3. Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X (17th March 2009)
The story of the game takes place during the time of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter. H.A.W.X is set in the near future where private military companies have essentially replaced government-run military in many countries. The player is placed in the shoes of David Crenshaw — an ex-military elite pilot who was recruited by one of these corporations to work for them as one of their pilots, fighting whomever and whenever he is told to. Crenshaw later returns to the US Air Force together with his team, trying to prevent a full scale terrorist attack on the United States which was initiated by this military company.
4. The Wheelman (24th March 2009)
The game is set in an open world modeled after Barcelona, full of destructible objects, alleyways, shortcuts through office blocks and a total of 31 story missions and 105 side missions. While most missions are driving-oriented there are also foot missions which are played from a third person and incorporated a crouching system similar to the one used in Goldeneye. A wide variety of guns is preserved for the player including pistols to RPGs.
Among the vehicles used by Milo Burik in the game is the Pontiac G8, shown in released trailers for Wheelman. Reports also indicated that the Opel Astra is a drivable vehicle. In the demo, his license plate says MRTL KM8T which is a reference to Mortal Kombat, Midway's popular fighting game.
5. The Last Remnant (24th March 2009)
The Last Remnant is a Japanese role-playing game developed and published by Square Enix. The game is directed at both Japanese and Western audiences and had a simultaneous release in Japan, North America and Europe, on November 20, 2008 for the Xbox 360. The game was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows at the end of March, 2009 and received an international release on the Steamnetwork on April 9, 2009. A PlayStation 3 version of the game had been planned, but was never released. It is set in a fictional world divided into multiple city-states inhabited by four different species.
6. Fallout 3 (24th March 2009)
Fallout 3 takes place in the year 2277, 36 years after the setting of Fallout 2 and 200 years after the nuclear apocalypse that devastated the game's world in a future where international conflicts culminated in a Sino-American war in the second half of the 21st century. The player character is an inhabitant of Vault 101, a survival shelter designed to protect up to 1000 humans from the nuclear fallout. When the player's character's father disappears under mysterious circumstances, the player is forced to escape from the Vault and journey into the ruins of Washington D.C. to track him down.
7. The Godfather II (7th April 2009)
The Godfather II is a 2009 video game based on The Godfather Part II, a 1974 crime drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and co-written by Coppola and Mario Puzo. The game is published by Electronic Arts and was released on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. This is also a sequel to The Godfather: The Game, which was also developed and published by EA in 2006. The game was released on April 7, 2009 in North America, April 9 in Europe and April 5 in Australia. The Godfather II is played from a third person perspective. It also contains some strategy elements, as the player's character battles rival families and take over businesses to ultimately become a "don" ruling over many cities.
8. X-Men Origins : Wolverine (1st May 2009)
The Uncaged Edition was released for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. When Wolverine sustains injuries, chunks of his flesh and clothes are removed. His injuries heal in real-time. Origins takes influences from games such as God of War and Devil May Cry. The Uncaged version also features a large amount of blood and gore. Enemies can be dismembered in several ways in addition to the graphic display of Wolverine's healing factor.
9. The Sims 3 (2nd June 2009)
The Sims 3 is built upon the same concept as its predecessors. Player controls their own Sims in activities and relationships in a similar manner to real life. The gameplay is open-ended and indefinite.
Sim houses and neighborhoods are entirely in one continuous map. The developers stated, "What you do outside your home now matters as much as what you do within." The game includes an optional feature called "Story Progression", which allows all Sims in the neighborhood to autonomously continue as if the player was controlling them, such as grow up, get married, get jobs and promotions, have children, build or buy their dream house while the player isn't playing.
10. Prototype (10th June 2009)
The game is set in New York City, where a virulent plague known as BLACKLIGHT is spreading through Manhattan. Those infected are mutated into hideous monsters of varying form, and an uncontrollable urge to kill all uninfected life-forms. The United States Marine Corps, under the command of the black ops organization Blackwatch, is dispatched to contain it. At the center of it is the protagonist, Alex Mercer, an incredibly powerful shape shifter with no memory of his past. Alex has the ability to absorb other individuals, taking on their biomass, memories, experiences, and physical forms. Parallel to the game's storyline is the ability to play the game as a sandbox-style video game giving the player freedom to roam Manhattan.
11. Street Fighter IV (1st July 2009)
Street Fighter IV is a 2008 fighting game produced by Capcom. It is the first numbered Street Fighter game released by Capcom since 1999. The coin-operated arcade game was released in Japan on July 18, 2008, with North American arcades importing the machines by August. The console versions for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 were released in Japan on February 12, 2009, and were sold in North American stores as early as February 16, with a February 18 intended release date. The official European release was on February 20. A Windows version was released on July 2, 2009 in Japan, July 3, 2009 in Europe and July 7, 2009 in the US. A version for iOS was released on March 10, 2010.
12. Resident Evil 5 (18th September 2009)
Resident Evil 5, known in Japan as Biohazard 5, is a survival horror third-person shooter video game developed and published by Capcom. The game is the seventh installment in the Resident Evil survival horror series, and was released on March 5, 2009 in Japan and on March 13, 2009 in North America and Europe for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. A Windows version of the game was released on September 15, 2009 in North America, September 17 in Japan and September 18 in Europe. Resident Evil 5 revolves around Chris Redfield and Sheva Alomar as they investigate a terrorist threat in Kijuju, a fictional town in Africa.
13. Batman : Arkham Asylum (15th September 2009)
Batman: Arkham Asylum is an action-adventure stealth video game based on DC Comics' Batman developed for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. It was developed by Rocksteady Studios and published by Eidos Interactive in conjunction with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Comics. The PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game were released on August 25, 2009 in North America and August 28, 2009 in Europe, and the PC version was released on September 15, 2009 in North America and on September 18, 2009 in Europe.
14. Need for Speed : Shift (18th September 2009)
Need for Speed: Shift is the 13th installment of the long-running racing video game franchise Need for Speed; published by Electronic Arts. It was announced in December 2008 as part of a three-game announcement that includes Need for Speed: Nitro and Need for Speed: World. Shift was developed by Slightly Mad Studios in conjunction with EA Black Box and published for Electronic Arts. In the new franchising model for the series adopted by EA, Shift takes its place focusing on simulation/arcade racing rather than the arcade racing of previous titles in the series. According to EA, the game has sold 4 million copies on all platforms combined. Shift was commercially successful, and a sequel, Shift 2: Unleashed, is set for a release in 2011.
15. FIFA '10 (20th October 2009)
FIFA '10 (FIFA Soccer 10 in North America) is the 17th title in Electronic Arts' FIFA series of football video games. Developed by EA Canada, it was published by Electronic Arts worldwide under the EA Sports label. It was released on 2 October 2009 in Europe, 30 September in Australia and 20 October 2009 in North America. It is available for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2 and Wii. Handheld versions of the game were also released for the iOS, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, and mobile phones.
16. Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 (23rd October 2009)
Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 (officially abbreviated as PES 2010 and known as World Soccer: Winning Eleven 2010 in Japan) is the latest football video game in the Pro Evolution Soccer series. The game was developed and published by Konami for release on Sony's PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Portable; Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Windows; Nintendo's Wii; and mobile phones. PES 2010 was announced on 8 April 2009 and the playable demo for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 versions was released on 17 September 2009. The game itself was released on 23 October 2009 in Europe. Lionel Messi is a key endorsement player for PES 2010, having featured extensively throughout the promotion and development of the game. He features on the cover alongside Fernando Torres, another endorsement player.
17. Dragon Age : Origins (3rd November 2009)
Dragon Age: Origins is a single-player role-playing video game developed by BioWare's Edmonton studio and published by Electronic Arts. It is the first game in the Dragon Age franchise. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in November 2009, and for Mac OS X on December 21, 2009. Set in the mythical kingdom of Ferelden during a period of civil strife, the player assumes the role of a warrior, mage or rogue who must unite the kingdom to fight an impending invasion by demonic forces. BioWare describes Dragon Age: Origins as a "dark heroic fantasy set in a unique world", and a spiritual successor to their Baldur's Gate series of games, which took place in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting of the Dungeons & Dragons franchise.
18. Call of Duty : Modern Warfare 2 (10th November 2009)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 video game consoles and the Microsoft Windows operating system. Officially announced on February 11, 2009, the game was released worldwide on November 10, 2009. It is the sixth installment of the Call of Duty series and the direct sequel to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, continuing the same storyline, with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 set to end the storyline. It was released in conjunction with two other Call of Duty games: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Mobilized for the Nintendo DS, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Reflex, a port of Call of Duty 4 adapted by Treyarch for the Wii console. In addition, a comic book series based on one of the game's characters was also produced, entitled Modern Warfare 2: Ghost.
19. Colin McRae : Dirt 2 (1st December 2009)
Colin McRae: Dirt 2 (known as Dirt 2 in North America and stylised, DiRT 2) is a racing game released in September 2009, and is the sequel to Colin McRae: Dirt. This is the first game in the McRae series since McRae's death in 2007. It was announced on 19 November 2008 and features Ken Block,Travis Pastrana, Tanner Foust, and Dave Mirra. The game includes many new race-events, including stadium events. Along with the player, an RV travels from one event to another, and serves as "headquarters" for the player. It features a roster of contemporary off-road events, taking players to diverse and challenging real-world environments. The game takes place across four continents: Asia, Europe, Africa and North America. The game includes five different event types: Rally, Rallycross, "Trailblazer", "Land Rush" and "Raid". The World Tour mode sees players competing in multi-car and solo races at new locations, and also includes a new multiplayer mode.
20. The Saboteur (8th December 2009)
The Saboteur is an open world third person action-adventure video game set during World War II in German-occupied France. It was published by Electronic Arts and developed by Pandemic Studios, with the latter being liquidated after finishing the game.
AND THE GREAT GAME OF THE YEAR GOES TO : CALL OF DUTY MODERN WARFARE 2
