Top Video Games of 2009 Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Italian Renaissance

"Assassin's Creed 2" continued where the first game left off. In the first game, the modern day protagonist Desmond Miles lived the life of his ancestor, Altair through a technology known as the Animus. After the events of the first game, Desmond was still a prisoner in the facility where he was kept during the events of the first game.

The female scientist from the first game, Lucy, ended up freeing Desmond in the sequel. She took him to a secret hideout where the Animus 2.0 was running. Once inside the second Animus, Desmond no longer assumed the identity of Altair, but rather Ezio Auditore da Firenze, his Italian ancestor from the days of the Renaissance. Like the first game, "Assassins Creed 2" was almost universally praised by critics, averaging close to 90% in most reviews. Only the PC version received major criticisms as a constant internet connection had to be made in order to play the game.

Many problems, such as unexpected deletions of progress proved to hinder the PC version until a patch came out that performed periodic auto-saves of one's game progress.

Answer: Left 4 Dead 2

Released for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360, "Left 4 Dead 2" featured new locations, stories, weapons and enemies to battle. Using the "Director" system, the game would self-adjust its difficulty depending on how the player was doing. If the player was unskilled, the game would be treat them accordingly, but if a player was skilled, then the player better prepare for a real heart-racing time. Critics almost universally praised the game for keeping its award-winning gameplay intact while also adding many new things to make the experience continually fresh and very replayable.

Answer: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

"Modern Warfare 2" was released in 2009 on the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 to much anticipation. According to Activision, sales of the game passed the one billion dollar mark in less than three months, an amazing total! While the game was fundamentally better than the first, some criticisms and issues did arise.

The first issue had to do with an optional airport level in the game. In that level, the player in disguise, as a Russian named Alexei Borodin, could shoot scores of civilians and police officers in cold blood.

Despite the level being optional, a lot of complaints were made by "concerned citizens" who thought that the level would encourage people to attack airports. Another particular controversy arose on the PC version, where the online dedicated servers were scrapped in favour of a crude matchmaking system.

Despite the issues, the game boasted a fast-paced, albeit unrealistic, single player campaign, as well as an extremely populated online mode. According to Microsoft, "Modern Warfare 2" continues to be one of the most played games on X-Box Live.

Answer: Borderlands

"Borderlands" took place on a planet called Pandora, and no, the game had nothing to do with the film "Avatar". In the game, the plot followed a very cliched path. Companies webt onto the planet to strip it of its resources and make money: as if gamers haven't seen that concept a million times before! What set the game apart from the other cliched titles was its cartoony, yet violent graphics, its vast selection of weapons, its smooth levelling system, and its tight shooting mechanic. Obviously the developers knew what they are doing, as they made "Opposing Force", "Half Life: Blue Shift", and even co-developed "Halo" with Bungee Entertainment. Without surprise, the unique stylized gameplay earned positive reviews from most critics, such as Gamespot and IGN.

Answer: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

"Uncharted 2", did not deviate too far from its early predecessor, as the core gameplay mechanics remained largely the same. The real edge came from the game's graphics. "Among Thieves" utilized the graphical power of the PS3 to its fullest, creating practically photo-realistic environments that rivaled almost anything else seen on home consoles...except a good PC of course! Critics were literally blown away by the game, comparing the graphics to those seen in reality. Critics even compared the action that the player experiences to that of a good Hollywood film. Countless reviewers gave the game 95%-100% scores. Though not MY favorite game of 2009, its brilliance cannot be overlooked.

Answer: Halo: ODST

"Halo: ODST" put the player into the perspective of an unnamed "Orbital Drop Shock Trooper". The real challenge with this game lay in the fact that the ODSTs, whom the player played as, did not have the advanced armor, strength, or skills which Master Chief had in the other "Halo" games. Regardless, the action was still refined and the co-operative capabilities were also a lot of fun to play around with.

While compared to the main "Halo" games, "ODST" felt more like an add-on than a full experience, it was still a very good game in its own right. Critics met the game with mixed reviews, though most gave the game scores in the 85-90 percentile ranges.

Answer: Red Faction: Guerrilla

The game took the best elements from the first "Red Faction", and practically forgot about the second game(with the exception of one audio cameo by the second game's protagonist). The Geo-Mod engine was improved drastically, as everything except the scenery could be destroyed using the game's physics based mechanics. Utilizing a hammer, a car, explosives, or a nano-rifle, the player break away the supports off of buildings and watch as they crumbled in ultra-realistic fashion...most of the time. Occasionally, the odd building would somehow stay standing, despite only being supported by a piller in the back corner. To add some nostalgia to fans of the original game, like myself, some missions took the player back to some familiar areas from "Red Faction".

The player could also encounter the hero from the first game, Parker. Not only did I enjoy the game, but countless reviewers also gave the game 80%+ scores, with most of the score drop caused by the game's rather uninspired storyline. Despite that, the destructive gameplay truly cannot be beat.

Answer: Resident Evil 5

"Resident Evil 4" took the first major step in changing the whole "Resident Evil" experience. No longer was the series only a fixed-camera angle, ammo preservation quest. The over-the-shoulder perspective made the player feel like the character who was being hunted by the zombies, and this was exactly the tradition that "Resident Evil 5" continued. For "RE5", however, the setting shifted to Africa where the protagonist, Chris Redfield, was sent to stop an outbreak of a zombie virus. Little did he know that he would encounter parasites, very similar to those seen in "RE4". Unlike "RE4", there was a large focus on co-operative gameplay, as the player's partner, Sheva, could be controlled by either AI or by a friend online.

The graphics were great, the action was intense, and the game was a hot seller. Truly one of 2009's best.

Answer: The Joker

The game was released for the PC, PS3, and the Xbox 360. When fans of Batman first saw the game, optimism was...mixed, for lack of a better word. When the game was finally released, optimism and hope had risen. In the game, The Joker, and many other criminals had taken over Arkham Asylum.

The Joker also wanted to created as much anarchy as possible with the ever cliched "biological weapon" plan of his. Loaded with Batman's gadgets and skills, this third-person perspective action game finally fixed what the other Batman games had done wrong.

The player could finally feel like the Caped Crusader, with almost limitless freedom on how to beat the many levels within the game. The player could sneak and take out everyone quietly, or the player could go in with nothing but their fists and fight everyone simultaneously.

The game was also incredibly well-received by critics, as it received multiple game of the year awards, and consistently scored in the 90 percentile range.

Answer: Killzone 2

"Killzone 2" continued the tight FPS gameplay of the PS2 exclusive and made it even better by adding more weapons, more environments, and very impressive visuals. While the single player campaign was an intense and occasionally difficult task, the multiplayer mode added a ton of replayability to the game. Even though the multiplayer featured standard gameplay modes, the execution of it, and the fact that 32 players could play at once, really made it something special. Critics also enjoyed the game, unlike the PS2 prequel, as they consistently gave the game scores in the 90 percentile range.