henke on 19/12/2010 at 13:47
according to HENKE:
#10 Super Street Fighter 4
I bought it mosly just so I'd have a fighting game at hand for when friends come over. It's not bad.
#9 Kane & Lynch 2
A lean shoot-em-up. The gameplay is nothing we haven't seen before but the story is engaging and the characters are believable.
#8 Metro 2033
Flawed in a lot of ways but it also has moments of brilliance.
#7 Bioshock 2
Improves on the gameplay of the first one but the story isn't very engaging.
#6 Alan Wake
The story is a bit silly but the gameplay is great. There are some very good characters here. And it is stunningly beautiful. And there's a Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds song on the soundtrack.
#5 Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
Very good story, and surprisingly good gameplay.
#4 Just Cause 2
This one is ofcourse all about the gameplay. Perhaps the most pure "fun" game of the year.
#3 Mass Effect 2
This was good, although towards the end I started feeling like I'd had enough of it. Actually ended up skipping some of the extra missions and headed straight for the finale. Will replay it some day.
#1/#2 Red Dead Redemption and Fallout: New Vegas
I'm still only 20 hours into FONV and so far it hasn't convinced me that it's better than RDR. It certainly hasn't convinced me that it's better than FO3(and I don't think it will). It does have some great locations, some very funny characters, and the Legion is appropriately boo-hiss-evil. But for the most part it just feels like FO3, but with more bugs(until the recent megapatch at least). People say the writing is better in this? Ehhh... not by much.
Red Dead Redemption on the other hand. Now there's a solid game. Great gameplay, great story and characters, and wonderfull atmosphere. No other game, or movie, or ghost town tourist attraction has managed to transport you to the old west the same way this game does. Fantastic from start to end.
Indie Game of the Year: Tricky Truck
I've played a few different truck-games over the years but none of them have been what I've wanted. I don't wanna drive across the country to deliver goods, or customize my truck and it's loadout. With todays physics, simply the challenge of navigating a 16-ton 18-wheeler through obstacle-courses, or along precarious mountainpasses is fun enough to make a great game, and it's really a wonder noone has thought of it until now. This game is the "skate" to all previous trucking-simulators "Tony Hawks Pro Skater".
Honorable mentions: Minecraft, Limbo, Super Meat Boy, Puzzle Agent, Space Funeral
Disappointment of the Year: Crackdown 2
I'm not usually too hung up on looks but have you seen this game? The textures are just awful. Some of the buildings wouldn't have made it through the Quality Assurance of Duke Nukem 3D. They seriously look like placeholders that noone bothered to replace for the final version. And then there's the awful controls. The game was designed for gamepad but the steering of the cars feel digital. And looking around has this annoyingly imprecise acceleration to it when you start turning. As for the audio: there are trance-remixes of Creedence Clearwater Revival songs on here, and a goddamn announcer that comments on your every move. And the only way to shut that motherfucker up is to turn off all the voices in the game. I have no idea how they managed to take a fun game like Crackdown, work on it for a couple of years, and churn out a sequel that was this much worse. This might well take the price of worst sequel ever in my book. Yes, even worse than DX2 or Thief 3.
ok now u
MorbusG on 19/12/2010 at 14:19
* Heavy Rain (PS3)
* Alpha Protocol (360)
* Red Dead Redemption (360)
* Halo Reach (360)
* Splinter Cell: Conviction (360, ghosting in co-op)
* Army of Two: the 40th Day (360)
Dry year this year for me, it seems.
I'm pretty sure Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood would make it to my list, but I haven't actually played it yet.
I was thinking about adding Monkey Island 2 remake, but a) it's a remake b) the final confrontation with LeChuck is a pain in the butt, doubly so with a 360 controller.
Disappointment(s) of the year: Mass Effect 2 and Alan Wake
Jason Moyer on 19/12/2010 at 14:25
PC Game Awards 2010
Game of the Year: Minecraft
Game Of The Year In A Non-Minecraft Year Of The Year: Fallout New Vegas
RPG Of The Year: Alpha Protocol
Barely An RPG Of The Year: Mass Effect 2
Racing Game of the Year: F1 2010
FPS Of The Year: Stalker Call Of Pripyat
Multiplayer Game Of The Year: Battlefield Bad Company 2
Strategy Game Of The Year: Civilization V
Sports Game Of The Year: Out Of The Park Baseball 11
Sequel Of The Year: Bioshock 2
Only On This List Because The PC Version Was Delayed From 2009 Of The Year: Assassin's Creed II
Re-Issue Of The Year: Planescape Torment
Surprisingly Fun Game Of The Year: James Bond Blood Stone
Guilty Pleasure of the Year: Medal Of Honor
Should Probably Get Around To Playing It Of The Year: Prince Of Persia The Forgotten Sands
Game I Got Halfway Through Multiple Times Before Getting Sick Of It Of The Year: Metro 2033
Couldn't Be Arsed To Buy It Of The Year: Arma II Combined Operations
Not Sure Why I Even Own It Of The Year: Splinter Cell Conviction
Barely Interactive Enough To Be Considered A Game Of The Year: Call Of Duty Black Ops
june gloom on 19/12/2010 at 20:14
In no particular order:
Fallout New Vegas: I've played 45 minutes of this when the game first came out and it's already compelling. Very much looking forward to a proper sitdown.
Stalker: Call of Pripyat: Fallout 3 was what Shadow of Chernobyl wanted to be. Call of Pripyat was what Shadow of Chernobyl should have been.
Alpha Protocol: Everyone complains about the bugs but nobody actually talks about how fucking GOOD this game is. I've only run into one serious issue which is easily fixed by not using any autosaves the game makes. It's basically Metal Gear Solid the RPG, how could I not like that?
Alien vs Predator 2010: I like it way better than the other two. I don't think I need to say anything further.
Bioshock 2: It took me a long time to realize that BS1 was a better game than System Shock 2. Bioshock 2 goes a step beyond by ditching all pretenses of being an SS sequel and becoming its own thing, and for that it's fantastic.
Minecraft: :mad:
To be judged: Alan Wake and Dead Rising 2, which I'm getting for Christmas (well, less certain on Alan Wake, but DR2 is definitely here.) Also Metro 2033, which I intend to pick up after Alpha Protocol.
Mr.Duck on 19/12/2010 at 20:57
Come back to MC, dethums :)
Aja on 20/12/2010 at 00:07
Mass Effect 2 did get a bit tedious by the end, but I can't recall being more consistently amazed by any other game in recent memory. Hard to call anything else the game of the year.
Just Cause 2 I didn't even finish, but I did get about 30 hours in (and only 30% completion). For a little while there I'd drive past real-life oil refineries and instinctively start planning their destruction.
Bioshock 2 was a good sequel, gameplay improved in almost every way, but the story felt uninspired. I was glad they included Andrew Ryan, even if only in the logs, and even if he did kinda fuck up the continuity.
I also really liked MAG, though I only played it for a short while. I've been meaning to get back in.
Finally, Gran Turismo. Yeah, it's still the same old GT, which means it's more about admiring the cars than anything else. But that's okay, I like admiring the cars, and the actual driving physics are the best in the series, certainly comparable to the competition (crashes aside).
I have yet to play Dead Rising or Fallout, but I imagine both of those games would probably make my list.
Aerothorn on 20/12/2010 at 02:02
I actually only got to play 4 commercial games released this year, because A. My senior thesis takes up my time with lots of old games, and B. I spent most of my "free gaming" time on cheap older games I missed because of previous schoolwork. So, yeah, not really in a place to give "best ofs," but:
Alan Wake: Liked it more than I expected. It nails its style - Stephen King meets Twin Peaks with, yes, a dash of Max Payne. Beautiful setting and narrow but compelling gameplay. Sure, the story gets a little stupid in bits, but like Payne before it it gets through a lot of its campier moments with a self-aware smile.
Heavy Rain: Flawed in many ways, but more than the sum of its part, and its occasionally sloppy construction (both writing and action wise) can't stop me enjoying its great dramatic arc, setpiece moments, and ambitious approach to player death and branching narrative.
Mass Effect 2: Technically accomplished, smooth, enjoyable, but ultimately soulless, with a plot that spends most of the game going nowhere only to jump the shark when it gets off the ground. Cookie-cutter Bioware design on most every level, to the point where I had a mental checklist of every subquest and dialog tree that would appear. Sigh.
Battlefield: BC2: Great infantry-focused version of Battlefield is ultimately less varied than I'd like, and no replacement for the vehicular freedom of 1942.
Still to play: Lots and lots. Peace Walker and Alpha Protocol are in the mail, and I'm currently toying around with Duels of the Planeswalkers, not to mention so many downloadable games I must get to (Costume Quest!).
Scots Taffer on 20/12/2010 at 03:16
I've only played Red Dead Redemption this year (still not finished actually, just did the fort shootout) and I've thoroughly enjoyed it so far. What I loved about the opening few hours faded into the background though as the game became a more focussed shoot em up. A little bit more flexibility in becoming say a bank-robber or ring-leader would have been interesting to mix things up a little, but my happiest moments were breaking in the first horse and bringing the herd home.
I'll be watching this thread to see if there's any others I should consider - is Heavy Rain worth a buy? I love/hated Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy.
Haplo on 20/12/2010 at 03:22
Am I the only person who played Singularity?!
T-Smith on 20/12/2010 at 05:04
Quote Posted by Haplo
Am I the only person who played Singularity?!
I was under the impression that it was somewhat popular around here. Never touched it myself though.
As for my own list -
*
Minecraft: Do I need to say much? Simple as it may be, the fun I've had playing this horribly buggy and unfinished alpha title exceeds the fun I've gotten from most full priced retail games.
*
BioShock 2: I went on a media black out in preparation for this since I loved the original so much. I wasn't dissapointed. The focus on improved combat was great and though the story wasn't as good as the original, it still managed to keep me thinking and entertained,
*
Battlefield: Bad Company 2: The best console multiplayer alternative to COD, I was blown away. I loved the attention to squad based tactics over the sheer numbers of the old Battlefield games. The addition of new content via VIP map packs was what sealed the deal though. True, most of these were just re-working of existing maps into new game types. But it was more than most were doing, and greatly appreciated.
*
Red Dead Redemption: Everything I could say about this title has already been said.
*
Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker: The best PSP game available and miles ahead of Portable Ops. Though the story is somewhat tame for MGS, the actual gameplay is top notch. I t provides perfect entertainment for either on the go or at home, with missions and mini games tailored around short sessions. In addition, the graphics and sound design are amazing. Co-op is a blast too. Too bad it's only local wi-fi.
*
Team Fortress 2: This game wasn't released this year, or even last. Regardless, Valve's continual support and updates to the title have kept it fresh and interesting years after release. The addition of the ManCo Store was labeled by some as a cheap way of making money, but in reality it's a perfect business model. I'm currently enjoying the Christmas update, with a new melee-only castle map to celebrate.
Honourable mentions - Metro 2033, Fallout: New Vegas, Just Cause 2, Limbo.
Worst game of 2010 - Final Fantasy 13.
