The best games of 2009

Monday, August 25, 2008

Plan your time-wasting in advance with the best games of 2009.

Hardcore horror
Resident Evil 5
Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360
Resident Evil is back with its fifth instalment. Slated for release early next year, the action shifts to Africa, with new characters and a new zombie-mutant threat. There's still the same tense and exciting gameplay, mixing up survival horror with old-fashioned investigation, but it will now feature cooperative online play.

Race riot
Gran Turismo 5: GT5
Platforms: PS3, PSP
The most respected car racing game makes a triumphant return in July. Praised for its extreme realism, the physics, graphics, sound and staggering amount of cars available in the game are widely and justly praised.

Flash bash
FC 2009 Undisputed
Platforms: Xbox 360, PS3
Mixed martial arts finally has a game worthy of its brutality and power. It's built from scratch to separate it from all other fighting games and the developers claim "This will be the best fighting game. Ever."

Smash the state
Red Faction: Guerilla
Platforms: PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Red Faction has been reincarnated as a third-person sandbox game. The original games were first-person shooters that saw you freeing Mars from a brutal tyranny. There are also heaps of ace weapons, like a cannon that shoots exploding shuriken.

Extreme aggro
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II
Platform: PC
The Warhammer 40,000 universe is set in the far, far future where mankind has gone to the stars and found them haunted by savage aliens, demons and monsters. The real draw here is the graphics. Combat is harsh, with limbs blown off and melting – all that cool stuff.