June 12, 2009 -
The 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo has come and gone, but the games shown at the conference still loom large in our minds. From big-budget blockbusters to scaled-down surprises, there was something for every gamer at this year's E3.
As the conference unfolded at the Los Angeles Convention Center June 2-4, we kept a running tally of our favorite games on a big white board in our IGN E3 Command Center. When a new title blew us away, we wrote it down. When something surprised us, we wrote it down. When a behind-closed-doors demo made us want to get our wallets out and buy the game right then and there, we wrote it down.

Top Trailers</B>

The games on that list eventually became our nominees for the best games of IGN E3 2009, and from there we narrowed it down to pick our final favorites. These are the games that got the IGN editors talking last week and haven't been able to shut up about since. So keep reading to find out which games wowed us most at E3, and make sure to read the individual channel awards by clicking on the links above. And if you want to see the biggest games from the show be sure to click on the links to the many demos, trailers, and gameplay clips we captured at the convention.

Best Action Game</B> Alan Wake Release date: Spring 2010 No one was certain what to expect from Alan Wake, a game long described as being a story-heavy survival horror title. But Alan Wake is actually an action title with a heavy dose of eerie atmosphere. The debut at the MS press conference revealed Alan Wake's clever use of lighting and fast-paced combat; the behind closed door sessions showed off the intense story elements that add depth to the action.
Runners-Up Brutal Legend God of War III Splinter Cell Conviction Uncharted 2		Watch the demo >>

Best Fighting Game</B> Tatsunoku v Capcom Release date: Winter 2009 Capcom has released a number of cross-over fighting games in the past, ranging from the bonkers Marvel series to the more classical Capcom vs. SNK games. Tatsunoko vs. Capcom falls somewhere in between, with nutso aerial raves and oversized super moves balanced by a pace that's more sedate and calculated. We dig the compromise, and the multi-thousand billion damage combos.
Runners-Up Dissidia King of Fighters 12 Marvel vs. Capcom 2 Tekken 6		Watch gameplay >>

Best Music/Rhythm Game</B> DJ Hero Release date: Fall 2009 At a time when many of us are starting to feel tired of music games, DJ Hero stands poised to recapture our interest. It's at once both familiar and new, presenting Guitar Hero-like gameplay with a fantastic, all-original tracklist of remixes and mash-ups. We have a feeling we'll be making room for one more plastic instrument when the game is released in October.
Runners-Up Beatles Rock Band Def Jam Rap Star Karaoke Revolution		Watch gameplay >>

Best Platforming Game</B> LittleBigPlanet Portable Release date: TBA 2009 LittleBigPlanet was nothing short of a breakthrough title on the PlayStation 3 thanks to the coupling of incredible creation tools and physics-based gameplay. The PSP version looks to bring the same experience to Sony's handheld, featuring the same great, simple controls with inventive level design and tons of stickers and objects to collect. We're about to be hooked all over again.
Runners-Up Drawn to Life: The Next Chapter Jak & Daxter: The Lost Frontier New Super Mario Bros. Wii 'Splosion Man		See screenshots >>

Best Puzzle Game</B> Scribblenauts Release date: Winter 2009 In Scribblenauts, you've got a simple task: collect a star token placed in a strategic location, like on the top of a tree or on the other side of a dirt wall. If only you could call upon a vast assortment of items to assist you. Oh, wait, you can! If you can think of an item, chances are it's in Scribblenauts. If you want to burn down the tree with a torch and a puddle of gasoline, go right ahead. Half the fun of Scribblenauts is trying to stump the game's enormous database of stuff and trying to solve problems in ways that you'd never in a million years consider doing in other games.
Runners-Up Critter Crunch Echochrono Trash Panic		Watch the demo >>

Best Racing Game</B> Forza Motorsport 3 Release date: October 2009 Microsoft is keeping many of the new additions to its premier racing franchise under wraps, but what we've seen so far is already impressing car aficionados. More cars and more tracks with improved visuals are just the start. The livery editor is returning, backed by an in-game video editor to make your own highlight reels. And that is only the beginning.
Runners-Up Dirt 2 Gran Turismo PSP Mod Nation Racers Need for Speed Shift		Watch gameplay >>

Best Role Playing Game</B> Mass Effect 2 Release date: Spring 2010 Mass Effect 2 is a refinement of one of the best Western RPGs ever made. The choices made in the first game have a major impact on the sequel, creating a level of dynamic storytelling never before seen in gaming. The visuals are already superior to the original and the action has been streamlined to create a more immersive experience.
Runners-Up Alpha Protocol Dragon Age Final Fantasy XIII White Knight Chonicles		Watch gameplay

Best Shooting Game</B> Modern Warfare 2 Release date: Fall 2009 The Call of Duty franchise has set standards for first-person shooters since early 2000, and Infinity Ward is continuing that tradition with the highly-anticipated Modern Warfare 2. As the first official sequel game, MW2 drew crowds at the Activision booth this year, but only a select few had a chance to see the stealthy arctic espionage and high-speed snowmobile chases live behind closed doors. Holding a steady 60 frames per second and pushing the cinematic shooter to new heights, Modern Warfare 2 blew us away… even if that is starting to be par for the COD course.
Runners-Up Halo: ODST Left 4 Dead 2 Lost Planet 2 Red Steel 2		Watch the demo >>

Best Sports Game</B> Fight Night Round 4 Release date: Winter 2010 The series that defined this generation of gaming is finally making its triumphant return to the ring. Fight Night Round 4 brings all-new physics-based fighting that takes into account every aspect of real boxing strategy. You'll need to both float like a butterfly and sting like a bee as some of the sports' greatest icons if you want to emerge as the champ.
Runners-Up FIFA 10 Madden NFL 10 Tiger Woods Wii Wii Sports Resort		Watch gameplay >>

Best Strategy Game</B> Supreme Commander 2 Release date: TBA 2010 Expanding on the scale and incredible battles of the first Supreme Commander would be a daunting feat. However, Gas Powered Games has managed to redesign just about everything in Supreme Commander 2. New AI, tech trees and path finding are merely the tip of this strategy game iceberg, which looks like it will dwarf its predecessor's considerable high standards.
Runners-Up East India Company Hearts of Iron 3 Order of War R.U.S.E.		Watch the demo >>

Best Downloadable Game</B> Shadow Complex Release date: August 2009 When it arrives as the finale of this year's Summer of Xbox Live Arcade, Shadow Complex could be one of the most impressive downloadable games to date. A mix of Metroid, Castlevania, and Bionic Commando, this beautiful 2D effort is a retro fan's wet dream. Its appeal should reach beyond just old school gamers, though.
Runners-Up Fat Princess Marvel vs. Capcom 2 Pixel Junk Shooter Splosion Man		Watch gameplay >>

Best Graphics Technology</B> Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Release date: Fall 2009 The first game still looks great to this day, but Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is a show-stopper. The new procedural animation system is simply incredible (characters' hands fluidly move from ledge to ledge, for instance) and it plays naturally into the massive environments that shift and crumble as you take down the pirates. And let's not forget the lush foliage, massive environments and incredible attention to detail. Amazing.
Runners-Up Assassin's Creed 2 Alan Wake God of War 3 Mass Effect 2		Watch the demo >>

Best Artistic Design</B> The Last Guardian Release date: TBA It would not be a stretch to say that the developers at Team ICO are masters of their craft. The real-time trailer of The Last Guardian shown at this year's E3 was a brilliant artistic work. Putting aside the fact that the game's visuals are already stunning, you'd be remiss not to note the atmospheric cinematography, the beautiful (yet softly muted) use of color and the achingly poignant connection between the nameless young boy and his gentle companion.
Runners-Up Assassin's Creed 2 Brutal Legend Muramasa: The Demon Blade The Saboteur		Watch the demo >>

Best Multiplayer Experience</B> Left 4 Dead 2 Release date: November 17, 2009 Sure, Left 4 Dead 2 is coming on the heels of last year's thrilling four-player co-op shooter, but the multiplayer experience remains unparalleled. There's nothing quite like running and gunning through a city full of zombies, your buddies at your side, and plenty of yelling, screaming, and laughter along the way.
Runners-Up Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Halo 3: ODST Uncharted 2: Among Thieves Wii Sports Resort		Watch the demo >>

Achievement for Technological Excellence</B> Project Natal Release date: TBA 20 years ago we were all watching Fred Savage in the movie The Wizard as we collectively thought that Super Mario Bros. 3 and the Power Glove were the epitome of technical excellence. And now we have a 3D camera that can recognize whether you are happy or sad, track your motions in three dimensions, and virtually transport you into fantastical worlds that you can explore without even holding a controller.
Runners-Up MAG Milo Splinter Cell Conviction Uncharted 2: Among Thieves		Watch the demo >>

Special Achievement for Innovation</B> Scribblenauts Release date: Winter 2009 Though Scribblenauts is considered a puzzle game, you'll quickly forget the core task of the title when you realize what makes the game so original: hidden inside the cartridge are tens of thousands of items just waiting to be conjured up by typing their name. Write werewolf, basketball, trophy, jetpack... and those items will show up instantaneously. Every item has a property or behavior, and many items can be combined and used in a variety of ways, and it's clear that, in our short time with the demo at E3, players are going to lose hours simply toying around the title screen seeing what random items they can call up and utilize just by writing down the words. The sheer size of the word database is incredibly impressive, even moreso when you realize that artists and programmers have created items for every word in the game. The concept is too unbelievable to think a game like this even exists. But it does.
Runners-Up DJ Hero Invizamals Milo Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction		Watch the trailer >>

Best Hardware/Peripheral</B> Project Natal Release date: TBA Microsoft has finally shown how it will enter the motion control market with Project Natal. The catch is, there isn't any controller at all. This camera will follow your motions in three dimensions, recognize your facial expressions and voice and a whole lot more. Whether you're a casual gamer or hardcore shooter fan, you have to be excited about the possibilities.
Runners-Up DJ Hero Turntable PlayStation Motion Controller Wii MotionPlus PSPgo		Watch the trailer >>

Best Non-playable Presentation</B> The Last Guardian Release date: TBA Despite the fact that an early version of the trailer for The Last Guardian leaked a week or so before E3, the first official showing still wowed us. The artistic and cinematic vision here is astounding, and despite only being a couple minutes long, we already have a great sense for the love between the boy and the creature. It was essentially only a tease, but we can't wait to find out what it's actually all about.
Runners-Up Crackdown 2 Gran Turismo 5 Metroid: Other M Super Mario Galaxy 2		Watch the trailer>>

Biggest Surprise</B> Kojima's Castlevania Release date: TBA 2010 That Konami announced a new Castlevania game isn't a shocker, but for the past decade the franchise has been kept under the wing of producer Koji Igarashi. At E3 2009, Hideo Kojima, renowned for his Metal Gear series, announced that his team is heading development on Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. Despite teasing the announcement in the weeks before E3, we still think this came outta f'n' nowhere.
Runners-Up Left 4 Dead 2 Revealed Metroid: Other M Debuts Metal Gear Solid: Rising Coming to Xbox 360 Project Natal and Milo Storm the Show		Watch the trailer>>

Best Console Game</B> Mass Effect 2 Release date: Spring 2010 Think Empire Strikes Back. Think Godfather, Part 2. Think about all the great middle chapters in your favorite story trilogies. That's what Mass Effect 2 is shaping up to be. BioWare blew us away with its promise of an incredibly dark second act in its epic sci-fi trilogy, along with plenty of dazzling visuals, intense firefights, and stunning moments.
Runners-Up Alan Wake God of War 3 Modern Warfare 2 Uncharted 2: Among Thieves		Watch the trailer >>

Best Handheld</B> Scribblenauts Release date: Winter 2009 Even with ambitious and visually impressive games like Little Big Planet, Jak & Daxter, and Gran Turismo being shown off for Sony's PSP, an unknown, original Nintendo DS game like Scribblenauts managed to wow attendees with an incredibly ambitious and creative concept: the ability to write the word of any item and have it pop into existence…and being able to use these items in a variety of different ways. You're supposed to use these items to solve puzzles, but that task might take a backseat to simply dicking around the title screen to see what crazy items you can come up with. You'll have a hard time stumping Scribblenauts as its database is chock full of thousands upon thousands of words to write, with useable items attached to each one of these words in the library.
Runners-Up Gran Turismo PSP Half Minute Hero LittleBigPlanet Portable The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks		Watch the demo >>

Best PC Game</B> Star Wars: Old Republic Release date: TBA 2010 What do you get when you mix together Star Wars, BioWare and the MMO genre? One of the most intriguing and ambitious games on any system. BioWare's firing on all cylinders with this one, creating a game that has great story and setting, lots of player freedom, thrilling combat and a compelling social aspect. The developers made a lot of promises about how great this game will be and this year's showing proves them right.
Runners-Up Dragon Age: Origins Left 4 Dead 2 Mass Effect 2 Supreme Commander 2		Watch the trailer >>

Overall Game of Show</B> Scribblenauts Release date: Winter 2009 If you're surprised by a DS game winning Game of the Show this year you haven't played Scribblenauts yet. 5TH Cell's innovative "write anything" game went head to head with one of the best E3 rosters to date, but in the end innovation won out. When did the tide turn towards Scribble? Somewhere between writing down God and Cthulhu and watching them go head-to-head in battle, or typing in Keyboard Cat and seeing the damn thing show up. If you write it, it will spawn.
Runners-Up Alan Wake Mass Effect 2 Modern Warfare 2 Uncharted 2: Among Thieves		Watch the demo >>