Looking at the release list at the beginning of 2010, you could surmise that this year was going to be a safe one. "Safe" in the sense that we wouldn't be seeing publishers taking a lot of big risks with new franchises, sticking to the warm, comfortable waters of established franchises.
What you probably wouldn't have guessed was how much effort publishers would put into designing sequels that were head and shoulders above their predecessors. Sure, there were underwhelming cop-outs ("Crackdown 2" and "Fable 3" spring to mind), but there were also classics.
In and among these sequels, a few new and awesome IPs managed to poke their heads in, many of them coming from tiny indie developers.
But you know all about that. After all, you lived it. And so did I. Here were my 10 favorite games of 2010.
Sneaking in right before the buzzer with a December release is an incredible game for iOS platforms from Chair Entertainment. "Infinity Blade" is the first real game to use the Unreal Engine on mobile devices, and the result is that it's the best looking game the platform has ever seen, by far. It's also clearly designed with the platform in mind, playable with just one finger, allowing you to slice and dice massive, medieval bosses with a wide range of weaponry. If you're looking to make your Android friends jealous, "Infinity Blade" is sure to do just that.
On the surface, "Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood" is just a cash-in title, a way for Ubisoft to release a new installment on an annual basis by using many of the same assets and gameplay elements. And while all that is true, "Brotherhood" is still a tremendously well-made game. In addition to polishing up the combat engine and creating some excellent side-missions to go along with the story, the team at Ubisoft also included an incredibly unique multiplayer mode. Better than last year's "Assassin's Creed 2" is almost every way, fans of the franchise owe it to themselves to check out Ezio's presumably-final chapter.
With Treyarch at the helm of this year's "Call of Duty" installment, there were concerns that the team wouldn't be able to match Infinity Ward's past efforts. As it turns out, "Black Ops" is a markedly better game than "Modern Warfare 2," giving us hope that the franchise is in good hands, at least when they're Treyarch's hands. A well-told single-player campaign was matched with predictably enjoyable multiplayer, with the whole product receiving a healthy spit and polish.
One of two indie games on this list, "Limbo" is an odd bird, difficult to compare to any game that came before it. Utilizing physics-based platforming puzzles, the game definitely churned some minds, but the real takeaway was the emotional roller coaster "Limbo" took players through. And all this without a single line of dialog. A remarkable feat for a tiny team out of Denmark.
2010 wasn't a great year for the economy, so when gamers plunk down $60, they expect to get some value for their dollar. Hard to imagine much more value than what Bungie gave players in the developer's Halo curtain call. In addition to the campaign, the strongest in the franchise's history, and the multiplayer, Bungie gave players the power to create maps from scratch. Throw in customizable armor, daily challenges and an improved replay recorder and you have a mighty Halo game which bests all others before it.
Pages: 1 2