I need some help, everyone

Hello, GiantBomb. I'm back, for those who remember me. 
Anyways, I'll get right to the point. I haven't played a single video game in two years, and know nothing of what has happened in the industry. I need to know what I need to play. My brother purchased a few games I'll try, Alan Wake, Red Dead Redemption and Assassin's Creed 2. I need to know all the best titles, be they very popular or lesser known. I've missed a lot, and I've got to catch up. 
Thanks!

Vanquish, Bayonetta and Darksiders

@buft said:

Vanquish, Bayonetta and Darksiders

these

Demon's Souls.

just look at reviews.

Sounds like you missed Mass Effect 2. You need that. And also Mass Effect 1 if you haven't already played that.

welcome back, BoG. Picross 3D is a game that i think everyone should play, provided that you own a DS. 

Borderlands.

Hey, it's BoG. Welcome back duder. I really don't know what to suggest since so many games have been and gone in that time. I guess I might as well be the first person to suggest you check out Minecraft. Or at least watch youtube video's of people doing crazy shit with the game. It's insane the things people do with that game.

Uncharted 2. Giant Bomb's Game of the Year 2009.

Two years?! Boy..that's....that's a long time..

Hum..what everyone already said, plus: Assassins Creed Brotherhood, Uncharted 2(?), Need for Speed Hot Pursuit, Dead Space 2, L.A. Noire...there's a bunch. It really depends on what you like.

Demon's Souls and Starcraft 2 
 
Nothing else matters

Hey, it's BoG. Welcome back duder. I really don't know what to suggest since so many games have been and gone in that time. I guess I might as well be the first person to suggest you check out Minecraft. Or at least watch youtube video's of people doing crazy shit with the game. It's insane the things people do with that game.

Whoa, welcome back!

There are too many things that have happened the last two years that everything can't be covered in just a forum post. The best titles...... LA Noire is a recent one that's really excellent.

I would recommend just going through Giant Bomb reviews, that'll give you a pretty good idea of the major releases and how good or bad they are.

Welcome back, BoG!

To avoid posting a long list of games that would span two years, I'll just make my top recommendation: Metroid: Other M. If you have a Wii, you should give that game a shot.

@buft said:

Vanquish, Bayonetta and Darksiders

These :) Though i'v not played darksiders. But i love Wanquish and Bayonetta :)

Mass Effect 2.

Darksiders yo!

Two years of no game news, eh? Well, I feel that you should know this:  
 
Have a seat, first. 
 
You're sitting? Good.
 
Duke Nukem Forever is out.   
 
Let that sink in.

Mass Effect 2, StarCraft 2 and Uncharted 2 are easily the best games of the last couple of years.

L.A noire, crysis 2, assassin's creed 2 and assassin's creed brotherhood, batman arkham asylum.

@buft said:

Vanquish, Bayonetta and Darksiders

i can not think of a single way to get burned out on games faster than that!

Play Portal 2, trust me you will thank me later

i dont know what platform you play on and what genre you like so check out some vids before you buy but here are some of my suggestions

dirt3, la noire, outland, mortal kombat 9, portal 2, killzone 3, you dont know jack, little big planet 2, dead space 2, pac-man champions edition dx, need for speed hot porsuit, assasins creed brotherhood, call of duty black ops, rock band 3, and or dj hero 2, enslaved odysey to the west, limbo, civ 5, helo reach, star craft 2, risk faction, singularity, split/second, skate 3, just cause 2, battlefield bad company 2, cod mw 2, heavy rain, mass effect 2 infamous 2.

and oh yeah duke nukem forever finaly came out so get that to, its not great but its good.

thats some of them

@ShaggE said:

Two years of no game news, eh? Well, I feel that you should know this:   Have a seat, first.  You're sitting? Good. Duke Nukem Forever is out.    Let that sink in.

Whoa. I think you just blew my mind.  No way! And I'm glad to hear Mass Effect 2 was good. I've got to get that one.

Castle Crashers is a great XBLA game and Half Life 2 episode 3. Sike!! its still not out. :(

Super Meat Boy.

Mass Effect 2, Uncharted 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Read Dead Redemption. These are all the top contenders for GB's GOTY for the past two years, and they are all fantastic.

Also, may I ask what you've been up to for two years? Did you just not feel like playing games for a while, or have you been away doing other stuff?

Deadly Premonition

http://i.somethingawful.com/u/lowtax/2010/04/dp_box.jpg

If you can hang around then wait till maybe a couple of months have passed and grab a copy of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings.

A very cool game. Oh and welcome back duder, plus a piece of advice: check out the happy hours on the video page, some of them are free to non-subscribers.

Mass Effect 2, Uncharted 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Read Dead Redemption. These are all the top contenders for GB's GOTY for the past two years, and they are all fantastic.

Also, may I ask what you've been up to for two years? Did you just not feel like playing games for a while, or have you been away doing other stuff?

Man distilling two years worth of games down to a few is a hard task. I think the ones you've chosen already are good choices. Other games I'd recommend are Uncharted 2 and Mass Effect 2 (GB GOTY 2009 and 2010 respectively) as well as Portal 2 and Borderlands.

Also, welcome back duder!

I honestly didn't read over every response so these have likely been said already for the most part but I'll throw them out there. In no particular order. Probably end up a little longish and I'm too lazy to link to the games.

• Assassins Creed Brotherhood - if you like assassins creed 2 at all then you simply have to play this too.
• infamous 2 has been pretty good so far
• Uncharted 2 - I think it is coming up on 2 years old pretty soon, but if you haven't played it and you can it is worth it.
• Mortal Kombat - I suck at fighting games but have always sort of enjoyed watching people play them. I got this and am actually sort of okay at it and it plays great.
• Darksiders is great, basically a dark Zelda game.
• Enslaved sort of went under the radar but I really enjoyed it.
• Portal 2 - it's portal 2, seriously, just play it.
• Bioshock 2 - It is a decent game, I think it got crapped on a little because it was just more Bioshock but without the impact of the first game. However, the DLC Minerva's Den is very good. You can get the game pretty cheap and the DLC shouldn't be too expensive. Worth picking up even if you ONLY play that DLC.
• Batman Arkham Asylum - Just great.
• Dead Space 2
• Mass Effect 2
• Need for Speed Hot Pursuit
• Super Meat Boy
• Pac Man CE DX - If only to listen to the fantastic menu music
• Dead Rising 2 Case Zero - for many it was just enough Dead Rising to make them happy
• Limbo
• Shadow Complex - Again, this one is I think just about 2 years old at this point. Great game still.

Honorable Mention

• LA Noire - If you don't expect more than a pretty point and click adventure this is pretty good. I sort of feel this is a must see, even if not a must play/complete.
• Picross 3D - it is a good time stealer puzzle game. Maybe not the caliber of game some of the rest of these are but it is entertaining.
• Bayonetta - I only played about 30 minutes. Something about the game didn't feel right to me but it seems most people enjoy it, may be worth checking out.
• Deadly Premonition - I only played about an hour before I set it aside for other games but I still intend to go back. It's an interesting game, maybe not good but I think it has something neat going on. I'm not sure I could actually recommend it though.

• Batman Arkham Asylum is an honest to goodness good Batman title and a great game overall.
• Dragon Age Origins came out at the end of 2009, so you might have missed it.  This is one that is definately better on PC than consoles.  A lot of folks were a tad disappointed with the sequel but it depends who you ask.
• Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is a short but fun game somewhat similar in game play to Uncharted but also Ico. 
• Bayonetta is a DMC style action game but with a wild and over-the-top mix of sexuality and chaos. 
  

Welcome back duder!  Play Super Mario Galaxy 2.

Remember the games you loved two years ago, play their sequels. Welcome back.

Nier!

Deadly Premonition. 
 
@Jeust said:

Nier!

Tetris

Oh man, BoG is back?  
 
First off, you should jump on PSN and get your free Welcome Back (coincidence?) games.  I would certainly pick inFamous for one of the PS3 games.  In recent months, I've been playing a lot of Mortal Kombat and recently inFamous 2.

Vanquish  
Super Scribblenauts 
Mass Effect 2 
Demon's Souls 
L.A. Noire 

Holy crap guys. BoG is back. It's like 2008 all over again! Give this man a moderation position and an MP3 player full of the last 2 years of the Giant Bombcast! 
 
So yeah, here's some of the more notable retail games of the past 2 years: Mass Effect 2 
Dragon Age Origins (probably not dragon age 2) 
L.A. Noire 
Fallout New Vegas 
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Mortal Kombat
Dead Space 2
Assassin's Creed II
Bayonetta
Super Street Fighter IV
Heavy Rain
Darksiders
Silent Hill Shattered Memories
and err... ummm... Demon's Souls?

Man, it's been two years? Damn. 

Man, it's been two years? Damn.