Your GOTY 2009.

[Uli]

My GOTY 2009:
#1 Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2
#2 Halo 3 ODST
#3 Batman - Arkham Asylum

Most Disappointing (fell short of expectation/hype):
#1 Street Fighter 4
#2 IL-2 Sturmovik - Birds of Prey
#3 Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2

My under-the-radar recommendations:
#1 50 Cent - Blood in the Sand: mindless blasting in Gears manner with lots of funny lines and frantic action!
#2 Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising: initially bugged and flawed but highly addictive in co-op mode and now mostly patched!

[charlesr]

Heh. MW2 in both your lists.

[merf]

My GOTY 2009:
#1 Plants v Zombies
#2 FIFA 10
#3 Forza 3

Most Disappointing (fell short of expectation/hype):
#1 Ballad of Gay Tony
#2 PES 10
#3 L4D2

my goty surprised me a little but when I look back Plants v Zombies is the game I feel most love for this year (can't wait for iphone version). Its PopCap's masterpiece, has Valve/Nintendo like levels of polish and just keeps delivering modes and gameplay whilst remaining totally accesible.

Forza just keeps pulling me back in and whilst 'only' being a driving game is incredibly polished and playable which you can make as easy or hard as you want through the incredibly array of options and brilliant driving model

a significant year for me as my footy allegiances moved from PES to FIFA

Ballad of Gay Tony left me cold which was a major dissapointment having finished the main game and the LatD.

[Jebus]

First of all, I'd like to say that I have a list of 9 or 10 games I'd deem runners up, so position 3 is rather arbitrary as there are another 5 I'd rate just as highly.

Game of the Year

#1 : Uncharted 2 Among Thieves.

Never have I experienced a game like this, 2 sittings, 2 evenings, mammoth sittings, wow. Set pieces to make every other game out there ashamed of itself, every mechanic playtested to feel perfect. I've only ever played two games that I'd give 10/10, and this is one of them.

#2 : Borderlands

I lost my life to this game for a little while, hammering it at every opportunity. I'd say to myself "Just an hour on Borderlands" and it'd become 3 hours very very quickly. The DLC was great too, though I'm disappointed with the latest. Co-Op has been my favourite type of multiplayer game mode for the longest time and to play a game that is this long, this fun and co-op from start to finish is just brilliant!

#3 : inFAMOUS

It's not very often I find a game that's special enough to play it to completion twice. In fact I often read about you guys playing games through multiple times and I wonder how you do it! This one though, finished a good playthrough and started a bad one straight after. I've always "liked" open worldy games, but have never loved the GTA games like others, but this one...this one is stunning and everything I'd wanted. The sense of movement is incredible, gliding, rail-riding, it's just sublime start to finish.

I'd have probably rated this higher if it weren't for the fact I never found that last shard. I spent hours on it, maps galore, searched every building but it never showed up. I eventually agreed with myself that my save was bugged, sold it on and accepted it wouldn't be my first platinum trophy.

Runners Up in joint 3rd position: Fifa 10, Ratchet & Clank A Crack in Time, Forza 3, Street Fighter IV, The Beatles Rock Band, Batman Arkhum Asylum, Killzone 2, Trials HD, Plants Vs Zombies. Bayonetta will probably make this list too but I've not had time to finish it! You should probably add Modern Warfare 2 to the list, since everyone else will, it's a good game executed well, but so unfriendly to anyone who doesn't put in 10-20 hours week it'd never make my list.

Most Disappointing

#1 GTA Liberty Cities Stories

At the time, I loved GTA4 but my goodness, going back to the engine after some time I found it nigh-on unplayable. Horrendous clunky controls were the main culprit, so unbearably slow as well. For all the innovation Rockstar show, they are desperately behind in how a 3rd person game controls and moves and even games like Saints Row 2 do it better. I'm sure the stories are immense (even though I found the main GTA 4 game about 8 hours too long) but I never got far enough to care, the controls and movement ruined it.

#2 Ghostbusters

How could this go wrong? Everything about initial reports suggested this would be a great fun romp, reminding us of our childhoods and how much we loved the "fiction". Oh dear no. From awful loading to horrible controls, why is the main function in the game (to catch ghosts) so woeful to actually do?

#3 Scibblenauts

Possibly a case of hype-overload here, but this promised so much and delievered so little. As with all of my "most disappointing" selections, controls are at the forefront of my complaints.

Sadly, it doesn't matter how amazing a game you have made, if it doesn't control well then nobody will enjoy it. This game is proof of that, a lovely concept but executed so poorly with horrendous controls, I wonder if it was ever play tested at all! Moreover, add the fact most levels are solved by typing "Jet Pack" and it's just dull as dishwater. Any character the game might have had is negated by everything else it does poorly.

#4 Demons Souls

This game hates you, it hates you. People tell me how I don't like it because I'm no good at games, or I've played too many easy games. This game is hard, yeah, but it doesn't tell you anything about it, it expects you to learn things with no lessons up front. The tutorial is laughable as well. I know this game is well loved and I've no desire for a flame war over it, but I hated this game and this game hated me, so at least its mutual. People seem to be able to ignore all the glaring design faults because it's a "cult hit" but by God, some of this game is just absolutely horrible.

Runner Up : Brutal Legend

Sleeper hit of the Year

Plants Vs Zombies

Is this really a sleeper hit? Maybe, maybe not. It's a roaring success but still most people I speak to have never heard of it. Perhaps it's because it's PC only but good God what a fun game. Too many games nowadays are dreary grey affairs, but like Ratchet & Clank this game revels in its humour, its bright shiny colours. It says a lot that the iPhone game is one of my most anticipated of 2010!

Runner Up : Dead Space Extraction

[abigsmurf]

Shame I'm the only one with Persona 4 in the list so far ;_;

[fuse]

Shame I'm the only one with Persona 4 in the list so far ;_;

nakamura on page 1 has it listed as his #1 GOTY?

My GOTY 2009:
#1 - Bayonetta
#2 - Blazblue
#3 - Death Smiles

Most Disappointing (fell short of expectation/hype):
#1 - KOF XII
#2 - Final Fantasy - Dissidia
#3 - Left 4 Dead 2

My under-the-radar recommendations:
Flower Sun & Rain, DJ Hero, Sin & Punishment 2

[toythatkills]

Shame I'm the only one with Persona 4 in the list so far ;_;

I voted for that!

(Last year)

[spagmasterswift]

Number One - Bayonetta (360)
My favourite videogame of all time now in 3D with added DMC and the most wonderful sense of humour - fighting system isn't too bad either! Viewtiful stuff.

Number Two - Uncharted2(PS3)
Did everything right and was easy enough to keep the pace going. Pure dumb fun!

Number Three - Space Invaders Infinity Gene(iTouch)
Everything about this feels right. Its a classic taken to the next level without losing its soul on a platform that for me has replaced the DS for mobile gaming. Probably also worth putting in the 'Under The Radar' section.

[ChrisF]

GOTY:
#1 - Shadow Complex
#2 - Assassin's Creed II
#3 - 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand (I expect to stand alone on this one)

Most Disappointing:
#1 - Ghostbusters
#2 - Scribblenauts
#3 - Resident Evil 5


I've yet to play Bayonetta, or L4D2. Both due in the post today though. Sad to see L4D2 in a fair few Disappointing lists. Still, I never played the first one, so hopefully it'll be a treat for me

[Rossco]

Only game I bought last year, COD!

[Kubrick]

My GOTY 2009:

1. MW2 - The Citizen Kane of repeatedly shooting people in the face?
2. Assassin's Creed II - Loved the original and this is miles better
3. DeathSmiles - Bags of character and more approachable than Cave's other games. This is the one that should've been region-free.

Most Disappointing (fell short of expectation/hype):

1. Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 - Promised to be the definitive edition of NGII but ended up a noob's version.
2. Tekken 6 - Just kill this series already.
3. Dodonpachi DAI-OU-JOU Black Label EXTRA - Great game, sloppy conversion.

My under-the-radar recommendations:

Call of Duty: World At War DLC - The "Nazi Zombies" bonus game evolved into something quite brilliant with Map Packs 2 & 3.

[NeilMcRae]

GOTY:
#1 Uncharted 2 (PS3)
#2 Dawn of War 2 (PC
#3 Batman AA (PC)

The PC fights back this year and I predict next year also.

[Silvergun X]

GOTY:
#1: Mushihimesama Futari Ver 1.5
#2: BlazBlue
#3: Modern Warfare 2

I honestly don't know what's disappointed me this year. I didn't buy too many games until the end and they've all been top. Mostly.

Your under-the-radar recommendations:
Space Invaders: Infinity Gene - As spag said, it's a brilliant redesign of a classic game and feels absolutely brilliant. Even better is the update to it which added in OpenFeint online scoreboards and achievements, along with 10 extra stages and Version 2 bosses. It needs to be bought immediately.

DJ Hero - Not enough people bought this. That's a shame, it's ace.

[briareos_kerensky]

For 2009's GOTY I simply nominate BlazBlue, there are a bunch of other noteworthy games but nothing that really stands out in the crowd.
I do admit I still have to play some 2009 heavyweights (Batman AA, Mushihimesama Futari, Demon's Soul), but that's it.

For the most disappointing game I nominate Dead Space Extraction and Brutal Legend; while not the worst games of this year, I got my hopes up for both games, especially after reading DSE impressions on this very forum. In the end they came out as dull and unable to live up to their hype (Brutal Legend in particular).

[edit]The under-the-radar nomination! Love Plus. No, really. I haven't played in ages but homw many people you know that played the game? It's well done and engaging, if you really care about virtual people and understand Japanese.

[neoboy259]

1. Persona 4
Refreshing JRPG, fight demons in the evening, chirpse girls and go to school during the day!

2. Demon's Souls
A lot has been said about this game's difficulty. Its not the difficulty that kills you, its your own complacency. Utterly absorbing, this will still be played and talked about in 10 years time.

3. Mushihimesama Futari Ver 1.5
This isnt my favourite Cave title, but its arguably my favourite port. The most complete Cave port ever.