Best of 2010
awakethefallen: Best of 2010
List items
-
If I wanted to sum up my experience with this game real quickly, I would just say, the game is worth all of the praise that Grand Theft Auto IV got and didn't really deserve. I won't just say that, because the game deserves more. Like the previous three games on the list and overall this year, I feel like games got pretty dramatically better in the story department this year. There are so many emorable moments, any time in the rain. In particular, what stands out for me is being on the MacFarlane Ranch and rounding up the cows in the pasture. Getting to Mexico for the first time and hearing the song. Climbing up the mountain for the first time. Everything that I thought was a flaw in GTAIV (aside from kind of dragging on here and there) was fixed and improved pretty heavily in Red Dead. Plus this has the added benefit of having the Undead Nightmare DLC, which is just so funny. Sometime after I beat these other games (cause I actually did complete this one!) I want to go back and do some of the side missions. Did not have a better experience with a game this year though, it's a game I could sit down and play for hours, one of those, "Just one more level!" kind of games and there is no higher praise I can think of for a game!
-
No surprise here, that I love this game. I wrote a long love letter to it a little earlier this year and I feel the same way about the game now that I did then. If I have any gripes about the game, I do wish that another pass or two had been done on the script and the story, just to help things make a little bit more sense. Overall though, Quantum Theory did a pretty amazing job. The game plays like few (and pretty much no other console games do) others and just has so many memorable moments that haunt you and ask you what you would do if you were in the same situation, the empty warehouse and a moment involving a finger come to mind. I'd like to come back around this game and play it some more when I finally get around to picking up Move. Until then, "Jaaaaaaaaaaasoooooooon!"
-
This game makes me wish I had just a little bit longer to have written this list, because it's a definite contender for my game of the year. If there were anything holding me back and maybe this will happen a little later in the game (surprise, another game I have yet to beat!), but there's nothing, aside from the multiplayer, that this game has offered me that the other two games in the series and in particular 2, didn't offer me. What's on this disc is pretty incredible though and I love how this game and this series as a whole surprises you with where it's going.
-
If this were a game that surprised me the most list, then hands down the winner of that list would be Enslaved. Ninja Theory's first game this generation, Heavenly Swords, had moments that impressed me, but as a whole I was less than satisfied with the experience of playing that game. Enslaved, for the most part, is the complete opposite. I still need to finish, so take that caveat, but I've played a good chunk of the game and I love the sense of discovery you get when playing the game and the characters of Monkey and Trip, are so well written and acted. This would also win a list that was of games that I wish had been more successful. Really, if you haven't checked out this yet, go play the demo at least!
-
2010 was a pretty big year for gaming and there was a lot to look forward too. Sequels to most of the big franchises came out; God of War, Halo, Call of Duty, Tomb Raider, ect., and there was some exciting new stuff as well. So it's kind of saying something that this game is the game I was looking forward to more than any other this year, especially when you add the fact that I don't even own a Wii.
Ever since I saw the leaked concept art for the game, hearing how this was going to be a big push to get Mickey back in the mainstream and make him a legitimate character again and not just a corporate icon, well, had me so excited. Now that the game is out and I've borrowed my little sisters Wii and played enough (several hours into the game) to know my thoughts about it, does it live up to the hype that was set for it and the hype that I set for it? Well, almost.
Is almost enough? Yeah, I think so. I think the game, for the most part, looks pretty great for a Wii game (though I think stuff like the Mario Galaxy games look better), there are a couple of rough spots here and there however. I think any of the flaws you could find with the game and I hope this is remedied somehow through ports, is that the game is on the Wii, which is such a limited console.
Don't get me wrong, what is there is pretty fun, I don't really get any of the complaints of the game, I think the thinner and paint mechanic is fun and I like the quest puzzles. You can pretty much control the camera and again, I think the animation of, especially Mickey and the other main characters, is great. I absolutely love the animated bits between/during levels and I love seeing Oswald as part of the Disney lexicon again. I'm a bit disappointed Disney hasn't pushed the game harder, released merchandise to complement the game, but I'm not going to knock the game. Anyway, my biggest complaint is that most of the problems, including the scope of the game play, could be fixed if they port the game to the Move and Kinect. And really, outside of laziness, there isn't a single reason not to do that.
-
I know, I know, another 2009 game I've added to this list. However, I didn't cheat on this one, because the version I'm actually talking about did come out in 2010 and that is the PS2 version. I'm sure the Wii version is better, but I think that the PS2 is a solid version of a pretty amazing game. I love the reinvention of Silent Hill that Climax pulled off and the series is definitely in need of something new, you can't keep doing the nurses and Pyramid Head forever! I love the story though, 2010 was a pretty good year for story in gaming and this was one of the better examples.
-
So this is the only cheating I'm going to be doing on this list, because this is a game that technically came out last year. I didn't jump on board until this year however, being convinced by the (at the time) huge thread on GAF about the game. There was some worry that the game would be too much for me (I'm a rage gamer) and I'm pretty happy to say it's not. If only because I know my place. I know this game is going to beat and embarrass me every time I play it. That's what I love about it, though! You have to play to perfection in order to succeed and I just love that challenge. I haven't got very far, but if there's one game that I know I'll be playing, possibly years from now (if the servers hold) it's this one. Can't think of higher praise than that!
-
Again, have played both the handheld (iPhone) and the console (PS3) versions of this, though like last year and Trials HD, I've only played a bit of it. I have played enough to know that I completely love it. Like RE5 last year (which, in retrospect, I probably should have given my GotY last year to Uncharted 2, slightly over RE5) it's a game you have to play with another person. Be it over Live or PSN or with someone sitting by you. It's so much fun solving the puzzles in this game and if there wasn't a really intriguing looking preview out there, I would say that this is the direction they should go for the Tomb Raider franchise. As is, everything I've seen of the new game has me stoked!
-
Played some of this on both Live Arcade and on my iPhone and the iPhone version is definitely my favorite of the two. Like Peggle last year, there wasn't a more fun, relaxing game to turn to than PvZ. If I'm stressed out at another game, PvZ is the game I turn to. Had a stressful day at work? PvZ. You get the picture, but I absolutely love Popcap games and I hope they continue on this path, there isn't a developer out there who is making a game that's more fun than theirs.
-
I've been pretty critical of Bungie and their storytelling ability for awhile now. Reach doesn't completely bring me around, there is a bit of shallowness to the characters, but it's easily their best story since Combat Evolved. I haven't played any of the multiplayer, but I kind of know what to expect from that and as long as it isn't broken (which I haven't heard anything like that), Halo is my online shooter of choice. There definitely felt like there was a bit of fatigue going on there though, so I'm glad we're entering into a new era for the franchise. I'm excited and hopeful that the somewhat stale formula is changed a bit by 343 and I'm excited about seeing what Bungie has in store next.
0 Comments