With the year over, it is time to sit back and relax, take a sip of tea, and praise the video games of 2010, for they only bring excitement of what is to come.
Artwork by Sean Gonzales
Here it is. This year in video games has been crazy. Many games are taking larger steps with the new game engines to get the best graphics possible. Many game developers took games to new heights by making them feel cinematic, following movie plots and bringing dramatic changes to the characters. Old fan-favorite games were brought back to life with a new kind of epic revival. Fans all over the world were mesmerized at an indie created game that brought such simplicity to the hearts of the hardcore gamers that made the game fascinating. Compiling this list took many hours to create, constantly moving games around or canceling them because more games outdid others. Many of my favorite games of the year did not make the list, bringing about sad faces over some gamers who loved the likes of Bayonetta, or Tron Evolution. The list is here, and although people may be upset by the choices, there are distinct reasons why these games were in the top ten, and why they did not beat out other games.
10. Ubisoft developers Prince of Persia The Forgotten Sands brought the Prince of Persia series back to familiar ground with the fifth Prince of Persia on consoles to date. Ubisoft’s last Prince game took the series to a new setting, consisting of the same old desert, but in a mystical land where a great tree rules all, and many fans were confused at why this setting was chosen. The style of the game was not so much hack-and-slash anymore, but a strategic game with new graphics. The new game brought excitement to many of the original fans of the series. The delightful comeback makes this game ten on the list.
9. Coming in at number nine is developer Quantic Dream’s Heavy Rain. A lot of Xbox 360 gamers may not know what this game is about, and that is because it was exclusive to the Playstation 3. This is one of the games that went to the more cinematic feel, bringing about simplicity of button pushing that was only to advance the storyline. Pushing a series of buttons to open a door. The story was in the point of view of four different characters, all brought together by a series of crimes. The plot in this game made me cry numerous times, and I will say I have never cried in a video game before. The cinematic feel of the game brought a sort of soap opera feel to it, and for being a game, this was creative.
8. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is the second installment of the Mario Galaxy series. This game built off the epic Super Mario Galaxy, bringing about the best three-dimensional Mario to date. The dynamic and wondrous environments that Mario is set in are beautiful. Mario is in a series of Galaxies through which he must fight. Another wonderful addition to the game was the brining back of the old, cute, and familiar dinosaur, Yoshi. Mario fans all over the world came together to play this game, exclusively on the Wii, selling 5.1 million copies worldwide, marking it as one of the best games ever sold, propelling it to be number eight on this year’s top ten.
7. Lucky number seven goes to Starcraft II. Blizzard Entertainment, the developers of World of Warcraft are behind this open-world game. An open-world game consists of a story line where the user can do almost anything they want. The first game was an award winning game that came out in 1998. That really tells how awesome the installments are; the first Starcraft kept fans of the series happy with the first game for 12 years. Twelve years is a long time for a video game to still be popular, and this year, Starcraft II came about to sweep PC gamers off their feet. The game’s story line is almost never-ending, fighting endless amounts of Aliens in whichever way feels necessary, and the online real-time strategy is the best of any game. PC gamers looking for something to keep them happy for another twelve years should get this game, coming in at number seven.
6. The sixth best game to come out in 2010 is the third installment of the God of War series, God of War III. Developer Sony Santa Monica created the perfect hack-and-slash game to come out on any system. The third installment was released only on Playstation 3, and many Xbox fans were jealous of the game, knowing its awesomeness. Some Xbox 360 owners wanted to buy a used PS3 just for this game. Many gaming magazines gave this title a perfect score, or near perfect, and the game was awarded the Most Anticipated Game in 2010. Owning a Playstation, I of course played this game multiple times, rubbing it into the Xbox owners that I could play it. This game was great; it gave me the feeling of being the ultimate god, smashing down Zeus and all the rest of the Greek legends.
5. Number five and four on the list of best games can be swapped around any which way, but just to keep it organized, Mass Effect 2 comes in at number five. This game is very much like Starcraft II, being an open world game where the players define their own story by their action in the game. Say they want to run away from a fight, they can go wherever and keep building on a frady-cat story, or they can fight and become a heroic figure in the galaxy of Mass Effect. The game sold over two million copies with the first week of it being released this year. Bioware came out with another great game, bringing the fifth or fourth best game of 2010, at least in my opinion.
4. What would any great game list of this year be without Halo: Reach. This is confirmed to be the last Halo installment by developers Bungie, and they went out with a bang. This game can go back and forth between fourth and fifth place with Mass Effect 2. Both the games came out exclusively for the Xbox 360, meaning only the Xbox fans could play this game. Personally, I wanted to buy an Xbox just for the last Halo, but I ended up not doing it. By far this game is unrealistic; it brings a sense of beliving the actual world outside the basement where I play this game is exactly like this. The campaign was emotionally charged, finally showing more character to the Spartans. The graphics are superb. The soundtrack of the game flows perfectly as I traversed Reach with my super-human friends. Actually, the song Deliver Hope from the Deliver Hope trailer has this beautiful harmonious hum, and it is played on my ipod daily. With a tragic ending filled with a healthy sign of hope, I was glad to have this game come out this year.
3. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood is the third installment of the Creed franchise to come to the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360. The game takes players back to Rome during 1758, and it brings to life the beauty of the Renaissance. The environment that the game presents about has always interested me. I have learned more about Italy from this game than I ever have taking a history class. I think that a game that brings about educational value as well as the joy of running around freely in Renaissance Italy being an assassin is a game that brings about such beauty. It is amazing the extent of how much I want to live in that timeframe. When I play the game, I imagine myself being an assassin, running around hunting targets to protect my fellow brothers. The addition of battling out other assassins online is unbelievably fun, and it was great that they had a beta, or a chance to see the how the game will work a month early, just gave the game a better feel and smooth gameplay.
2. Runner-up goes to Call of Duty: Black Ops. Being a huge Call of Duty gamer myself, it has been a long anticipated wait for this game after Modern Warfare 2 revealed its true nature to annoy so many fans to the franchise. To sum up how the game is doing, it sold more than seven million copies within the first twenty-four hours of being released. The game brings a new life to the Call of Duty series, with developer Treyarch stepping up to match even with Infinity Ward. The gameplay is so smooth and so realistic. Set in Vietnam, when I am playing the game, I literally see and feel the feverish jungle of the Vietnam War. I feel the terror the soldiers can only tell stories about. With incredible controversy with John F. Kennedy’s assassination, this game is a beautiful creation to bring about, and I will be playing this game for months.
1. The best game of 2010 is an indie-created game by the developer Notch. Notch really is one person who created the game a week before it was released. Markus “Notch” Persson created the game for the computer geeks out in the world, using Java as the baseline for the creation. The game is Minecraft, a game where one person create the environment, kind of like online lego’s, but with endless amounts of opportunities and options to pursue. If users want to make a virtual Thomas Jefferson High School? Well with this game makes it possible. Many games now are being critiqued on their ability to customize options in the game. Take a look at any sports game that has come out within the last year and it will become apparent the amount of customization available is endless. Minecraft takes the concept of endless to a whole different level. I have spent hours upon hours making a gigantic castle, adding each and every detail till it looks the way I want it. I then opened it up to the world and showcased it, and then I destroyed it. Yes, I destroyed it, and built another castle, with a different style and aura of splendor.
To wrap things up, lets take a look at the game developer of the year. For this I am simply going to choose which developer came out with the most games that are quality. This year it happens to be that Ubisoft is the developer of the year, in my books. Quality games that came out this year from the developer are Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, Prince of Persia The Forgotten Sands, Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X 2, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction, and No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle. Two of those games appeared on this years top ten list, and all the games I did have a chance to play were amazing, and I thoroughly enjoyed every single one. Call me a fan boy, but Ubisoft does deserve it for 2010.
This year’s gaming has been crazy, and it was a pleasure to play all of these games, and finally give the year of 2010 an A+ in gaming.
