Game of the year Awards 2009 pt.2 - For the Win, runner ups & honourable mentions, disappointments and year in review.

The Top 5 of 2009 stand at;

5. Infamous
4. Uncharted 2
3. Halo 3:ODST
2. Call of Duty:MW2

And my Number 1 Game of the year is...

1. Assassins Creed 2

The Assassins Creed 2, not only was this game my most hyped for this year, my game of E3 but it is now my Game of 2009. Ubisoft have created a masterpiece, it is an example of a stunning success. No game this year could amount to the awesome that this game holds. I was a fan of Assassins Creed 1 it was good and came in 4th place in my GOTY 2007, there were some major flaws in this game though such as repetitiveness, glitches and having an underwhelming feel to the story and gameplay. For Assassins Creed 2 I found no problems, Ubisoft put in so much effort in assassinating each problem head on creating a really enjoyable game.

One of the Best things about this game is the setting in Europe, Italy. This is the best possible setting they could do, not only am I part Italian and can understand it which is big help in the games dialogue, but if you have been following my blogs you would know that I went to Europe this year and to Italy in the exact same cities as the ones in the games which are Florence, Tuscany, Venice and Rome. You could say that this added more of a hype to the game which is true.

I mean in Florence me and my father walked up the Florence Palazzo Vecchio and now in the game to climb up and eagle jump off it is just amazing bringing back so many memories from my trip, same with walking across saint marks harbour in the game, just remembering it was full of people and market stalls including lots of gypsy's. It's quite awesome just seeing locations you remember being there and seeing them recreated for the 14th Century in the game.

The Story is great picking up where the first left off, The Story is so much more fleshed out than the first and bringing it up a notch. It follows Desmond as he continues his confusing ride alongside the Assassins vs. the Templar's. Desmond is taken to join the assassins but first he must get back in the animus(a machine to network the memories of one's ancestors) to get a memory of a ancestor in Italy while getting his skills and knowledge of being an assassin and Overall uncover the conspiracy hiding the truth about a magical artifact know as the piece of Eden. This is where we get introduced to "Ezio Auditore de Firenze" a ancestor of Desmond and experience his quest for revenge and his turn to follow the Assassins Creed. Ezio is so likeable and lifelike and in which you actually care for him and how he develops in the story not like in the original game where Altair had no background story, he was just a random badass which you couldn't really have feelings for him as you don't even know what he has been through like Ezio. The Story is overall amazing, I don't want to ruin anything so I won't say anymore though at the end it does get confusing but epic.

Ubisoft paced the game perfectly, the first few missions of the game is like learning to be an assassin basically a tutorial which matches to the story. The characters you encounter are realistic and likeable and actually have an Italian accent not like the first game where all you hear are Americans. The characters you encounter are great, and the Italian women "mama mia" they are perfect. In the game you encounter Leonardo de Vinchi which is one of the best ideas and characters to have in this game, Ubisoft are genius for including him in the story, he is likeable and ties in with the story so well. Missions range from a stealth kill of a high public figure to equipping your sword and distracting guards so that you can rescue allies in jail

The gameplay is exceptional fixing it up from the first one and adding new mechanics and weapons such as double assassinations and the ability to disarm opponents. Killing someone is as satisfying as ever with that amazing sound when your hidden blade comes in contact with you prey. Escaping I found is much easier than the first, you can hide in much more places now but the AI is actually smarter looking in haystacks and splitting up. You can buy, customize and collect so much stuff. Seriously there is so much to do in Italy from collect feathers to upgrading your villa.

There are many cameos and eagle motifs making it a very deep and enthralling game. I had and still am having so much fun with this game, it has perfected the problems from the first game, Respected and honoured my heritage and made my year a very enjoyable one. I can't wait to see more of this franchise, In the meantime I'll still be following the creed...

Review Score: GS-9.0/ME-10

Sub Categories

Runner-ups for Top 5

1. Batman Arkham Asylum - Perfect Batman game, everything I wanted in a Batman game is included in this game.

2. Forza Motorsports 3 - In my gaming life only 3 racing games have stood out and helped me to like racing games, Gran Turismo 2, Need for Speed Underground 2 and this game, This is a very high honour!

3. Killzone 2 - This was one crazy FPS for the PS3, was a fun game for the ps3 and played some good hours of online for it.


Disappointments

1. Halo Wars - Yes I'm serious, I wouldn't of played this if it wasn't for Halo even though it didn't even feel like Halo, It was soooo boring and this is from me, a Halo lover. The RTS gameplay was buggy and Tedious, you can't even zoom up on your units for god's sake.

2. Borderlands - *puts shield up*, It feels like I'm the only one who can't get into this game, the graphics are terrible, the gameplay is average and the story is "Meh".

3. Left4Dead 2 - This is an obvious one if you're Australian.

Year in Review for Games.

Overall Console Report Card

• Microsoft Xbox 360 - rating: A-
• Sony Playstation 3 - rating: A
• Nintendo Wii - rating: C
• PC - rating: B
• Nintendo DS - rating: D
• Sony PSP - rating: C
• Apple Iphone - rating: D

This Concludes my Game of the year awards for 2009, I hope you enjoyed the awards and I hope you gained some more insight on my taste in games. I look forward to 2010 and be sure to catch the next GOTY awards 2010, same dynam3 time, same dynam3 channel...

I may do a MOTY, be sure to catch the next blogs I do for this year...If I do, Oh and congratulations to everyone who guessed Assassins Creed 2 for my GOTY.