In the latest episode of the Bonus Round over at Gametrailers.com they discussed the best games of 2010 so far. I did something similar last year, and I thought it was about time to do the same for 2010. The year of 2010 has already seen several very good games. My pick for the game of the year (so far) is as follows:

The game of the year so far

Read Dead Redeption - Rockstar Games

My choice for game of the year so far is not very controversial. Red Dead Redemption stands out from the crowd as an outstanding game in my eyes. I guess I have a weakness for games from Rockstar, but I must say I love the story telling, the characters, and the settings the guys at Rockstar are able to create. The game has a few weaknesses like aiming in close quarters, boring gatling gun sequences, and a bit too much aim assistance at longer ranges (making the game a bit too easy). However, it is very fun to gun down a lot of guys in quick succession. Moreover, the cell phone was not yet invented and one does not have annoying friends calling you all the time like in GTA 4.

Runner up

Mass Effect 2 - Bioware

Read Dead Redemption is not the only great game released so far this year. Even though I enjoyed the first game more than the second, Mass Effect 2 is still a very very solid game. Great voice acting, graphics, and storytelling. However, I did not fancy the dumbing down of the RPG elements, the horrible scanning of planets to find metals, and the *SPOILER* silly chose-the-right-squad-members-at-the-end-or-else-they-will-die.

The other games I played

Modern Warfare 2 - Infinity Ward

I have also played several other games. The one I have played the most (by far) is without doubt Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. Even though it has a lot of problems (cheaters, lack of dedicated servers, no user mods, IW.net, and so on), it is a highly addictive game (just ask my girlfriend). Getting all those challenges is very hard Battlefield: Bad Company 2 tried to dethrone Modern Warfare. Even though it was a decent game, I stopped playing it and returned to Modern Warfare. I guess I preferred being able to “win” the game by myself in Modern Warfare over having to rely on a squad as in Bad Company. Since I do not have a squad, I frequently got frustrated at all the n00bs playing to get high kill/death ratios instead of succeeding with the mission objectives.

Borderlands - Gearbox

In addition to Modern Warfare and Battlefield: Bad Company 2, I have also played a bit of Left 4 Dead 2, Anno 1404 (Dawn of Discovery), Borderlands, Fable 2, Assassins Creed 2, and Fallout 3. I think all of these games are very good, but they do not reach the same level as Red Dead Redemption and Mass Effect. Moreover, almost all of them were released in 2009. On one hand, Left 4 Dead and Assassins creed are better games than their predecessors, but they are basically more of the same. On the other hand, what I would like to see more of the same from is Borderlands. Even though the game world felt a bit empty and the quests were a bit repetitive, I very much enjoyed the game’s basic principles of having a lot of different guns, plenty of missions, and a quite open world.

Still in the back log

Splinter Cell Conviction - UBISOFT

The amount of  new games being released (and the amount of game time with Modern Warfare 2) has prevented me from playing all the games I would have wanted. I have still to (start and) finish the following games:  Fallout 3, Dragon Age Origins, Splinter Cell Double Agent, Splinter Cell Double Conviction, Army of Two 40th Day, Batman Arkham Asylum, and Bioshock 2. I am in particular looking forward to Splinter Cell Conviction and Batman Arkham Asylum. I would also like to get my hands on Just Cause 2, Alan Wake, and perhaps also Crackdown 2.

In addition to these games, there are a few games on the PS3 (which I do not have) that have received a lot of attention, in particular, God of War 3 and Heavy Rain. Honestly, I must admit that neither of those appeal to me at all. I do not fancy hack and slash/fighting that much, and Heavy Rain is not even a game.

Even though the majority of big titles has been given 2010 release dates there are still a few games worth looking out for this fall. Norwegian diaries like VG and Dagbladet, and web sites like Big Download and Box of M.E.S.S. have laid out there expectations. Now, it is my turn to review my five most anticipated games.

Most anticipated fall games

1. First up, no big surprise: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PC). I let the video speak for itself. I have lost count over the hours I have spent with CoD 4 and 5 the last two years (and I do not dare to check either). The next installment looks stunning and I can’t wait till November 10th.

2. Modern Warfare 2 should really be both first, second, and third but that would be a bit silly. However, another online shooter is mass murdering its way into second place. Left 4 Dead 2 (PC), the sequel of last years co-operative zombie slaughter, is due November 17th. Having in mind that I have my birthday around that time I guess I am gifting myself both CoD and Left 4 Dead as soon as they are released (can’t wait for either until the 18th (my birthday)).

3. Next up is a spy-game. I have not seen that much footage of Alpha Protocol (Xbox), but it is enough to get me intrigued.  The game is to be released on October 27th.

4. We find yet another shooter on forth place. I have not tried Arma2 yet and I have not seen that much from Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising (PC), but I hope it will be a good game. I will at least keep my eyes open on October 6th when it is supposedly released.

5. The fifth spot is taken by, guess what, a shooter again. I am not totally impressed by what I have seen of Borderlands (PC), but I like the concept enough to be waiting in anticipation for its October 6th release.

I am certain that Modern Warfare 2 and Left for Dead 2 will be great game. I am however not sure that the others will cut it. I hope they do because they seem to innovative and bring a few new things into the gaming scene. Let’s cross our fingers they are able to pull it off.

The more obvious choices?

There are a few other big titles which are being released this fall but none of them have really caught my eye. Batman: Arkham Asylum was just released and got great critics. Despite these excellent critics I have not fallen for the game just yet. We do also have Brütal Legend and Halo 3: ODST. However, I am not that big of a Halo fan and I hate Jack Black.

Moreover, we have Forza Motorsport 3. While I enjoyed Forza 2 quite a lot I am not sure if I bother to buy another racing game. I have probably not driven more than a fraction of the cars in Forza 2, what would I do with 100 new cars in Forza 3? My problem with these series including the likes of Fifa, NHL, Madden and so is that it is somewhat difficult to see what a new installments bring to the table. They seem too similar. I am sure that there are improvements but they don’t manage to get me all worked up.

Finally we will also see Assassins Creed II on November 20th and GTA IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony on October 29th. These are two I will be paying attention to even though I have not yet finished Assassins Creed nor bought Lost and Damned for GTA IV. I will probably try to get my hands on the GTA extension but I am not sure about Assassins Creed. It is probably a great game but I have never really been able to get into the first one yet. I am still trying though but I have not found time.

A few other games worth looking out for

There are of course a lot of other titles being release this fall but nothing which rises my anticipation like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. However, we will see Section 8, Majesty 2: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim, Dragon Age: Origins, The Saboteur, Risen, Order of War, and Cities XL. Several of these could turn out to be really great games.

Even though there has been a lack of new titles I have been able to put in some time with a few old games. Before I look forward to the games to arriving this fall, I’ll go through some of the things I think are worth mentioning from the previous months.

Some of the anticipated ones

I was not really psyched about that many games the first half of the year. I previously mentioned that I was waiting for the likes of F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin and Company of Heroes Tales of Valor but none of these got that great critics. Then we had Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned and we will soon see another add-on to GTA IV, The Ballad of Tony Gay. I guess I at some stage will get my hands of both of these DLC as I really liked GTA IV.

Resident Evil 5 - Screenshot

Finally, we had Resident Evil 5 which got a pretty good reception. I recently got my hands on it and it was a fair game. However, I am not sure if I liked its boss fights. It was fun and sometimes a bit chaotic to blast away zombies. A thing which I liked was that the game had coop, even though this could have been implemented a lot better. Why not use the whole screen?

Social gaming is fun

Army of Two - Wall paper (Gamespot)

I have also been enjoying several co-op and social games lately. I have gone through first of all, Kane and Lynch. This game was rather shitty and I cannot believe that Jeff Gerstmann got fired for giving this game a low score. Army of Two on the other hand was a rather positive surprise.  I have in fact played through it three times now. It is not Gears of War 2, but it is rather enjoyable, particularly with a friend (or a girlfriend).

Probably the biggest gaming success is that I have managed to get my girlfriend somewhat interested in gaming. Games like Guitar Hero: Metallica and Lego Indiana Jones have appealed quite a lot to her. Guitar Hero was really a blast. Getting both a game and Metallica in one package is quite incredible.

We have also tried Worms (downloadable), Scene it Lights, camera, ready (she kicked my ass), and Facebreaker. Facebreaker looks kind a fun, but it was one of the most boring games I have ever tried. I am no fan of fighting games partly because I really hate loosing, but this one was really bad.

On-line multi-player mayhem

Team Fortress 2 - Wallpaper

I have really never played any games on-line until Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare. Lately, I have however gotten my share of both Left 4 Dead and Call of Duty 5 World at War. I recently picked up CoD 5 WaW for the third time and it is still great fun. I have in fact played a bit of Team Fortress 2 as well during the last months. All four games are really good and something you should own if you consider yourself a gamer.

All quiet on the strategy front

I have had Command and Conquer Red Alert 3 and Sins of a Solar Empire a quite long time but I have really never found any time to play them. Earlier this year, Men of War came out as well and when it was on sale on Steam for €7 I had to get it. However, now I have three really good strategy games which I have not played yet and there are a couple of other ones out there which I would like to get my hands on.

First up is Anno 1404 or Dawn of Discovery as it is called in the US. Then we have Empire Total War which is another title I really would have liked to have time to play. I have not bought any of these yet but I assume I will when I find some time to play them.

Buggy games

Empire Total War leads me to think about some of the buggy experiences we have had lately. Empire Total War was according to the ones who have played it not exactly a bug free experience and the Total War series is not really known to be bug free. This is really a shame because the game has plenty of potential.

It seems as Arma 2 has gone in the same trap. The game has plenty of potential and ambitions but a sloppy implementations. This has put me off for some time. I decided to rather wait a bit until the game is patched, more playable, and hopefully not full-priced. This is really a shame for the developer because they will not make as much money as if they had made a more polished product.

X3 Terran Conflict - Screenshot (Softpedia)

I waited for almost a half a year to play X3 Terran Conflict.  X3TC was a very buggy game when it came out. However, I waited until the 2.0 patch was released and I have enjoyed it a lot (I guess some will say too much). If you want a deeper than run-and-gun-experience, X3 could be the thing for you. It is a space exploration, trading, and shooting sim with a offer-demand economics. It is a bit hard to describe but you should try it. Don’t give up when you see its steep learning curve, it is really worth the struggle.

While not being a buggy game, Fallout 3 offers a lot of the same depth but in a bit different way. I guess it is this depth which one finds in games like X3 and Fallout 3 which makes many games a lot better on the PC than on any console.

A couple of other releases and a big back-log

There has been a few other releases lately which I might pick up if I have the time. Prototype, Call of Juarez Bound in Blood, and Red Faction Guerrilla are all titles which have received good critics and I am sure I would enjoy them. However, I have borrowed Fable 2, Assassins Creed, Darkness, Halo 3, and Hitman Blood Money, all of which I would like to go through on the Xbox.

In addition, I have bought Red Alert 3, Sins of a Solar Empire, and Men of War and I have not yet tried them. Hence, I really don’t see any time for that many new games, and I am supposed to finish a PhD as well… Priorities, priorities

Regular at best

Age of Conan - Screenshot ageofconan.com

First up is unfortunately the Norwegian massive multi player online role play game (MMORPG) Age of Conan. I had great expectations for this game even though I never played any  other MMORPGs before. While Conan was supposed to bring more fighting and new elements to the MMORPG experience it was rather disappointing. The disappointment came perhaps not so much from the game itself but by the genre. Grinding and silly kill-30-bugs-quests is not something for me.

While Age of Conan failed at bringing more fighting to the MOORPG arena, other games focus only on the fighting. I tried a couple of them in Virtua Fighter 5 (360) and Fight Night 3 (360). I am no big fan of the fighting genre either and I guess both were doomed to fail at entertaining me for a long time. While Fight Night is a decent game, Virtua Fighter is a flat out boring.

With Fallout 3 coming out this fall and the previous Fallout games being recognized by many as some of the best games ever, I had to try Fallout 2 when I stumbled over it. I have many good memories with games released in the late nineties and early 2000 but I think the memories are better than the games themselves. Fallout 2 could not live up to the expectations I have of a game today and it was uninstalled fairly soon.

Good games

Bad Company - Screenshot gamepro.com

2007 and 2008 provided a lot of good shooters and I have played several of them this year. Going through Call of Duty 5 World at War, Bad Company (360), Halo 3 (360), Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter (360), Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 (360), Rainbow Six Vegas (360) and Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (360) has been fun. However, none of these games provide any ground breaking experiences. Nevertheless, I should mention a few things which I really liked about Battlefield Bad Company. The sound is very good, and a gun shot actually sounds different indoors and outdoors. It is furthermore always fun to blow things up and the ability to take out the enemy’s cover with explosives is something which should be implemented in all shooters. Last but not least I love the silly humor in the game. It makes the characters  more likable and credible. It is perhaps not appropriate in all games but I think Dice (the developer) succeeded quite well.

Crackdown (360) and  Saints Row (360) are somewhat more open sandbox games than the plain shooters. I greatly enjoy the freedom these games provide.  Crackdown was one of the first open and quite good games for the 360 when it was released early 2007. Since I did not get an Xbox until early 2008 I could not play it until this year. Saint’s Row is shamelessly ripping-off Grand Theft Auto (GTA) but does so with style and I am really looking forward to playing the second game in the series.

Forza 2 - Screenshot ign.com

My 2008 was as mentioned dominated by shooters and sandbox games. However, I also played a couple of other good games. The  only strategy game I played this in 2008 was World in Conflict which I wrote about earlier. With stunning visual but only a limited amount of strategy it turned out to be a good game. With a bit more strategy added to the mix, it could have been a great game. The next game is perhaps a bit of a surprise. I have never been a fan of racing and car games even though I have played classics like Indianapolis 500, Test Drive, Outrun, Street Rod and Stunts on the PC, Gran Turismo on the Playstation, Ironman Super Off Road on the Nintendo and Pit Stop on the Commodore 64. Forza 2 (360) was really a nice surpise. I enjoyed it and I might pick it up again when I have more time. Another game I should pick up again in Braid. The highly rated platform game was a bit of a disappointment in my eyes after reading all the outstanding critics. By all means it is a good game but it is not as good as expected and I have not finished it yet. When that is said, it is a truly remarkable achievement to make such a good game for one person.

Great games

Gears of War 2 - Screenshot gearsofwar.xbox.com

The great games I played in 2008 are also dominated by shooters. With Gears of War 2 (360) coming out I had to replay one of 2006s best games, Gears of War (360) before I started with the new installment. Playing through the first game with a friend is still as fun as it was back in 2006 and the 2008 experience is even better. GoW 2 extends GoW in several ways and it is a blast going through it in two player mode. I have not played any of them online but it is supposedly great fun.

Left 4 Dead - Screenshot steamcommunity.com

I am as said not much of a multi-player gamer on the 360 but I have had my share of online gaming on the PC the last year.  Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare was in fact the first game ever, I have bothered to play a lot online. It arrived late 2007 but I continued playing it a lot way into 2008. The fall 2008, the CoD series got a new installment with the “copy cat” CoD 5 World at War. Even though World at War is a good game it was not as fun to go back to world war 2 as it is blasting away with modern weapons in CoD 4. On the other hand, 2008 gave us another great, hectic shooter in Left 4 Dead. Left 4 Dead is a massive zombie onslaught from Valve (which I was a big fan of until the decided to rip us off with their “European friendly prices”). Nevertheless, Left 4 Dead is a truly great game which I have had way too little time to play.

I would say the last two games I will mention fall into a category which I have been a huge fan of since System Shock (particularly the second) and later Deus Ex back in the nineties and early 2000. Both Mass Effect (360) and Bioshock have huge elements of shooters but they also have RPG elements and characters which can be developed to the players taste. Mass Effect 2 is probably one of the games I am looking forward to the most at the moment. Mass Effect succeeded at providing an interesting universe, good story and great game play. It was a bit repetitive in the end but I was particularly happy about playing such a game on the 360. Being a big PC fan I was a bit surprised how well the controls worked on the Xbox.

The last game I will mention is perhaps not a great game in the way Gears of War and Mass Effect are great games. However, having in mind the limited resources the developers have had to make it and how fun it actually is to play, I would say that Mount and Blade is a truly great game. Even though it lacks a good story it provides hours and hours of fun slaughtering other knights and taking over the kingdom. Try it!

Game of the year

Grand Theft Auto 4 - Screenshot gta4.net

My choice for the game of the year is not a very original one. Grand Theft Auto 4 has already won several such awards elsewhere but I cannot say how much I appreciated the care Rockstar (the developer) has put into every detail of the game. It is far from flawless (checkpoints anyone?) and it has received critics for several issues. Nevertheless, it has a great story, great developing characters and an amazing level of detail. Nico Belic is furthermore the most interesting protagonist since Gordon Freeman in Half-Life.

There are plenty of other games which look very interesting but I decided to make a top five. In doing this I had to leave out at least ten games I would like to buy. I also left out games with no confirmed release date. All dates are taken from Gamespot. You might want of have a look at all the games I am tracking. Nevertheless, here are the top five ordered by their release date.

Mount and Blade is set for a September 23rd release. Mount and Blade might not look like the most cutting edge game but I have already tested beta versions of the game and I know it is great fun. Talesworld are now about to release the 1.0 version of the unique game. The fact that it comes from a small provider makes the game even more impressing. Mount and Blade has a large community and there are already developed several mods for the game and you can expect many, many hours of barbaric fun from this game.

Far Cry 2 is going to be released October 21st. Far Cry is the sequel to perhaps one of the best halves of an FPS I have every played. The first half of Far Cry was a truly great game and I am hoping the new developers are able to pull off a complete great game with Far Cry 2. It sure looks beautify, let us just hope it is fun to play as well.

Fallout 3 with its October 28th release is another game I am excited about. I am a bit more uncertain about Fallout 3 than Mount and Blade and Farcry 2. As mentioned, I have already played Mount and Blade and I have a pretty fair idea of how Farcry 2 will play. I have never played any of the legendary Fallout games, Iam uncertain about how the gameplay will turn out and I am a bit uncertain about how Oblivion developers Bethesda Softworks will finish this game.

Gears of War 2 is starting a very hectic November with its November 7th release. Plenty of other great games are being released during November as it is probably the most hectic month of the year (in terms of potentially great games being released). Gears of War was the first truly great Xbox360 game when it was released two years ago, a short time after its superb trailer.

Left 4 Dead on November 20th is going to be a multiplayer blast. What is better than killing hoards of zombies with your friends? Just the fact that it is a Valve game increases my expectations an extra notch or two.