2010 Game of the Year Preview

Alright, I wanted to get a jump start on this before everyone else starts coming out with their various Game of the Year talk.  With that being said, this year I have arguably played more video games than I ever have in my life, some from years past, but a large amount that were released this year.  While this isn't a comprehensive list of all of the games that are out there, I'm going to make a Game of the Year list to the best of my ability.  The list will include an overall Top 5 as well as three runner-ups.  In addition to those eight games, I will include other games that I have done research on, know are great, but haven't had the opportunity to play.  With that little intro out of the way, now I will go on a long, unorganized rant about the various games that I have played.  Before that though, I would like to mention, for those that read this blog or even this article, please, please, PLEASE give me your input.  I would like to know what YOU think the best games of the year are.  I will be putting a poll on the side of the page so you can leave your input, but I would also like you to leave comments with your opinion.  If I have enough feedback from people, I would like to do some sort of Viewer's Choice Award.  If anyone poses a strong enough argument as to what they think is the GOTY I will also give them a spotlight to share their opinion.  Please participate, I love talking about games, and I would love to hear from you.

Alright, off we go.

Needless to say, 2010 hurt my pocket book.  Not only did I buy roughly fifteen games over the course of the year, increasing my collection by over 50%, but the fact that I got a PS3 last Christmas allowed me to play catch up on all of the great PS3 exclusives.  Like I said in the previous paragraph, this isn't going to be a comprehensive list in the slightest; I play primarily 360 games, some PS3 exclusives, and a few PC games.  I don't play hardly any Wii, Nintendo DS, PSP, iPhone, or anything else of the sort (although I think I covered my bases), if any at all.  To make things easier, let's start with a list of the games I've played this year that were released in 2010: Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Bioshock 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Dante's Inferno, Dead Rising 2, Fallout: New Vegas, God of War III, Halo: Reach, Heavy Rain, Mass Effect 2, Red Dead Redemption, and Star Craft 2.  It's a good thing I'm not doing a Top 10 because I would have to include every single game I've played with the runner ups.  So, let's start with a bit of jibber jabber, shall we?

I would have to say that the game that took me by surprise most would be Red Dead Redemption.  When this game was first being hyped up, I thought it was dumb.  A cowboy game seemed stupid to me and I didn't even know it was being made by Rockstar at the time.  All I kept associating it to was Red Dead Revolver which never really appealed to me.  Fortunately enough, the day came along when Red Dead Redemption got incredible reviews and I was forced to buy it.  I have to say that snagging that game was one of the best gaming decisions I have ever made.  Never before in a game have I actually stopped playing and said, "Wow... that's beautiful."  For example, after having crossed the border into Mexico, I got on my horse and started riding toward my objective.  As I slowly rose over a hill, I saw the purple sky covering the plains, with the faint burst of an orange sun setting behind the mountains.  All while this was happening, the sound effects of the game died down to a muffle and a soft, romantic song created specifically for the game was playing as I galloped toward my destination.  That scene was easily the most beautiful and most atmospheric of any game I have ever played.

Next, the game I probably had the most fun with was Mass Effect 2.  Like it's predecessor, ME2 is incredibly engaging.  The characters are fun and interesting, the story sucks you in, and the game play and graphics are great.  Not to mention they completely got rid of the atrocious vehicle aspect of the game, something that without doubt made the original Mass Effect suffer.  The game I couldn't put down was Heavy Rain.  The story kept you on your toes and while it may have been incredibly depressing (so much so that I had a friend stop playing for a bit because he needed a break) you have to know what is going to happen next.  More so than any game I have ever played I found myself rationalizing two, three, four times that "Ah... I'll just play this next part and then go to bed."  Before I knew it, it was five in the morning and I had beaten the game.  Another game worth mentioning that arguably had the grandest scale and best graphics is God of War III.  What was great about the conclusion to the epic trilogy was that the Kratos you saw in the movie cut scenes was the Kratos you played as (this was actually something the developers consciously tried to achieve).  Often developers have cut scenes with much better graphics than those in game because there isn't any extra coding needed; with in game graphics, there is tons of coding to make things move, respond, interact, etc., but with cut scenes it's just like watching a movie.  That being said, the graphics of the game are gorgeous and are only surpassed by the immense scale of the game as a whole.  Two particular instances place you scaling the sides of a Titan, a beast more than one hundred thousand times your size, a landscape that provides for an epic battle.

In terms of multiplayer, three game stand out above the rest: Halo: Reach, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, and Call of Duty: Black Ops (consequently, all of which I have written a review for).  Reach manages to improve on its past multiplayer system by adding several customization options, as well a points system to level up rather than winning or losing matches.  Black Ops expanded on their system by adding currency that can be used to purchase upgrades rather than someone having to unlock them.  Furthermore, Black Ops took a hint from Halo and added the option for people to play with guests online (Finally!).  Bad Company 2 has arguably the most seamless online system with host failures and errors few and far between.  Getting onto a match has, for the most part, always been quick and painless.  Although, the online community doesn't seem nearly as engaging or friendly as Black Ops or Reach (in fact, I don't think I've ever heard anyone's voice in Bad Company 2).

Alright, well, that was just me going through the motions, giving you a taste of what I'm thinking.  Even more, this post is so I can let everyone know that I will be doing a Game of the Year post and that I would LOVE for people to participate.  The poll will be up shortly and if everyone could leave comments with their insights, I will respond as soon as possible with feedback.  This is both in hopes to get a bit of a community going on this forum, but also because I just like talking about games with people.  So, closer to the end of the year, most likely sometime after Christmas, I will be releasing my post about 2010's Top 5 Game's of the Year.  Depending on feedback I may add more categories, but we'll see what happens.  Until then, we will still be posting movie recommendations and reviews and I have a game review for Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood that I want to crank out.  Hope to hear from you soon!