Year of the sequels
The gaming year of 2010 will be known as the year in which Electronic Arts buckled under the pressure of public opinion and removed the Taliban from Medal of Honor, in which Activision bit the hand that fed it and alienated its top studio, and the year in which games based on a new and original IP were as World of Warcraft players are not.
It is not new for the industry to bank on old successes. There is a measure of safety in creating sequels, reboots and re-imaginations. You know the audience already exists and the chances that a previously successful franchise tanks are small to non-existent. It is difficult to gauge the viability of a new IP, especially if it is original and not based on an existing universe such as Star Wars or Warhammer. You only have to look at the meagre 800k copies that Alan Wake sold since it’s launch in May. The game received rave reviews from gamers and critics alike, was supported by a robust marketing campaign and yet it failed to become a financial success. Heavy Rain, on the other hand, sold almost twice that number with not all that dissimilar scores.
From a business perspective, however, it is incredibly short-sighted not to invest heavily in establishing new franchises. Over the last two decades, developers have relied on ever more powerful gaming hardware to deliver innovative, fresh experiences to their fans. But technological process is about to slow down, especially on consoles. Both Sony and Microsoft have every intention to keep their platforms going for at least another three years. While Move and Kinect offer new ways of experiencing games and have tremendous appeal to casual gamers, it is the core gamer that is the basis of success for any platform. And core gamers prefer joypads. They need a multitude of buttons to execute their moves, string together special combos and require a level of speed and accuracy that only joypads can give. While the gimmicky nature of the new motion controllers will charm even the hardiest gamer for some time, they’ll grow tired of it soon enough after which all it will be good for is collecting dust.
If we conclude that there will be no new technology to achieve shock and awe in gamers, developers will have to become ever more creative to satisfy the gaming public. It stands to reason that this is easier done with new IPs where they are allowed more freedom to stray from the beaten path of existing franchises.
Fortunately we can look back on a year with some very strong sequels and look forward to quite a few in the first half of 2011. But, before we get to play those, there is plenty of time left to read on and see our picks for the best games of 2010.
Categories
Below are the seven categories. If you want to go straight to the top 5 overall, simply scroll down.
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Best game - Overall
While it is difficult to compile the top 5 games on every platform, putting together the top 5 overall borders on the impossible. Yet, every year we manage to survive the onslaught that are the Game of the Year awards, even if it means that some of our team members have trouble looking each other in the eye for a few weeks.
Civilization V
The granddaddy of all turn-based strategy games returned for its fifth iteration this year. Civilization V made the series' addictive formula even more accessible for newcomers. The new hex-tile system and the one unit per tile rule has a tremendous effect on war-time strategies and ensures a fresh experience for even the hardiest of Civilization players. The inclusion of a sleeker interface also provides quick access to a wealth of information and diplomatic options at your fate-deciding fingertips. One thing that has not changed though is the ‘one-more-turn’ syndrome that has caused sleep deprivation in all Civilization players. What else would you expect from a series that has conquered its audience for nearly twenty years?
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Red Dead Redemption
Being the masters of the free roaming sandbox experience, Rockstar returned this year with Red Dead Redemption. Exploring the often-neglected Wild West, we experienced John Marston's epic tale that had us adventuring across miles of open terrain and meeting a cast of unique characters that we will not be forgetting anytime soon. The game amazed us with the most believable and interesting characters that Rockstar has ever brought to the table, and we almost never found ourselves without something to do or explore. The game has received a generous amount of downloadable content to support it, and the Undead Nightmare expansion delivers one of the best zombie survival experiences to be found in gaming. When all is said and done Red Dead Redemption is a groundbreaker and an exceptional example of singleplayer storytelling.
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Super Mario Galaxy 2
While not radically different than its predecessor, Super Mario Galaxy 2 expands on everything we enjoyed from the original Super Mario Galaxy. While adding fan favorites such as Yoshi into the familiar mix, the game retains the legendary and mindbending experience that we enjoyed back in 2007. Excellent gameplay, superb graphics, stunning level design and fantastic audio, everything is perfected down to an art.
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Fallout: New Vegas
When Bethesda released Fallout 3 in 2008, few could have imagined how successful it was going to become. As Bethesda was hard at work on another unannounced title, they asked for a follow up from another well-known RPG developer, Obsidian Entertainment. Keeping the radioactive franchise alive, Obsidian took us to the bright lights of a post-apocalyptic Las Vegas. The result was a similar experience as our last trip to the nuclear wastelands, but that does not mean that it felt stale; far from it. Despite experiencing some growing pains, Obsidian delivered a very compelling experience this past October with many refinements to the formula that we all enjoyed two years ago. With a large amount of downloadable story driven content coming down the pipe, your invitation to the radioactive Mojave Desert is exceptionally alluring.
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Mass Effect 2
Mass Effect was an exceptional RPG experience from Bioware, but Mass Effect 2 simply blew us away! With so many fixes, changes, and enhancements to the experience, it almost felt like an entirely different game. A tremendous story was brought to the table with the game’s release at the beginning of the year. A cast of both new and old characters and a choice driven narrative held our interest from the start and never let go. Coupled with an exceptional amount of downloadable content and the promise of your decisions impacting the story in Mass Effect 3, it is hard to imagine a game of this quality not being one of the best of 2010.
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