What has always bothered me about the year-end compilations of any sort of “best of” lists, is that everybody seems to focus of the recent releases, as opposed to doing their due diligence in going over the entire gamut of that year’s titles. Yes, both Borderlands and Modern Warfare 2 were put on shelves in October and November respectively, but does that automatically mean they were this year’s best games? In any event, there is no way for me to be knowledgeable in every single game released this year, so instead I am going to take a look at the games I beat in 2009 so far.

That list includes a total of sixteen games, but many of them like Fallout 3 and Spore were released prior to 2009, so I will not include them. The games that I did count are Dawn of War II, Zeno Clash, Overlord 2, Plants vs. Zombies, Rosemary, Pizza Morgana – Episode 1, Heroes Over Europe, Modern Warfare 2, Torchlight and Devil’s Tuning Fork. In addition to these games, there were also some that I’ve played but didn’t (or couldn’t) complete. One such game is Aion, which is an MMO and thus can never be finished. A lot of these games were excellent, some were disappointing, and some had both good and bad aspects to them. From this group, I’ve selected my top four finalists.

Dawn of War II was released early in the year so by now it is all but forgotten in favor of the more recent offerings. This is a major injustice, however, as this game is an absolute delight to play. There may have been a few insignificant issues, but overall few things could be more awesome than Space Marines with chainsaw swords. The tongue-in-cheek space opera setting of Warhammer 40K and a real-time tactics formula developed by Relic were always meant for each other. This game is one strong contender.

Plants vs. Zombies is the little game that could. I am usually not a fan of casual gaming, but every now and again something comes along that makes it worth it to step outside of one’s routine. It’s a variant of a tower defense game, but unlike most of its flash-based siblings it is a finished and very well polished product. A lot of love went into making it and it shows. From graphics and music, to its encyclopedia and great sense of humor, everything is done in such a way that one cannot help but thoroughly enjoy the experience.

Modern Warfare 2 came late in the year, became a console best seller and enraged many PC gamers with its lack of dedicated servers and other expected inclusions. Controversy aside, it is a magnificent shooter with a single-player campaign that’s tiny but rich and exciting. The multiplayer aspect is so good that I still play it almost every day. The only other FPS that ever did this for me was the original Unreal Tournament back in the day. MW2 is a solid contender and will undoubtedly give other games a run for their money.

Torchlight is a lovable Diablo clone with lots of monsters, lots of loot and various styled areas. If it was a movie, it’d be the kind where you walk in with low expectations and walk out well entertained. There is nothng fancy about it, no profound storyline twists, no great feats of engineering as far as the engine goes, but it’s solid, pretty, cartoonish and fun. The campaign isn’t very long and there is no multiplayer component, but there is an infinite dungeon that opens up once you beat the final boss.

There were other good games this year, including a wonderfully artistic Zeno Clash. It didn’t make the cut because the mechanics of the game weren’t all that great, but many of its ideas and concepts were. The same is true of the recent indie title Devil’s Tuning Fork. Of course there were many other games released this year, which I haven’t had a chance to look at, but from what I’ve seen the above four are my contenders for the Game of the Year title. They are all excellent games in their own right, and they are all clearly on top of their respective genres. If we had category awards they would all win, alas there can be only one.

Upon careful consideration, I have decided that the best game of 2009 is Dawn of War II! Yes, zombies, commies and magical monsters all have their place in our hearts and minds, but if you don’t stop the Tyranid menace, who will? Who will take on the Orks and the Eldar if you go off playing computer games? Who will serve as the protector of humanity if not you? The Blood Ravens chapter of the Space Marines needs your leadership! To arms, brothers! Let’s show this alien scum what humans are made of! FOR THE EMPEROR!!!