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It’s that time of year (the end of it) and we here at Nukoda have decided to each put forth our idea for the site’s choice for Game of the Year.

Those of you who have read my reviews will know I subscribe to the school of thought that a great game must have a great plot before it has anything else. I want games to gain that critical acclaim and level of respect that films and music garner now and in order to do that, we have to have more games on the level of Mass Effect and Bioshock than movie tie-ins and generic action movies.

With that in mind, I don’t think anyone will be surprised that my pick for Game of the Year is Assassin’s Creed 2.

Yes, the meta-plot is a bit weird and could be ripped directly from a Dan Brown novel (Side note: I hate Dan Brown and his 2-page chapters) but when you get right down to it and play what the game was marketed as, it has a plot that would be at home in a Cameron Crowe movie.

Ezio’s story of revenge and conspiracy spirals in and out of direct control and causality with such fluidity and grace that I don’t have words. Ezio Auditore’s father and his other relatives are killed by a rival family and Ezio now vows for revenge, while taking care of his sister and mother. Ezio is not a trained assassin like Altair in the first game and has to learn from the very start in order to become a master assassin, which makes a perfect stream of consciousness in terms of the learning curve.

That learning curve by the way? It’s not particularly steep, but it progresses with the game and equipment. It keeps the game fun and still challenging without taxing the gamer to frustration and that’s something not many games can do. (Left 4 Dead did an even better job, but doesn’t really have too much of  a plot.)

The game takes place during the Italian Renaissance in the 15th century, a period of time that creates a setting so rich and varied that entire games can’t match the level of detail found in one of the cities Ezio visits.

The game is also beautiful, on whichever platform you choose to play it on. Whilst there’s some minor complaints, every time you visit a new city, every time you run across a new set of rooftops and climb to the top a cathedral your breath suddenly disappears from your chest.

I’m also a completionist and there’s a constant battle to slog it out and find all the glyphs and all the feathers. That part of me claws and fights hard against the part of me that just wants to find out what happens next.

My pick for Game of the Year 2009 – Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed 2.

PS – Ezio Auditore da Firenze is the greatest name for a character ever.