2010 GAME OF THE YEAR?

[Fiach]

Wasnt quite sure where to put this, so move it if needed :)

Anyway, what games in 2010 rocked your world? :)

For me it was Castlevania Lords of Shadow.

A 3D version of the Castlevania series, This game for me was the best in 2010, it had so many things going for it.

It looks awesome!
Its a great franchise and this game added to it immensely.
Many different types of gameplay, Platforming, Puzzles, Combat, lots of great skills to learn, to enhance your experience.
As you learn new skills, it allows you to revist previous levels, to unlock hidden sections to pick up more skills.
You can revisit chapters and play them as challenges.

Basically its the gift that just keeps on giving, it is definately a game I will keep revisiting.

RUNNERS UP.

Alpha Protocol, for me it out-Bonds the James Bond franchise, it is one of the few games that really felt like you were a spy. You could approach the game in so many ways, so it was always fresh ..... and the chicks were hot!

Call of duty Black Ops. I'm not a big fan of the CoD series, but I really had a blast with this game, it had a great story line, the pace never let up, there were no sucky slow missions like All Ghillied Up, lots of varied locations and three (I think) different zombie modes. A graphical tour de force, that supports 3D as well.

Fallout New Vegas, I enjoyed it alot but after I finished, I didnt really want to replay it again, but fair dues to Obsidian, they really stepped up to the mark on this game, I suppose they in a way started the whole Fallout series, so its only fitting that they were involved with this iteration of the series.

[PZ]

Here's as good a place as any - might start a new game board due to the discussions.

My favorite has to be Just Cause 2 because I've played that title more than anything else.  The world is huge, and the clever use of the grapple hook allows relatively fast travel.  You still have the black market dealer that can do the typical fast travel (like the bus in FC2) to anywhere you have previously visited.  The ability to mod the game is a huge plus for me.

Runner up is Assassin's Creed:Brotherhood.  Ubisoft did a great job upgrading AC2 into this new title.  Graphics are typically the most important aspect of a game, in addition to it's setting - the game has to be believable, no zombies, mutants, monsters, spaceships, etc.  AC:B does it better than most - plus the 1080p resolution pushes it way above any other game I've seen, other than GT5.

Third is Red Dead Redemption - a good open world title and lots of fun to play, but the number of missions was lacking for me.

Fourth - Fallout New Vegas - I was very excited to play the game when it first became available, but as time has passed, the glitz has tarnished a bit.  The old-school graphics has disappointed me to the point where I simply don't have the urge to fire it up much.  However, I still check the nexus site for new exciting mods that might inject some life into that old title.

Fifth - Great games with little to no replay value due to their linear nature are Uncharted2 and Medal of Honor - both have fantastic graphics, and were a ton of fun to play, but my main focus is an open world game with few invisible walls.  Had these two been more of an open world style, they would also top my list.

[Art Blade]

Alpha Protocol :-X Most innovative game.
Just Cause 2
Split/Second
NFS:Hot Pursuit 2010

Borderlands (most recent). Not sure if Borderlands will make it to the top (next to AP) but it is rather likely  :)

[RedRaven]

Not been that adventurous game-wise this year. The titles that have stirred me to part with cash are -


FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS A great game, what else can be said.


R.U.S.E. Played the Beta on PC last year and the PS3 final version is a solid, well paced RTS.


GRAN TURISMO 5 Not usually a Racing gamer but played this and the attention to detail and vast size of the game has won me over.


That's it for me, looking back it doesn't appear that anything truly new and ground-breaking came out in 2010. That is not to say no good games emerged, merely that everything is a sequel these days.

[mmosu]

My list probably isn't going to surprise anybody, but here goes my top 2. . .

Borderlands - a great FPS/RPG with nearly infinite replay value if you have the patience for it, not to mention great looking and highly stylized esthetics (both visual and auditory).  There hasn't been a game that had it's hooks in me that deep since FC2, so it gets my top spot.

Gran Turismo 5 - this is car-porn for the true gearhead, pure and simple.  With so much content, it's one you can keep coming back to for years to come, and even in a few years it'll still probably look good compared to things that are just coming out.

[spaceboy]

my list would mirror PZ's for the most part - but after the top 3 it gets hard to rank them.

Just Cause 2 - just so much fun and freedom, doesn't take itself too seriously (or at all).  More or less unending fun.  You can still hear me whistling the Panau National Anthem once in a while.  over 100 hours of gameplay for me this year.

Red Dead Redemption - ok, this one did take itself seriously, but was a great break from the settings and story of most games.  I really liked John Marston.  The free roam online was a fun, but I had issues connecting to the traditional online game types which soiled the overall experience a bit.

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood - excellent game mechanics, beautiful recreation of Rome, continuation of a good storyline, and innovative multiplayer.

God of War 3  (mmosu - I thought this would be on your list!)  hate to use the word, but "epic" ending to the trilogy (excluding the PSP games).  For me, the only thing that disappointed me about this entire series a bit was the sex.  I wish you could turn it off.  Not that I'm a prude, but my son would have loved destroying mythical beasts.  He can handle the story, but I'm not about to have him play sex mini games. 

Heavy Rain - truly a unique gaming experience that drew you into an emotional thriller.  Interesting gameplay as well.  The only game my wife sat and watched me play since Tomb Raider II.

Gran Turismo 5 - ditto the above comments

special mentions:

The Fight: Lights Out - certainly not GOTY, and not even a "game" in the normal sense.  The 1:1 tracking and fun in bustin' heads have actually made me a healthier person.  I've put a ton of hours already into it and look forward to playing not just for the fun like a regular game, but the excellent workout I get.  It's the most fun I've ever had working out. 

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West - what can I say, technically it isn't the best game, the storyline unraveled a bit and left you scratching your head, but the enjoyment of the journey and the top notch facial animations and voice acting made me feel for the two protagonists.  The soundtrack is beautiful, I listen to it a lot and it brings me right back to the feeling of the game.

[JRD]

2010 was not a good gaming year for me... with only my limited laptop to game on and a busted PC, all I can add to the list is BORDERLANDS, a game that for sure is a great Role Playing Shooter as they say.

On my list would be Just Cause 2, Assassin`s Creed 2 / Brotherhood and Red Dead Redemption if I had the chance to play them... anyway, the new gaming year of 2011 is right around the corner  :)

[PZ]

This is an interesting thread - on a slightly related note, how is your gaming rig coming along, JRD?

[mmosu]

God of War 3  (mmosu - I thought this would be on your list!) 

Aw crap!!!  :-[

Addendum: God of War III - all the stuff that space said ( :-())

[RedRaven]

Oooops, I forgot that one too. ::)


  Ditto to what's been said so far. :-D

[Fiach]

If you liked GoW that much, you should really check out Castlevania LoS, theres a demo of it worth getting.

[JRD]

This is an interesting thread - on a slightly related note, how is your gaming rig coming along, JRD?

To be honest, nothing so far. All week I`m at the office doing that nasty thing we dare not speak about and during weekends I`m at the beach or with friends somewhere, enjoying good quality time with the missus!

I`ll have to take the defunct to a trustworthy geek at a PC shop in the town centre to run some tests and find out what`s burnt and what is left to savage. Then I`ll see how much this is going to hurt and get the new parts. Before the status check there`s no way to tell the forthcoming events...  :'(

[spaceboy]

If you liked GoW that much, you should really check out Castlevania LoS, theres a demo of it worth getting.

Thanks Fiach!  I have heard good things of it and your recommendation makes me interested even more.  I probably will check it out at some point, but my recent gaming purchases have really been excessive so I need to hold out a bit.  That'll help drop the price so that'll be good.

[Fiach]

Hi mate, yeah its a good 'un :), if you liked GoW, well tbh, GoW is based on Castlevania 64 to a certain extent, there is one current similarity with GoW, you know the Titans, well there are periodic bosses like them (not as big), but they do have to be climbed upon and scrambled around (you get a Cross as a weapon with a long chain for scaling heights).

The main bosses are more "horror" genre types, like Vampires and Werewolves.

Most of the combat is combinations of the face buttons "X" etc. There are periodic button prompts but they are very easy compared to other games of the genre, usually only one button with a generous delay too.

As you gain XP points, you buy new skills, which are based on Light Magic and Dark Magic, with a novel way to keep them topped up, but as you progress you also get additional sub-weapons like Holy Water, Fairy's (yup you read right :)), Silver Daggers and Crystals that you access through the "D" pad. These add another dimension to the combat.

There are times that you will need to fight a huge werewolf, or maybe a giant spider for example, when you make them dizzy (for want of a better word), you can mount them to reach new areas, eg the wolf can clamber up walls, or the spider can create a bridge of silk to walk across, Trolls can tear down gates etc.

Each level will have a couple of puzzles and tbh they will make you do a fair bit of head scratching, but more often than not, you will get the answer with trial and error, one has you playing chess on a huge board with a wee girl, as you move the pieces, you can use the pieces to attack your opponents pieces, which was a nice diversion, then I noticed that in the future, after you complete that section,you can access that game through the Extras Menu.

Anyway there is a huge gaming experienced if you do actually get the game its quite long even before you back track with new powers, try the demo, it's basically just the tutorial level, but it gives a good idea of the atmosphere, graphics and combat basics. :)

[spaceboy]

sounds pretty cool.  I really like the sound of that Chess game!  Thanks for the info, mate  :-X

[Fiach]

Gotta love youtube :

Castlevania Lords of Shadow - Vampire Wargame Trial&Puzzle

[fragger]

Allow me to march to the beat of a different drummer for a moment - my fave of 2010 was actually Civilization V. I know it's not for everyone, but being an ardent fan of the Civ franchise since #2, it sucked me in big time.

[RedRaven]

 Heard really good things about Civilisation 5 from a few people, not yet played it myself as the Total War series were very good on PC. Going to keep an eye out for more good strategy games on the PS3.

[Fiach]

I was talking to someone a little earlier and we were discussing GOTY material and a game I forgot about came up, its called Darksiders, if you liked GoW, I think you will like that and it should be REALLY cheap now.

Itls like a mix of God of War and Soul Reaver.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darksiders

You aquire skills as you progress, using skillpoints from defeated enemies, you also get a pistol and a flamig horse which are quite cool too .... more cool than useful really, but style is always better than substance in a videogame I think, gotta look cool when dealing laying down the smack :)

[mmosu]

I played both the demos of Darksiders and Castlevania:LoS awhile back - Darksiders didn't really resonate with me but I thought Castlevania showed promise.  The last Castlevania I played was Curse of Darkness and I really got in to that one.  The main character was essentially an alchemist (they had a different term in the game, like "material beast-master" or something like that).  The game mechanic revolved around being able to combine different collected objects, materials, and elements to create both new weapons and also slave creatures with different abilities that would help you in different ways.  These creatures were born of different classes that each had a skill tree of sorts, and would mature down different branches of the tree depending on how you raised them, sometimes with unexpected results.  For example, you could make a mistake and end up with a weak or cowardly creature that was essentially useless, or you could end up giving life to something that could essentially fight your battles for you while you sat back, rubbed you hands like a villian and mummbled "good my pet, gooood"  :-().  I had one guy that was a 10 foot tall skeleton with demon horns and a broadsword and another one from the same class that I matured differently who turned into a samurai skeleton with a long katana sword - both were extremely powereful.  And yes there were fairies in this game too - they could be raised to have different powers like the ability to heal you or restore your magic power - and if you messed up raising one you could get a fat guy with dirty clothes, a big nose and a mustache whose magic would tend to "misfire" when you needed it the most!  There were a lot of things in the game like that which showed it didn't take itself too seriously, and I really appreciated that aspect of it. 

[Fiach]

LoS is a totally different type of game mate, there is no micromanagement like that, the fairies, daggers, holy water are just weapons, you select them with the D Pad abd press "B" or ("O") on the PS3 and they attack a targeted enemy.

As regards the Darksiders demo, well tbh it starts of in the most boring section and you have no skills, iirc the devs were quite hesitant to release a demo for those reasons, but the publishers kinda pressured them into releasing it.

[spaceboy]

I've had Darksiders on my "sometime" list for awhile.  It's just a matter of having more games I want to play than time to play them.  I'm hoping I get a chance to rent some of these this year.  Thanks for all the info and links, Fiach.

As for fairies - no problem there, my son has turned me onto the Fablehaven series and fairies are very cool!

[Fiach]

Hmmmm.... well you are going to be disappointed with Darksiders then ..... no fairies I'm afraid :(  >:D

Have you played Folklore on the PS3? Its a pretty interesting take on fairies, the game is pretty innovative and worth a punt, probably pick it up for a fiver.

[spaceboy]

No, I haven't checked out Folklore yet but I recall you mentioning good things about it.  Speaking of old games to pick up, I bought a $10 copy of Lair for my son for Christmas.  I know nothing about it other than it has dragons and battles and rated T.

[Fiach]

I dunno what T means, but I'd love to hear what its like as Lair and Untold Legends were two old PS3 games I was thinking of getting.