A 2010 Retrospective (Part 1)

Each year that goes by I feel like I’m learning more about video games and growing an even greater appreciation for interactive entertainment. 2011 looks to be another great year of games, but before marvelling at what the year ahead has to offer I thought it would be fitting to look back at what I played in 2010. I still haven’t yet had the opportunity to play a lot of 2010’s big hitters, but I managed to make some considerable additions to my games collection throughout the year. In no particular order here’s my retrospective of the first 8 out of 16 of the biggest games I played in 2010.
 

Bayonetta

 The woman who launched a thousand hair dragons.

A game released so early on in the year that many people undergoing their GoTY deliberations forgot it was a 2010 game entirely. In an industry where whether eastern games can keep up with the western market has become a more and more pressing question, Platinum Games managed to come out with Bayonetta, a game with some of the best aspects of eastern entertainment delivered in a way that resonated beautifully with western games enthusiasts. I remember when the debates revolving around the sexual politics of Bayonetta started up and thinking how silly it was. The character of Bayonetta was never about being hyper-sexualised or a strong woman in any specifically purposeful way, much like the game she was about being ridiculous to an extreme and enjoyable in any way possible.

The game provided accessible but exciting hack-and-slash combat, some appreciable homages to previous Sega games, and from motorbiking up the side of a launching missile to throwing a church at a dragon the game provided thrilling action sequences with a complete disregard for the realistic. Bayonetta presented some of the greatest hours of pure, untainted fun that I experienced in the last year.

Dark Void

In some ways Dark Void was the polar opposite of Bayonetta; the eastern games industry publishing a game in the western style and delivering a painfully off-kilter final product. Boring combat and an inconceivably bland story were two of the things most damaging to Dark Void. I feel like if there’s one statement that really sums up this game it’s: “At least the jet pack was cool”.

Dead Rising 2

Another Capcom-published game, I’ve already talked about my thoughts on this title recently. Perhaps not the game for me but if you want maddening gameplay and several hours of massacring zombies with improvised weaponry I imagine you’ll have a very good time with Dead Rising 2.

Pokémon HeartGold Version

Not a major game for most people and I must admit I played this far less than previous Pokémon instalments. That being said as a remake of the second generation Pokémon games it’s a very good product. Even if this wasn’t one of my most prominent gaming experiences this year I still got rather nostalgic taking a trip back into the world of one of the earliest video games I played.

Super Meat Boy

 WARP ZOOOOOONE.

I knew that after reading, hearing about, and watching a fair amount of Super Meat Boy I would only find any attempt to play this ultra-punishing platformer absolutely torturous. However, after receiving the game as a Christmas present I had no choice but to subject myself to whatever Super Meat Boy had to offer. Even as someone who isn’t actually all that good at games for the amount I play, and as someone who doesn’t usually enjoy masochistic platformers, this game is still the most enjoyable indie release I came across in 2010. Maybe there’s a part of me which enjoys butting my head against the difficulty of Super Meat Boy time and time again, or perhaps the wonderful level design, charm, and simplicity of the game won me over. The constantly fixed smile on Meat Boy’s face as he dies repeatedly is representative of the game’s ability to leave you delighted even when it’s putting you through hell, which it does both metaphorically and literally.

Perhaps the most amazing thing about Super Meat Boy is that it was created almost entirely by two guys, just two guys, and yet the game is not only greatly satisfying at its core but is also superbly polished. Super Meat Boy is a testament to what small development teams are really capable of.

The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom

The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom is a greatly undervalued indie title. The game features a unique art style which it pulls off well, and has a great sense of quirk. More impressively though are the time-manipulation mechanics which manage to present opportunities to alter the course of the fourth dimension in a way almost entirely unexplored by other games. I’d advise everyone out there who has at least enjoyed indie games in the past to consider getting The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom.

Poker Night at the Inventory

Another game I’ve talked about fairly recently and a rather unexpected release; who would have thought we would have seen these four characters making an appearance in this one game, and then it not being a charity game? Occasionally speech got in the way of the poker and the game had a fair lack of features, but the personality of the characters really shone through and the dialogue was a joy to listen too.

Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty

I don’t have the lightning-fast hands or lofty tactical skills of a dedicated RTS player but I enjoyed the brief flirts with the world of strategy gaming that were provided to me by Starcraft II this year. To most Starcraft II would appear near indistinguishable from the original in terms of core gameplay, however veterans of Starcraft have grown a considerable sense of appreciation for the changes Blizzard made in the sequel, as well as the wealth of new features they’ve thrown in. For me it was my first venture into the gameplay of Starcraft, however the game provided something different and something that I could genuinely enjoy, even if the story left a lot to be desired.

Pause Screen

This is almost exactly the half-way point of this run-down so now seems like a good time to put a temporary halt to things before this completely turns into a great wall of text. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading so far, I’ll be back soon with part 2. Good luck, have Batman.

-Gamer_152