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fraser

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My 2010 Top 12. (Because I like to be different)

First and foremost, as with all my blogs, new games take a back seat in favour of financial stability, or something there abouts. This is a list of the top games I played this year that may/may not be 2010 releases. I'll keep the descriptions short, it's not like you guys have read enough of these lists yet or anything. LETS GO; 
 
 

12. Bioshock 2

I wanted to make this a list of 10 games, I really did. But I just had to include Bioshock 2. Like most console people, the first Bioshock is one of my favourite games of recent years, I still crave Rapture, even though my actual returns don't last long.
 
No Caption Provided
 
I felt like I had to put this game here. I remember playing it and being pleasantly surprised by how these non-Levine people managed to make a sequel to Bioshock that wasn't massively terrible, and to be honest, that was actually pretty damn good. There were gameplay improvements as well as a surprisingly interesting story, and top of that, they managed to make another 10-15 hours in Rapture engrossing. I never let myself fall into the "oh this is just Rapture again, BORING". And even when I nearly did, the story picked up to a really quite exciting climax. 
 
It's a shame that the memory of this game has already become so sour. The future of Bioshock 2 seems rather grim. Everybody, prepare a space on your shelf next to Devil May Cry 2.
 

11. Ratchet and Clank: A Crack In Time

My other honourable why-this-can't-be-a-top-10-list mention!

 PRETTY
 PRETTY
The first Ratchet and Clank is hands down one of my favourite games of all time. It reignited my love for the platformer genre after a brief lapse in my early teenage years. But ever since that first game there has always been someting getting in the way of future iterations and my much sought after attention. This is perhaps due to the heavy focus on gunplay ever since the second game; too many guns, not enough jumping. When you play A Crack in Time it does feel a bit like you're just going through the motions, but the inclusion of the Clank puzzle sections, and the sheer beauty of the game's visuals make this the best Ratchet and Clank game since it began!

10. Minecraft

 

 Stolen from Kotaku because..........well.......it's incredible
 Stolen from Kotaku because..........well.......it's incredible

I mean, what more can I say about Minecraft that hasn't been said by the countless other people?  October saw me watch 40+ hourse of "X" playing his own game on youtube before I finally took the plunge in November. It's since proved a perfect accompaniment to music/audiobooks.You don't know "The Catcher In The Rye" until you've heard somebody read it whilst you incessantly dig and dig and dig.
 
Hell, to keep it Whiskey Media related, I'm just gonna say this.
 

9. Broken Sword 2 : The Smoking Mirror

 My relatively recent love for adventure games isn't something I've kept hidden from this massive bomb, and so it may be unsurprising that Broken Sword 2 makes my list.

 Take THAT Crysis!
 Take THAT Crysis!
Building on everything that made the first game great, Broken Sword 2 is engaging, hilarious, frustrating and at times, annoyingly difficult. Hey, it's an adventure game.  After my mp3 player died earlier in the year, this game has saved me from many a train journey. If offensively terrible accents, murder mysteries, globe trotting and Mayan dwarves are your thing, hit this up! Or just get it anway.
 
I'll give you a head start. (Hint: I think it's cheaper on eBay)

8. InFamous

 I have a bit of an odd relationship with InFamous: I played it right till the end, twice, to get the Platinum, I spent hours of my summer sniping enemies whilst jumping and completing all the rest of those bloody skill challenges. But in all honesty, I couldn't tell you that I enjoyed it. I just felt compelled to play it. My current excitement levels for InFamous 2 are at about 1 on a scale of 1 to Maybe-When-It's-Cheap-and-Second-Hand. 
 

 Ok, so that is pretty cool.
 Ok, so that is pretty cool.
The characters were bland when not annoying and the art-style did nothing for me. But amidst the world, the powers and the atmosphere, there was something in InFamous that had me playing right till the very possible end. It undoubtedly deserves a mention on this list, but not without some trepidation.

7. Ico

Lets get this out of the way, it took me till 2010 (and a generous girlfriend) to finally play Ico. I put this down to its obscene prices and obscure retail locations. But lets get past that. Ico, as if you didn't know, is fucking amazing. It was everything the hype suggested it would be, nothing more, nothing less. Everything about the game is beautiful, except, at times, the gameplay.
 

No Caption Provided

Much like Team Ico's second effort, Shadow of The Colossus, the only thing holding Ico back is the occasionally frustrating and broken gameplay. If it's Yorda's lack of intelligence, or getting stuck on bits of the environment. There are just little bits in the gameplay that hold this back from being a perfect game.
 
What I would like to say, on perhaps a more pretentious level, is that, when taken as part of a whole with Shadow of the Colossus, those gameplay mishaps can be forgiven. Team Ico have put together two beautiful halves of a whole game; the puzzles and the bosses. Needless to say I'm hella excited for (hopefully) next year's offering.
 
 

6. Soul Calibur 2 and Resident Evil 4

 
For reasons of which you are all probably sick of by now.
 
 

5. Batman: Arkham Asylum

 In 2009, whilst everyone was raving about this game, I was blisfully unaware, spending my days on Lake Ontario surrounded in heaps of work. Then came the summer of 2010, and a preowned copy of Arkham Asylum for £12. I was left unimpressed by the heavy controls in the demo, and I couldn't shake Batman's videogame track record from my mind. But after hours, and hours, of enjoyment, superb graphics, memorable voice acting, gadgets that are actually useful and don't just get left behind once you unlock some kind of headshot ability, and above all, the ability to play as Batman, I can't not put this on my list.
 
I'm not sure if you guys knew this, but you play as BATMAN. See;
 


No Caption Provided

Ignoring the Gears of War influenced hand-on-ear sections, and remembering the challenge rooms, Batman: Arkham Asylum was my pleasant surprise for 2010.

 

4. Super Mario Galaxy 2

 When returning home for Christmas after my first semester at Uni I was met by a copy of Super Mario Galaxy. As someone who never owned a N64, nor Gamecube, 3D Mario outside of a friend's house was unfamiliar territory (preparing to get flamed).  But dammit was that a good game. Collecting all 242 starts was the most fun I'd had on the Wii, or even the most fun I'd had on a console that year. So naturally when I came into some late birthday dollar-dollar (/Great British Pounds) in the Summer of 2010, I bought the sequel.
 

The Dinosaur who saved the Sequel.
The Dinosaur who saved the Sequel.

My problem with SMG2 is that the magic was almost lost. It's the same reason why Bioshock 2 didn't make it higher on this list. The nature of the sequel, and the inherent lack of impact it contains, at times made me just feel like I did playing InFamous: just going through the motions. Luckily the inclusion of Yoshi, the brain-bafflingly intelligent level design, tasty art style and music ( and the rest of it) kept me coming back for more until again, all their stars are belong to me.
 
And remember that final level? Jesus Christ, thank God for Girlfriend Mode.
 
 

3. Yakuza 1-3

This isn't just the one Yakuza game, but it has to be all three. 
 
Imagine Shenmue meets Tekken Force in a Karaoke Bar and you're about half way to the experience that is the Yakuza franchise. Both 1 and 2 have superb, if not a little complicated, yakuza stories filled with memorable characters and locations. Whilst the third, takes things to a rather contradictory place that has you struggling to maintain an orphanage whilst brutally murdering the corrupt MAN(/Yakuza) who try to bring you down. These long and winding plots are broken up by countless side quests and street brawls. The combat is varied and challenging enough to keep you going till the end, but it's brawl-y nature makes for some repetition after the 20/30 hour mark.
 

Yup.
Yup.

 At times it can be a little difficult playing through Yakuza 1 and 2 in our current time, their age is quite an obstacle at times; long and frequent loading times to break up the same enviroments again, and again and again. But if you stick with it I promise you will enjoy these games. And if not, just get Yakuza 3 and slap people with fish heads in HD.
 

2. Red Dead Redemption

As one of the few people who holds Red Dead Revolver as one of their all time favourite games, Red Dead Redemption was one of the reasons I bought a ps3 back in 2008. That ambiguous Western trailer Rockstar put out at an old E3 was as much evidence I needed to take the £300 plunge. The only preordered game since my teenage years, Red Dead Redemption did not dissapoint.
 

No Caption Provided
   
Just like everyone else, I was hit by RDR's perfection at around the 20 hour mark when I suddenly realised I'd been playing poker and hunting animals rather than doing missions and progressing the story. No other game has nailed the open world format as well as RDR. The simple fact that now, after over 200 hours of play and a prestiged multiplayer profile, all I want to do is get back to my PS3 and hunt some more bears says it all. Oh, and lets not forget the story, THE STORY. I won't ruin anything here but the last 3 hours, from the farm to the credits, is unparalleled. I'll use this space to apologise to all my friends who have had to sit through me showing them the final level, over and over again.
 
If you haven't played Red Dead Redemption yet; Go sell whatever you got for Christmas, and buy this game instead.
 
 

1. Persona 4


I'm sorry guys. I really am. I never wanted to become this guy. The Giant Bomb user who won't shut up about Persona 4 and puts it at the top of his list as if to look COOL and dedicated the cause.
 
No Caption Provided
 

I am truly sorry.


But honestly what can I say. I bought this game fairly recently and haven't been able to put it down. Nor do I want to be able to put it down. As I mentioned previously, Persona 4 sums up my gaming-2010 perfectly. RPG's have never held my attention past a certain point, I've never been able to latch onto the characters and story in any meaningful way. But Persona 4 doesn't have any of the trappings of the stereotypical JRPG. It has down to earth, believable (and importantly, relatable) characters at its core and an intriguing story to pull you through the seemingly unlimited social interactions.
  
After watching the Endurance Run and playing the game for myself, I am truly awestruck at how a PS2 game can be loaded with so much stuff, and so much good stuff at that. From the often hilarious script, and even more hilarious dialogue options, to the insanely catchy soundtrack. The combat is measured but perfectly balanced and it never gets intimidating, even with the immense amount of stuff going on in the game. 
 
 (Credit to           TheSeductiveMoose)
 (Credit to TheSeductiveMoose)
If this game had only the Personas and their fusing system in it, it would still be incredible. If it only had the social interactions, it would be incredible. If it only had the murder mystery plot, it would be incredible. And if it only had the rich and diverse combat system, it would be incredible. 
 
But the fact it has all of these things blows my mind. This is truly a game that everyone should experience, and I shall be forever thankful to GiantBomb for introducing me to it!
 
 

Honourable Mentions

UFC2009
Assassin's Creed 2
Killzone 2
Burnout Paradise
Super Meat Boy 
 
 
Thanks for your reading time in 2010, 
In a bit!
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