Gaming Target's Favorite Games of 2009: Part 1

Written by GT Staff  on December 28, 2009

Special: We begin our weeklong look back at our forty favorite games from 2009.

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Battlefield 1943
Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer DICE
Release Date: July 8, 2009

"Battlefield 1943 raises the bar Ц heck, launches it into the stratosphere Ц for what a downloadable game can be. This is no wussy dumbed-down 2D side-scroller; this is a high-quality 3D first-person shooter worthy of a retail box release. Similar to how The Lost and Damned downloadable expansion pack for Grand Theft Auto IV redefined our expectations for premium add-on content, so too does Battlefield 1943 set a new standard for [Xbox Live Arcade/PlayStation Network] games." - Troy Matsumiya
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Bejeweled Blitz
Platforms: Facebook
Publisher: PopCap Games
Developer PopCap Games
Release Date: June 23, 2009

There's no doubt that I've put more time into Bejeweled Blitz than any other game in 2009. Nor am I alone in that statement. My wife plays it. My friends play it. My co-workers play it. My mother plays it. Everyone plays it. And there's no other game on this list you can say that about. Bejeweled Blitz is proof that a simple Flash game can offer an engaging experience that matches that of any $200-$400 home console. - John Scalzo



Borderlands
Platforms: PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Publisher: 2K Games
Developer Gearbox Software
Release Date: October 20, 2009

"Whether you play it alone or with friends, the game offers a huge variety of quests, a huge map to traverse, tons of battles, hidden stuff tucked away from all but the most curious, and of course, a heaping helping of loot. Oftentimes, the best games are the ones we don't expect much from, the ones that didn't get an overkill of hyperbole from gaming forums or magazine covers. Borderlands, a game most expected would blend into the background in a holiday season that has both a Halo and a Call of Duty game, might actually turn out to be the most memorable FPS of this fall, if only for the risks it's taking to stand out in the crowd... and I doubt anyone expected it." - Adam Woolcott
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Dead Space: Extraction
Platforms: Wii
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer Visceral Games
Release Date:

When Dead Space: Extraction was in development, Visceral Games was adament that it was a "guided first person experience" and not just another light gun shooter. Pretentious euphemisms aside, the team at Visceral is absolutely right. Dead Space: Extraction feels more natural and less on rails than any light gun shooter to come before it, marking a new line in the sand for a genre that has received a welcomed comeback on the Wii. - John Scalzo

Check back tomorrow for the second part of our look back at the best games of 2009.

Part 1 | Part 2
Part 3 | Part 4
The Best of the Best