Game of the year so far – 2010

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

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

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

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.

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

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.