Compared to some other genres, the "Strategy Game" scene is sort of hard to explain. It's broad, containing massive RTS gameplay where players control thousands of lives at once, to tower defense games where players actually just place some defensive structures and watch the battle unfold. In 2009, we saw a all wide variety of games in the genre, with some pushing the envelope in terms of what we're used to, while others presented entirely new experiences. Empire: Total War might be the most traditional, though it's undeniable how great it feels to control a massive army on the ground and at sea. Little King's Story's wonderful, whimsical gameplay went more for the micro scale, with players controlling a mere dozen units instead of a few thousand. Plants vs. Zombies might be the most unique entry in the genre this year, showing Popcap's largest step away from their casual game audience. Another step away from the norm was League of Legends, which brought Defense of the Ancients' style of play to the next level. For as good as these games were, though, one stood out as the Best Ever Strategy of the Year for 2009...

It came out early in the year, so it's easy to forget about, but that's no reason to ignore the fact that Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War II was simply bliss. The gameplay borrowed heavily from the developer's other RTS games, including a cover system and a focus on small, realistic combat, and pushed environmental interaction in a way the genre had ever seen. Cooperative play, while also not unique to the game, really stands out, and makes for some insanely strategic situations. The entire package is simply wonderful, with a fantastic singleplayer campaign, thrilling multiplayer, and several genre defining mechanics that should shift the average RTS forward a few years.