When I look back on 2010, I keep getting surprised about how good this year really was. Every system had a great year, almost every genre, and the gamers, therefore, got a sweet deal indeed. So here, I wish to honor those games that this year stood out in quality. A few things first: This was supposed to be a full top 15 list, but I went way over the maximum character amount, so I'll rather split this into three parts. Also, I haven't played all games of 2010, and don't share the opinions of everyone. OK, no more delays, let's just get to it.
15. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game (PS3)
-The metro is just getting more and more violent.
This isn't a movie tie-in, and I can't stand it. This could've been proof that there do indeed exist good movie-licensed games. Not that they don't exist, they do, but they're super rare. However, enough of my ranting, and on to why SPVTW: TG is awesome (a mouthful, for sure). Just like the movie, and probably the comic it's actually based on, the game is a game for nerds. It's at its core a very simple, entertaining bash 'em up clearly influenced by the great River City Ransom. What makes it stand out, however, is its presentation. The visuals are in gorgeous 32-bit, and the music is made by Anamanaguchi. Needless to say, it's amazing stuff that taps right into the nostalgia of the good old days. Add to that all the entertaining pop culture references and there's a lot of stuff to see in each pixel of the screen. Don't get me wrong, in gameplay, it's still awesome; but what makes it stand out is the heart, the soul, the nerdiness. That's what I like to see.
14. Metroid: Other M (Wii)
-Hugging always ends in friendship.
Though it is with a tear that I see Retro Studios leave the Metroid franchise, Other M surprised me in many ways. It's more about what the expectations were and how the overall package actually balances out. The oh-so talked about story? Not that good. The gameplay and bosses? Much more awesome. It does a lot of new stuff, for instance blending third and first person views to great effect. The combat is fast and intense, the environments grand and beautiful, the production values lavish and colorful. Though Samus isn't nearly as cool here as she usually is, I do appreciate that more is put into making something out of her. Get rid of Adam next time, OK devs? The flaws are there, but considering just how much fun I had with cruising around the Bottle Ship destroying everything with brutal force, I can't fault it for the more trivial matters. But why do you need authorization to use the Varia Suit?! Why?!
My review: 8.5
13. Pac-Man Championship Edition DX (PS3)
-Epileptics beware, this is going to be flashy.
Pac-Man has the particular distinction of being the first gaming celebrity ever. Before him, there were just generic human-shaped white blotches, Supposedly, it all started with a pizza missing a slice, which then changed into a pill-obsessed yellow... thing, roaming around dark alleys and eating ghosts when empowered. How far we've gone since then. Pac-Man has always been fun, but this is just amazing. There are so many new nuances, new features and subtle customizations, but you're mission is still the same. Though the above neon styIe is one of the options, you can choose from cIassic Pac-Man to 3D Pac-Man, and you're also able to switch music, ghost numbers, difficulty and a few more things. You'll zoom about, gaining up speed by picking up ghosts behind you, forming a queue behind you before gobbling up a power pellet and eating them in one fell swoop. Not only is that satisfying, but colorful, fast and frantic. Tie to that the bombs and bullet-time implementation, the score attack and time trials, and you have the perfect pick-up-and-play type of game, available for a low PSN price. Fan-bloody-tastic.
12. Joe Danger (PS3)
-I'm guessing he won't be around for the press conference...
Joe Danger loves the obvious: Danger! After taking a small break, he's back to race for the title of greatest biker around and needs all of his tricks to do so. To me, Joe Danger embodies the PSN experience: it's addictive, entertaining, varied, colorful, filled with content and charming to top it all off. To be honest, I haven't played everything Joe Danger has to offer, but to me, that just shows what kind of game it is. You can pick it up whenever you want, have fun with it, and leave more for later. The game, though driven by various tasks whether it be star collecting or trick performing, is completely tolerant towards any sort of experimentation. You can hang around a track just trying out all sorts of tricks (my favorite is performing a constant wheelie while stringing together crowd waves and insane forward flips in the air), and it´s all incredibly simple and accessible. Support this game is all I have to say, the lead dev actually sold his house for the game. And looking at the end product, you can see all the effort put into making it a game for everyone, not just fans of motorbikes or extreme sports. So get your danger on, and choose Joe!
11. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (PS3)
-And Dormin said to him... wait, completely wrong game.
If I was told that a 3D Castlevania game would've actually worked at the start of the year, I would've laughed and brushed it off. Yes, I'm usually a bubbly, optimistic chap, but what I've seen of the 3D attempts in the CV universe, I wasn't completely convinced that that would ever happen. However, I'm happy I was wrong. Not only does CV: Lords of Shadow deliver amazing, brutal combat and smart, methodical bosses, it also boasts beautiful vistas, a grand, sweeping score and a lot of extras. Even the story, though cheesy, was delivered with panache and had some nice twists. Though I have nothing against the GoW series, I really like it, I felt that this game had an overall better balance between traditional hack 'n' slash fighting and deeper combinations of magic and combo-building. Of course, I'm just comparingLoS toGoW. There are plenty more games in the action genreand comparing isn't really anything I find helps too much. But it helps explain what difference I feel is relevant. In GoW, the combat is noticeably fast and floaty. In LoS, it's more slow and meaty, and that's the way I love it. It's also a long journey, so LoS offers high-octane action with Hollywood-finesse, and never relents completely through to the end. No Symphony of the Night, but it doesn't have to be to be good, eh?
My review: 8.9
10. Heavy Rain (PS3)
-This is the punishment for bad hygiene!
Quantic Dream, dare I say, is one of the most ambitious developers in the business today. Now, I'm a stark supporter of gameplay first, everything else to the side. However, as time passes and new games come along, I feel more and more that the video game industry shouldn't operate under particular restrictions. If it's done well, it deserves a purchase. The other game from them I've played, Fahrenheit (or Indigo Prophecy), had a lot of great ideas, and I thought the execution was actually quite great too. But the story, after being so well-developed at first, falls apart near the end. Not so good considering that was the main focus. Heavy Rain does this much better. If there's any game this year that genuinely affected me emotionally, it's this game's story. It's true that in its essence, it's not much more than a traditional story of crime, but what gaming does is turn something ordinary into something much stronger. That's the case with Heavy Rain. Though I wasn't a big fan of Madison (despite trying, they still made her more eye candy than anything else), all of the other arcs were heavily emotional, and the scenes with Ethan Mars are genuinely heartbreaking. It's in creating scenarios where you genuinely care for the characters where Heavy Rain shines most. The controls still need work, but everything else has been improved from Fahrenheit and it's all just much more engaging. Oh, and the Lizard Trial will never leave my mind. Ever.
My review: 9.0
The next part of the list will come very, very soon. Stay tuned!
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Top 100 reviewers emblem
To my great surprise, the GS community staff feltI wasworthy of the top 100 reviewers emblem. I may seem calm now, but when I saw that I had received it, I felt as if a mighty goal had been achieved. I first and foremost want to thank everyone that has taken their time to read and comment on my reviews, I appreciate it to no end and I literally couldn't have gotten the emblem without you. I also wish to thank GS for having such a good way of encouraging community contributions. Many, many thanks.
-Calvinsora