Games of 2010
Presented in the order in which I played them. I need to play more games this year, because Heavy Rain has no business, none, zero, anywhere near my top ten.
Presented in the order in which I played them. I need to play more games this year, because Heavy Rain has no business, none, zero, anywhere near my top ten.
List items
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A wretched game save for two moments in particular which, in fairness, were among the biggest "wow" moments for me in all of my years of playing video games. It was a marked improvement over Indigo Prophecy, but that's like saying being hit by a car is better than being hit by a bus.
Let's please remember that video games are, first and foremost, games. As such, they should be entertaining and in all but the rarest of cases, fun. Heavy Rain is most definitely not fun and extremely short on entertainment in the intended sense.
However, I will admit that I still enjoy playing the "Jason!" game in real life.
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A great shooter, and the only other shooter I've enjoyed even a little since Gears of War was MW2. Over a day spent on this game, which is a ton for me.
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Mistakes were made. Really, the SNES version of Tecmo Super Bowl? Oh, and is it too much to ask that Barry Sanders remains healthy for more than one game in five?
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I felt this had promise, but pattern memorization games are incredible lame at this point in the history of video games as far as I'm concerned. Even the musical elements of the game aren't particularly inspired or expertly crafted.
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The obnoxious combat and uncanny valley-ness in Alan Wake mar a game with good atmosphere and a compelling story. It's a good game, but it could have been much better.
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Super Mario Galaxy 2 is a platformer of the highest order with a good sense of progression that feels very familiar to its predecessor. That familiarity is both a positive and a negative.
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It looks like I've finally found a sandbox game that I really like. I'm still a little worried that the wheels will fall off, but barring that: game of the year.
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This is a UFC game for 2010. It's very disconcerting to me, as someone who got paid to write about MMA and who has studied BJJ that I cannot submit anyone in this game.
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I really wanted this to be good, and to my great surprise, it is!
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I thought Limbo was quite good when I beat it, but to be on the verge of a zero death completion and having found all of the preceding secrets makes this worth much more than the 1200 MS point price tag about which so many folks have complained. It is a remarkable experience.
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I wish that there were more maps, or at least more variety to current maps, but I like how approachable this game is and that, unless you're with five totally inept teammates, the online matches are a lot of fun.
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An incredibly frustrating game that is as rewarding as it is difficult. If the game was as creative as it is filled with nostalgia and inclusions from other indie titles, it would probably be one of the all-time greats. As it stands, Super Meat Boy is easily one of the best games of the year.
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Costume Quest put me to sleep twice. The charm could not make up for the tedious and repetitive gameplay.
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It makes me so happy that a new and great version of Pac-Man can be released in 2010. I think it was a great decision to make this game even more about scores and less about trying to survive. This is better than Pac-Man CE in every way.
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This is worth $5.
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I've only beaten the game with Sagat and Hakan thus far. I'll need to play through with the new characters at least as well as try (and fail) at some online before I pass any real judgement. It's fine so far, but it's too similar to Street Fighter IV.
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What a disappointment. It's a far cry from the fun of the original and Tournament Edition and the changes don't make up for its shortfalls. All those who lamented the $50 price tag were smarter than me.
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I played through Mass Effect for the first time this year in order to be properly prepared to play Mass Effect 2. Mass Effect 2 is better in every way, and I found it difficult to put the game down. I wish I had played this sooner.
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I'm glad I stuck with Donkey Kong Country Returns. It is definitely not meant to be rushed through, unless you happen to be trying a time attack. The final world is easily the best in the game, and the area unlocked after the final boss is intriguing. It is not as good as the original Donkey Kong Country, and I wouldn't recommend paying full price for it, but Donkey Kong Country Returns is both an easy and brief platformer with lots of collectables. I just wish the boss battles had been better developed.
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It's very easy to lose track of time while trying to progress in Angry Birds. Not a ton of fun, but it is simple, accessible, and priced well.
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The multiplayer remains the main event of the series. I like some of the ideas that Treyarch had with Black Ops presentation and story, but I find the single player game to be frustrating and dull. I still need to play Zombies.
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I can't get into the standard game mode where two wiki pages are thrown out and you must get from point A to point B in as few clicks as possible, but I am down the "6 Click to Jesus" mode.
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This is the most addictive game of the year for me, but there are a lot of elements to the game that don't make a lot of sense or belie the game's lack of refinement. If you have a tendency toward gaming OCD, you should play this game. If you have actual OCD, you should not play this game.
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The presentation is superb, but I hate being penalized for hitting walls and (sometimes parked in the middle of the street) cars. Isn't being lousy at racing games enough of a penalty?
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Serious UH action. Kind of janky, kind of repetitive, but it has thus far clicked with me.
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I was intimidated by VVVVVV before I played Super Meat Boy. I wish I had picked this up earlier to enjoy it's great music and fun puzzle platforming. I also wish that a few of the rooms were not designed for maximum frustration. Connecting multiple rooms together doesn't always work well, but it's not a problem throughout much of the game. The controls are better suited to a game pad than a keyboard, but that only becomes apparent during the really demanding parts of the game, of which there are only a few. Fortunately, the game doesn't drag but does have plenty of collectables and alternate modes which promote returning to the game even after completing the story.
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I bought this because I saw it on Giant Bomb and Tested. I'm not the biggest puzzle game fan in the world, so I'm probably missing out on some of the nuance, but it feels like a pretty bland puzzle game to me.
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Well suited for the iPhone and good for a few minutes of distraction, but very repetitive and not especially fun.
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