Ah, 2009. In the year that Barack Obama became President and Michael Jackson died, I probably cared more about merking zombies and not catching swine flu. For a 14-year-old kid, the biggest news was that the British government got rid of our end of year SAT exams, so we had plenty of time for gaming.
I got an Xbox 360 for Christmas this year, four years too late, but that meant I could finally go online with my friends and experience obscene Call of Duty lobbies first-hand rather than grabbing the pad at one of their houses. Speaking of which, the biggest game under the tree this Christmas will have been the latest installment in Activision’s modern war story.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
I honestly couldn’t tell you what Roach and Soap got up to in this game, because I raced through the campaign and dove headfirst into multiplayer with my mates. However, my favourite memory was getting my Xbox set up on Christmas Day and pitting my parents against each other in splitscreen. After briefly teaching them the controls, they spent 15 minutes trying to find each other, at which point my dad started firing his rifle at the ground and my mum looked up into the sky and spun around in circles.
They never got Call of Duty, but I appreciated them trying to understand, and laughing at their ineptitude with my brother that Christmas Day is probably my favourite memory from the hundreds of hours I spent with the game.
Batman: Arkham Asylum
If you were more superhero-inclined, maybe the Dark Knight himself was hiding under your Christmas tree. Arkham Asylum was the first instalment in a series that might be the best that any superhero has to offer in this medium. If you could get your head out of the Call of Duty lobbies, this was a treat.
DJ Hero
Was it just my school, or did every kid suddenly want to be a DJ in their mid-teens? DJ Hero was massive in my school, with every other kid seeming to find a set of decks under the tree.
Being brought up on the classics, I was hoping for The Beatles Rock Band instead, but alas Father Christmas didn’t have the most disposable income for plastic guitars after shelling out for a 360.
Borderlands
My own thoughts on the series aside, there’s no doubt that Borderlands made a big impact on the gaming landscape. With its cel-shaded art style, attempts at humour, and lootin’ shootin’ gameplay, it’s easy to see how modern games learned from this successful series.
Halo 3: ODST
I got Halo 3 with my Xbox this Christmas, but gamers already in the ecosystem would have likely got the followup, ODST. The first Halo game to steer clear of Master Chief in lieu of putting the player in the combat boots of a regular UNSC Orbital Drop Shock Trooper, ODST put a new perspective on the series.
Assassin’s Creed 2
Assassin’s Creed 2 might be my favourite in the series. Ubisoft Montréal had polished out all the jank from the original to create a fluid stealth parkour game. Ezio’s journey through Renaissance Italy is a masterclass of historical storytelling, the open world has an immersive sim feel to it, and the approach to level design is second to none. If only the series could go back to these roots.
I didn’t get around to playing Assassin’s Creed 2 until much later. You may sense a theme here, but as a teenager my focus was on sweaty multiplayer lobbies screaming down the microphone with my friends. Which is why the next game was sticking out of my stocking.
Left 4 Dead 2
Screenshot of the four survivors in Left 4 Dead 2
Zombies. Co-op. Late nights shouting at the telly. Waking up for school having had too few hours’ sleep. Left 4 Dead 2 was online multiplayer, perfected. I didn’t know it was made in Valve’s Source Engine or that the zombies felt so real because of the AI Director 2.0, I just knew that this game was really flipping fun.
Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver
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The best Pokemon games ever made were released this year. Need I say more?
Dragon Age: Origins
I played Dragon Age: Origins in 2022, a full 13 years after release, and it quickly cemented itself as one of the best RPGs I’ve ever played. Gamers with more savvy parents (or, more importantly, gaming PCs) might have found this absolute gem on their Christmas lists in 2009, and they would have immediately fallen in love with Morrigan, Leliana, and Sten.
The success of Dragon Age: Origins just shows how varied the gaming landscape was in 2009. Sprawling RPGs, co-op first-person shooters, stealth sims, and life sims all had stellar entries this year, classic games that would be revered for years to come. Wait, life sims?
The Sims 3
Oh yeah, The Sims. The Sims 3 is widely regarded (by me) as the best entry into the series of real life simulators and I still regularly load it up and lose hours to building houses, romancing strangers, and creating entire communities in this brilliant world. Back in 2009 I was a massive cheater and would just motherlode my way to a mansion, but with fan-made challenges and an enjoyment for a slower pace of life these days, I’m happy to work my way up to greatness these days.
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What A Gamer Would Have Gotten For Christmas: Collection
Follow along as we relive notable Christmases and celebrate the games that many a child received in years past.