User Voting For 2010's Game of the Year Begins... Now!

Bigger. Better. Amazing characters. Amazing story. Excellent shooter gameplay. Ridiculous level of user input. Excellent DLC. Mass Effect 2 is more than what a sequel should be, it's what all great games are. They take things that you've never seen before and combine them with excellently executed gameplay and an experience that both immerses you and makes you care dearly about its outcome. Mass Effect 2 is masterfully done. Plain and simple.

As much as I loved the myriad improvements Assassin's Creed 2 made to the series, Brotherhood just made it all bigger and better. Expanding on what is likely to be my favorite segment of the saga and throwing in multiplayer that actually works (even if it's not your cup of tea), this game really just did things that you didn't know had to be done until you actually play the game. Is it derivative? Sure. Is it the best example of derivative that anyone can likely ever produce? Oh hell yes.

Solid shooting, amazing atmosphere, and a story that drives it down a haunting rabbit hole that makes this 7 hour game breeze by. Pacing is something that's ridiculously underrated in games, and Alan Wake is one of the most well-paced games of this or any other generation, and when combined with the game's other strengths, it easily was one of my favorites. Say what you will about the potential it held when it was announced years ago, what we have here is an impressive feat by any stretch of the imagination.

Wow, this game came out of nowhere to quickly become my multiplayer game of choice. Take two parts Team Fortress 2, one part DotA, and throw in tons of humor and style, and you get Monday Night Combat. The concept is ludicrous, and the execution is fantastic. I look forward to even more from MNC in 2011.

By far my most anticipated game of the year lands here because, quite frankly, I didn't get much time to play it. At the making of this list, I've probably sunk about 5 or so hours into it, and have loved every second of it. I understand that the game is really derivative of many games of the genre, but that doesn't stop this from being perhaps the most artistically beautiful game I played this year. It's amazing what they've accomplished and created out of an already established franchise, and the dark and hopeless world and story that evolves from the inside. Again, this is a game that seems greater than the sum of its parts.

The best fighting game of a generation gets better. Now I'm not gonna pretend that I was ever any good at SSFIV, but regardless I sunk countless hours in the pursuit of getting my win/loss percentage up. New characters, re-worked soundtrack, improved online, and all at a much lower price. There truly was no excuse not to pick up Super Street Fighter IV except severe aversion to fighting games. I didn't, so I absolutely loved it.

Before Black Ops rolled out to sweep away my last remnants of MW2 rage, there was Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Although my thoughts on the single-player aren't... great, it did keep enough of those solid mechanics and humor to make it playable. What was MORE than playable was the fantastic multiplayer, a game that actually stresses teamwork among teammates (imagine that). When combined with the random chaos that ensues, it's truly a game that can be enjoyed by players of all skill levels time and time again, especially with the new Vietnam add on.

Now, this one probably isn't going to be on many people's top 10, but whether it was on my little brother's PS3 or my Xbox 360, I spent tons of time in virtual Canada with Scottie P and his pals. This game was just fun, plain and simple. Not to mention its soundtrack by band Anamaniguchi probably wins the award for my soundtrack of the year.

In my mind, there was no way that Red Dead Redemption was going to be a bad game. It has a pedigree and encompasses a time and place that I think is extremely under-used in video games. And guess what, Red Dead was great. Do I think (as many tend to) that it was the best thing since sliced bread? No. In fact the game has many layover issues from GTA and, despite its masterful story, just lasts too long for its own good. Beside that, though, Red Dead is really a fun and expansive jaunt through the old west with one of the most human-centric stories ever told. If anything, you owe it to yourself to experience that much.

This was really the last thing I expected to put on my list this year, but Black Ops managed to nearly erase all the bad taste that Modern Warfare 2 had left in my mouth last year. The thing is that, quite frankly, this is a Call of Duty game we haven't seen before. Not from a gameplay standpoint of course, but this is really the first COD game that actually intrigued me by its story. Throw in a boatload of Easter Eggs, several multiplayer modes, and you have my number 10 on my top 10 games of the year.

There has, very simply, never been a better sequel in my estimation. It improved on the mechanics of the last game, the plot had more resonance and character focus, and the first ten minutes are some of the most intense I've ever seen.

The game that was only supposed to be a multiplayer expansion with a single-player tutorial tacked on turned out to be a full-blown campaign with a unique and intriguing multiplayer. It was a win-win proposition for all involved.

Rockstar hits a homerun making one of the only good Western themed games as well as one of the most incredible, resonant, and frankly shocking endings I've ever seen. The mechanics take open world to a completely different level, filling that world with things that you actually want to do, rather than merely cramming as much in and hoping something's enjoyable.

Violent, absurd, sexy, and completely incomprehensible. Just a few of the adjectives to describe Bayonetta, yet none of them can fully encapsulate the experience that this game provides.

Fallout 3 was a great game, but it lacked the salty, tongue-in-cheek humor of Fallout 1 & 2, instead focusing on a much more epic storyline with a greater volume of locations that didn't always seem to matter. Fallout: New Vegas exchanged the number of locations for locations that were unique and interesting to explore, added a humor-optional mode, and had dialog and situations that captured life in strange, new wasteland much more emotionally.

The game is mired in clunky controls, glitches and a general feeling of being rushed. But damned if it doesn't tell one of the most fascinating stories with almost literally every choice that you make impacting either the plot or at the very least the next mission. Alpha Protocol is a game that twists and turns around you, but also keeps you guessing til the very end and I can absolutely recommend it, warts and all.

Hell, it's about time. Even without multiplayer, which I never invested in, the continuation of the story of Raynor, Kerrigan and the rest of the Starcraft universe alone was worth the price of admission, particularly with the improved between-mission interactions, the branching paths and the mission diversity, there's even a fair amount of replay value.

Earthbound is my favorite game of all time (as one of my other lists will attest) and the reason is purely because of the game's charming atmosphere and witty writing that still hold up today. I consider this game the spiritual successor to that charm and wit. The game is simple as can be with very little challenge, but who cares? Traversing the world and whimsy and wonder, listening to family-friendly, but by no means dumb, dialog, and living out the childhood fantasy of actually having the power that whatever you're dressed up as would have warms my cold, jaded heart and actually makes me smile for no reason other than it feels nice.

This game tweaked something very specific in my head: I want to someday be a writer, but I've had nightmares very similar to the ones that the titular character has had. Perhaps for that reason I was willing to look past a lot of Alan Wake's shortcomings and immerse myself in a story that felt strangely personal considering its linear nature.

Flawed in terms of both controls and plot contrivances, but it was still a game that told a unique, mature storyline in a way that was singularly interesting in letting you get to know the characters by going through their daily lives with all the minutiae therein.