WallacetheGreat: Best of 2010
Showing 1-10 of 10 items
Though a bit light in the RPG department, improvements to overall gameplay and some really great characters make Mass Effect 2 my Game of the Year.
I was incredibly keen on putting Red Dead Redemption in the top spot, but in a format where there can only be one winner, Mass Effect 2 just grabbed me a little sooner.
Being that my 2009 GOTY pick was Assassin's Creed 2, Brotherhood already had a fighting chance in this year's list. And despite the quick one-year turnover, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood delivered the goods. The incorporation of a player-managed assassin's guild and an unorthodox multiplayer concept plant this one firmly at #3.
Some lash out at Heavy Rain for being a series of quick time events, and being less of a game and more of a virtual "Choose You Own Adventure" novel. Well, those people may have a point, but that doesn't excuse the fact that Heavy Rain is an "adventure" worth having.
I'm a huge fan of the Ace Attorney games, and Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth definitely is a step in the right direction for the series. Yes, it still suffers from a few of the ails and have marred past titles (e.g. obtuse links between pieces of logic or evidence) but Investigations contains some really interesting cases and great dialogue.
The use of light as a means of combat and a good -- though at times confusing -- story paired with tight controls must have accounted for the five years of development.
As I wrote in last year's list, I'm a closet Halo fan. That being said, the game really does have some excellent multiplayer features.
I feel the need to give Japan a bit of appreciation, and Yakuza 3 is a fine enough game to be that conduit. It lacks some of the over-the-top moments that make me think of the series, but I really enjoyed the narrative of Yakuza 3 -- even thought it has an egregiously long prologue centered around orphans.
Vanquish is big on flash and small on substance. It's short and the gameplay is a one note symphony, but damn me if powersliding up a staircase is not the most entertaining thing ever.
Though completely lost in the mix of early year blockbusters and holiday juggernauts, Singularity's summer release really should have received more attention than it did. Its single-player campaign may have been just a hair too similar to Bioshock, and its multiplayer didn't have the longevity or the notoriety to keep Singularity in league with the big boys, but the setting and story were at least worth the trip.
