2010 had a lot of AMAZING games. Some disappointments too, *cough* Other M *cough*. But the quality of some of these games and the way they delivered on their expectations or exceeded them more than made up for the ones that didn't.
So I'll be giving my list of the 10 best games of 2010. These are the 10 games that most delivered on their promises and made being a gamer this year, an enjoyable experience.
This was not an easy list to make as there were many games that I did not want to leave out of here but the 10 that I put on here was just simply the best that 2010 had to offer.
#10: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Assassin's Creed II was one of my Top 3 games of 2009. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood wasn't quite as good as that but it was still really damn good. It gave me exactly what I wanted in an Assassin's Creed game keeping all of the strengths that made ACII such an incredible achievement.
It's got a great story (though unambitious compared to the other two), keeps the mission variety that helped make ACII such an enormous improvement over the original, and exploring 16th century Rome was simply breathtaking. New gameplay elements such as being able to recruit fellow assassins and the surprisingly addicting multiplayer made this a really enjoyable experience.
In the middle the pacing slows down a little for a few sequences and it feels less like a full sequel and more of an expansion of ACII but this is a great expansion and well worth the price of admission making Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood the perfect game for my #10 spot.
#9. Vanquish
Take Gears of War, add jet-propulsion, bullet-time and turn the speed dial up to eleven and you've got Vanquish one of over-the-top awesome games I've played in a long time. Created by Shinji Mikami, the creator of the incredibly influential Resident Evil franchise, Vanquish never lets up.
What it lacks in compelling storytelling and interesting character development, Vanquish makes than makes up for with its stellar gameplay. The controls are nearly perfect and the adrenaline-filled rush that you get when using the jet-propulsion to speed your way at either cover or an enemy, or using the suit's bullet-time mechanic to pop off a quick headshot is blissful. The game's difficulty was manageable but had a good curve that increased based on what your skill should be.
The game may have been pretty short and didn't have incredible replay value but the gameplay is so damn good and the scenarios so memorable that I know every now and then I can pop this back in for a badass day with Sam Gideon.
Platinum Games had an outstanding year this year...but I'll get into that a little more later on in the list.
#8. Donkey Kong Country Returns
Retro Studios is an amazing developer and I have statistics to back that statement up. They have made four games, and all four of them have been outstanding. They made all three of the incredible Metroid Prime games and now this.
I honestly can't think of any other game this year that better captured the feeling of an absolute classic, not even the reboot of NBA Jam. Donkey Kong Country Returns gave me a feeling of incredible nostalgia, and I didn't even play the SNES games until about two years ago. I can just imagine the feeling it gave people who played it when it was released in 1994.
The controls are sharp, and the scenarios that Retro came up with for the platforming kept the game fresh, interesting and unpredictable. The game has a great difficulty curve which starts out easily accessible but ramps up the difficulty in just the right way as the game goes on.
Retro designed this game with such care and affection for its SNES predecessors that its just fantastic. It truly shows why they are such great developers for Nintendo.
#7. Limbo
First, before anyone asks, no I haven't played Super Meat Boy yet. It's one that I really want to play and that I plan on playing before my winter break ends. As for right now though, Limbo is the best downloadable title I've played this year.
As an independent game, Limbo's excellent quality is found in its simplicity. Simple gameplay, simple story, deceptively simple puzzles, and simple art style. Less is more after all and I can't think of any other game this year that uses that phrase as well as Limbo does.
Other than the analog stick, you'll only using two buttons like in the NES days and the story is hinted at without any cutscenes or dialogue. The puzzles are definitely challenging but when you figure them out, you'll be left wondering, "How the hell did I not think of that before?" and you'll be doing that with a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment.
But one of the more striking things about the game is its simple art style. Utilizing a silhouette look for everything that looks like a light was shined into the camera, mixed with the fog gives a very creepy atmosphere to this unpredictable game.
The $15 price tag might be a little high for a game as short as this but the enjoyability that comes from playing it makes it fun for repeat playthroughs. As said before, less is truly more in this case.
#6. God of War III
Like every other game in the series, God of War III starts with a bang to set the tone for the rest of the game. It's a great start and does exactly what it was supposed to do just like the rest of the game does. As the conclusion of the trilogy on the main home consoles God of War III delivers everything that I wanted it to.
The hardware of the PS3 allowed God of War III to have a scale that we've never seen on a console game before. This mixed with the game's outstanding easy-to-pick-up-and-play gameplay made it one of the most awe-inspiring and epic games of the year.
The boss battles are all excellent though, whether it be the one at the very beginning of the game or the one with a Hades who sounds an awful lot like The Kurgan and Mr. Krabs, are all universally well-executed.
This mixed with a compelling story, great voice acting, an outstanding soundtrack which truly makes you feel like kicking ass, incredible visuals and art direction, and providing a great end to outstanding series (at least for the home console games), made this one a keeper and perfect game for my #6 spot.
#5. StarCraft II
After being in development for over 10 years, the sequel to one of the most important and popular strategy games of all time was finally released and it was awesome.
The single-player campaign offered a fun storyline with it's excellent tactical gameplay and different side-objectives for every mission made it fun to replay them. It was easily accessible on the lower difficulties while still offering a feeling of using tactics to win while the higher difficulties are perfect for StarCraft vets.
Of course, it's the online multiplayer that helped make the original StarCraft such a legendary entry into the genre and it's still really damn good with and incredible amount of custom games mixing an RTS with many other different kind of genres. This will definitely be played for a VERY long time to come and its tactical balance means that the better player will nearly always win.
There aren't too many changes to the formula of StarCraft but there are enough that it doesn't just feel like a rehash of the original. 10 years of development means a lot of hype behind a game and StarCraft II both delivered and showed why Blizzard is one of the best developers around.
#4. Red Dead Redemption
Red Dead Revolver was a somewhat decent game that failed to live up to what it could have been. Red Dead Redemption on the other hand is one of the best free-roam games in history. It's essentially Grand Theft Auto IV in the old West but is that really a bad thing? No it is not.
Basically if you've played Grand Theft Auto IV you'll know what to expect, except that it's in a new setting and era. The game perfectly captures the feeling of the old west and the setting that we've all seen in the great film genre. It does this with its great art direction, excellent musical score, and incredible storyline.
With the exception of Mass Effect 2, Red Dead Redemption tells probably the best story I've seen in video games this year. This is aided by probably the best new character of the year with John Marston who's got a dark past that he just wants to leave behind but can't do it. He's an incredibly likeable and sympathetic protagonist who you will be rooting for the entire game, even in his morally questionable actions, given his entirely understandable motivations and because Rob Wiethoff delivers one of the best performances of the year. That and the ending is best game ending this year.
Rockstar made this game thinking that it was not going to be a success. That takes balls and is one reason I respect Rockstar games. They wanted to make an excellent title and delivered in almost every way imaginable. The multiplayer might be a little dull but the single-player experience more than makes up for it.
Add in a great DLC expansion with the Undead Nightmare pack and this is a game that you will be playing for a long time. For perfectly capturing the feel of the west with its outstanding storyline and atmosphere, Red Dead Redemption has truly earned its spot on my list.
#3. Bayonetta
As I said when talking about Vanquish, Platinum Games had an outstanding year this year and in America this was one of the first three games released this year giving a great opening. Made by Hideki Kamiya, the creator of the groundbreaking Devil May Cry, I really didn't like the look of this game, but then I played it and loved every second.
I'm going to make some bold statements that some people might not like. First, Bayonetta is the best 3D hack-n-slash I have ever played. Sometimes it helps not to take yourself seriously as then there's no limit to how imaginative you can get. What we get because of that is one of the most awesome and in-depth combat systems ever created. Second I think this game has the best boss battles of the generation. It may lack the scale of God of War III but the imagination and insanity involved just made them my personal favorites.
The story is absolutely bat-shit insane and it's really hard to follow sometimes. But I still enjoyed it because the character Bayonetta was surprisingly interesting, well-developed, and likable even with her occasional sociopathic tendencies. The music may sound out of place at first but for me it eventually just clicked into place and the art style fits with the rest of the game's insanity.
The game is difficult but hits a nice balance in its difficulty that I don't think any other major game of its genre has quite hit. It's definitely very challenging but it doesn't punish you right off the bat like the Devil May Cry games and Ninja Gaiden games do. It does a great job of raising the difficulty based on what your skills should be at a certain point of the game. Practice makes perfect and that's definitely Bayonetta's philosophy.
Coming from someone who did not expect to like this game at all, what this game accomplished in my mind, is truly remarkable. I haven't even gone over the many references that it makes to every kind of action game imaginable, but Bayonetta is the best its genre has ever seen. If you enjoy this genre, let logic go and you will have an incredibly badass time.
#2. Super Mario Galaxy 2
You can always expect high quality with Mario games and Super Mario Galaxy 2 is no exception. More than just an expansion pack of the original Galaxy, Super Mario Galaxy 2 adds many new gameplay features that were missing from the original making a true sequel and one that in my mind surpasses its predecessor.
Yoshi has entered the realm of space (which can clearly be seen on the box art above) and adds a new realm of scenarios that the original did not have and new power-ups also come into play. The game keeps the basic controls of the original however proving that if something isn't broken, don't fix it.
The campaign is quite possibly the largest in the franchise's history. It will take a long time to pick up every possible star but the feeling of satisfaction is well worth the effort. Part of the reason for this is that while Super Mario Galaxy was criticized for being to easy, Super Mario Galaxy 2 is a much more challenging game. Maybe not The Lost Levels compared to the original Super Mario Brothers in increased difficulty but it's definitely there and makes the game even more rewarding than last time.
In the end this is a sequel that does exactly what a sequel should do. Keep the same basic elements of gameplay that worked, fix the things that didn't and continue adding new elements to make the game feel fresh and unique and not like a rehash. In that way, it's a nearly perfect follow-up and one of the best games of the generation.
#1. Mass Effect 2
Okay, anyone who knows my gaming tastes probably s BioWare is one of the greatest video game developers ever and they delivered everything that I wanted with Mass Effect 2, improving almost every problem with the already excellent original Mass Effect.
As is usual with BioWare the storytelling is superb, with amazing writing that rivals some of best films the year, an incredibly well-constructed universe that they continued to expand on from the original, and what is a contender for the best cast of characters in video game history.
The voice acting might be the best I've ever heard in video games with only a select competing with it. Jennifer Hale is incredible as Female Shepard and shows why she's one of the most respected voices in the business, Martin Sheen did just amazing of a job as we expect an actor of his caliber to do. And everyone else from Yvonne Strahovski, Seth Green, Carrie-Anne Moss and Tricia Helfer, all the way to lesser knowns like Liz Sroka, Brandon Keener and many others are nearly flawless.
The game really makes you feel like your choices will matter in the long run with the incredible save-file transfer system that brings choices in from the first Mass Effect you can feel the impact, as small as they may seem, that your choices have on the galaxy. The gameplay brings down the traditional role-playing elements to the basics for a very well executed third-person shooter mechanic mixed with biotics (think force powers) and engineering abilities.
The soundtrack is one of my all time favorite video game soundtracks always fitting with the situation that is currently onscreen and all of the character themes perfectly define the character without any dialogue whatsoever.
Mixed with some outstanding DLC including the amazing Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC which really feels important to the overall storyline, and the ways the story can change based on your choices in this game AND the first Mass Effect, everything adds up to making Mass Effect 2 not only the best game this year but my favorite game of the generation. And I can't WAIT for Mass Effect 3. Bring on the Reapers BioWare.
Super Meat Boy was not here because I had not played it when I made this list. It's on Xbox Live and it's well worth the price, buy it.
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