Best of 2010
Pickingwings: What a great year for games, with some amazing sequels, awesome remakes and reboots, and some of the best games to come from indie developers. I could not be any happier this year and here is my top ten to show that.
List items
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God damn Meat Boy. Just look at big fat grin; he knows that you are trapped in this continuous cycle of death, trying to save Bandage Girl, but only to die by a pesky saw blade. LOOK AT THAT BASTARD!! He is so freaking charming, yet that damn Dr. Fetus is always blocking his way, with those annoying spikes, pit falls, meat seeking missiles, and other traps meant for Meat Boy. No matter how many times Meat Boy dies though, the pure satisfaction achieved after persevering through those hellish, tough-as-nails levels is priceless. Accompanying those intense moments of platforming is a killer soundtrack that just fits the atmosphere and shows the progression of Meat Boy, as it progresses from retro tunes to fully orchestrated music to signal the (near) end for Meat Boy's long journey. This game also has some of the best cutscenes I have seen in a while, with a few nods to some classic games, and some of the most hilarious cutscenes I've seen in a while, and trust me, I haven't laughed out loud from a game before. It is almost absurd to consider that this is an indie game produced by two people, with a low price of $15. Bravo, Team Meat, bravo.
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God I love the Assassin's Creed series, and I love stabbing people in the neck with a hidden blade, but surely after this third entry to the franchise I would get bored doing the same hand motion with the blade right? Well I'll tell you, it never, NEVER, gets boring stabbing people. To think that it was only a year ago that they released the much improved Assassin's Creed II, that I thought they had reached their maximum potential. Well Ubisoft went all up in my face, and flat out said "No, we'll do you even better". They had created a stellar single player, with the new features of calling up your "posse" to do your deeds of stabbing people, and a fantastic story that follows off from the Assassin's Creed II's cliffhanger and leaves with another nail biting cliffhanger. Ubisoft even added a multiplayer that is GOOD, with the idea based off a cat and mouse game, with stabbing. I have never seen such a franchise like the Assassin's Creed series to bloom like this, adding so many significant changes to the series with each following sequel, and I can not wait for the next game so I can assassinate some more Templars.
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I probably don't need to say this, as most of you would already know, but Kratos is just one angry spartan. Yeah, yeah, you heard it all before, but Kratos is so pissed at the Gods that he will kill everything and anything standing in his way to reach Mount Olympus. Then what's so great about playing as a pissed off guy? The great boss fights, while feeling pissed off, that's what. Ten minutes in from starting the game and you are already fighting those gigantic, vicious water dragons, and then continue to beat the God of the Ocean, Poseidon, into a bloody pulp. How can you not get sucked into this game with stellar opening like that? Though Kratos can be a little bit too much to handle, that's what makes playing as him so enjoyable. Killing Gods all great, but killing them in stunning, visceral, HD graphics is even better. God of War III has done an incredible job in finishing off this trilogy, and with a fitting end to Kratos's journey, I would not have it any other way.
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Generally I'm not a online multiplayer type of person. I have such a huge backlog of games, with so little time to play them, that I fine online multiplayer to be obsolete. Yet, I still find time in my busy schedule to play a couple of rounds of squad deathmatch, or rush mode. The online is absolutely the best part of Bad Company 2, with a good mix of game modes, a perfectly balanced class system, and some of the biggest maps for a shooter ever. Sure, there is a worthy single player mode, but when I pop Bad Company 2 into my PS3 I will most likely be spending my time shooting some human players in the face.
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Many consider NBA Jam to be one of the arcade classics, and growing up in the late 90s, I hadn't gotten a chance to play this game. Now that this game has been rebooted for home consoles, I finally see what all the fuss is about. I'm not really a huge sports fan, and I barely know my own state's basketball team, so to play this and be hooked instantly on the ridiculous, over-the-top, arcade style action basketball game, that has got to mean something. This game truly deserves the description "easy to play, but difficult to master". But just like in an arcade, you don't come to play by yourself, you come to play with your friends, and boy does this not disappoint. With a fun 2v2 game setup and a plethora of game modes and unlockables, this has become my go to game when I get a group of friends to come over. Lastly, who can forget the great announcer Tim Kitzrow? "Knock knock. Who's there? BOOMSHAKALAKA!"
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Oh Kingdom Hearts 3, where art thou? It has been 5 years since Kingdom Hearts 2, and yet I hear no word from you. I guess your little brother Birth by Sleep will do for now. Don't get me wrong, Birth by Sleep is an exceptional follow up to the franchise that plays like a regular Kingdom Hearts game. You get to visit some brand new worlds, hack and slash your way through some new enemies, and experience the same charming atmosphere that made me fall in love with the series in the first place. While I wait for Kingdom Hearts 3, this game is still a very well done game that will soothe my hunger for now.
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Okay to start this off, the game Ys is pronounced "eace" as in "peace". Now that we got that out of the way, I have never heard of Ys before and mostly likely neither have you. Nor have I played any of the games in this apparently long running series. After finally acquiring a copy of this game, I was glad to discover I had not blown my money on just another cliche JRPG. The game's beautifully orchestrated music not only complements the emotional times of this game, but adds to the fast paced, action packed RPG, as you move quickly from dungeon to dungeon. Then there are some of the most intense boss fights, all there is to say is "Wow". This is definitely one of the hidden gems of this year for the PSP that I do not regret checking out.
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Joe Danger is just one Bad A$$ guy. I mean he has Danger in his name and you watch him do totally rad stunt tricks off of a ramp with turbo boost on. Joe Danger is in every way what a game should be, simple yet fun. The game has some light-hearted cartoony visuals that only adds to this blissful experience that makes you feel like you were a kid again playing with toy motorcycles. The fine folks at Hello Games have made a fine dirt racing game that expertly combined some elements of Excitebike with Little Big Planet that I could not be happier putting this game on my list.
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I am just a sucker for Pokemon games; maybe it has something to do with the fact that my whole childhood was playing Pokemon on my Game Boy. So it was no surprise that when this game was released, I just had to buy it day one. For a while I had been sucked into this game where all I did was play nothing but Pokemon, clocking almost at 150 hours. HeartGold stays very true to its roots not alienating to far from the original game, while changing it up a bit to make it a whole new experience for veterans. Even though this is Pokemon game through and through, it was fun to play this game and reminisce about some of my childhood memories of one of my favorite games in the series.
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Bioshock is considered to be one of the greatest games of this decade story wise. From the beginning when you enter the bathysphere discovering Rapture, to the first time you meet those huge armored, drill wielding Big Daddies, Rapture was just one big mystery ready to be explored. While Bioshock's strong suit was the story, Bioshock 2's improved combat makes the game much more tolerable and fun to shoot those crazy splicers to be worthy of another trip through Rapture. Though Rapture wasn't as interesting a second time through, and Sophia Lamb isn't that great of a villain compared to Andrew Ryan or Fontaine, Bioshock 2 makes up for it when you enjoy yourself destroying the crazy citizens of Rapture with your big awesome drill as a Big Daddy.
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