice for both cmfl3x and me to select Mass Effect 2 as the Role Playing Game of the Year. While the game lacks the hardcore stats and gear collecting of more traditional role playing games, Mass Effect 2 manages to do something that I didn’t think was possible: present a stream-lined role playing game that is highly enjoyable for gamers of all types. The developers seem to have made nearly all the right choices and focusing the game on what’s fun. The amount of speech and speech choices that Mass Effect 2 provides is staggering, and go a long way in providing a unique role playing game experience. It is the quintessential game that anyone can play – even non-RPG fans. The quality of the game is top notch, and for those that have yet to play the game on the PC or Xbox 360, it’s probably worth checking out the first game just to appreciate its storyline better – even though it is rougher around the edges. For Playstation 3 owners, don’t fret: Mass Effect 2 will be released on the Playstation 3 early next year, with a summary of Mass Effect 1 included.

I was not a big fan of Final Fantasy XIII, but I think it’s such a major RPG title that it is one worth considering. The game is a very linear RPG throughout its 50 hour course. I did enjoy the combat mechanism of having to switch character classes on the fly during combat, but when that’s the only thing the game has going for it for 50 hours, it got old fast for me. Ironically, once you beat the game, the entire world and sidequests open up, and that’s where you are then able to do the hardcore Japanese RPG farming for resources to construct elite gear. Will people last that long? It’s really up to you – I can imagine some not even lasting past the first 20 hours since all of that is basically the tutorial, but for those that have a special fondness for Final Fantasy, maybe this game will still be up your ally.

Interestingly enough, while Final Fantasy XIII made some departures that left the more traditionalist Japanese RPG fans out in the cold, another Japanese RPG, Resonance of Fate, was released one week later. While Final Fantasy XIII made gameplay changes that seemed to really polarize opinions of gamers, Resonance of Fate is probably the best Japanese RPG game for fans of more classic Japanese RPG games as this game comes from tri-Ace, the Japanese studio that brought us Infinite Undiscovery, Star Ocean, and Valkyrie Profile. In Resonance of Fate, the game takes place in the future, with combat revolving more on action and gunplay. While the storyline is typical Japanese RPG fare, the one thing that Resonance of Fate does that Final Fantasy XIII could not was keep the traditional Japanese RPG gameplay elements that fans of the genre have come to grow and love.

Another highly underrated Japanese RPG that was released this year is Square-Enix’s Nier. Final Fantasy XIII, Resonance of Fate, and Nier were the three primary RPGs that came out of Japan this year, and while they all tried to innovate in various ways, only Resonance of Fate and Nier kept traditional gameplay elements alongside their new features. Nier is a bit more of an action-RPG game, as players take control of the sword-wielding Nier, who looks for a cure for his daughter. While critics seemed to have panned Nier (as a Japanese RPG fan, I don’t really trust Western critics on their JRPG reviews), it tends to get a lot better reviews from actual Japanese RPG fans.

Fallout: New Vegas is the next major Fallout title after 2008′s Fallout 3. New Vegas uses the same engine as Fallout 3, but takes place in New Vegas and is developed by a different studio comprised of several people that worked on the original Fallout 1 and 2 games. While the game is not quite innovative and at times feels like more of an expansion to Fallout 3 than its own standalone game, fans of Fallout 3 will no doubt enjoy this game.

Fable III rounds out the RPG category for this year, and like Fallout: New Vegas, is the next game in the series after the last one in 2008. While it is a decent game in and of itself (and probably a pretty good game to get into for those that have never played the series before), Fable III makes some drastic changes from the previous title that do not seem to sit well with long-time fans of the series. With the amount of features simplified/streamlined, some even call the game Fable 1.9 – as in a game that feels more like a predecessor of Fable 2 than its sequel. But, like Final Fantasy XIII, there are people that enjoy the game, so consider checking out the various reviews to see if it’s the right RPG for you.

Stay tuned for Wednesday when cmfl3x presents the next categories: Best Live Arcade/PSN Game, Best Music Game, and Best Multiplayer Game!

Hi – my name is cmfl3x. And I’m an achievaholic.

Things didn’t start this way. I bought my Xbox 360 and started playing games just like I always had. I think one of the first Achievements I remember receiving was in Call of Duty 2. I had just completed the game: I heard a little beep-boop and saw a little icon. Achievement unlocked. Hmm, what could that mean? I didn’t think much of it, and for almost a year, continued to pay those little notifications no mind.

And then, something happened. I’m not sure if it was Halo 3 or Call of Duty 4. Or both. But suddenly, I found myself going out of the way to look for skulls. Or upping the difficulty to Veteran. Or shooting pigeons. Before I knew it, I was doubling, tripling, even quadrupling the time investment I’d put into a game. I told myself that I was just getting maximum value from the game. But deep down, I knew the truth. I knew why I was doing it. Beep-boop.

I started spiraling further and further down. Those two tones were changing the way I played games. No longer did I care about spoilers, I just wanted to know if there were Achievements I was going to miss. I started keeping elaborate files to help me keep track of what was going on. Assassin’s Creed 2? 1000 points. Brutal Legend? Found all the statues. Modern Warfare 2? All your laptops are belong to us. And then I started spending a lot of time beating time challenges, like Portal and Mirror’s Edge. I was sinking hours and hours into these games. But was I having fun?

Everything came to a head while playing Half Life 2. I needed my wife to direct me to all the Lambda caches. It was faster that way. She was patient at first, but eventually got fed up and told me to do it myself. She hates Achievements. She wants me to stop. So I’m trying to stop. But it’s so difficult! I started playing Half Life 2 Episode 2 the other day. I promised myself I’d just play through the game, without consulting an Achievement guide. But then…there are so many antlion grubs. That must be killed. For………….beep-boop.

I’m trying not to care, but as long as those lyrical, dulcet tones are there, I’m not sure I can stop. I’m carrying a garden gnome throughout my playthrough. I’m mapping out the best way to play through Final Fantasy XIII to maximize Achievement efficiency. WILL THE MADNESS END!?

I will try my best to play games without Achievements in mind. I just don’t have the time for it anymore. I love it, but it’s ruining my gaming life. I just want to enjoy games again. I just want my experience to be pure – I just want to experience the thrill of experiencing a GAME, not a chore. Can I ever kick the habit? Can I break this iron grip on my gaming soul?

Beep-boop.

Any gamer who lives with a non-gamer (generally, the Mrs., but I don’t want to assume) knows the inherent tensions that can arise in the household. “Do the dishes!” (Five more minutes…) “It’s time for bed!” (Let me finish this level.) “We’re going to be late!” (I’m fighting a boss.) “I’m going into labor!” (Let me get to a save point!) These tensions exist in my marriage as much as they might in any other and are compounded by the fact that my wife dislikes glowing rectangles in general. Thus any game that Mrs. cmfl3x and I can find a common interest in is like pure gold.

In this two part feature, I’ll be looking for some of the general principles that a gamer can use to try to find a game that can be enjoyed with a non-gamer. Obviously, your mileage may vary, and each individual user knows their significant other the best, but since I have a particularly difficult to please spouse, I figure I’d share some of my experiences. In Part 1, I’ll be looking at some general guiding principles and some general types of games, while in Part 2 I’ll discuss some specific genres that might house these diamonds in the rough. With examples!

General Principles
There are a few general rules of thumb that I find work the majority of the time. There is a very strong correlation between Nintendo games and spousal approval, for a couple of reasons. First and foremost, most Nintendo characters are cute. Mario is iconic and speaks in a funny accent. Yoshi: cute. Polygonal Link (or Zelda, as he is known to many): adorable. Wario: His mustache is upside down, HILARIOUS. You get the point. Throw in the nostalgia factor, and you have a key to many non-gamers hearts.

The second reason why non-gamers tend to appreciate Nintendo games is because Nintendo has expanded the video game audience. Games like Wii Sports, Just Dance, Warioware, are all simple games that many people can enjoy, often together. Using a SAT analogy: Wii : Party Games :: Xbox 360 : FPSes. In general, non-gamers can get into party games, especially if it leads to quality time. If you’re going to spend quality time with your spouse, you might as well spend it in an area of strength, video games (albeit a poor version of it).

Another general rule of thumb is that portable games generally can garner more approval from an unhappy spouse, again for a couple of reasons. In this case, I find that portable games are less offensive to Mrs. cmfl3x because I generally am playing them when we have time to kill like on public transportation and stuff. Also, portable games don’t hijack the entire living room, which is a plus. Finally, portable games, especially on the DS, tend themselves more toward the “casual” side, plus there are a lot of puzzle games like Professor Layton that Mrs. cmfl3x can enjoy.

If there’s a game with one of these is involved, you can bet the house that Mrs. cmfl3x will hate it

The third and most important rule of thumb I can think of is a list of things that Mrs. cmfl3x HATES in video games. I’ve pared down the list and included it here:

Stuff Mrs. cmfl3x Hates in Video Games
- First person shooters, mainly due to copious amounts of gunfire
- Ugly or scary looking monsters
- Scary audio (whether it be creepy music or screaming or whatever)
- Any combination of the letters U, A, and V
- Swear words
- Scantily clad females OR males
- Headsets
- Sports games (they combine TWO things she hates, well, not sports itself, but my obsession with them)
- Repetitive music (mostly because of the 20+ hours of Doom 2 lately)
- Excessive screaming into headsets
- Excessive screaming into headsets coupled with excessive sweating
- Excessive screaming into headsets coupled with excessive sweating followed by controller throwing

Any game that contains any of the above features results in an immediate blacklist order from Mrs. cmfl3x. I’ll be allowed to play it, but she would never deign to try such a game. But there are some blanket things that Mrs. cmfl3x and other non-gamers DO generally appreciate in games, so I’ll spend the rest of Part 1 discussing two of them.

Story-Driven Games
Although this doesn’t draw in Mrs. cmfl3x too much, I’ve found that in general, non-gamers are drawn into epic, sweeping stories in games. Whether it be Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid, or even something like Assassin’s Creed, sometimes non-gamers get wrapped up in video games as if they are a TV show. At worst, this results in less complaining when you are playing, at a medium level, that results in the non-gamer wanting to play the game themselves, and at best, it results in them telling you not to quit because they “want to see what happens”. Why is the non-gamer wanting to play the game themselves only a medium level? Because if they are playing you can’t! You knew that, of course.

Spiky hair and emo dialogue is often well received

The other nice thing about story based games is it gives you a common topic to discuss with your non-gaming spouse. “I still can’t believe Aerith died! That was so sad, I almost cried.” But like a great TV show, if a video game can give you something to talk about, that’s saying a lot. Sure, it’s trivial, but it can be a great positive for your relationship and can be a lot of fun. Not all story driven games will resonate with a non-gaming spouse, but when they do, it helps relieve the gamer/non-gamer tension. Here are some series that might be worth a shot:

Story Given Games that Might be Enjoyed by All
Final Fantasy Series
Metal Gear Solid Series
Assassin’s Creed Series
Mass Effect Series
Phoenix Wright Series
RPGs in General

“Pretty” Games
Ironically, I could care less about graphics. My wife, on the other hand, appreciates games with good aesthetics, and I think other non-gamers are the same way. That doesn’t mean that she likes cutting edge graphics, but she appreciates games that are pleasing to the eye. I think “pretty” games can be split up into a few different categories:

Cute Games
Throw anything made by Nintendo into this category. Games with cute graphics, fuzzy animals, etc. etc. have a large appeal for non-gamers. A lot of casual games have this cute aesthetic to them as well. Basically, any games that don’t have a hard edge to them or a lot of blood can be appealing. Back when we were dating, my wife borrowed my Gamecube and used to wake up at 7 AM to catch fish in Animal Crossing. I think half the reason she played that game was to buy funny hats and outfits for her character. True story.

Examples: Animal Crossing/Harvest Moon type games, anything made by Nintendo, Little Big Planet

Who doesn’t love Sackboy?

Games with a Strong Environment
If a game isn’t cute, it can still be appealing to a non-gamer, especially if the game’s environment is visually pleasing to the eye. These aren’t necessarily games that a non-gamer might want to try, but one that they won’t mind watching or seeing on the TV screen. Assassin’s Creed 2 is a perfect example of this, Italy is so faithfully recreated, it’s a pleasure to watch someone else play the game.

Examples: Anything with pretty backgrounds

Games with a Strong Art Style
Sometimes games have such a unique art style that they can’t help but catch the eye. Whether it’s Max Payne, No More Heroes, or even a game like Metroid Prime, games often rely on a unique art style that can appeal to non-gamers. The old-school Viewtiful Joe would qualify as well. This is the toughest type of game for me to make predictions on, since the art style that appeals to different people is so varied. But rest assured, if you find a game that your spouse likes the look of, you will get a lot more slack if you try to play that!

Final Thoughts
Next week I’ll be looking at some specific genres of games that generally appeal to non-gamers. In the meantime, hit up the comments with your answer to the following question: What games have your spouse/significant other/mom enjoyed watching you play, or wanted to try themselves? I’d love to get some fresh ideas!

Last Friday I posted about how I felt that EA’s Project $10 initiative is working, and I’m a supporter of it. Hey, I’m all for supporting developers and publishers to make money off their own products and if it came down to it, I wouldn’t mind if the used market disappeared altogether. EA has been coming back into the spotlight in a positive way with gamers these days, while Activision has gone the other way. But there’s one thing that EA is now more guilty of than others at this point that I am annoyed with: DLC for single player games. Read on for my thoughts why.

The Premise
Game publishers have definitely hopped on board the DLC bandwagon these days, as everyone is trying to make a quick buck. The Modern Warfare 2 map pack sold over 2.5 million in its first week, bringing in nearly $40 million for Microsoft and Activision. While I don’t necessarily partake in buying multiplayer DLC, I don’t outright condone it as I do think that new maps can extend the multiplayer enjoyment for games.

What I don’t like is DLC for single player content. A lot of games are doing this nowadays, and it annoys me for several different reasons. Ever read a book or watch a movie and then be told later that there was another chapter that is a part of the book or another 10 minute scene that takes place after the movie? To me, the single player experience for a game is very similar to a book or a film – it’s creative and artistic, and presented in a finite way for it to be enjoyed. Nowadays, game publishers are sticking in some random dungeon here, a hidden island there, or even “missing levels”. When I complete the single player for a game, I like for it to stay completed. Freaking finish the game in the first place or don’t release the “extra DLC” at all! Unfortunately, the game industry is not quite abiding to my wishes. Let’s look at the list of games in EA’s recent history that are guilty of what I am starting to hate.

Dante’s Inferno
I just started playing Dante’s Inferno last night, but I read that one DLC pack has already been released containing another mission and a second DLC pack is on the way. In fact, both of these DLC packs were announced before the game was even released. Come on – couldn’t the two DLC packs for this single player game have simply been released from the get go? Is DLC really the way to prevent people from selling the game? Maybe EA should have considered free DLC – then people would be more inclined to hold onto their games and I wouldn’t have this article to blog about.

Mass Effect 2 (and even the first game)
All was fine and dandy with Mass Effect 2′s DLC until the Kasumi DLC was just released for $7 (although, I’m still annoyed with even the “free missions” that were added to a supposedly complete campaign). Come on – couldn’t this character have already been included in the game to begin with? And people that already beat the game – are they really going to want to go and buy this pack just to pick up another character? They’ve already beaten the game. What’s the point? $7 buys you the ability to play with a new character but you already beat the game. As much as I dislike this Kasumi DLC, it would have actually been better if it was released at the game’s launch, so people could use Kasumi in their initial playthrough of the game. Oh and let’s not forget Mass Effect 1′s pair of silly and stupid DLC.

Army of Two: The 40th Day
The first Army of Two game had a very short campaign, and I’m pretty sure that the second one did as well. So it irks me a great deal to hear about a $10 DLC pack for this recent sequel that contains two new missions. What the heck? Sounds like the developers couldn’t finish the game on time, so they decided to just charge us for their poor planning afterward. Thanks guys. As if your first game wasn’t short enough in the first place.

Dragon Age: Origins
I played through the original Dragon Age: Origins game earlier this year and had a great time with it. It was a lengthy game, but there’s already been enough DLC (two packs and an expansion) that when combined, equal about the cost of the game itself. The DLC packs and the expansion have all gotten bad reviews, and rightly so. For a game that’s epic and already 50 hours long, to be charged $5-$7 for another mini dungeon or $40 for an 20 hour epilogue that doesn’t even really continue the main campaign’s storyline is just a slap in the face to fans. Why not just make the sequel instead of all these minor extensions to an already great and complete game?

What About Non-EA Games?
It’s easy to hate on recent EA games doing this, but to be fair, EA is not the only company partaking in selling DLC for single player games. However, major titles that come to my mind that do have single player DLC are actually a lot more thorough and not necessarily as bad. I’ve yet to play all of the DLC for Fallout 3, but one of them raises your character’s level cap from 20 to 30, which is actually very significant and I can see it contributing a lot to the single player game. Bethesda Softworks’ other 360 game, Oblivion, had all sorts of extra DLC that was totally not worth it – except for Shivering Isles. That DLC was a lengthy and engrossing adventure, and I did enjoy it. Then there’s also games like Grand Theft Auto IV and Resident Evil 5 that have their own DLC, but these DLC packs are completely different campaigns than the main one and I can’t quite hate on those since they were truly developed afterward and did something different. Assassin’s Creed II got a bit of hate with its DLC missions, as they were missing from the original release and Ubisoft was up-front admitting that they could not fit them in before the game shipped. While that was potentially more of a good reason to hate the DLC, I found it refreshing that they were honest and I also agreed with their statement that Assassin’s Creed II already had tremendous value due to its lengthy campaign so I was more willing to forgive them for putting it out there. And finally, I’ve saved the best for last: Final Fantasy XIII. When asked if there would be any Final Fantasy XIII DLC, the producer and director of the game claimed that the final product was already 100% complete. Thank you guys – it’s good to know that some game developers out there still believe in shipping a complete single player product these days.

The Messy Line Between EA’s Two Initiatives
So while we are now all aware of EA’s Project $10 strategy, not all of us were aware of EA’s second “more secretive” initiative: Project DLC Everything. I can see the reasoning behind going with both initiatives: EA of course wants to make more money (or in a sense, reduce the amount of earnable money lost through used sales). In order to do this, it’s in EA’s best interest to have gamers hold onto the games they bought new. Project $10 is a step in the right direction to getting gamers to buying EA games new, but Project DLC Everything is not the right way to keep gamers from selling their single player games. Unlike other major publishers’ DLC, EA seems to be doing whatever they can to nickle and dime us with short DLC that could have easily been included in the game’s release. Is someone really not going to sell Mass Effect 2 now because a $7 DLC pack with an extra character gets released a month after the game comes out? Come on. Compare EA’s DLC to something like GTA4′s The Lost and the Damned and we can see the right way to do DLC and the wrong way. EA should have instead made the second initiative: Project Free DLC. That would have kept more of us inclined to hold onto our games. Of course, I personally would prefer for single player games to just be 100% complete from the get-go, but I can’t fault a game company for wanting to make more money – unless it disrespects its supporters like EA has been.

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!

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.