The 2009 GWJ Community Game of the Year Awards! - Voting Closed

1. Plants vs. Zombies
2. Torchlight
3. Dissidia: Final Fantasy
4. Dragon Age: Origins
5. Borderlands
6. Street Fighter IV
7. King's Bounty: Armored Princess
8. Batman: Arkham Asylum
9. Defense Grid: The Awakening (very very late 2008 title)
10. PuzzleQuest: Galactrix

Game I have in my pile and pretty sure it would have made it:
Assassin's Creed II

If it wasn't for Steam, this list would have been very short.

My list will probably change after I fire up Borderlands, and get some more time in with Assassin's Creed 2 and Modern Warfare 2, but so far it's:

1. Brutal Legend
2. Left 4 Dead 2
3. Assassin's Creed 2
4. Red Faction Guerrilla
5. Torchlight
6. Modern Warfare 2
7. Plants vs. Zombies
8. (this spot potentially reserved for Borderlands)
9. Section 8
10. ARMA 2

I haven't picked up Dragon Age or Arkham Asylum yet.

1. Uncharted 2
2. Assassin's Creed 2
3. Borderlands
4. Batman: Arkham Asylum
5. Red Faction: Guerrilla
6. Shadow Complex
7. Left 4 Dead 2
8. Beatles Rock Band
9. Dragon Age: Origins
10. Torchlight

This list is hard. There were a ton of good to great games that came out this year. My top ten:

Street Fighter IV
Dragon Age Origins
NHL 10
Uncharted 2
Assassin's Creed II
Batman Arkham Asylum
Battlefield 1943
Plants vs Zombies
Forza 3
Splosion Man

Honorable Mentions
Madden 10
Shadow Complex
Flower
Shatter
Borderlands
LittleBigPlanet PSP
Motorstorm Arctic Edge
Henry Hatsworth
New Super Mario Brothers Wii
Punch Out
Resident Evil 5
Dawn of War II
Trials HD
The Creeps (iPhone)
Bejewled Blitz
Spider
Pac-Man CE (iPhone)
Auditorium
Civ Rev
Battleship

Edit: I forgot Beatles Rock Band, Lego Rock Band, and Guitar Hero 5.

1. Modern Warfare 2
2. League of Legends
3. Left4Dead 2
4. DarkFall
5. TF2

All i've played this year...

I didn't buy a whole lot of new this year, so this will be a wicked short list

1. Dragon Age
2. Forza 3
3. Fallout 3
4. TF2
5. Torchlight
6. Dawn of War II
7. Mirror's Edge
8. Wrath of the Lich King
9. Rock Band
10. DDO

ok, after a few edits, maybe not so short.

My list is short:

1. Batman: Arkham Asylum

2. Dragon Age: Origins

3. Assassin's Creed 2

4. The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition

Here is my list. About the same as the majority with a few new ones thrown into the mix.

1. Shadow Complex
2. Batman: Arkham Asylum
3. Plants Vs. Zombies
4. inFAMOUS
5. UNO Rush
6. Wii Sports Resort
7. Torchlight
8. Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor
9. flower
10. Brutal Legend

1. Dragon Age
2. Modern Warfare 2
3. Assassin's Creed 2
4. Borderlands
5. Wii Sports Resort
6. Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
7. Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon
8. Resident Evil 5
9. Shadow Complex
10. New Super Mario Bros. Wii

My list feels so unoriginal

Lord_Xan wrote:

My wildcard surely has to be 50 cent: Blood on the Sand. This game, which has so many things going against it, actually manages the make them work to its advantage. Absurdity is driven to such heights that it simply blows right past surrealism and ends up somewhere around the Vril society. "Lay 'em out, Fifty!" indeed. :)

Is it bad that I really, really want to play this game? It's kinda like saying "I really want to see Snakes on a Plane ten times."

My votes for 2009:

1) Batman: Arkham Asylum
2) Borderlands
3) The Beatles: Rock Band
4) Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story
5) Left 4 Dead 2
6) Shadow Complex
7) 'Splosion Man
8) Fallout 3 GOTY/DLC
9) Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2
10) Ghostbusters

Haven't yet played Assassin's Creed II or Dragon Age, but I'm sure they'd bump other games off this list if I had.

kincher skolfax wrote:
Lord_Xan wrote:

My wildcard surely has to be 50 cent: Blood on the Sand. This game, which has so many things going against it, actually manages to make them work to its advantage. Absurdity is driven to such heights that it simply blows right past surrealism and ends up somewhere around the Vril society. "Lay 'em out, Fifty!" indeed. :)

Is it bad that I really, really want to play this game? It's kinda like saying "I really want to see Snakes on a Plane ten times."

Think of it this way: Mr Cent will be exactly the same person he currently is whether you play his game or not. So you might as well play it! One word of advice, play it co-op with a buddy if you can. You may go insane if you play it on your own.

(I suddenly feel inexplicably dirty advertising this game so much. DSGamer, where are you?)

1) Batman: Arkham Asylum
2) Assassin's Creed 2
3) 50 cent: Blood on the Sand
4) FEAR 2
5) Overlord 2
6) Halo 3: ODST
7) 'Splosion Man
8) Wolfenstein
9) Dragon Age: Origins
10) Shadow Complex

Looking back at my post last year it's clear things didn't work out as planned. Half the games I was looking forward to have been moved into 2010 (or 2011) and at least one turned out to be a disappointment of LHC proportions. Yes, I'm talking about Dragon Age. I usually eat up everything that Bioware puts out, but for some reason I don't understand yet, Dragon Age does very little for me. This is a great pity.

My wildcard surely has to be 50 cent: Blood on the Sand. This game, which has so many things going against it, actually manages to make them work to its advantage. Absurdity is driven to such heights that it simply blows right past surrealism and ends up somewhere around the Vril society. "Lay 'em out, Fifty!" indeed.

Thanks as always, Sinitar. The community GOTY awards is something I look forward to each year!

1. Assassin's Creed II
2. Batman: Arkham Asylum
3. Uncharted 2: Drake's Fortune
4. Dragon Age: Origins
5. Flower
6. Borderlands
7. Street Fighter IV
8. Left 4 Dead 2
9. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
10. Torchlight

There are a number of games that I still haven't played from 2010 that I suspect might supplant some of these, but as of now, this is how things stand.

1. Demon's Souls
2. Dragon Age: Origins
3. Torchlight
4. Flower
5. Madden 10
6. L4D2
7. Red Faction Guerrilla
8. Trine
9. BlazBlue
10. Beatles Rock Band

1. Batman: Arkham Asylum
2. NHL 10
3. Rock Band: Beatles
4. Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
5. Plant Vs. Zombies
6. Tiger Woods 10
7. 1 vs. 100
8. Red Faction: Guerilla
9. Out of the Park Baseball X (text based baseball grows up!)
10. MLB 2K9

Great year for sports games. I wish I had played fight Night Round 4 to add to this list.

I'd also like to make a motion that anyone that leaves Batman off their top 10 list have their votes be stricken from the record. Do I have a second?

Someone should compile the total list at some point, with weighted rankings for how many voted for what placement.

1. Left 4 Dead 2

Well, that's the only game I've bought or played this year. Ah well. Maybe next year I can comb this list for bargain titles.

Jayhawker wrote:

1. Batman: Arkham Asylum
2. NHL 10
3. Rock Band: Beatles
4. Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
5. Plant Vs. Zombies
6. Tiger Woods 10
7. 1 vs. 100
8. Red Faction: Guerilla
9. Out of the Park Baseball X (text based baseball grows up!)
10. MLB 2K9

Great year for sports games. I wish I had played fight Night Round 4 to add to this list.

I'd also like to make a motion that anyone that leaves Batman off their top 10 list have their votes be stricken from the record. Do I have a second?

Not in my book; I've been on a super limited budget for gaming this year, and Batman didn't make the cut, sadly. Demo was fantastic, I just had a hard time throwing it up there without having played the whole game.

Dragon Age: Origins
Dawn of War II
Solium Infernum
ArmA 2
League of Legends
Fallout 3 DLC
Shin Megami Tensei - Devil Survivor
Brutal Legend
Borderlands
Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising (Single Player)

Lord_Xan wrote:

Think of it this way: Mr Cent will be exactly the same person he currently is whether you play his game or not. So you might as well play it! One word of advice, play it co-op with a buddy if you can. You may go insane if you play it on your own.

Exactly. The one thing that's held me back from grabbing this game out of the bargain bin is that there's no local co-op. I have a few friends in particular who I think would enjoy destroying the Middle East as Tony Yayo. "I'ma kill your entire generation!"

(Wow, only one thing has held me back from buying 50 Cent's game? That sounds really sad.)

I actually like the first two games on my list the exact same amount for completely opposite reasons, but I'll go with Mario first since the rules are crazy and arcane and make me sad inside.

1. New Super Mario Bros. Wii
2. Brutal Legend
3. Left 4 Dead 2
4. Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
5. Batman: Arkham Asylum
6. Red Faction: Guerilla
7. Shadow Complex
8. GTA: The Ballad of Gay Tony
9. LocoRoco 2
10. Retro Game Challenge

If I had gotten a chance to play Mario & Luigi, it would probably be in the #4 spot. Oh well.

1.Uncharted 2
2.Shadow Complex
3.Borderlands
4.Forza III
5.3 on 3 NHL Arcade
6.Beatles Rock Band
7.Dragon Age
8.1 vs 100
9.Left 4 Dead 2
10.NHL 10

Haven't played Batman or Assassin's Creed 2

1. Batman: Arkham Asylum
2. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
3. Assassin's Creed II
4. Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time
5. Red Faction: Guerrilla
6. Borderlands
7. Torchlight
8. DiRT 2
9. Raiden Fighters Aces
10. Fairytale Fights

Dragon Age: Origins may have made it on this list but I haven't been able to start it yet. I have an explanation of my choices on my Giant Bomb list here. And yeah, Fairytale Fights seems like an odd choice but play it with some friends first and see if you disagree.

1. Left 4 Dead 2
2. Torchlight
3. Street Fighter 4
4. Trine
5. F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin
6. Prototype
7. Dawn of War 2

I can't think of more, I doubt I've played any others for more than 20 minutes anyway.

1) Dragon Age: Origins
2) Flower
3) Today I Die
4) Noby Noby Boy
5) Small Worlds
6) The Path
7) The Hunter
8) Punch Out!!
9) Spider: Secret of Bryce Manor
10) Scribblenauts

1. Dragon Age Origins
2. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2
3. Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes
4. Assassin's Creed II
5. Batman: Arkham Asylum
6. Borderlands
7. Uncharted II
8. Shadow Complex
9. Torchlight
10. inFamous

I'm really surprised nobody has mentioned BattleForge yet.

1. Dragon Age: Origins
2. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II
3. Dawn of Discovery (Anno 1404)
4. BattleForge
5. Borderlands
6. Plants vs Zombies
7. Majesty 2
8. Torchlight
9. Wrath of the Lich King (yeah, Nov 2008, but it got me back to WoW for a couple months in 2009)
10. Demigod (the game I love to hate--I couldn't play it much, but when it worked, it was great)

1) Uncharted 2
2) inFamous
3) Crayon Physics Deluxe (iPhone)
4) Red Faction: Guerilla
5) Skate 2
6) Battlefield: 1943
7) Modern Warfare 2
8) Shadow Complex
9) Space Invaders: Infinity Gene (iPhone)
10) Dragon Age: Origins

I'm still not satisfied with this list or the order but I haven't played much this year. Take it for what it is.

1) Plants vs Zombies
2) Left 4 Dead 2
3) World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
4) Batman: Arkham Asylum
5) Muramasa: The Demon Blade
6) Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
7) Metroid Prime Trilogy
8) Brutal Legend
9) Space Invaders: Infinity Gene (iPhone)
10) Dragon Age

DSGamer wrote:

9) Space Invaders: Infinity Gene (iPhone)

Aww I knew I was going to forget something!

Here are mine... Might be a little skewed if you consider I haven't played Dragon Age yet, but as it stands right now, here are my favorite games of the year.

1. Uncharted 2
2. Batman: Arkham Asylum
3. Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time
4. Plants Vs. Zombies
5. Torchlight
6. New Super Mario Bros Wii
7. Assassin's Creed II
8. Shadow Complex
9. The Beatles: Rock Band
10. Flower

PS: Audiosurf came out in 2008, so it shouldn't be on the list.