Rock8man mentioned this in last year’s thread, but I figured the 2010 list deserves it’s own thread.
Tom’s 2010 List of the Best Games of 2010 So Far
Personally, I would drop MAG or Peace Walker and add Red Dead Redemption, but that’s just me. Also, RDR would be up in the top three.
I think it was nice to see JC2 as high up as it was because the game is fantastic. I need to play more of the games on the list though.
I’d put Mass Effect 2 as my personal number one game of the year so far.
Wow. That’s amazing.
I don’t have a ten, because one so clearly stands out over everything. <3 Just Cause 2.
Honorary mention to Minecraft.
Weird, I actually agree with Tom on the top two, though I might reverse the order (I haven’t played any of the other games on his list). Bioshock 2 is a significant step up from the first one in terms of gameplay IMO, and while the story isn’t as novel, I enjoyed it more for its personal focus. Just Cause 2 is sort of an odd duck, because the game’s structure itself left me mostly indifferent, but it made for a great excuse to drive, fly and parachute around the game’s gorgeous and completely unparalleled world. What I really want is for someone to take that engine and make the most epic RPG ever, something in the vein of the Gothic games except in the final act you get a dragon or an airship or something to fly around on, but until that shows up JC2 has my vote for most compelling open world ever created.
The only other theoretical contender would be Mass Effect 2, but I ended up not liking it that much. Too much samey combat and companion/loyalty missions, too little story and world/universe development. Red Dead Redemption might top Bioshock 2 and JC2 for me, but I’m holding out for the PC version.
Bioshock 2 is WAY overrated. It’s not a bad game, but I thought the first one was better. Tom calls it moving, but I barely remember it, to be honest. Mass Effect 2 had much better writing, IMO, but I know that’s subjective. Still, I remember a lot from ME 2 and miss playing it, though I won’t play it a second time. I barely remember anything from Bioshock 2, except for a couple of cool levels. I liked the Disney ride looking area and the level that looked like an old style ghost town or something.
Uh…you’re also amazing?
It’s like we live in mirror universes. I think Bioshock 1 was WAY overrated, though not a bad game, and I think the second one is substantially better. And ME2 had better writing? ME2 is an indistinct mass of samey combat heavy missions in my memory, while Bioshock 2 had a lot of memorable moments for me (young Eleanor’s audio diaries stand out in particular). Takes all kinds I guess.
Alpha Protocol, Hands down. Best surprise i had in a long time and absolutely brilliant Choice & Consequence Gameplay. ME2 felt… flat compared to it.
I’m equally puzzled by Bioshock 2 because I too don’t remember a lick beyond the vignette-style level hubs(which never registered to me beyond, “Oh so this train stop is just stage 3!”). I even completed every single player achievement available, and I can’t recall anything from the plot, narrative, decisions, or whatnot. I do recall babysitting corpses from an onslaught of foes though…repeatedly. Are we sure Tom wasn’t talking about RDR? Because his blurb for Bioshock 2 fits my experience with that game!
Glad to see Darksiders love though, really enjoyed that one, and I’d probably place it around the bottom rung of my list.
Mass Effect 2 likely still remains my top choice. Particularly on my second run with the highest difficulty. The narrative was lackluster, but the moment-to-moment stuff really engaged me. I do hate the piecemeal DLC as I am holding off on pushing farther in my replay until it all releases and I can enjoy it all in one fell swoop.
Monster Hunter Tri is easilly in my top 10. Easilly.
Yes. People are pretty amazing, generally.
I played ME2 very late (and read the thread very late) and thought most people were generally leaning towards it being pretty bad. Seeing it as someone’s GOTY was a tad surprising, that’s all. Guess I skimmed the thread too much :)
I thought Bioshock 2 was a phenomenal game and was technically better than Bioshock 1 in pretty much every way. The shooting felt better and not having to switch between plasmids and weapons really opened up the combat. I think Bioshock 2 didn’t register with some people because Rapture was still Rapture. It just didn’t have the same impact as in the first game because we’d been there before. I thought it started slow, but really picked up and by the end had really come into its own. Loved that game.
Mark me down with the ME2 crowd. For me it’s not a question of whether it’s my favorite game the past six months, but whether it’s my favorite game ever. It’s also worth noting AC2 for PC is not far behind… what a six months of PC gaming it has been. :)
I guess I have a 3rd perspective, which is that neither game is overrated. But I do agree with Les that the second game is better. There’s a very short list of games lately that have really moved me. That emotional engagement is becoming more and more frequent lately. Prince of Persia (2008), Fable 2, Bioshock, and now Bioshock 2. I’m sure I’m missing a couple on that list, but it’s a really good sign. There was a period after 1999/2000 where I thought that moving games had gone away after Freespace 2 and Planescape Torment. But they’re making a big comeback lately. At least for me. I realize that emotional engagement can be a subjective thing. Obviously Bioshock 2 did not strike the same cord with Robert or BDGE.
Well for me I’d almost have to say that ME2 is pretty close to my GOTY.
You must’ve read a lot of Tom Chick’s thoughts on ME2. My recollection was that people loved the game, by and large. It’s sitting at a 96 on Metacritic, which of course proves nothing other than that it was well liked by most critics. Certainly reasonable people could dislike the game, but I think the pervading opinion on it was pretty positive. I certainly loved it, as I have everything Bioware has done since KOTOR (including Jade Empire).
I’m disappointed Settlers 7 and Mass Effect 2 aren’t on the list.
I wasn’t able to get into Bioshock II.
I’m thinking about picking this up, but there’s been very little activity at Qt3 about it. (I know it sold a huge amount over in Japan.) Is it that good?
Apparently, because I don’t get what’s emotionally moving about Bioshock 2 at all. I wanted to like it. I did like it, actually. But it didn’t resonate with me the way the first one did. And it’s not just because it’s a sequel. I didn’t like ME1 but I loved ME2, for example. Same with Assassin’s Creed; I think the second game is way better than the first. I just didn’t get captured by the narrative of Bioshock 2 at all. For whatever reason, I really liked the characters in ME2 and I actually enjoyed doing their loyalty missions and finding out more about them as people. I’m not saying ME2 would be my GOTY at this point. I’m just comparing it to Bioshock 2, a game that wouldn’t be on my top 10 list, I don’t think.
Oh, and ME2 has a 9.0 on Gamefly’s member’s ratings, too, which means it ties with RDR as the top rated game for the 360. So MSU is right; it’s beloved by many people. Bioshock 2 has an 8.2 on that same scale, which is very respectable.
It’s a timesink that revolves purely around instancing for the thrill of progressing your armaments for the next challenge. Much like the endgame of WoW, you gain materials through fighting, slaughtering, and looting, and repeat with the lure of that slight progression always nipping at your attention. If that appeals to you, it willingly provides hundreds of hours of playtime.