The Best Games of 2009

Comments: ↓ 186 user comments
by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor
Publish Date: December 9, 2009

The best Playstation 3 games of the year

The top PS3 game of 2009

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is not only the top Playstation 3 game of the year; it ranks first out of all games for any platform in our database for 2009. Reviews for this PS3 exclusive title were effusive, exceeding the generally positive scores given to its predecessor, 2007's Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. This third-person action-adventure follows fortune hunter Nathan Drake on an expedition to find the legendary Himalayan valley of Shambhala, and critics compared it favorably to a blockbuster movie. It also takes second place on the PS3 all-time list, behind only Grand Theft Auto IV.

Playstation 3 benefited from a strong batch of exclusive titles in 2009, including not just Uncharted 2 but also the God of War Collection, the shooter Killzone 2, role-playing game Demon's Souls, and the latest racer in the WipEout series, WipEout HD Fury, which was released as downloadable content but was as complete as any traditional game, according to critics.

Uncharted 2 was not alone; 35% of games in the Top 40 fell into the action-adventure genre. Sports games were the next best-reviewed, accounting for 20% of the Top 40 titles.

Playstation 3 Top 40 Best-Reviewed Games, 2009
	Title	Genre	Metascore	Users
1	Uncharted 2: Among Thieves	Action, Adventure	96	9.5
2	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2	First-Person Shooter	94	5.4
3	Street Fighter IV	Fighting	94	8.0
4	Braid	Puzzle, Platform	93	9.4
5	God of War Collection	Action, Adventure	92	9.5
6	Assassin's Creed II	Action, Adventure	92	8.5
7	FIFA Soccer 10	Sports, Soccer	91	8.0
The highest-scoring PS3 sports game of 2009 is also the best-reviewed entry in the FIFA series.
8	Killzone 2	First-Person Shooter	91	8.3
9	Batman: Arkham Asylum	Action, Adventure	91	9.1
10	MLB 09: The Show	Sports, Baseball	90	8.5
11	WipEout HD Fury	Racing	89	9.1
12	Demon's Souls	Action, RPG	89	8.8
13	BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger	Fighting	89	9.0
14	Beatles: Rock Band, The	Music	88	9.2
The Fab Four score yet another #1: the top music game of the year for PS3
15	NHL 10	Sports, Hockey	88	8.8
16	Fight Night Round 4	Sports, Boxing	88	8.2
17	Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box	Racing, Driving	88	8.0
18	DiRT 2	Racing, Driving	87	8.3
19	Critter Crunch	Puzzle	87	9.8
20	Dragon Age: Origins	RPG	87	7.6
21	Flower	Action	87	9.4
22	Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time	Action, Platform	86	9.2
23	Guitar Hero: Metallica	Music	86	7.2
24	Shatter	Puzzle, Action	86	9.0
25	Resident Evil 5	Action, Adventure, Horror	86	8.3
26	Guitar Hero 5	Music	86	5.3
27	DJ Hero	Music	86	8.1
28	Red Faction: Guerrilla	Third-Person Shooter	85	8.3
29	Madden NFL 10	Sports, Football	85	6.8
30	PixelJunk Shooter	Puzzle	85	n/a
31	Marvel vs. Capcom 2	Fighting, Arcade	85	8.1
32	inFAMOUS	Action, Adventure	85	8.8
33	Battlefield 1943	First-Person Shooter	84	8.4
34	Skate 2	Sports, Extreme Sports	84	8.3
35	Need for Speed SHIFT	Racing, Driving	84	7.5
36	UFC 2009 Undisputed	Fighting, Action, Sports	84	8.8
37	NBA 2K10	Sports, Basketball	83	8.4
38	Borderlands	First-Person Shooter, Action, RPG	83	8.7
39	Brutal Legend	Action, Adventure	83	8.0
40	Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2	Action, Adventure	83	7.3

Games must have at least 5 reviews to qualify for the above list.

The best Xbox 360 games of the year

The top Xbox 360 game of 2009

The 360's best-reviewed game of the year was the highly-anticipated first-person shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, which was also released for PS3 and PC. In fact, just three of the top 10 titles in the list below were exclusive to Xbox: the driving sequel Forza Motorsport 3, and two Grand Theft Auto IV spin-offs: The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony. Even the latter two were not completely new games; rather, they revealed new stories and characters using the existing GTA IV world.

Sequels, spin-offs and tie-ins were a common theme for 360 in 2009, but, alas, there was no Halo 4 this year. (A relatively modest sequel, Halo 3: ODST, proved less popular with critics and fans than its predecessor.) One bright spot for the platform, however, was an exclusive Xbox Live Arcade title, Shadow Complex, a Metroid-esque shooter based on an Orson Scott Card novel that received mostly strong notices.

One-third of the games in the Top 40 fell into the action-adventure category, while sports accounted for another 20% of the top spots. There were also a number of well-reviewed racing games to choose from, occupying 13% of the chart.

Xbox 360 Top 40 Best-Reviewed Games, 2009
	Title	Genre	Metascore	Users
1	Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2	First-Person Shooter	94	6.0
2	Street Fighter IV	Fighting	93	7.4
3	Batman: Arkham Asylum	Action, Adventure	92	8.4
4	Forza Motorsport 3	Racing, Driving	92	8.1
The top racing game of the year exceeded the already great reviews of its predecessor
5	Assassin's Creed II	Action, Adventure	91	8.9
6	Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned	Action, Adventure	90	7.9
7	FIFA Soccer 10	Sports, Soccer	90	8.2
8	Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony	Action, Adventure	89	8.4
9	Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box	Racing, Driving	89	7.5
10	Left 4 Dead 2	First-Person Shooter, Action	89	8.1
11	Beatles: Rock Band, The	Music	89	8.8
12	Peggle	Action	89	8.5
13	Shadow Complex	Action, Shooter	88	8.9
14	NHL 10	Sports, Hockey	88	8.9
15	Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition, The	Action, Adventure	88	9.4
16	BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger	Fighting	88	8.6
17	Fight Night Round 4	Boxing, Sports	87	8.3
18	DiRT 2	Racing, Driving	87	8.7
19	Dragon Age: Origins	RPG	86	7.3
20	Trials HD	Racing	86	9.4
21	Madden NFL 10	Sports, Football	85	6.0
This year's Madden actually ties 2008's as the highest-scoring installment on the 360
22	Guitar Hero 5	Music	85	6.7
23	Resident Evil 5	Action, Adventure, Horror	85	7.8
24	Red Faction: Guerrilla	Third-Person Shooter	85	8.5
The series transforms into a third-person shooter, and there isn't a better one for Xbox in 2009
25	Splosion Man	Action, Adventure	84	9.1
26	Guitar Hero: Metallica	Music	84	7.6
27	Worms 2: Armageddon	Strategy	84	9.4
28	Skate 2	Sports, Extreme Sports	84	8.2
29	DJ Hero	Music	84	8.6
30	Borderlands	First-Person Shooter, RPG, Action	83	8.8
31	Battlefield 1943	First-Person Shooter	83	8.0
32	Fallout 3: Point Lookout	RPG	83	9.3
33	Need for Speed SHIFT	Racing, Driving	83	6.5
34	Halo 3: ODST	First-Person Shooter	83	6.3
35	Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection	Pinball, Arcade	83	9.5
36	NCAA Football 10	Sports, Football	83	6.4
37	UFC 2009 Undisputed	Fighting, Action, Sports	83	7.9
38	Defense Grid: The Awakening	Strategy, Simulation	83	8.9
39	Brutal Legend	Action, Adventure	82	8.2
40	NBA 2K10	Sports, Basketball	82	8.1

Games must have at least 5 reviews to qualify for the above list.

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Comments (186)

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hik
- Dec 20, 2009 7:39PM
I don't think cross platform games should greatly weigh in on this. Batman favored the PS3 and AC2 favored the 360 (greatly) but the editors of this article should have not have factored this in for the top titles or at least only acknowledge them. Remakes/Rehashes like the GOW series should be excluded and all the rehashes ported for the Wii and DS (which are 1/5 of the games) should also be excluded because it is not original title and no real development and game design was needed. PS3 also looks good for 2010 with GOW3 and Heavy Rain (though i hate QTE). 2010 should also release the Natal for 360 and the motion controller for PS3. Wii will be Wii.
Tony
- Dec 16, 2009 6:36PM
A video game review is nothing more than opinion. The critic(s) who reviewed these games clearly like PS3 more, hence GH Metallica getting an 86 for PS3 while 360 got an 84. GH 5 85-84, SF IV 94-93, FIFA 91-90. just a few examples, same exact game, different rating
PS3 Tops Metacritic
- Dec 16, 2009 10:31AM
[...] For a more detailed breakdown of the results head over to Metacritic. [...]
Bruce Leeroy
- Dec 16, 2009 5:46AM
Uncharted 2 was a pretty fantastic game, far, far from perfect but still damn good. Street Fighter IV though, really? Good game though it was -- it wasn't one of the best of the year. Weird seeing Braid up there, thought that was an '08 title. Kind of a weak year all around. PS3 and 360 are kicking some ass though.
john
- Dec 16, 2009 2:01AM
its very simple. PC wins every year and will always win every year. And the old games on the Wii, like twilight princess, metroid, and mario galaxy are so good that they will be played for ever and ever no matter how dated they may get. So whatever these ratings may say on here, PS3 will never be the best. For no other reason than its impossible.
Uncharted 2 (PS3): G
- Dec 15, 2009 6:09PM
[...] To see full details on Metacritic’s recent study check out their article here. [...]
Albino
- Dec 15, 2009 2:27PM
@Simon. Median is not average. Median score is the score for which 50% of games are rated above and 50% of games are rated below. Average is the sum of scores for all games, divided by the number of games. All platforms have a lot of mediocre trash, but a quick glance at the lists tells you that PS3 has far more games above 85% than the 360. This is what should count the upper n-percentile of games.

Multi-platform games are somewhat problematic. On the one hand new console buyers simply want to know which console has the best games. In this respect for Braid to count for the PS3 but not the 360 is biased. On the other hand, if the purpose of the ranking is to reflect the current state of the quality releases per platform as an indication of which platform has possibly a brighter future, then it is correct to disclude Braid from the 360. Stepping away from the stats, Uncharted is really something special. Games scoring in the low 90s come out several times a year, but 95+ is very rare and puts it up in the pantheon of the Halo 1, FF7, Ocarina of Time, Metroid 1, Half-Life, BioShock, GTA 3 etc. This game is an ALL TIME great. Personally, the fact that it's a PS3 exclusive steals the prize for the PS3 regardless of whatever else has been released for PS3 and/or 360, much like BioShock did for the 360 a couple of years ago. And like BioShock there might well be a day in that it makes a debut on the 360!

Disclaimer: I am a 360 owner, but Uncharted is serioiusly making me consider splashing out on a PS3!
The Daily Fisting Ep
- Dec 15, 2009 1:18PM
[...] Number 4 story: Metacritic’s Best Games of 2009 [...]
Simon
- Dec 15, 2009 9:12AM
Interesting read indeed. Besides Uncharted (which is a good game admittedly) we have Braid, which came out for the 360 a year ago and we have God of War Collection, which is a republishing of old material. These are the Úber games that "win" it for the P$3 crowd. If you are looking the REAL results, look at this tiny fact "XBOX 360 Median score 72.5 and P$3 72" For you ppl illiterate in calculus, this means that on average (which metacritics scores are all about) the Xbox 360 still rules supreme
GuardianMode
- Dec 15, 2009 8:11AM
Congarts on the PS3 this year. Im looking forward to a great 2010.