With the release of The Saboteur this week, the mad end of year release period is over for 2009, yep managed to survive another one without needing to struggle through a diet of instant noodles. Though a lot less crowded than years past, there were still a number of releases I just wasn’t able to get around to picking up.

Unfortunately, the craziness of first quarter 2010 means an even more cram-packed start to the year, at least I can remember than any time previously; point being I don’t think theirs going to be any relief for my wallet in terms of spending on games in the near future. But I’ll get around to writing my ‘most excited for 2010’ feature another time.

Right now let’s talk about 2009! With my recap of games, at least  those I got around to picking up.

Q1

Fire Emblem : Shadow Dragon

 My favourite handheld game from a year where while a good number were released, not so many really grabbed my attention.

But being a Fire Emblem fan since my first experience with the franchise back on the GBA and after being disappointed with the Gamecube & Wii efforts, I was happy to see this title back on a handheld system.

For those unfamiliar with the series, Fire Emblem is a turn-based tactical RPG where the player control a fair sized force of characters kitted from a number of classes the player can decide prior to entering battle. The games resemble a novel, each chapter providing a new battlefield to conquer.

Shadow Dragon, like most Fire Emblem games is great fun due to it’s simplicity of combat in presenting a number of damage triangles (3-way advantage model), while still being difficult due to the large number of enemies that take to the field of battle at once. There’s not too much more to say about it, I love the game because it’s a throw back to Fire Emblem of old and not the average home console versions of years previous.

I didn’t finish it, it’s back there on the ‘to-do’s’.

Street Fighter IV

While I’m not a fighting game officianato, I do enjoy me some one-on-one virtual fisticuffs. Equally, I am not a very good Street Fighter player, but do have a band of merry amateurs humble enough to entertain the idea that I might possibly be ‘pro’, as with the cake, this is a lie.

I like Street Fighter IV, but I’ll be honest with you… I don’t love it. This is mostly due to the stable of characters Capcom have chosen to include. While new entrants like Rufus & EL Fuerte are hilarious and my traditional go-to is still in there (Sakura, not Ken!), all in all I don’t care for the throw back to Street Fighter II characters.

The game plays well, as you’d expect from a Street Fighter property, of course forgetting EX entries, Quarter-circles are as native to execute as ever, models are well animated, the art style and in particular Ultra’s show the beauty of art direction in this game.    

Eventually though, I gave up on this one. No interest in taking the fighting online, nor any real interest in unlocking the cast of ‘bonus’ characters that caused a small brew-ha upon release, I don’t believe in unlocks either, I ultimately moved past Street Fighter IV pretty quick. Still, I recognise what it does in rebooting the franchise, I cannot dispute that this titles has really flared life back into the franchise.

Empire : Total War

Another series I have a long history with, in the vein of former 1up editor and podcast host – Garnet Lee – I love me some Total War.

Empire was a pretty strong divergence from previous entries in the franchise, particularly the addition of real-time naval battles and a significant series of shipping routes for would be world super powers to drop their naval enforcers.

Also needing re-invention, in no small part due to the setting, the games combat engine. The 18^th century was no place for melee, oh no. Guns & pitched battles dominate the combat of Empire, not to say a well timed cavalry charge is a bad idea.

I was playing a lot of Empire before the unfortunate demise of my former PC, it’s a game that can really stick claws into me and latch on, having restarted the campaign over on countless occasions amongst failed attempts with the Swedish, Austrians, Spanish & Dutch.

Overall, the core systems found in the game have changed enough to keep the experience fresh & interesting. Politics, real diplomacy options, expanded territories and improved AI make this my personal favourite in the Total War series. I intend to return to asap.

Resident Evil 5

I’ll be brutally honest with you, I played the first stage of Resident Evil 5 locally with a friend, we both put it down in the space of an hour and I haven’t gone back to it since.

I felt no immersion with this one, to use an over-played term. The controls were a barrier for me, for the first time ever in Resident Evil game I might add. I was a big fan of the PS1 era entries along with Dino Crisis and alike.

I can’t go on too much about my disappointment with this title because I didn’t get far enough to really get a picture for what the game was about. I just know I didn’t like it.

That’s it for Q1, stay tuned for Q2’s entry… well when I get around to it anyway.