The Phoenix Network:
 
 
About  |  Advertise
Adult  |  Moonsigns  |  Band Guide  |  Blogs  |  In Pictures
 

2009: Year in video games

Swimming the mainstream
By MITCH KRPATA  |  December 22, 2009

At the end of each year, there's the temptation to identify a common theme among the games that were released. That won't wash in 2009. Yet though we didn't get any truly visionary or paradigm-busting titles, this year did give us one solid game after another in a range of genres. Shooters, RPGs, sports games — you name it, there was something for everyone, across platforms as diverse as the PlayStation 3 and the iPhone. So maybe 2009 was the year that gaming finally, truly went mainstream: nobody was playing the same thing, but everybody was playing something.

So, what did the 10 games that stood out to me as the best of the year have in common? Nothing! That's what I liked about them.

 

10. Prototype (Activision)
Let's start by acknowledging that Prototype (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC) does run out of steam. But not till it's delivered several solid hours of gleeful, unapologetic, anarchic gameplay. Unlike inFamous, another open-world superhero game that came out around the same time, Prototype doesn't get bogged down in questions of morality, or ask whether with great power comes great responsibility. It's too busy letting you eat people to assume their physical form, commandeer a tank to blow up a mutant hive, and shapeshift so that your limbs become hammers, claws, and whips. You gotta love a bad boy.

1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |  6  |  7  |  8  |  9  |  10  |   next >
Related: Review: New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Review: Assassin's Creed II, Review: Left 4 Dead 2, More more >
  Topics: Videogames , Entertainment, Technology, Culture and Lifestyle,  More more >
  • Share:
  • Share this entry with Facebook
  • Share this entry with Digg
  • Share this entry with Delicious
  • RSS feed
  • Email this article to a friend
  • Print this article
HTML Prohibited
Add Comment

Today's Event Picks
ARTICLES BY MITCH KRPATA
Share this entry with Delicious
  •   REVIEW: ARMY OF TWO: THE 40TH DAY  |  January 27, 2010
    When I reviewed the original Army of Two , I found myself in the unfamiliar position of being the guy who liked something everybody else hated (as opposed the guy who hated something everybody else liked).
  •   REVIEW: BAYONETTA  |  January 12, 2010
    Here's the thing about Bayonetta : you have to take all of it, not just part.
  •   REVIEW: THE SABOTEUR  |  January 06, 2010
    When Pandemic Studios was shuttered on November 17, it seemed less another casualty of the economy than a mercy killing.
  •   WINTER WONDERLAND  |  January 04, 2010
    Do not adjust your calendar. Christmas has not been moved to March this year.
  •   2009: YEAR IN VIDEO GAMES  |  December 22, 2009
    At the end of each year, there's the temptation to identify a common theme among the games that were released.

 See all articles by: MITCH KRPATA

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed 



  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
thePhoenix.com:
Phoenix Media/Communications Group:
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
Copyright © 2010 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group