2010 was a great year for gaming, and the world's most played HD console enjoyed its fair share of high quality releases.

First off, we have the 10 games which were best received by reviewers across the board. For this, we take a look at Gamerankings 10 best games of the year. Gamerankings aggregates a wide variety of review scores from different publications and gives me an average.

Gamerankings' 10 best Xbox 360 games of 2010

1. Mass Effect 2 – 95.66%

2. Red Dead Redemption – 94.45%

3. Rock Band 3 – 92.43%

4. Halo: Reach – 91.70%

5. Super Street Fighter IV – 91.29%

6. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood – 90.57%

7. Limbo – 90.48%

8. Super Meat Boy – 90.39%

9. Bayonetta – 89.80%

10. NHL 11 – 89.25 %

With that out the way, here were the Xbox 360 games that kept us busy this year.

Mass Effect 2

So far Mass Effect 2 is the strongest contender for our Reader's Choice Game of the Year award. Perhaps the most memorable single player game of 2010 (with stiff competition from Red Dead Redemption, mind you), Bioware continued to amaze gamers with the latest iteration of the now iconic sci-fi RPG series.

Alan Wake

A criminally-underrated, Alan Wake is authentically spooky, stylishly atmospheric, and superbly resolved. This game managed to get just about everything right. The worst thing about it is that you'll only ever get to play it for the first time once.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2

Okay, the single player campaign was definitively unremarkable. But the multiplayer – oh! – the multiplayer. The squad system is simply ingenious, Arica Harbour is glorious, and Rush mode must surely be one of the greatest inventions in the history of stuff ever. One copy of Battlefield: Bad Company 2: About R300-R400. Crashing a helicopter into a campy-sniper-infested M-COM station: Priceless.

Red Dead Redemption

More than just GTA in the wild west, RDR captured the hearts of gamers around the world with its memorable characters, mature narrative, and massive scope.

Call of Duty: Black Ops

The Xbox 360 version of CODBLOPS was probably the least buggy, and alsothe best selling version of the game for Activision. There is no denying that minus the bugs and lag, CODBLOPS is an incredible game.

Limbo

The most critically sucesful Xbox Live Marketplace release this year, Limbo offers gamers a truly uniquely creepy experience.

Bioshock 2

For many, it did not quite reach the heights of its predecessor, but it still offered up something well worth playing, and succeeded by succesfully engaging players on an emotional level.

Halo: Reach

Microsoft's golden egg laying goose did not fail to deliver a game which millions sweat by. We're not all Halo fans, but you can't deny the game's ridiculous pervasiveness.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

Making it out just in time for Christmas, Brotherhood brought welcome innovations to one of modern gaming's most beloved franchises.

Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction

2010 brought with it a new Splinter Cell, and while some long time fans of the series were displeased with some of the new game design choices, we thoroughly enjoyed Sam Fisher's latest outing.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of the Light

The Guardian of the Light successfully brought Lara Craft into the Xbox Live Marketplace in ****

Vanquish

One of the year's most understated, but well received games – Vanquish offers a solid, compelling, action-packed and gorgeously rendered experience.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

Bearing little resemblance to previous games in the series, this reboot offered impressive longevity, high-end production values, and an all around solid action RPG gaming experience.

Fable III

Another Xbox 360 exclusive (for now), Fable III blew us away with its memorable personality and sweet voice acting. Sure it has its problems, but it is still one of 2010′s highlights.