RedRocketWestie: Best of 2010
2010 found me finally going back and playing a lot of older, neglected games from years past, like Deus Ex and Uplink, so it wasn't exactly easy to find 10 games from this year that I've played enough to pass judgment on. That said, being selective about the games I played did make it easier to justify them as standouts in their own way.
I was a fool. I played the original Meat Boy with a keyboard and wrote off the sequel. I only picked it up because it was reduced to $10, but I've since bought it a second time for PC. It is all-consuming, and the most satisfying game I've played in years. A fantastic return to tough-but-fair gameplay that I can only hope is a sign of things to come.
Where some might call it short, I call it densely packed with atmosphere and emotion. Dragging this game out for even one extra hour wouldn't have done it any favors. It's perfect just as it is.
Fuck the haters. Dead Rising 2 did exactly what it should have -- followed up Dead Rising with more of the same, only more fun and less frustrating. Capcom delivered.
It might be true that I never would have picked up Enslaved for full disc price, but what it lacks in shelf appeal, it makes up for in fresh, vibrant storytelling and top-notch voice and motion acting. The gameplay might feel familiar or mashy, but it's solid and genuinely challenging all the same. Bottom line: if you find yourself dissatisfied by 1-dimensional characters and insipid writing, this game is more than worth a look.
Can this count for 2010? It's technically still not even released, but this year is when I (and most of the world) discovered it. Any day now, I'm going to rediscover it all over and get sucked in for hours and hours and hours just like the first time. There's a level of satisfaction you don't get from a traditional game when you can build everything in your world from the ground up with your bare hands.
Forget all that pretentious crap I said about Super Meat Boy and Limbo. Sometimes you just want to light up the pleasure centers of your brain with some gratuitous destruction. Completionists beware: this game is fun as hell and the map is huge (and packed with stuff to do).
Joe Danger flew just under my radar and then came out of left field with suprisingly deep platforming, lots of variation in level/goal types, and the perfect amount of carrot-dangling to keep me motivated.
This game is the good friend that I don't hang out with enough. It's fun; it's rewarding; it's a quick, distilled online multiplayer experience. I'd feel more guilty about leaving it idle, but Quick Match can be drastically less fun than going in with a team who communicates.
For a game with such a stripped-down aesthetic, VVVVVV manages a surprising amount of emotional investment by the time you're finished. The gameplay is novel and challenging as well. Terry Cavanagh delivers yet again with exactly what's needed in a game and nothing more.
I wish I'd taken the time to get to know Chime better. Perhaps someday I will, but for now, it remains a game I got passably good at, then left to collect dust. The musical tie-ins, the tetris-like gameplay, and the risk/reward of the combo system drew me in. This will always hold a place in my mental catalogue of great puzzle games. I just wish I were better at it.
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