COBRASHARK's Best of 2009

With 2009; the year of death officially closed, it's time to think back on all the prolific and influential artists that were taken from us this year. But more importantly, it's time for COBRASHARK's Top 5 of 2009. So let's do that now. Discuss.

5. Assassin' Creed II

For me, this basically came out of nowhere, since I didn't really have a lot of love for the first Assassin's Creed. I did recognize that it was a very unique concept, but felt it really needed a lot of polish and direction. Thankfully, it got exactly what it needed. With it's one of kind, high concept, story driven gameplay and very detailed world, Assassin's Creed II is good enough for the 5th spot. Excellent game.
4: Borderlands

Borderlands came out of left field and surprised both shooter fans and RPG fans, which I am both of so it's a pretty sweet deal. With a unique art style and personality it stands out from the pack in both categories it serves and the DLC support has so far been excellent. Buy it.

3. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Uncharted 2 is one of those rare games that does everything it sets out to do exactly right. It's basically a playable Indiana Jones movie, and come to think of it, is way better than the last Indiana Jones movie anyway. The story is well written and even better acted thanks in no small part to some excellent voice and performance capture work. Nolan North (Nathan Drake) and Emily Rosen (Elena Fisher) were robbed at the fake ass VGAs. There's not a blemish to be found on the gameplay, either. Uncharted also sports what may be the best graphics in any console game yet. Games are supposed to be fun and Uncharted 2 was one of the most fun games all year. A must have for any PS3 owner.

2. Street Fighter IV

Of all five games on this list that made it over Modern Warfare 2 I think this one will bring the most controversy. But it's my list, so suck it. Street Fighter's gameplay was damn near perfect anyway, and IV just brought it that much closer. Basically you take the game that created the entire fighting game genre (Street Fighter II for you heathens) and make it better in every way. This is the way to revisit a classic. Take note, other studios who've tried this. Yoshinori Ono and Seth Killian & Co. just showed you what's up. Here's the perfect example of SFIV's brilliance. I have a friend I've known since junior high. We used to have some epic SFII sessions back in the SNES days, sometimes Ryu vs Guile matches over and over again all damn day. We haven't seen each other in 12 years and we both recently moved back to our home town, and started hanging out again Immediately. He hasn't really been into games at all since we parted ways, but we fired up IV and it was just like the old days. Those same epic matches all day again, but with a whole new set of mechanics laid on top. And we're hooked all over again.

1. Batman: Arkham Asylum

Read my full review here. Basically, Batman gets everything right, too. Combat's awesome, exploration is awesome, Story, graphics, mood, and atmosphere are all awesome. You guessed it everything about the game is awesome. Arkham features the best translation of a super hero to a game ever done. Rocksteady really did their homework about what makes Batman cool and managed to get ALL of it into the game. The amount of fan service crammed into this game on top of all it's kickass gameplay is astounding as well. Tons of nods to various characters that aren't even in the game, even sort of a playable "origin of Batman" moment that will blow you away. The scarecrow bits are some of the best design in gaming ever in the way that they're presented. Batman fans and gamers can both rejoice in the fact that this game was made. This was my favorite game of 2009 hands down. Well played, Rocksteady.