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Time Picks Modern Warfare 2 as Game of the Year

Posted December 9, 2009 by James Brightman

It's not as if Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 needed any further accolades. The game's already setting records and is demonstrating great staying power. Now the folks at Time Magazine have selected Infinity Ward's masterpiece as their Game of the Year (as part of their "Top 10 Everything"), and we're sure many other publications will be doing the same in the near future. 

What's more interesting is Time's second and third picks for Batman: Arkham Asylum and DJ Hero, as well as their selection of Scribblenauts and Geo-Defense Swarm - two very unique choices for such a mainstream magazine. And frankly, we feel Uncharted 2 deserves to be much higher on the list than tenth. It's a Game of the Year contender in its own right.

Regarding Modern Warfare 2, Time said,  "This is a game that sends a message: Video games have something intelligent to say about contemporary military conflicts. In Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, you hop around the globe, chasing the front lines of globalized, asymmetrical combat, where not everybody wears uniforms, war isn't always declared, and the battlefield isn't clearly marked — battles rage through suburbs, airports and people's living rooms. There's tons of raw, riveting military action in Modern Warfare 2, but it's very much about how the game has changed: limiting civilian casualties and figuring out whom to fight and why are just as important as staying alive."

Here's the complete top 10 list:

1. Modern Warfare 2 
2. Batman: Arkham Asylum 
3. DJ Hero 
4. Borderlands 
5. New Super Mario Bros. Wii 
6. Geo-Defense Swarm 
7. Scribblenauts 
8. Halo: ODST 
9. Assassin's Creed 2 
10. Uncharted 2

James Brightman has been covering the games industry since 2003 and has been an avid gamer ever since the days of Atari and Intellivision. He was previously the EIC of GameDaily Biz.