AJ’s Picks: The 12 Best Games of 2010 – A Twinstiq Retrospective

Well, it's another new year and time, once again, for another retrospective. This time around, we'll be taking a look back at the best games of 2010. As the start of a new decade, it was certainly an important year; and it also happened to be a pretty exceptional year for gaming as well, with some of the biggest releases, well ever. Please read on for a selection of the 12 most notable titles that 2010 had to offer.

12 Fallout: New Vegas

  • Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Steam 
  • Number of Players: 1

After the loss of the Fallout rights to Bethesda, and their subsequent closure, as well as the success of Bethesda's first entry with the franchise, Fallout 3, it seemed like series creator, Black Isle Studios, would never release another Fallout title again. While that may technically be the case, the very next installment in the series, Fallout: New Vegas, would actually be made by none other than the newly-created studio Obsidian Entertainment, which was composed of former members of Black Isle. New Vegas retained the same engine and gameplay of Fallout 3, but with several additional improvements, including to the graphics, combat, crafting system, and perks. Furthermore, the game also reintroduced the reputation system from Fallout 2, and introduced new weapons, weapon modifications, gambling, and even a special hardcore mode for added immersion and realism.

With the exception of releasing in a somewhat glitchier state than Fallout 3 had, New Vegas was an improvement over the already popular formula in nearly every conceivable way. The game represented a return to form for the former franchise owners and was regarded as a masterpiece by the fans. Many still consider it to be the greatest entry in the series today (superior even to the installments that have since followed it).

11 Mass Effect 2

  • Platforms: Xbox 360
  • Number of Players: 1

Mass Effect 2 was the 2010 follow-up to developer BioWare's outstanding 2007 original. As the spiritual successor to their previous hit, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect was in many ways, a perfected version of an already outstanding game. Yet, while a great deal of inspiration was taken from KotOR for the original Mass Effect, many of the systems and components of that game had to be developed more or less from scratch.

​While the first game did represent a pretty monumental achievement in storytelling and interactive entertainment, some of the systems and implementations the developer had chosen did leave a little to be desired. Despite the first entry's pretty overwhelming success, BioWare decided to take some of that game's relatively few criticisms to heart when designing the sequel. The results were even more of the same fantastic character-driven sci-fi storytelling, but with newly-streamlined menus and completely revamped planetary exploration, in addition to a notably-improved combat system, giving the entire world a near-perfect sequel to one of the greatest sci-fi action RPG's ever made.

10 God of War III

Best PlayStation 3 Exclusive

  • Platforms: PlayStation 3
  • Number of Players: 1

The first two God of War games were a pair of the biggest highlights of the PlayStation 2 console. But Sony Santa Monica wasn't satisfied with keeping the hit series limited to the previous generation. After the release of the second God of War, they pretty much immediately set about working on the next installment. Utilizing the increased power of the PlayStation 3 hardware, the developer was able to create a rampaging odyssey of (up till then) unparalleled scale, with greatly improved visuals, and the same fantastic gameplay as the originals. On the PlayStation 3, God of War III pretty much reigned supreme as the king of all action titles.

09 Halo Reach

Best Xbox Exclusive

  • Platforms: Xbox 360
  • Number of Players: 1-4 locally or 2-16 online

Halo: Reach was the 2010 4th main entry in the Halo series, 6th release overall, and second entry, canonically, taking place between the events of Halo Wars and Halo: Combat Evolved. As such, the story chronicled the events leading up to the latter game, including the delivery of the vital AI character, Cortana, to the spaceship, Pillar of Autumn by a UNSC spec ops team of Spartan-II super soldiers, as well as the eventual loss of the human colony world of Reach to the alien forces of the Covenant. As the final entry to be released by the series creator, Bungie went all out to make sure it would be the greatest Halo game ever made.

For starters, Bungie redesigned their existing game engine, in addition to creating higher quality, more detailed art assets. They also decided to employ the use of motion capture in order to allow for more realistic character animations. Along with an absolutely outstanding campaign, Halo: Reach also featured new multiplayer modes and weapons (in addition to a few revamped classics), and even introduced the new reusable armor abilities feature. Finally, the game featured perhaps the greatest soundtrack of the franchise by acclaimed series composers Martin O'Donnell and Michael Salvatori. Halo: Reach would be a massive success, setting a sales record for the franchise upon release and receiving heaps of praise from critics and fans aslike. The game has since come to be widely regarded as the best entry in the entire Halo series, and hasn't yet come close to even being rivaled by anything from the current stewards, 343 Industries. Not a bad not for Bungie to exit on.

08 Scott Pilgrim Vs the World

  • Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
  • Number of Players: 1-4 locally

As a movie tie-in game, Scott Pilgrim Vs the World managed to be something that few movie tie-in games are, which is to say, good. Really good, in fact. Taking inspiration from the classic NES beat 'em up, River City Ransom, Ubisoft basically reworked that title into something slightly more modern and plopped it straight into the Scott Pilgrim universe. Crucially though, they opted to use the comics universe, despite the game being a tie-in to the live-action movie. For added fidelity, they even brought in Bryan Lee O'Malley, the creator of Scott Pilgrim, to assist with some of the design concepts in the game. Interestingly though, Edgar Wright, the director of the Scott Pilgrim movie (as well as the amazing British Cornetto trilogy), is also said to have been involved in some capacity with the game's development.

​The result was simultaneously one of the greatest beat 'em up and movie tie-in games ever to be made. One didn't even need to be a fan of the movie or comics to see how incredible the game was (but it probably didn't hurt). So incredible was it in fact, that after being delisted and unavailable for a number of years (due to expired property rights), an updated version was brought to new consoles in 2021, thanks to both popular demand, and the much-appreciated efforts of O'Malley himself.

07 BlazBlue: Continuum Shift

  • Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
  • Number of Players: 1-2 locally or online

Like its predecessor, BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, Continuum Shift represented a continuation of the same style of over the top 2D fighting action that the developers had made a name for themselves with as their earlier Guilty Gear series. The second installment in their (then) still fairly new BlazBlue franchise, Arc System Works brought a whole host of improvements to the previous year's formula, including new tweaks, modes, and balancing, as well as 7 new characters, to boot. Just as with Calamity Trigger, BlazBlue: Continuum Shift easily stood above the competition as the best fighter to come out its respective year, and was well-received by fans and critics alike. In the case of Continuum Shift in particular, praise was especially given to its smart gameplay refinements and excellent tutorial mode.

06 BioShock 2

  • Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Steam 
  • Number of Players: 1 locally or 2-10 online

BioShock 2 somewhat surprisingly had quite a bit in common with Mass Effect 2. Both games were the highly anticipated 2010 follow-up to an outstanding 2007 original; and both series were the spiritual successor to earlier, equally fantastic series. In the case of BioShock, that series was the PC hit, System Shock, particularly acclaimed game developer Ken Levine's 2nd entry. Yet for the first BioShock game, his team managed to break quite a lot of new ground that set it apart by way of its incredibly unique and detailed underwater setting, and engaging story. The sequel then, really had no right to be anywhere near as good as it was. Particularly considering the fact that Ken Levine and his team had very little (if any) involvement with it.

Yet, good it was, as some critics even considered it to be superior to the original. This was due to the fact that the story for the second game was every bit as good as the first, and many enemies, gameplay elements, and even the ending battle and musical score were actually better than the first's. Additionally, everything else that worked so well in the first game was on full display in the second, perhaps most importantly, the further exploration of that same previously mentioned, incredibly compelling setting. The only real shortcoming BioShock 2 had was it's pretty lackluster, entirely forgettable, bolted-on multiplayer mode. But given the fact that the rest of the game was so unbelievably well-crafted, this did little to tarnish BioShock 2's well-earned, enduring reputation.

05 Valkyria Chronicles II

Best PlayStation Exclusive

  • Platforms: PlayStation Portable 
  • Number of Players: 1-4 locally

Sega's phenomenal 2008 wartime strategy game, Valkyria Chronicles, was an absolute revelation. By many accounts, it was one of the most important reasons to own a PlayStation 3 (and there were several good reasons to). As a PSP exclusive, the sequel offered up the same fantastic style and compelling tactical gameplay from the first go round, but with an all new story, and most notably, a handy portable format. Upon release, the game sold well, garned high praise from critics, and was even nominated for a best of the year award.

04 Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies

Best Nintendo Exclusive

  • Platforms: Nintendo DS 
  • Number of Players: 1-4 locally

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies was the (as per the title) 9th numeric entry in the long-running RPG series, as well as the first main entry to be developed solely for the Nintendo DS. The game was a joint effort between developer/publisher/rights holder, Square Enix and Level 5, the Japanese studio which had developed the critically-acclaimed previous installment, Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King. Dragon Quest IX was also the first entry in the series to feature a customizable main character and a multiplayer mode. The game was very well-received upon release and even managed to earn a few exceptionally rare perfect scores from certain publications. Dragon Quest IX's impressive graphics and excellent class system received particular praise and the game would ultimately be nominated for several best-of-year awards.

03 Rock Band 3

  • Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
  • Number of Players: 1-7 locally or online

The first Rock Band represented the natural progression of the instrument peripheral music genre Harmonix first popularized with the Guitar Hero series. It expanded things from a single instrument focus to the full band. Similarly, Rock Band 3, represented the natural progression from letting pretend bands just simulate the playing of instruments, to allowing people to form actual bands that could learn to play their instruments for real. But Rock Band 3 went beyond the guitar, bass, and drums that had become standard for the series, by adding keyboards to the mix as well. And that's not even all - - in addition to offering their own simplified guitar, drum set, and keyboard options, via their partner/publisher, Mad Catz, Harmonix also made it possible to play the game with real, professional, MIDI-compatible keyboards and drum sets.

But the real beauty of Rock Band 3 was that they didn't abandon the fun and fantasy of the previous games in the name of authenticity. The game was just all of that and more. It allowed players to make the experience as fun and as authentic as they wanted it to be. It was an instrument peripheral music game that catered to everybody; and it gave players more than any game before or since. Rock Band 3 didn't just represent the progression of the genre, it was the pinnacle. The best there ever was and, sadly, very likely ever will be.

02 Red Dead Redemption

  • Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 
  • Number of Players: 1 locally or 2-16 online

Before 2010, the Western was a genre of video games that had been attempted far too few times, and had been done right far fewer. Then came Red Dead Redemption, the mother of all Western games. A game unlike any that had come before. A game that people the world over were still playing months, if not years after being released. In fact, this isn't the first time we've discussed on this site just how impactful and groundbreaking it was.

​Essentially, all it Rockstar needed to do was to take their previous smash hit title, Grand Theft Auto IV, and simply drop it into a more rugged and rustic Old West setting. Though it certainly helped that they also wrote a superb original story and did plenty of research in order to create such a detailed incredibly convincing world. In doing so, Rockstar managed to create, not only an instant classic, but the de facto standard that all future Western games should be measured by.

01 Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing

Best Multi-Platform Title, Game of the Year

  • Platforms: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Steam 
  • Number of Players: 1-4 locally or 2-8 online

Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing is actually one of the greatest kart racing games of all time - - and yes, that includes the Mario Kart franchise. Though it may be true that S&SASR probably never would have existed without Mario Kart to pave the way, just because a series created a genre, doesn't mean it's always the most outstanding example of that genre. Sonic & Sega All-Stars was able to surpass that series by taking everything that was great about Mario Kart and making it even better.

​Instead of hyperfocusing on one corner subset of Sega's massive stable of great characters (like Nintendo has mostly done with Mario Kart over the years), Sega decided to include a broad swath of popular choices from several of their different well-known properties. They did this with the stages too, offering a much more interesting and diverse set of locations in which to race. Each stage also featured an amazing level of detail and care that really fit the tone of the game from which it was taken, as opposed to just having more generic-looking tracks that just happened to share the same name as random characters in the game (like Nintendo and a countless number of sadly uninspired stages). Finally, with the addition of a multitude of unlockable bonuses and racing missions to participate in, in addition to the standard single and multiplayer racing options, Sonic Racing offered up a pretty significant amount more replay value too. I guess you could say that the main reason why Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing is just better than Mario Kart is that, once again, Sega did what Nintendon't.

 

So that'll do it for this look back at the pretty banner year that was 2010. We hope you enjoyed the visit and were able to find a little nostalgia, if not enlightenment while you were here. As always, please feel free to share your approval and/or differences of opinion in the comments below. Till the next time!

(This is a repost of an article that originally appeared on 12/12 Games.)

[Images: Rockstar, Obsidian, BioWare, Santa Monica, Bungie, Ubisoft, Arc System Works, 2K, SEGA, Nintendo, Harmonix]