So with 2010 out of the way and 2011 just getting started lets have a look at what people's 'Game Of The Year 2010' is..
When we asked some gamers to do this, i originaly asked about 10+ people but only get 2 replys. Which goes to show either they dint class them selfs as gamers or they couldnt think of thing to write! (we shall go with the latter option)
So what where peoples Game Of The Year 2010 then?
Mafia 2
For me, the best game of 2010 was Mafia 2. Forget playing 2009's sports games with an updated roster, forget headshotting the same lagging people on a new set of maps, and forget riding around the wild west killing zombies. Mafia 2 takes my top position thanks to its atmosphere, its narrative, and its pacing. Empire Bay is a beautiful imagination of a post-war American city, populated with larger-than-life characters - all of which had superb voice acting. It made me wish I had some Italian-American friends, just so I could hear them speak. The story was gripping from start to finish, and every detail of the game world helped the player to believe that it could actually have happened. The final few moments of the game were tragic yet badass, unexpected yet obvious. The whole pacing of the game was pitched just right, with a mixture of dialogue and action that came together so well that I can't remember the last time I played a mobster game as suave as this one. It had almost no replayability but that didn't stop me from playing through it again, just to enjoy Empire Bay once more. Sure it could have had more side quests, and there should have been a damn autosave point between Steve and Derek, but in terms of sheer panache and style nothing came close to Mafia 2. I'll be interested to see if Rockstar's L.A. Noire can match it.
Webster0’s Top Games Of 2010
2010 was a surprisingly good year for games, I say surprisingly because some of the games came out of nowhere or were arcade games that looked good but you had that after thought that they just looked good but not particularly great. The games I’m going to mention are in no particular order as I found it too hard to really put a number on them. So here it goes, 2010’s best:
Super Meat Boy:
Possibly the greatest arcade game of all time, this side scrolling old school arcade classic had some help from the creators of Castle Crashers, and so is as equally random in just about every way. You play a meat boy, who has a girl friend called bandage girl, who gets kidnapped by a Dr. Foetus, yes you read it right, foetus, in a jar, that’s wearing a suit....exactly, what more do I need to say. It’s a fantastic game and is almost impossible to put down, after spending two hours on the same level, I should know. If avoiding saw blades while running at high speeds and jumping ridiculous heights while doing seemingly impossible boss fights then this is definitely worth the ms points.
BlazBlue Continuum Shift:
This was a surprise for people who didn’t play the first one, which was a bit of a dark horse in the fighting game genre, but this sequel was excellent, they changed a couple of controls, added features to help you learn to play more effectively, and overall really tried to make the game more accessible to those who don’t constantly play fighter games and know every move in existence. Definitely worth if you like games at all, good fun, better with friends, as it’s one of those games where you say “NOOO I WAS GONNA WIN YOU SON OF A BITCH”, so definitely good fun, and with a wide range of characters with many different play styles you are sure to find something you like.
Dragon Age:
An amazing game from bioware, great story, well developed characters, and a choice of endings each unique in the way they play out. Some good dlc to go with it, some of which may have had some questionable premises, the awakenings required you to *spoiler* not to die in the ending. Apart from that the game was well structured, had great moments with characters talking amongst themselves leaving you thinking wtf was that about, and left you wanting more.
Ruse:
A game few people I know have herd of except when I’ve mentioned it, a top down (sort of) strategy game that has allot of multiplayer potential (if more people had it) and the single player is very enjoyable, if not a little bit long. There’s not really much to say about the game because it’s a strategy game, but its sets during WWII and you play various members of the allies and the axis at one point, generally that’s it. Not to sell the game short, but that’s really the whole game summed up, however it is a great game and good fun.
Tron Evolution:
This is how I feel about this game: ITS SUPER MEGA ULTRA FREAKING OMG SO GOD DAM AMAZING THAT I CAN’T STOP PLAYING IT. Though the last part isn’t right as not that many people got the game so the multiplayer is the same old crowd, which is fine, but it’s just very small. Honestly though, the for Tron fans it explains the story between the films perfectly and is an excellent game surprisingly seen as its Disney, also the multiplayer is really good fun from light cycle matches to all out brawls, this really is a game that I’d recommend to anyone really, it really is great fun. The only real bad part is the camera angles are irritating sometimes, the game play involves melee, ranged, vehicles including tanks, there are objective games or killing games, it’s mostly everything you want from a game really, especially the light cycle fights.
Darksider
The best none Zelda game ever! Yes that’s right I said it, it’s basically the mature version of Zelda, with the rider of the apocalypse war, an amazing story after the end of the world, an amazing game to play with puzzles epic fights and combat with creatures of hell, an truly unique game in the story it portrays and very unique to xbox games as it really is a Zelda style of play which I have seen very few games on the box use. Could be my best game of the year easily in many respects.
Dante’s Inferno:
Now where would a year be without a hack and slash, again with the hell theme, Dante’s inferno is based loosely off the poems the divine comedy, specifically the part in hell obviously. As it is a hack and slash there isn’t much to explain about game play, it works, pretty well, it’s fun, you wield death’s scythe , you fight impossibly huge monsters at points, the usual hack and slash elements. But, the story is something new, interesting and entertaining, and that adds to the game play and makes it worth getting. The visuals make you want to go on and traverse deeper into hell, the screams you hear as you walk around make you feel like you really are in hell. A very well designed game and worth owning.
Now there are more games out there that I didn’t mention, that’s not because they aren’t good, but either I didn’t play them or I just didn’t see the extra something to make me think they were the best games or they seemed good at first but fizzled out towards the end or didn’t have much replay value or the multiplayer died (somewhat like I explained about Tron having a small community). Here are the games that I’d say were next in line if my top games hadn’t come out.
Bioshock 2:
good game, first one maybe better, short lived
Mass Effect 2:
I’ve been told it was amazing, but I couldn’t play the first one as I found it dull, so I never tried this one sorry fan boys!
Fallout New Vegas:
I just didn’t get into it the way I got into 3, I don’t know why, I just didn’t, I need to give it more love I think, what I played was good, the 3rd was amazing so I’m still expecting this one to be good
Star Wars TWU II:
it was good...but too short, way way too short
Transformers War For Cybertron:
Good game, story reasonable, multiplayer has issues and not many played it whenever I tried it
Red Dead Redemption:
again good game, but got bored of story pretty quickly, multiplayer too, not allot of people on, grinding. However, I have not played the undead expansion and I’ve been told it’s great fun so possible return needs to be made
Blur:
arcade racer that gets old, pretty fast. Buggy and/or laggy and ends up getting on your nerves and losing its appeal, shame really, had potential
There are also other games that I just don’t feel the need to mention, either because they are in the list of overrated games to follow soon, or they are just not that great or I didn’t feel the need to play them. That about sums that up, Webster out
Red Dead Redemption
With such an effortless track record and peerless ability to create masterful free roaming adventure games, it was hard not to be excited about Rockstar’s western opus, yet few could anticipate just how masterful the finished product would actually be. A game that not only manages to impress with its faultless cinematic storytelling and beautifully constructed setting, but also improves upon the developers last game, sprawling masterpiece Grand Theft Auto IV.
The feeling of distilled Rockstar quality is present from the moment we enter John Marston’s life, as a low key opening credits sequence introduces us to the relatively contemporary (for the western genre) America of 1911.
Marston himself is the games strongest asset, his craggy face ravaged by scars, weathered by years of violence. This, along with a classic western swagger, is a perfect showcase for Rockstar’s wonderfully naturalistic euphoria engine; Marston is a poster boy for his hardware generation.
The world in which Marston inhabits was also a joy to behold. Here was an environment in which it was possible to waste hours just traversing the wilderness, admiring the scenery. There are hundreds of side quests, achievements and collectables of course (as well as a morally dubious yet thoroughly enjoyable animal skinning mechanic) but simply watching a beautifully rendered sunrise is enough to warrant booting the disc. With Red Dead Redemption’s game world, Rockstar created a level of immersion many will find hard to top.
Storywise, the dependable developers presented yet another fable to put the best of Hollywood to shame. Giving us a grand chronicle of one mans struggle to escape the evils of his past, the game questions the very nature of redemption, as well as keeping that trademark Rockstar humour intact and throwing in a few explosive set pieces along the way. No single character is disposable, from snake oil salesman Nigel Wes Dickens to creepy corpse whisperer Seth, there isn’t a flat note in RDR’s symphony of colourful characters.
As for Marston himself, he is given a traditional western send off in a poignant false climax that may have frustrated some (Jack Marston isn’t as engaging as his father) but remains a bold narrative choice for a developer whose storytelling is constantly evolving.
2010 was a great year for games. The likes of Mass Effect 2 and Heavy Rain pushed the boundaries of cinematic storytelling, while old hands like Blizzard and Nintendo showed that traditional gameplay could still seem fresh with their stellar sequels Starcraft II and Super Mario Galaxy 2. Yet leave it to Rockstar, the developer who have, on more than one occasion, shook the world of gaming to its very foundations, to deliver such a thoughtful and accomplished masterpiece.
TBP
TBP