Happy New Years Eve to everyone! 2010 was a crazy year in gaming, with motion controls grabbing many of the headlines. But this year was also a big year in software releases. While many titles seemed to be sequels there were tons of games to play. Here are our top games of 2010.
Darren’s Top Games:
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood
Highly overlooked for some reason since the first title didn’t impress critics but since then they have only become better and better. Offering a trifecta in my opinion for the perfect game 1. Fun,entertaining gameplay 2. Great graphics and design 3. A story that will pull you in yet make it fun getting to the ending.
Mass Effect 2
Better than the first title in my opinion. Ever since completing it I can’t wait to see how certain choices affect my game and after the trailer at the VGA’s I am so excited to finally make it to Mass Effect’s version of Earth.
Halo: Reach
The first story in a Halo game that I was able to follow fully and actually got me caught up during some of the cutscenes. It was a great campaign to play with friends and the multiplayer blew me away after being unimpressed with Halo 3 multiplayer.
Andy’s Top Games:
Battlefield Bad Company 2
Dice & EA have the best shooter of 2010. With destructible environments and game modes that encourage and reward team based game play there is not much more you can ask for in a shooter. The class based combat is extremely well balanced and has custom load outs so you can setup your character how you like. With new maps coming regularly and an entire expansion coming Dec 21 it looks like BFBC2 could make the Games of the Year list for 2011 as well.
Monday Night Combat
There were a lot of great Xbox Live Arcade titles in 2010 but Monday Night Combat was clearly the best. It has a huge following for both the co-op and multiplayer game modes and has already received the first of three DLC packs. Under the brightly, colorful graphic style is a deeply strategic team based shooter.
Rock Band 3
For fans of music rhythm games Rock Band 3 is by far the best one available. The addition of the keyboard is a lot of fun and there are thousands of songs you can get. The new sorting options make it easy to find the songs you are in the mood to play. Harmonix has the best party game this year, but you can also learn to play guitar and keyboard in the new pro mode.
Red Dead Redemption
The scope of Red Dead Redemption is massive. The game world is huge and has hundreds of different things for you to do. The main campaign alone is easily over 20 hours and there are even more side missions to do if you want. There are also co-op and multiplayer modes as well as multiple DLC packs to expand the main game. The story ranges from hilariously absurd to heartwrenchingly sad and it sucks you in from start to finish.
Mass Effect 2
Continuing the story of Commander Shepherd in Mass Effect 2 makes for the best role playing game of 2010. The developers took the feedback on the original Mass Effect and made the sequel even better. It is a must play for RPG fans with an incredible and deep story. The combat has been nicely improved and there are so many different ending that you’ll be playing through at least a few times if not more.
Assassins Creed Brotherhood
With both a great single player campaign and amazing multiplayer the newest Assassin’s Creed is a great continuation to the series. There are not many games coming out between now and spring which gives plenty of time for this massive campaign. The single player alone is worth getting the game, but the multiplayer has a unique mix of hide and seek with knives. Ubisoft has already announced 2 free new games modes and maps are coming and they plan to continue to support Brotherhood.
Giancarlo’s Top Games:
Super Street Fighter IV
Making its previous installment even better, Super Street Fighter IV gave us a better game with vast improvements and additions making it more balanced a lot more fun. Introducing two new fighters and bringing back some old favorites from previous Street Fighter installments, the game provided us with a hearty roster of 35 unique fighters with his or her own attacks and fighting styles. They also brought back Super and Ultra combos which allowed for various combos and strategies. Even for gamers who weren’t familiar with the series, this game truly let them know how awesome Street Fighter games can be.
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Sure it’s a sequel to an older game, but Super Mario Galaxy 2 gave us a fresh experience to a great platform title by adding new gameplay elements and a lot more variety in its level designs. Being able to utilize Yoshi opened up new ways to play the levels and gave us more different challenges to face including new power-ups, puzzles, and enemies. The game also gave us a robust galaxy of levels to explore and provided us with even more challenges even after the game was completed. Despite being 25 years old, Mario still finds a way to impress us with his legendary jumps.
John’s Top Games:
Red Dead Redemption
It’s won a awards and has been a staple in my Xbox all year. The sheer amount of stuff to do in the game makes it one of the best bang for the buck games out there. On top of the gameplay action it’s a great looking game and an experience. Rockstar Games remained innovative and ground breaking with RDR and I’m looking forward to their next release L.A. Noire in 2011.
Call of Duty Black Ops
While I wasn’t a fan of the singleplayer campaign, the HOURS of multiplayer fun and action make up for the singleplayer downfalls. Multiplayer mixes in all the pluses of past COD games and brings new aspects like Wager Matches and gives gamers a great experience. With numerous unlocks and awards to achieve there is lots of goals to keep gamers tied in.
NBA 2k11
This year 2k Sports got me hooked on an NBA game. I was never a big fan in the past but this year the revamped controls and the Michael Jordan Mode makes NBA 2k11 one of the best sports games of 2010. Playing out memorable MJ games with classic stars is a blast and offers up a nice gameplay change to the normal sports career modes. Oh and the game looks AMAZING, the graphics and details are just mind blowing and the end of game recaps/replay system is awesome!
Mafia 2
While not as open world as I or other gamers would have liked, this Mafia story could be brought to the big screen. The story kept me tied into the game throughout and the game again looked great. From the snowy streets of the winters of the 40′s and 50′s to the bustling streets of spring and summer Empire City was just alive.
Toy Soliders
By far my favorite downloadable game of the year. A hybrid tower defense and shooter Toy Soldiers is fun for gamers of all ages.
These were just a handful of the games that came out this year, and I want to give a few some honorable mentions. God of War 3, Vanquish, Sid Meier’s Civilization V, Just Cause 2, GoldenEye 007, and NCAA Football 2011. What were your favorite games of 2010? Let us know below.
