Top 3 games of 2010

2010 was a pretty glorious year in gaming! Mass Effect 2, Red Dead Redemption, Halo Reach, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Heavy Rain not to mention the release of the Kinect and Move to combat the Wii's motion revolution; there probably wasn't a dull month for games whether it was a big title release or big announcement or a combination of the two!

Yes all well and good but what about me on the other hand? 2010 was a year where I looked from the sidelines watching all the big releases come by without partaking in any of the fun – bar a few games here and there I would get my grubby hands on.

That's not going to stop me from doing a best games of 2010 list (though it'll only be top 3, rest assured I played more than just three games released in 2010, these are just the best ones). Without further ado here is my top THREE games of 2010

3. Red Dead Redemption

John Marston's tale through the dying wild west on a quest for redemption is one of the most memorable experiences not just in 2010 but in gaming general. The hustle and bustle of the urban landscape of so many GTA iterations was thrown away and in favour a beautiful western landscape that's a reinvigorating design of the open world. Nothing beats riding my trusty steed from town to town, encountering wild life and individuals in need – except I didn't know whether they were clamouring for help or waiting for me to let down my guard and throw me off my horse. Marston's quest for redemption made me feel for his cause despite his bloody past – he makes no secrets about the fact that he regrets what he's done, but everyone deserves a second chance don't they? However the most involving character of the game is the environment – and this is what made Red Dead Redemption one of the best games of 2010, it's ability to encapsulate me in a world that is so lively and so real – that getting on my steed and galloping to an unknown destination – is pure unadulterated fun.

RDR MOMENT: While the final moments of the game gave me goosebumps, my RDR moment came when I had planned to head back to the nearest town by eight but the need to search for a desert sage (a certain flower) had carried long into the night. Galloping around on my trusty steed, I started to grow restless and tired. Then I stopped, and looked up – the sight of stars glistening across the night sky - providing a brief moment of respite from an otherwise fruitless quest. The sound of a gunshot in the distance snapped me back into action, and off on my steed, did I ride once more.

2. Super Street Fighter IV

If my game of the year was awarded on game spent most time on, Super Street Fighter IV would be the runaway success. Super Street Fighter IV pulled me back into the franchise which had become firmly entrenched in my gaming life, and the advent of a better online mode allowed me to test my skills from the comfort of my own blue living room couch – sometimes with good results and sometimes with some controller throwing inducing moments (DAMN YOU LAG!). Super Street Fighter IV didn't also affect me just in my living room – it exposed me to the competitive scene, where the videos of Daigo, Justin and Filipino Champ amongst others where they combine tactical play and mind games combined with lightning fast reactions, is simply amazing to watch. Maybe just one day I'll be half as good as them, but until then – SONIC BOOM!


SUPER STREET FIGHTER IV MOMENT: When I managed to win 10 in a row – as I kept getting closer to the elusive 10 (and a trophy) the feeling of being invincible started to grow and grow. This was evident in a high ranking match against a Makoto, where she had me down a round and almost out in the second. Her rapid fire tactics kept my Guile unbalanced and unsettled, but something in the back of my head told me I wouldn't lose this match. With a sliver of health to spare in the second round, I pulled off a Sonic Hurricane which somehow managed to connect. I knew my match was for the taking, and I had composure to pull off my sonic boom – air throw tactics, to throw him off and win the match! YEAH!!

1. 999: 9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors

Is it strange that one of my most favourite games of all time appeared not on the PS3, but on the DS? Is it even stranger that almost a year later another game has come along, encapsulated me and yet it is also on the DS? Whatever it is, 999: 9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors is for me – the best game of 2010, and even more so, one of the best games I've played. In a story reminiscent of something between Battle Royale and Saw, 9 people wake up on a ship, and are told by the ominous 'Zero' that they have 9 hours to live, and that if they fail to abide by certain rules that a bomb within their stomach will detonate. The game is primarily composed of text, and while I was afraid that most of the game would involve me pressing A repeatedly, I found myself drawn into the story, where tension and atmosphere was created to present a truly scary game – yes this game frightened me, simply because of the fact that rather than present full blown cutscenes, it instead uses text, so descriptive that it pervades your mind and screws with your imagination.

I have only finished the game once, and there are 6 possible endings – where the possibility of Junpei (protagonist) and the other characters who are all very well written, can die. Imagine the situation when a character suddenly goes missing, only to confront the rest of the group later and having to hear the shocking news that he/she is dead. It is one of the most confronting moments I've ever played in video games, and on one occasion, I had to close my DS because it was too immense.

That is the power of 999, and is why it is the best game I've played of 2010.

So those are my top three games of 2010 - feel free to comment and discuss my choices, and what were YOUR top games of 2010?

In space, no one can hear Jared rant

I first heard of and saw Dead Space when my friend was showing us a video in class that involved the protagonist of the game, Isaac Clarke being chased by what seemed to be humans who had been simultaneously mutated and made crazy. As Isaac ran down the hall the sound of rapid footsteps and screams could be heard chasing from behind, until he had reached the elevator where all seemed to be safe – that is until the mutated human had managed to pry open the door. Isaac was trapped with no where to go, and for a moment I felt his fear and acceptance of the fact he was going to die – until the door shut and decapitated the monster in the process.

Yes quite scary, and quite an overwhelming experience from just watching footage of the game – although it was helped on by some 'woahs' and 'oohs' from my fellow classmates who had also been watching on too. In that instant my friends and I were convinced that this was going to be the best horror game in recent times. In the ensuing weeks, my friends were getting in on some Dead Space action, commenting that it was living up to the hype that we had created. I gave into hype and pressure to buy the game, and readied myself for a few sleepless nights and constant changing of underpants.

Playing through the first hour or so I had to admit I was pretty scared – necromorphs (the mutated humans) were menacing, jumping out at me from air vents or pretending to play dead till I closed in on them, and it stimulated some jumps and screams. The first hour didn't disappoint, but for the rest of the game, I started to feel underwhelmed.

You see, Dead Space isn't a game of subtly, from the opening scene I was presented with my space crew discussing the fact it wasn't normal for a spaceship to have a 'total communications blackout'. Upon entry, the hallways of the Ishimura are barely lit, and that the place is left in shambles. In fact the end of the first chapter spoiler alert has the space shuttle the crew entering in exploding – indicating that Isaac and the player are stuck in this hell hole with hellish creatures and there's no way out from it.

And attempts to scare the player start to get tired half way through, case in point: the fifth time I run in a room which is quite large but seemingly empty, I know some quarantine is going to off, locking all the doors with an ensemble cast of monsters in the room with me. It's just not that scary once it's done to death (I'd say done to dead to make a funny pun but that would be grammatically incorrect). If Dead Space was a person, it would be the equivalent of him popping out of the same cupboard every five minutes trying to scare me – yes I get it, you are trying to be freaky, just stop it and try something new.

I know it sounds like I'm hammering the game, but I actually thought the gameplay was pretty solid – the dismembering of necromorphs (who lacked variety) to kill them was pretty cool, it was a way of 'unlearning the headshot' that all gamers with an itchy trigger finger have mastered, going into zero gravity was pretty awesome and made for some pretty awesome action scenes, the story was pretty cool (if a bit tiresome at times) interweaving some crazy religious cult with some deep problems with Issac himself, and the design of the Ishimura was fantastic.

But for a game that advertised itself as being really scary (*cough floating arm in space for box art cough*) – Dead Space came off as a solid shooter with some horror tacked on, and that for me was the ultimate letdown. I like shooting monsters yes, but for majority of the game that feeling of fear and dread was not there. Did I let my expectations soar too high? From that first video I watched I thought the hype was justified, and most of everyone else from the gaming contingent thought so too. But the end game was that they were satisfied and I was left feeling deflated. Dead Space = solid shooter? Sure. Dead Space = survival horror? Not a chance.