The first half of the year is gone. That means it's time to make a list! How is 2009 shaping up so far? I'd say pretty well, since I had originally intended to make a list of the five best games so far. No such luck.

After the jump are the ten best games of the half-finished year.

This apparently tanked. And I'm a little glad. Rockstar could use some humility. It's too bad they had to learn it from what is arguably the best-written and most carefully designed Grand Theft Auto yet. It's surprising what you have to do when you can't just do fancy next-gen graphics.

A textbook example of how great games can come from simple ideas.

All the personality and gameplay of the series, but without the home-centric locked-in-a-box limitations. The Sims busts out into a wider world and finally breathes.

Could this be the ballsiest and most elegant real time strategy games since, well, Total Annihilation?

What it would be like if you were god and you danced with the little people who worshipped you while leading them into a war of territorial conquest.

This undead variation on Geometry Wars is far smarter than you'd expect from something which such a whimsical title. We've been shooting zombies in the head for so long that it never occurred to us that a flaming zombie can actually be a valuable resource!

When videogames grow up and hold their own next to Pixar's movies, this is what they'll look like.

Coarse, vulgar, cheesy, shlocky, carefully amateurish, base, and lurid. Also smartly written, sharply acted, and graced with a soundtrack that's leaps and bounds better than any game soundtrack I've ever heard. No lightgun game has any business being this good.

As silly as the single-player campaign is, I can't get enough of this meticulously strategic horror action game with its clumsy setting, wacky Japanese biohazarous take on zombie-hood, and Western-esque gun porn weapon leveling. Plus, the multiplayer is unlike anything else you can play. Since when did Residents Evil have legs these long?

This isn't just a sci-fi game with great guns, great settings, great gameplay variety, and great multiplayer support. Its unique destruction system is a way of building a world and then letting the player tear it down. Red Faction: Guerrilla is a revolution that will color every game you play from here on out. It's the best thing I've played this year.