By Matthew Scott Hunter
‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2’ (M)
First-person shooter games takes home grand prize
Activision
Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Anyone remember a game called “The Conduit?” No? It was a first-person shooter. It got decent reviews. It came out only six months ago, but it seems that it’s already corridor-crawled its way into the oblivion of obscurity. Such is the destiny of most first-person shooters. Dozens of new entries in the genre are released with each generation of new hardware. Most are forgotten, but there’s always one that stands out—one that regularly convinces you to neglect your responsibilities for just one more (I swear!) round of multiplayer. Like the last console generation’s “Halo,” or “GoldenEye 007” from the generation before that, “Modern Warfare 2” is now THE first-person shooter to play.
It’s not that “Modern Warfare 2” is particularly innovative. Sure, the single-player campaign has a cool snowmobile sequence, and calling in a remote missile strike on your multiplayer opponents never gets old, but these features hardly reinvent the genre. You’re still looking through a soldier’s eyes, down the sight of your preferred weapon. Most of what this game does, other games have done before it. But up to this point, none of them have done it so well.
‘Uncharted 2: Among Thieves’ (T)
Sony Computer Entertainment
PlayStation 3
Imagine the perfect game. It would have gunplay like “Gears of War,” platforming like “Prince of Persia” and stealth like “Splinter Cell.” Throw in superb graphics and a plot that would feel perfectly at home in a great action movie, and you’ve got this PlayStation 3 exclusive. Seldom is a game so varied, yet beautifully polished. Until “God of War 3” comes out, “Uncharted 2” and its predecessor are the best reasons to own a PS3.
‘Batman: Arkham Asylum’ (T)
Eidos Interactive/Warner Bros. Interactive
Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
People often compare “Arkham Asylum” to “Bioshock” because both feature mesmerizing locales. Even if there was nothing to do there, it would be a pleasure just to explore the Joker’s madhouse. So it’s quite a bonus that the game gives us an incredible amount to do. Whether you’re wiping the floor with thugs or solving the Riddler’s puzzles, no game has ever come closer to making you truly feel like the dark knight.
‘Street Fighter IV’ (T)
Capcom
Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
“”Street Fighter II” was the perfect quarter-devouring arcade fighting game, and how do you improve upon perfection? Not easily. Capcom went with repetition instead, releasing countless versions of the same game (“Super Street Fighter II,” “Street Fighter II – Hyper Fighting,” etc.). Just when it seemed like the franchise would never leave the ‘90s, Capcom took a chance on a new art style and gave us…well, the best fighting game since “Street Fighter II.” It’s awesome now, and it’ll still be awesome when they’re calling it “Super Street Fighter IV – Hyper Fighting.”
‘Assassin’s Creed II’ (M)
Ubisoft
Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
The story of “Assassin’s Creed II” is filled with some very controversial ideas. It’s like “The Da Vinci Code” (but with Da Vinci actually in it!). Yet no one’s complained — probably because everyone’s so dumbstruck by their convincing immersion into Ezio’s immense, gorgeous world that they don’t even notice that the storytelling is as deep and superb as the gameplay.
