Best of 2010
Here is a list, in no particular order, of my favorite games of the year.
List items
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2010 did its best to start the show with the showstopper. It succeeded. There's not another game this year that combines awesome narrative with sweet gameplay like good ol' ME2. A little lighter on the RPG stuff than I would've personally cared for, but unquestionably, at least in my mind, the most well put together game of the year.
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I don't know exactly what I was expecting from Red Dead. I knew it'd be good, Rockstar games always are. But I didn't realize HOW good it'd be until I stopped to help a lady on the side of the road, only to be ambushed by her desperado cohorts. Dispatching them, and then meting out a little Snidely Whiplash vengeance by tying her to the train tracks, watching her get blasted into chunky salsa and earning an achievement I didn't even know existed. This game rules.
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Feels kind of like a cop out to put a remake on this list, but to be fair, it's a remake of arguably the best and fully featured pokemon games in the series. Playing this took me back to high school, Game Boy Color clutched firmly in hand, playing a game that, while ostensibly for children, was one of the most complex and rewarding games I'd ever experienced. And it still is.
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Oh, Alpha Protocol. What are you doing here? You're buggy, with nigh unwinnable boss fights! And yet, you did with narrative what games like Mass Effect only play at. Specifically, the player's effect on it. I can forgive your trespasses when you let me end boss fights in completely different ways each time I play you, or skip them entirely. Or do minor things differently in game and get a completely different ending. It's a shame we'll never get a sequel.
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I fucking hate this game. It's hard and stupid and oh god I must keep playing it yes sir may I have another FUCK FUCK YOU SUPER MEAT BOY COCKSUCKER must keep playing yes play forever SON OF A FUCK ASSHOLE MEAT FUCKER one more try
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Shank was a darling at PAX 2009, but by the time PAX 2010 rolled around nobody seemed to care. But I cared, Shank. I cared so much. I love your Robert Rodriguez flavor, your hundreds of enemies with five unique names, the way you let me kill and maim until I've reached murder nirvana. I CARE.
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After the crushing disappointment that was Scribblenauts, I went into this one with some trepidation. But in a rare instance of a developer learning from their mistakes, Super fixes every problem I had with the first game, making it the game I wanted the first time.
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Super Street Fighter IV is a quandary. While in most cases, if you were to release a better version of a game you released a year prior, there would be riots in the streets, SSFIV dodged that bullet with gusto. Maybe because they priced it accordingly, maybe because every improvement they made to the game made it worlds better than the previous version, maybe because Cody's in it. In any case, this is one game I don't mind having bought twice.
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I love NBA Jam. When they said a new one was coming out, I was pumped. When they said it was Wii exclusive, I was depressed. When they said we'd get it with Elite, I planned to buy Elite. When they said it would be a full game, my long dark journey was over, and I rested at the feet of my new basketball god.
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I shouldn't be putting this here. I've been playing it for about a week or two. But Star Trek Online was the start of a sort of revelation in my life. Back when the beta was running, and the Giant Bomb crew would not shut the fuck up about Star Trek, I decided to go back and watch the entirety of The Next Generation. Seasons 1 and 2 included. I have been watching the show on and off throughout the year, and it's awakened an interest in Star Trek I wasn't aware I had. I finally came back to the game a couple of weeks ago, and was blown away with the additions they had made in such a short time. So I'll give STO my 10 spot, if only for unearthing my inner trek fan. (I am not a fucking trekkie.)
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