Welcome to the countdown of my 3 favorite game releases of 2009.

3 – Plants Vs Zombies

“Get ready to soil your plants in an all-new action-strategy game from PopCap! A mob of fun-loving zombies is about to invade your home, and your only defense is an arsenal of 49 zombie-zapping plants. Use peashooters, wall-nuts, cherry bombs and more to mulchify 26 types of zombies before they can reach your front door. Each zombie has its own special skills, so you’ll need to think fast and plant faster to combat them all. But be careful how you use your limited supply of greens and seeds… as you battle the fun-dead, obstacles like a setting sun, creeping fog and a swimming pool add to the challenge. And with five game modes to dig into, the fun never dies!”

Tower defense with zombies getting killed by vegetation? Could anything be more absurd? No and that’s why I love this game.

Buy Plants Vs Zombies now on Steam
2 – Left 4 Dead 2

“Set in the zombie apocalypse, Left 4 Dead™ 2 (L4D2) is the highly anticipated sequel to the award-winning Left 4 Dead, the #1 co-op game of 2008. This co-operative action horror FPS takes you and your friends through the cities, swamps and cemeteries of the Deep South, from Savannah to New Orleans across five expansive campaigns. You’ll play as one of four new survivors armed with a wide and devastating array of classic and upgraded weapons. In addition to firearms, you’ll also get a chance to take out some aggression on infected with a variety of carnage-creating melee weapons, from chainsaws to axes and even the deadly frying pan. You’ll be putting these weapons to the test against (or playing as in Versus) three horrific and formidable new Special Infected. You’ll also encounter five new “uncommon” common infected, including the terrifying Mudmen.”

As if the first wasn’t good enough, imagine it with an extra year in development. More zombies to kill, more guns to kill them with and more campaigns and game modes than ever. Valve could have easily screwed this up and I was reluctant to buy it at first but once again they taught me to trust in their ultimate wisdom.

Buy Left 4 Dead now on Steam
1 – Borderlands

Lock, Load, & Face the Madness. Get ready for the mind blowing insanity! Play as one of four trigger-happy mercenaries and take out everything that stands in your way! With its addictive action, frantic first-person shooter combat, massive arsenal of weaponry, RPG elements and four-player co-op, Borderlands is a breakthrough experience that challenges all the conventions of modern shooters. Borderlands places you in the role of a mercenary on the lawless and desolate planet of Pandora, hell-bent on finding a legendary stockpile of powerful alien technology known as The Vault.

This has to be one of my top 10 all timers. Millions of guns, great cartoonesque style and adult humor? What more could anyone want? Oh yes, ZOMBIE DLC! “The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned” is soon to the PC version and is out for the consoles. Easily the game of the year in my humble opinion. Could use better voice communications and dedicated servers though.