The Best of 2010 in Video Games

Mass Effect 2
BioWare has created another sci-fi epic with Mass Effect 2. Taking the game in a darker direction opens up a world of new interactions. The character import system gives players a chance to completely control every aspect of their unique world by bringing over all the choices and consequences from Mass Effect. With refined shooter gameplay and the same top level writing and character design, Mass Effect 2 is a game that is worth playing at least once.

Super Meat Boy
Back in the 16-bit days of gaming, platformers were hard. Super Meat Boy is a retro platformer that makes no apologies for its difficulty. Featuring over 300 levels that each take under a minute to complete, the game is perfect for playing in short bursts. A stable of unlockable characters from other indie games, like Tim from Braid, adds new abilities for the player to use. Super Meat Boy has spot on controls and flawless level design and is a fantastic challenge in a world where most games don’t bring one.

NBA 2K11
Sports games don’t usually get a lot of critical acclaim, but NBA 2K11 deserves all the praise it has received. The first thing everyone notices is the inclusion of His Airness, Michael Jordan. The Jordan Challenge acts like a virtual time capsule, not just recreating the Jordan-era Bulls but also a ton of other classic teams. There is nothing like running the Stockton-Malone pick and roll to perfection with the ’95-’96 Jazz. The on-court action is the game’s biggest upgrade. Hundreds of new animations make players more natural and realistic, and the controls are so tight you never feel like a player did something you didn’t intend. NBA 2K11 ups the ante for what a basketball (and sports game) needs to be.

Red Dead Redemption
Rockstar moves out of the familiar setting of Liberty City and into the Old West, trading mobsters for cowboys. RDR plays a lot like Rockstar’s GTA games but also refines many of those elements and adds open world structure to the series. Rocky plateaus and mesas in the distance make for beautiful scenery, and the world is teeming with wildlife. Side missions begin with encounters with characters, sometimes in remote locations, and make the world seem much more vibrant and alive. The story, while having some poor moments, is overall very engaging, and the finale is one of the best game endings this year. With its huge world, a strong multiplayer component and engaging story, RDR will keep you playing long after you finish John Marston’s tale.

Fallout: New Vegas
Fallout 3 saw the classic post-apocalyptic role-playing series move into the third dimension. Bethesda mixed the Fallout mythos with Oblivion style gameplay to create an engaging RPG. New Vegas sees the return of several members of the original Fallout team, and it shows. The game moves back to the West Coast, where the series began, and features factions that any Fallout vet will recognize right away. New Vegas is very simply a refined Fallout 3 which isn’t a bad thing. If you can avoid some of the game’s glitches, it can be very easy to spend 200 hours exploring the Mojave Wasteland.

Call of Duty: Black Ops
Treyarch has always been the little brother in the CoD series. Until now, the only lasting mark they made to the franchise was the extremely fun Nazi Zombies mode from World at War. Black Ops features the series’s best story, and though it is short, it never loses intensity or momentum. The return of Nazi Zombies, along with an unlockable mode where you battle zombies as JFK, Nixon, Fidel Castro and Robert McNamara, has some of the funniest lines in a game this year. Finally, the multiplayer experience is the most complete and deepest in the series. Black Ops is the best CoD game since the original Modern Warfare, and one of the best FPS titles this year.

Halo: Reach
Bungie concludes their work on the Halo series with Reach. The game gets back to the series’s roots with large scale battles in huge environments. While Halo 2 and 3 had the player run down the same-looking hallway for hours, Reach features huge battles with vehicles and enemies everywhere. The writing and narrative is the best in the series, and the gameplay balance leans more toward Halo than Halo 3, including the return of the scoped pistol. A new level up system in multiplayer and the return of Firefight round out a robust package and ensure there is plenty of replay value.

Limbo
Limbo is a darkly twisted puzzle platformer. The first time you run the nameless boy into a hidden bear trap and watch the gruesome death will both shock you and reveal just how dangerous the world is. Traps are hiding everywhere in the dark world. The sound design is superb, adding to the depth and feel of the black and white world. The puzzles are challenging and give a real sense of accomplishment when you figure out some of the game’s more difficult ones. The ending is sure to be as hotly debated as the ending of Braid and is just as mind-blowing. Limbo’s atmosphere and level design make it one of the year’s best.