As promised, the AusGamers staff have compiled an Editor's Picks list of our favourite games of 2009. Both Dan and I have compiled a more comprehensive break down of our three favourites for the year amongst our Top 10 (some of which never made it to AusGamers review status due to smaller staff numbers at the time), while our trusty review staff have given us their Top five. Finally, we've put together a Top 10 list based on our review scores given out over the course of 2009. So, without further adieu, here're our lists beginning with the AG Review Staff:


Kosta Andreadis

1. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II
This is a personal choice, as it blends action-RPG and RTS style gameplay into an addictive and equally familiar and original game. Expansion, Chaos Rising (due next month) is at the top of my most anticipated for the first half of the year.

2. Borderlands
3. Resident Evil 5
4. Dragon Age: Origins
5. Assassin's Creed 2

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James Cottee

1. Monster Hunter Freedom Unite
Probably the most addictive game I've ever played. Ever.

2. Borderlands
3. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
4. Red Faction: Guerrilla
5. Giana Sisters DS

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Amos Hong

1. Uncharted 2
It's a fun and addicitve game, easy to pick and play and has an excellent storyline.

2. Assasin's Creed 2
3. Batman: Arkham Asylum
4. FIFA 10
5. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

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Chad Drake

1. Batman: Arkham Asylum
Single best realisation of a comic book character/superhero in a game, period. Gorgeous graphics. Extremely well designed and implemented free-flow combat system. Overall, in all aspects including presentation Batman: Arkham Asylum is amazing.

2. Assassins Creed 2
3. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare
4. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
5. Street Fighter 4

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Dotarray

1. Little King's Story
Full of bizarre enemies, carefree adults, oil-painting graphics and a storyline that unfolds into a disturbing allegory of modern society, this one never failed to make me smile.

2. F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin
3. Plants vs. Zombies
4. The Sims 3
5. Command & Conquer Red Alert 3: Uprising

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Dan's Top 10 games for 2009

1. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Undoubtedly my top pick for 2009 the Uncharted series is everything we loved about the Tomb Raider games, without all the shameless boobage and relentless slaughtering of endangered species. Uncharted 2 improved on the already excellent formula of the first game, added some worthy multiplayer modes and delivered a great new singleplayer story -- polished from start to finish.

2. Shadow Complex
Setting a new benchmark for platform games, Shadow Complex took some of the best elements from 8bit era games like Megaman and Metroid, added a appropriately rudimentary plot and the best graphics that the genre has seen to-date courtesy of Unreal Engine 3. It's a shame this title hasn't been released outside of the Xbox Live service because with it's budget price point it easily stands up against the other top traditional retail games of 2009.



3. Dragon Age: Origins
This is BioWare doing what BioWare do best, the traditional dungeons and dragons style role playing game. With their two other massive games in the pipeline simultaneously (Mass Effect 2 and Star Wars The Old Republic) I was prepared for Dragon Age to be emerge as the neglected middle child, only to find that it stood feature-filled and content-packed all on it's own merits as an epic fantasy RPG tale.



4. Street Fighter IV

5. Assassin's Creed 2

6. Killzone 2

7. Batman: Arkham Asylum

8. Aion

9. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

10. Brutal Legend

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Steve's Top 10 games for 2009

1. Batman: Arkham Asylum
From the game's inviting introduction to its devilishly addictive and deep combat system, Batman, from a gameplay perspective, is a flawless experience; polished to the nines and a modern benchmark for all action games to follow. As a comic book story, and more specifically, a Batman tale, Arkham Asylum proves a perfect gothic setting for the Dark Knight while the series' myriad crazy criminals offer plenty of dark themes, drama and action. Voice-acting is brilliant while the game's scripting and pace are second to none - bring on the sequel!

2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Love it or hate it, Infinity Ward know how to take you on one hell of a ride. Albeit short, Modern Warfare 2's single-player campaign was captivating from start to finish and playing through on the hardest setting extended the short of life of the experience while multiplayer, a mixed bag of excellent maps, modes and perks was undoubtedly let down by the lack of dedicated server support for the PC, and annoying match-making on console (specifically here in Australia). Still, finding a solid connection and staying on course means you're definitely in for some awesome fun. Hopefully the trouble between Activision and Infinity Ward fixes itself to round out this obvious trilogy.



3. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Apart from looking fantastic, NaughtyDog's ability to spin a great yarn with equally compelling characters has meant old Nate Drake is now a part of our collective subculture, arguably replacing Lara Croft (and even Indiana Jones) as everyone's favourite treasure-hunting smart mouth. Gun play is still a little on the repetitive side, but new gameplay additions and updates alongside a solid multiplayer experience make this easily the PS3's best adventure to-date, and easily one of the year's best.



4. Assassin's Creed 2

5. Brutal Legend

6. Street Fighter 4

7. Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony

8. Tales of Vesperia

9. Borderlands

10. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

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Finally, we gave as many games as possible our official AusGamers review treatment and the top scorers there for the year also deserve special mention as they offer a different perspective from our personal favourites. This list is based on AusGamers review scores throughout 2009 and features the highest 10 games as rated on their individual merits.

Street Fighter 4 - 9.8 (reviewed by Dan)

"Street Fighter IV is great, there hasn't been a fighting game this well executed since the days of MegaDrive and Super Nintendo; when videogame Arcades were still a relevant platform outside of Japan..."

Empire: Total War - 9.6 (reviewed by Kosta)

If you ever find yourself at war with a nation who happens to have an ally with a few key cities right on your border, be sure to bribe that ally. And if it is gifts you're sending don't settle for a bag of coins send them a thoroughbred horse, or better yet, some crown jewel of sorts...

Batman: Arkham Asylum - 9.5 (reviewed by Steve)

Ladies and gentleman, welcome to the greatest superhero game of all time. Actually, welcome to one of the greatest action games of all time...

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite - 9.5 (reviewed by James)

Capcom claims there’s around 500 hours of gameplay in Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, and we’re inclined to agree. It’s deep, it’s addictive, and it’s even better with friends — just don’t be surprised when it kicks your arse...

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars - 9.5 (reviewed by Steve)

I love that in an industry obsessed with processing power and HD, a game like Chinatown Wars can come along and remind us big ideas aren't always confined, and where there's ambition and will, there's a way...

Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony - 9.4 (reviewed by Steve)

The thing is though, the "good stuff" here is the best stuff there is. About half an hour in (or second mission if you choose it early enough) you'll understand that the game's title also reflects the overall over-the-top nature of things at hand (not to rag on the Gay community, but I live in Newtown, I've seen said 'over-the-top' nature)...

FIFA 10 - 9.3 (reviewed by SpadBob)

From the moment you put the game into your Xbox, this new instalment has many exciting features. I was most impressed by the fact it scanned my FIFA 09 achievements in order to determine a suitable difficulty level...

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - 9.2 (reviewed by Steve)

There's no denying this is the year's best PS3 game, and it will be a while before it's topped in my opinion. But thankfully, the way in which Naughty Dog have crafted their characters and stories here, I doubt this will be the last we see of Nathan Drake and comrades...

Assassin's Creed 2 - 9.2 (reviewed by Steve)

Assassin's Creed II not only tackles all the issues we had with the first, but does so in context. That sounds weird, but in the wake of story developments right from the outset (things pick up immediately where you left them in the first game), everything falls intelligently into place...

So there you have it, the AusGamers Game of the Year Awards for 2009, as voted by both you and us. 2010 has already kicked off to an amazing start, so we'll have to see this time next year how it fared against the year that was 2009 in gaming.

As usual, please Comment, let us know your thoughts on the above, but we're happy with how this feature worked out - because really, there is no single one game that beats out everything else; invariably tastes, style and flavour all come into it. We hope you're happy with this, too.