Honestly, it was a bit of a challenge to think up ten games from this year that I played at all: Much of my gaming has been catching up from previous years. Not that I wish to imply that this year didn't have a ton of amazing games. I just haven't found the necessary monetary backing to play them. That said, here are ten that I DID play, that were excellent.
Mass Effect took the awful samey worlds, gel, and missions from the first game and obliterated them, never to be seen again.
Then it proceeded to tell an epic story, filling out the motivations and back story of each and every character, and tightened up the combat to boot.
I still have trouble considering this a splinter cell game, (Stealth action it's not,) but it was unique and excellent in its own way. The mechanics felt fresh, the multiplayer was new and unusual, and the enemy dialogue is hilarious. Remember the Airfield.
Brotherhood took Assassin's Creed 2 and made everything about it better.
A good, solid game on its own, with an ending that makes me really interested to see what directions a sequel would try out.
Red Dead Redemption is the first Rockstar game I've ever actually played, and it explains a lot of the love for their previous ones. Amazing story and a gorgeous world.
Atmosphere, atmosphere, atmosphere.
In truth, I'm only through the first fourth of the game, as I've been playing it with a friend. Lego and Harry Potter is a perfect mix, and while the game isn't the most groundbreaking thing ever, it's a lot of fun to play with people who only play games casually.
Double Fine's first downloadable game was super effective as an introduction to RPGs. Also, why has it taken this long for someone to make a game focused on halloween?
2K Marin had a lot to live up to with Bioshock 2. They went about it the right way: Not by trying to repeat every last one of the first game's talking points, but by fashioning a completely new story, and making the combat work just a bit better.
From the Beginning you know the end: This is be a competent Halo game. That's all there is to it.
