2010 was an interesting year. Some would project it to be a rather disappointing year while I myself would say it was full of fantastic titles. I think 2010 showed that the gaming industry is ready to start evolving again and taking more risks. I'm not a huge fan of all of the motion control popularity and I was a little disappointed to see more sequels than original and fresh IP's. That set a side, let's take a look at my favorite games released this past year (in no particular order).
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Yes it wasn't as good as it's predecessor (Fallout 3). Yes it was filled with bugs. Yes I found myself frustrated. And yes, it's pretty awesome. New faction reputations make for a more unique experience and make your decisions more important. Be it the brand new companion wheel, the wide array of weapons and weapon modifications, or just the Fallout eccentricity, this is my favorite game that lets me take care of giant geckos with a plasma rifle while wearing sexy sleepwear and an astronaut helmet. Oh and there are a lot of lights. You can check out my review here.
Battlefield: Bad Company 2: Vietnam
New weapons and four new maps would be selling it short. As a multi-player expansion, the developers played on their successful and rewarding online portion of the original game, and made some clever tweaks to the formula. For instance, there are no sights, which makes the battling up and close. The gritty film overlaying the art design is really unique and add's to the sticky Vietnam jungle perception. This is definitely one of my favorite DLC expansions and it's well worth the price tag.
As a Harry Potter fan myself, it was a pretty easy decision to pick this up. I was a little hesitant, but soon found that it is a solid title. Quick and quirky cut scenes make the story very light hearted and fun, as well as strong mechanics that make the puzzles really addicting and satisfying. As it follows the first four years into the franchise, there is definitely a lot to do with a very expansive play time. Everything from the true to story plot, to the addicting game-play this is one game every true Harry Potter fan should get.
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Many people were disappointed with this game mostly because it frankly didn't live up to expectations. But, expectations aside, it was truly a fantastic game. The plasmid and weapon dual wield set up makes the game-play much more exciting and frantic, as well as smoother. It's easy to see it focuses on making the game smoother in general. Such as the hacking system which is one of my favorite improvements, mostly because it made it part of the action. The game is more expanded and involving which is always a nice welcome.
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With high octane explosions and seemingly infinite heights, this is one of my favorite open world games of all time. The best part about it, is that it is so staggeringly unrealistic. Boasting one of the largest and varying worlds ever seen in a game, there is so much to do. Who cares the voice acting is absolutely atrocious or that the story makes little sense at the most; the main attraction is the endless action. Constant explosions and intense firefights keep the game's momentum up. Also, hijacking a commercial airliner and basically flying it to space then jumping out and falling for a good three minutes is a must try. There is a lot more to talk about but I'm going to leave it at I was surprised to find it more amusing than Grand Theft Auto IV.
My New Year's gaming resolution would be to pay a lot more attention to indie developers and their games (especially since I'll be living in a European country as a foreign exchange student next year, and won't be able to run high-powered games on my laptop). Hearing so many people rave about so many different indie games really caught my attention this year, but I never got around to checking them out for myself.
What are some of your favorite games this year? Any New Year's resolutions you want to attempt?