So it's the end of the year and it's nigh about time for everyone to hang a billboard on the virtual forum world reading "see my top ten! I might read your top ten! Not likely but you never know!" Actually, this was a pretty crazy year for video games when you think about it. It was a great year to hand in homework assignments late and neglect your friends because Bill Williamson must pay. Honestly, if you got a Best of 2010 list and you want a random stranger to read it, let me know! I am legitimately curious, as I think everyone here will have a different list.
My plan right now is to transform this Top 10 into an eventual list of EVERY 2010 release I've played. Perhaps it's a bit narcissistic to craft such a list, but fuck it. As of this writing, lack of free time and funds have kept me from playing: Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, DJ Hero 2, Battlefield Bad Company 2, Goldeneye, Fallout New Vegas (that's gonna be a 2011 project), Darksiders (that's going to be a NEVER project), EA Sports MMA and anything based on a realistic sporting event, including Gran Turismo 5. I sure as hell won't get to all of those games, and I think it's insane that I actually DID play so many games anyways, but I could always modify this list in the new year, right? Anyways, enjoy!
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Fuck it! Super Meat Boy, best of 2010. Let's elect a Fetus into the White House. Actually, any of the top 5 games here could be my Game of the Year, based on my mood at any given time during the day. But right now, my heart yearns for the indie darling. Loving parodies, Super Happy Tree Friends humour, Team Meat's urge to put the game on sale at any given moment, free DLC, obscure references galore. But most of all, Super Meat Boy wins for learning the Anti-Life Equation of figuring out how to make the most death-inducing game possible without discouraging the player. My death toll is just under 10,000 as we speak.
Think about all of the video games you played. How many of them depict horrible events of war, chaos or armageddon. All of the gratuitous death and violent trauma that people who fought in Vietnam would love to erase from their memories, now made playable in the best-selling Black Ops release. I love Kirby's Epic Yarn because it stands against all of that; this is a game designed to make you happy. A mellow pace, positive situations, creative imagery, soothing music and a carefree, charming attitude. This game will soothe your stress levels and bring peace to your soul.
Just about the most conventional game in the top 5, Red Dead Redemption is a success for all of the reasons you already know about. It captures both the heart and heartlessness that comes with life in a filthy western movie. It fit into the Grand Theft Auto mold of pitting a sarcastic, likable hero against a series of scumbags and let him take things in stride. It had a ton of optional sidequests I couldn't be made to deal with. It had an achievement for tying up a woman and placing her on railroad tracks. It's probably on your Best of 2010 list too!
Dance Central is a game for people that like to move their body in ways that require some energy, reflexes and a lack of shame. The technology for reading your dance moves is accurate enough that you can't half-ass motions the way you did on Wii Sports, and the whole concept of dancing out in the open have made this a hit at every social gathering I've introduced it to. All you need to make motion-controlled gaming a good idea is the right context, and now I know the right context involves a lot of Soulja Boy.
So here's a game that shows a complete lack of restraint for consistency. After all, why can't the shopkeeper inquire as to what are ya buying? Why can't women be 9 feet tall with one firearm-per-appendage, and hair that can manifest into clothes or giant fists? Why can't you fight a giant monster with an upside-down head, while inside a church room attached to his giant head? And what excuse can we find to transform this game into Afterburner? For a game starring a woman with a perchant for getting naked, this game has a lot of balls.
Hell of a year for downloadable games. As the main eventer of the Summer of Arcade, Limbo gave a crass middle finger to the assorted million-dollar video games of the world by creating an incredibly haunting, believable atmosphere with a fraction of the budget. Limbo will also go down as having the greatest 10-second-ending in a long time; one who's significance would be easy to miss until you pay attention to the title screen. Clever.
Heavy Rain was so good that it made me hate the Wii a bit more. For all of the years of mindless waggling and Wiimote aiming that I had to endure (Twilight Princess, I'm looking at you), Heavy Rain figured out how to be immersive using simple button presses and remote swings. This was a game that always knew how to put the player in an awkward situation. The interesting, variable story helped too. Part of me wishes that Heavy Rain would launch its own sub-genre of games where guiding the actions of the character takes a precedence over murdering hundreds of Russians.
Maybe for some, number 8 is too low for Mass Effect 2. I say blame the drab DLC missions. But that aside, I have nary a bad thing to say about the game. I feel like most readers know what the big deal is about Mass Effect 2, so I'll just say the one thing I appreciate the most. Mass Effect 2 is the game that figures out how to deliver a satisfying ending while building intrigue towards sequels, something a certain assassin-oriented franchise can't quite comprehend...
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Mario Galaxy 2 begrudgingly makes my top ten. I'm upset because I know most people will pick this over Kirby's Epic Yarn for their best Wii game, and it's hard not to escape the idea that this is just more Super Mario Galaxy. But goddamn, I love me some Mario Galaxy and this game squeezes every last ounce of creativity from the brains of Nintendo's programmers.
I had a major internal debate between whether this or Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood should be in the top 10. Ultimately, the deciding factor was which game didn't have the shitty cliffhanger ending. Mega Man 10 has several other redeeming qualities; it's challenging, it has creative design, it's self-aware, (Mega Man is battling the fucking ROBOT FLU) and it's highly replayable.