Best Games of 2009 Week

Best Atmospheric Experience 2009 – Ethos

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

flower-game-screenshot-1 Flower

Man, even I’m getting sick of talking about Flower at this point. But the bottom line is that Flower has more atmosphere than most games I’ve played this decade, forget 2009. Every detail is exact. The individually rendered blades of grass reacting to the wind. The game only has to begin its first minutes for a player to feel like they’ve had a glimpse into what heaven might look like if such a place were to exist. Typically nothing can bring on or satisfy a mood faster than music, but Flower is the one game with an atmosphere powerful enough to rival a great album. And you know it’s a feat if Flower beat out my favourite Zelda game since Majora’s Mask.

Runner Up: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks

Tags: Best Atmospheric Experience, Ethos' Picks, Flower
Posted in Best Games of 2009 Week

Most Badass Game 2009 – Ethos

Wednesday, December 30th, 2009

infamous-box-art1 InFamous

InFamous is the game that clinched my desire to buy a PS3. It was the second game I beat before I owned the system, and the additional proof I needed that Sony’s console would continue to have great exclusives. And while I think the start is a little slow, the game truly succeeds by steadily giving Cole more and more powers, therefore never letting the experience feel stale.

The additional benefit to this is that Cole becomes more and more of a definitive badass. By the end – depending on if you play the good or evil route – he’ll be speeding down powerlines and train tracks, sniping enemies with electric bolts, gliding through the air, and even chucking grenades created from his own mysterious powers. It’s cool to be able to jump off buildings without getting hurt at the start, but by the end of the experience, you’ll feel like you’re a big enough badass to either save or destroy the world.

I know that Nathan Fucking Drake is the most badass badass that ever badassed, but he doesn’t shoot electricity from his fingertips. Sorry Nate, Cole takes this award.

Runner Up: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Tags: Ethos' Picks, Infamous, Most Badass Game
Posted in Best Games of 2009 Week

Most Addictive Game 2009 – Riddles

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

In 2009, there was one game, and only one game that I beat in a single sitting: and that would be Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. In fact, not only did I beat it in a one sitting, but I stuck around afterwards to play online, split-screen, Spec Ops… everything the game had to offer, really. And I’m not even an FPS freak. That definitely says something.

Modern Warfare 2 probably isn’t the most well-rounded gameplay experience of 2009. By nature of being a first-person shooter, it’s limited in scope, and doesn’t quite hold up when compared to say, Uncharted 2. But damned if it doesn’t have the most polished gunplay of any game I’ve seen, as well as the pacing so relentless that it borders on the ridiculous. In addition to that, Modern Warfare 2 is the only other game that comes close to matching the insanity of Uncharted 2’s setpieces, It’s almost a good thing that Modern Warfare 2’s campaign doesn’t last much more than six to seven hours, because it probably wouldn’t hold up for 15-20. But I can safely say that those six hours were the most gripping and addictive that I had this year.

And of course, that’s really only half the story. I don’t agree at all with those who say that Call of Duty is “only good for the multiplayer,” but let there be no doubt: you probably won’t have a better time online with another shooter. It’s a game that casual FPS fans such as myself can pick up and enjoy without becoming frustrated, but it also clearly has enough going for it to engage the hardcore. And split-screen multiplayer with friends? Well, that never gets old.

A rare example of an over-hyped game that lives up to its over-hyped-ness, Modern Warfare 2 was an easy pick for my Most Addictive Experience in 2009.

Runner Up: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Tags: Modern Warfare 2, Most Addictive 2009, Riddles' Picks 2009
Posted in Best Games of 2009 Week

Most Addictive Game 2009 – Ethos

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009

912761-excitebotbox_super Excitebots: Trick Racing

This one was a surprise. I thought that Excite Trucks was not only the Wii’s best original launch game (I count Twilight Princess as a Gamecube port), but one of the only titles that showed any promise for the system’s motion controls. When Excitebots was announced, it looked way too silly and a little stupid. Upon trying it, however, it proved to be an incredible amount of fun and, obviously, very addictive.

One of the clinchers for this win is the game’s steady difficulty ramp. The racer has a pleasantly challenging difficulty curve for a Nintendo game and once you’re into the insane style, you’re hooked. A few people panned the game for its small selection of maps, and while that is an ultimate detriment, it made it easier to get intensely familiar with the course layout to repeatedly try for that S ranking. And man, some of those S rankings are tough to get. But that’s what made the game fun and addictive.

Ironically, the game’s insane mechanics that initially made me hesitant about the title became the other clincher. Since the racer is unique in that the rankings are actually based on a points system and not necessarily the placement in the race – although that helps – the race becomes a tactical frenzy to find the best way to get a lot of points which are, in this case, stars.

The point is that I played this game nonstop for a very long time this year, and that’s more than I can say for most games in a year packed full of some great ones. That’s it! ‘Till tomorrow!

Runner up: Peggle (XBox Live)

Tags: Ethos' Picks 2009, Excitebots: Trick Racing, Most Addictive Game
Posted in Best Games of 2009 Week

Best Visual Experience 2009 – Riddles

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Needless to say, this one wasn’t difficult to determine.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is one of the few games that my roomate and resident web designer Charlie will sit and watch me play. Why? Well, first and foremost, it’s just as fast-paced and entertaining as the best Indiana Jones movies. But secondly, the game is absolutely gorgeous to behold. I can say this time and time again, but it’s something that has to be experienced in order to fully understand, and those of you who have played the game know exactly what I’m talking about anyway.

So, rather than continue paraphrasing what I’ve said before on more than one occasion, I’m going to take a more direct approach and include a snippet from the truly massive review that I wrote for the game back in October:

Uncharted 2 is simply a piece of artwork. Never before have I played a game that so frequently made me (and Charlie, who doesn’t even play videogames) open my mouth and say “wow.” (Or some other, more inappopriate expletive). To put it simply, the game features the most inspired and skillful art direction I’ve ever seen in my life. Uncharted 2 defies the gritty-grey aesthetics featured in so many of today’s games, and instead presents us with a world that’s lush, organic, colorful, and above all, larger-than-life. If you don’t find yourself frequently stopping just to take in the sights, be it the view of a cityscape in Nepal, or the ruins of a tainted paradise, then you might want to do a little soul-searching.

Anyone who likes to say “graphics don’t matter” clearly hasn’t played Uncharted.

In this age of big-budget titles with brutally long development cycles, it’s nice to see that one studio, at least, knows how to spend that money wisely, and utilize the visual aspect of a game for the betterment of the experience as a whole. Uncharted 2 is 2009’s best visual experience hands-down, and these days, that’s saying a lot… because there’s no shortage of pretty games out there these days.

Runner Up: Batman: Arkham Asylum

Tags: Best Visual Experience, Riddles' Picks 2009, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Posted in Best Games of 2009 Week

Best Visual Experience 2009 – Ethos

Tuesday, December 29th, 2009

uncharted_2_final_box_art Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Big surprise, folks! Well, actually it might be. There were a lot of pretty games this year. If only for their art style. Downloadable games like Flower and Lost Winds: Winter of the Melodias look great even if they don’t have the same complex graphical power behind them compared to games like Assassin’s Creed II or Modern Warfare 2. But nothing took everybody’s collective breath away as much as Uncharted 2 this year. The game is an absolute delight to look at. Naughty Dog was able to cram as much beauty into their gem of a sequel as they did action.

The best part, though, is that Uncharted 2 isn’t just a great looking game, it also looks great in an impressive number of locales. From the familiar jungle, to icy mountains, and a cursed paradise, Nathan Drake takes you to new gorgeous locations all the time to make sure you haven’t seen it all. Couple all that with solid animation, fluid cutscenes, and a practically nonstop framerate, the visuals in Uncharted 2 draw you into the experience and never let you back out. An easy win for this category in my books.

Runner Up: Flower

Tags: Best Visual Experience, Ethos' Picks 2009, Uncharted 2
Posted in Best Games of 2009 Week

Welcome to The Best Games Of 2009 Week!

Monday, December 28th, 2009

And we're so happy that I'm groping Riddles

Yes, you greedy fuckers, we’re back!
It was nice to be so terrifyingly missed over the week. Your comments below make me both feel loved and scared for my life. Either way, I’m glad to be back. I’ve done a whole shit-ton of nothing over the week, and have spent the smallest amount of time on the internet since its invention. I played a bunch of games, sure, but now’s no time to talk about that!

Yes, this is the first of two Award Weeks here at Riddlethos. We will be ignoring our regular Hey! Look! Listen! and Scatter Storming features to bring you what we feel deserves our praise in video games this year. Riddles and I will have separate picks for each category except the final Game of the Year selection. It all starts Tuesday, but I’m going to give you all the schedule now so that the speculation can begin instantly!

Tuesday -
Best Visual Experience and Most Addictive.

Wednesday -
Most Badass and Best Atmospheric Experience

Thursday -
Most Surprising and Biggest Letdown

Friday -
The One That Got Away

Saturday -
Game of the Year nominees announced

Sunday -
Game of the Year

Games can win multiple categories and only Game of the Year will have official nominees. Start the betting!

Posted in Best Games of 2009 Week