Got to about the middle of chapter 6.

So far, my reaction is: if this is what the overwhelming majority of people think is the pinnacle of the video game art for 2009, we have a long fucking way to go.

I've got about 20 hours in my single player game, and my wife and I have about 40 hours each in our co-op, and we started the game over as soon as we finished it (I also bought Zombie Island and when we first went there we got reamed so we're leveling up a bit for that.)
Like you, it's rare for me to enjoy a game for 35+ hours, and even rarer for me to replay it.

I have no problem with Borderlands, Beatles, Dragon Age being on a Top 5 of the year, for different reasons.

Why until you get to 85-90% of the game and you think the game is going to get over soon.

OP updated...finally.

I dunno. I guess somehow I'm just a little more emotionally invested in the life-and-death breathless adventures of Nathan Drake than in those of a floaty Flower pedal. But that's just me.

You're doing a nice job with this thread. Thanks, it's an interesting read.

We'll see how well he does next year if it's a 360 exclusive getting most of the votes.

I'd say CODMW2 is my GotY.

On a side note, I'm surprised by how many people are into Borderlands. I'm playing it now and like I said before, it seems like a slower, not-as-good, shaded, rip-off version of Fallout 3. I'm trying like Hell to rack up some points before I have to return it Monday, but it's a yawn-fest every time I put it in.

Opinions are kind of funny. I thought Fallout 3 was a total bore but can't put Borderlands down.

I hate that part

I could almost change my pick to Demons' Souls. Of course, I didn't get round to playing the bulk of that till the start of this year.

2007's thread...the last time I did this...I was all about Mario Galaxy.

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/video-game-...ty-thread.html

I didn't do this in 2008, but looking back, I think I'd have gone with Fallout 3, which AFAIK is much better on 360.

Thx.

Did you think I'm a PS3 fanboy? A vast majority of my game time is on the 360 and the only cross platform titles I own on the PS3 are Batman (for the Joker challenges) and NFS Shift (for the free steering wheel at Best Buy). I'm just a fan of great games and Uncharted 2 most certainly is one.

Pretty sure he was implying that I am...not sure why these things always end up going that way.

Probably the biggest problem I have with these threads is that I end up playing something from the previous year that blows me away. Last Dec/Jan, I probably would have said GTA IV, Burnout Paradise or LBP, as they were the games that I'd put a ton of time into in 2008. But nothing blew me away like Mario Galaxy did the previous year. Then I picked up Fallout 3 in the Spring.

This year 2 games blew me away, and maybe Borderlands will be that "next-year" game this year, but I honestly don't see it overtaking Batman or Uncharted.

I was just giving chess a hard time. Seriously, though, great job on compiling the list.

It's Groucho.

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Soooo... I may be changing my vote in the coming days.

Glad you are enjoying it...or at lease I assume that's what you mean.

Based on your "on-deck", you may change it twice.

I can't get to IGN from work, but they were supposed to post theirs today.

Well I had already put in about 6 hours into Batman before Christmas when my 360 died, so I think I have a pretty good feel for the game. Solid game, but not GOTY material for me. It's just "On Deck" to finish.

I'm 52% of the way through Uncharted 2, so I imagine I'll finish it by this weekend. I am a single-player guy so I love games like this. The puzzles still don't rival even what the worst of Tomb Raider has to offer, but I think the balance of action, platforming & puzzles is 200% better in this game than the first.

I agree, for all of it's faults, Tomb Raider Underworld had much better puzzles. You actually had to figure out how to solve them, and it often incorporated the platforming and action into the puzzle. The one puzzle in Uncharted 2 that approached this was probably the path of light puzzle below the temple. Most of the other "puzzles" resort to lever pulling.

But that probably sums up my main complaint with Uncharted 2, it's just a very controlled experience. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but the control of the experience does make the game feel very limiting at times. And in contrast to a lot of other games that may diverge the path occasionally or widen the path to give the illusion of a more open game, Uncharted 2 keeps its path pretty narrow. It does make for a very tight experience.

I think the reason it's resonating so well with people though is because of the story and characters. It's one of the few game stories that actually make sense beginning to end, and it's supported by a cast of characters that you actually care about. I think this is partially due to well written, and well voice acted dialogue. But I think another big part of the reason that the story works so well, is that the support characters are your companions during the gameplay. You spend a majority of the game with one or more support characters, and because of that you care more about what happens to them.

I'm a casual gamer so I woudn't have a clue what the best game of the year is. Aside from football, I only play 2-3 games a year and I'm only interested in FPS. And I rarely, if ever, play a game more than a couple of hours at a time. Well with Uncharted 2, I played one night from 10:00 PM to 6:00 AM non stop. Even though I don't particularly care for puzzles and platforming, I remained glued to the screen because of the story, the characters and the environments.

Now if I could just manage to kill that bald headed commie at the end, I'd be happy.

Any other year, Batman would have been a shoo-in for me. I hated the two big bosses, but otherwise, a perfect Metroid...with Batman.

It sounds like you're maybe past the train and headed for a boss that I thought was really well executed...and a level where you pretty much ARE Indiana Jones. You'll know when you see it, and if you're going to change your vote, that's when it will happen.

I'm also largely underwhelmed by the puzzles. Some are downright tedious and just get in the way of more of the excellent action, platforming and shooting.

Playstation The Official Magazine Game of the Year - Uncharted 2

Official Xbox Magaine Game of the Year - Call Of Duty : Modern Warfare 2