Gaming’s greatest

Ten games that kept boredom at bay

DWARFING THE COMPETITION: Assassin’s Creed 2

SUPERIOR TWISTED TALE: Batman Arkham Asylum

AIRBORNE: Trials HD

by ERIK LEIJON

By and large, 2009’s bumper crop of gaming simply could not match the might of the previous banner year. It’s probably an aberration since the start of next year looks to be rife with potential smashes, but those generation defining classics were in short supply these past 12 months. Here are 10 games that didn’t leave me pining for the good ol’ days of 2008.

10. Budget role-playing dungeon crawler Torchlight (PC/Perfect World, Runic) is an addictive case of reruns. Hunt for treasure in the game’s one ginormous Diablo-esque cave, developing your own perfect gameplan and figuring out just what the hell all the menu screens do.

9. Scribblenauts (DS/Warner, 5th Cell) inspired concept is spellbinding: solve each puzzle by simply writing down the name of an inanimate object the protagonist can use to grab the level-ending star. It’s no mere spelling bee—the variety will leave you speechless.

8. The gunplay of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (PS3/SCE, Naughty Dog) still feels like a b-movie, but the action and visuals of this movie/game hybrid can stand next to any silver screen blockbuster. The moving train scene alone is worth the price of admission...and popcorn.

7. Japanese historical sword-slasher Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Wii/Ignition, Vanillaware) requires samurai-like discipline to master alternating between three legendary blades, taking down hordes of colourful foes as wacky as anything Hayao Miyazaki might conjure up.

6. Developed by Finn Petri Purho, Crayon Physics Deluxe (PC, iPhone/Independent) brings your childhood colouring books to life. Guide a crudely drawn red ball across each kindergarten-calibre creation, collecting stars based on how little Crayola you commit to paper.

5. Never before has a robotic runt silently trekking across a depressing junkyard world ever been so uplifting. Point-and-click puzzler Machinarium (PC/Amanita) doesn’t have any dialogue or human characters, but the gorgeous hand-drawn visuals and atmospheric music bring this beautiful scrap heap to life.

4. What makes first-person shooter Borderlands (PS3, X360, PC/2K Games, Gearbox) the most addictive game of 2009? The next reward, shiny new gun or level-up in this extra-terrestial wasteland adventure is always just a quick bounty hunt away. Even worse, the game was designed to generate an unlimited variety of guns, enemies and items. Happy never-ending hunting.

3. With Zen-like one-trick pony Trials HD (X360/Microsoft, RedLynx), you’ll take five minutes to learn how to tilt your airborne motorcycle forwards or backwards in order to nail the perfect landing. Then you’ll spend the rest of your life trying to become the next Evel Knievel.

2. Riddle me this: which game starring a certain caped crusader doesn’t suck penguin balls? Batman Arkham Asylum (PS3, X360, PC/Eidos, Rocksteady) tells a twisted tale of the Dark Knight getting stuck in Gotham City’s famed crazy house with perennial nemesis Joker holding the upper hand. With a limited set of bat-tools, Bruce Wayne must use stealth, cunning and his fists to take back the hospital. Arkham Island is the true star of this gaming reboot, a nightmare ripped from the comic books and inhabited by Batman’s fiercest foes.

1. By a shocking landslide, Montreal’s own Assassin’s Creed 2 (PS3, X360/Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal) dwarfs not only this year’s competition, but deals a mortal knife wound to the ambitious and flawed original. You’re still dancing across rooftops and taking down a bevy of blue-blooded targets, but this time there’s epic story to contextualize the killing, tons of collectibles strewn across the dense Italian cities and, most importantly, the types of interesting missions that do the intricately detailed world justice. Before you call hometown shenanigans, take your own trip back to the Renaissance and see for yourself.