Feature: Gamestyle Awards 2009 Part 2 (360)

Excellence in Sound Design
Winner: The Beatles Rock Band
Runner up: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Whatever your console of choice music seems to dominate the charts and the best example for us this year was The Beatles Rock Band. This could have gone so badly but the source material was treated with respect and the end result was a thoroughly enjoyable musical experience. Avoiding another music based release we felt that the dynamic use of sound in Uncharted 2: Among Thieves deserves recognition.

Excellence in Graphical Quality
Winner: Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Runner up: Batman Arkham Asylum

Yes these two games again and neither needs much introduction by now. Both create their own worlds with tremendous style and graphical prowess making this decision very difficult but we felt Uncharted 2 had the slight edge overall.

The Award for Innovation
Winner: Batman Arkham Asylum
Runner up: Scribblenauts

This category sparked much debate with Batman Arkham Asylum winning due to the way it approached the superhero genre, often the home of lazy developers. In Batman every gadget felt part of the world and offered a continued feeling of reward whenever you got to use them. In comparison Scribblenauts was a brilliant idea that was flawed by some poor design decisions.

Multiplayer Game of the Year
Winner: Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2
Runner up: 1 vs 100 Beta

No surprises here with Modern Warfare 2 proving popular across the world, but it could be challenged in 2010 when 1 vs 100 returns.

Best DLC Award
Winner: GTA Ballad Of Gay Tony
Runner up: Fallout 3 (The Pitt, Broken Steel, et al)

Downloadable content continues to grow in size and complexity with GTA proving a wonderful host to new adventures. Fallout 3 a year on from its release continues to entertain players due to its strong stream of additional content.

So that's our pick of 2009 and if you want to read the first part of this feature then please click here.

Words by Gamestyle Team