2009 Year in Review
This year I started “How Long is this game” to give my fellow game-player an hour-by-hour review of a game. The reviews allow you to judge whether or not a game is worth sticking with. As a side-effect, I now have a quite-detailed journal of every moment I spent playing video games this year.
So at the end of the year, I thought I would just smash all of the 2009 data into a single graph to see the highs and lows of 2009.
Instead of just a top 10 list, I can tell, with statistical certainty, what that best 3 hours I spent while holding a controller this year. Why 3 hours? Because that, typically, is how long I play in a single sitting. It also counters the errors of the sampling size. Sometimes a real stinker of a game will spit out one really great hour before sinking into a long multi-hour fetch quest. However, if 3 hours in a row were ranked pretty high, you can rest assured that it was a good time. So what was the best 3 hours playing 2009 games?
It was Halo 3: ODST from the stage known as Kizingo Blvd to NMPD HQ. Each of the characters that you inhabit through the length of the game represent the previous trilogy’s various game play standbys: strategic weapon selecting, vehicle-centered shootouts, and huge scrums between dozens of allies and foes.
During ODST’s golden three hours, you really experience a great variety of some really creative set pieces such as driving the scorpion tank through tight city streets, desperately trying to hold your ground against an overwhelming number of enemies, and protecting a landing pad with enough rockets to send a Hummer into orbit.
I don’t think Halo 3: ODST is getting much recognition this year mainly because it isn’t novel and you don’t shoot civilians. However, I feel the series really hits its stride and continues to refine that fantastic Halo formula. And that is why I consider it the best 3 hour stretch of 2009
You should also scan for other nearly top 3 hour moments such as:
- The final 3 hours of Ballad of Gay Tony in which Yousef pulls a Han Solo and we see a denouement that features a conversation that actual humans might have with each other.
- The first 3 hours of Shadow Complex in which the entire lush world seems open to you.
- Hour 16, 17, and 18 of Mario and Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story in which Bowser sucks on the nose of a frozen pig-turtle.
Some Notes about the graph:
If you are new to the graphs and want to see the rubric check this: Why do I graph games?
This graph includes all of the games that were released in 2009 that I played. No I haven’t played Uncharted 2, Assassin’s Creed 2, or Modern Warfare 2.
The graph doesn’t include games that I played but I think are impossible or counter-intuitive to graph. That list includes non-linear games such as Beatles Rock Band and Super Mario Wii and a whole lot of indie games that are less than 1 hour.
This graph includes the following games:
- How long is Halo: ODST?
- How long is Brutal Legend?
- How long is the Ballad of Gay Tony?
- How long is Mario and Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story?
- How long is Red Faction Guerrilla?
- How long is Tales of Monkey Island: Launch of the Screaming Narwahl?
- How long is Shadow Complex?
- How long is The Secret of Monkey Island (remix)?
