JoeAverage: Best of 2010
It seems to best way to make a hit this year was to take a game that did well and improve it. Eight out of ten of the games on my list are sequels to great games that improved on what was so good about their progenitors.
What can I say? This game nailed it. A game that is just fun to play sitting on top of a great setting. The game had enjoyable characters that I actually ended up giving a shit about in a story that did more than just move the game along.
Brutally good fun. The same God of War gameplay I've seen before polished to a mirror shine. The franchise that put QTE on the map shows that yes, QTE and actually be fun and add to a game, instead of just make cutscenes frustrating. Pressing in both thumb sticks to gouge out Neptune's eyes or manually twisting off Helios' head were some of the most enjoyable cut scenes ever, not to mention tactilely pleasing.
While Fallout 3 felt like a Bethesda game in Fallout's clothing, New Vegas feels like a Fallout game in Bethesda's clothing. In New Vegas the world, characters, and tone felt more true to the first two games while operating in a TES engine, where Fallout 3 was a great game, but felt a bit like Oblivion with a borrowed setting. A odd thing to niggle about, but I think it sums up the game.
This is a game that really grows on you. I had written this game off as just a cash grab level pack for Assassin's Creed 2, but I was fortunately mistaken. The game really wants you to think that's what it is, but slowly tips its hand. While it starts off as AC2, every few missions they introduce something new, or reintroduce an improved mechanic. By the end of the game it has moved so far past the previous title it is kind of impressive how far a game can come in a year. While some of the game is copy pasted, it's mostly stuff that makes sense. The art, characters, and some of the geometry, but it doesn't matter. Since the characters and setting have so much overlap, it fits (and it let them get the game out the door in a year).
Fun improvement to the core of ME1. They cut away the fat, removing the dumb vehicle sections and awful inventory management while adding game play improvements and Miranda's hexagon clad ass. The story suffered like all middle trilogy children. Mass Effect is following the typical path of having the first installment set up the world in a mostly self-contained story, second treads water while setting up for the big battle in number three. That doesn't really matter, because in the end the game had fun missions, satisfying moral choices (for either alignment), and an entertaining supporting cast of characters.
Easily the best RTS single player campaign I've ever seen. Multi was a blast with friends. I don't really know what else to say: It's Starcraft, but in 3D with a 2 at the end.
The best Halo yet. The campaign was fun, and better coop. The missions were varied with no noticeable backtracking and better yet, no appearance of The Flood. Multi was improved again for Reach and ignore the stupid TK punishment the best I've seen on a console.
Turned on my Wii for the first time since 2008 to play this, and I wasn't disappointed. Really, this is just an expansion to Mario Galaxy, but that's not a bad thing!
This game is like the perfect weekend house guest: a few hours of great conversation, tons of charm and personality, and doesn't overstay its welcome. Only issues I found were one half-bugged riddle, a final puzzle with piss poor directions, and somewhat uneven puzzle difficulty. I really hope this is the first in a series.
While this game wasn't as memorable as the original, I think it is a better game. While the new game doesn't have the watershed moments that Bioshock did (experiencing Rapture for the first time, learning the connection between you and Andrew Ryan, or the first meeting in his office), every other aspect tops the original. The encounters with Big Sisters and Daddies were much better, after the second level of the original game Big Daddies were a small nuisance standing between you and upgrade juice. In Bioshock 2 they seemed to scale better, and there was legitimate panic when I heard the shrieks of an approaching Big Sister.
