Favorite Gaming Moment of the Year

[Captain Pirate]

The ending of Halo Reach, the final two missions with the plot twist reveal and the boat storming in Black Ops, and the final Stranger mission in Red Dead.
If you've finished RDR, you should know what I mean.
Shot the bastard four times in the legs/crotch, poured some bait on him and left him for the wolves..

Of All Time?
Too many to say...
One of the best has to be MW2, where you are in the bunker in Washington, body bags, wounded and shell-shocked soldiers everywhere, you grab what weapons and ammo you can find and run outside to be greeted by an endless storm of bullets flying everywhere, the USMC in the trenchesb arking orders and giving cover fire left right and centre, and in the White House the Russians rain endless hell on you.

Or in Fallout 3 when you first exit the Vault.
The blinding light, the... emptiness of it all... Exploring the abandoned, decimated town..
Finding little to scavenge.
The helpless feeling, but you still have a desire to survive.

 

[AlternatePFG]

I loved the Suicide Mission in ME2 like others have said. With all the build up to it, they didn't disappoint.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Vanquish has it.

The first time I hit the slide button.

 

[SCAFC Chimp]

Best moment of 2010: I have three. The last mission of Reach, the first cutscene of Red Dead and the mission after, and going through the Omega 4 Relay, not knowing if my team would survive. And people still say gaming isn't art.

Best ever: First mission of Halo 1, starting up Mario 64, coming out of the cave in Obvilion, and getting into ME 1, playing it for 12 hours straight before finally getting something to eat and go to bed.

 

[Sarah Kerrigan]

Ending of Red Dead Redemption. Hands down.

Also saying that Duke Nukem is finally coming out. Thank god!

 

[viranimus]

Hrm... If its qualified by the game being released this year I really dont have alot to choose from. Id go with the ending of Mass Effect 2 in setting the stage for ME3 which actually made me appreciate the validity of the Mass effect series.

Personally my favorite moment personally from this year was completing Demon Souls on my first play through and the

Spoiler

stepping on the head of the maiden in black after killing her. Sheer and utter baddassery.

 

[greyghost81]

The suicide mission in Mass Effect 2 is my vote for the year. As for all time it has to be something from Fallout 3, either coming out of the vault or surveying the landscape from the top of the Washington Monument.

 

[Akihiko]

Platinuming XIII. I was getting so damn sick of framing Adamantoises, spent hours just killing them, over, and over. To finally see "Treasure Hunter" pop and then finally Platinum. I was so damn happy I could stop playing.

 

[DustyDrB]

The first boss fight in the Lair of the Shadow Broker DLC for Mass Effect 2. It was especially entertaining because I played it as a Vanguard the first time. The whole fight was an epic biotically-enhanced chase. That's my moment of the year.

Of all time? This may elicit some snickers...
The first fight on the Bridge of Eldin in Twilight Princess. Motion controls definitely enhanced this moment for me, as I actually stood up to fight and swung the controls like it was a real sword. Beating that orc (bulbin, whatever) in that manner made me feel like a true badass.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Two from Mass Effect 2 that AREN'T the suicide mission.

Zaeed's Renegade conclusion. "Fry you son of a *****!"

And the tense standoff in Garrus' Loyalty Mission, with ANY of the endings.

 

[CrashBang]

The whole of Mafia 2, every single minute of it
And pretty much all of ME2 as well but, specifically, as most have said, the Suicide Mission

 

[Drakmeire]

duct taping a bracelet to a flashlight and getting a lightsaber in Dead Rising 2. Screw Logic!

 

[JourneyThroughHell]

The third trial in Heavy Rain.

Yes, it's your standard Saw fare.

Yes, it was spoiled in all of the trailers.

No, it's still awesome and physically painful to watch.

 

[Hooded.Gamer]

Although these are a couple of personal moments, I'd have to say that either playing TF2 and getting a 3-player kill streak as a FAN Scout, playing a ridiculous custom Halo match with infinite jet pack fuel (also with friends), and playing L4D2 and riding someone off a bridge with the rest of their team around them in under 4 secs (also with friends). Again, yes, these are personal moments, but these are my favorite gaming moments of the year that (pretty-much by now) was.

 

[Drop_D-Bombshell]

The best gaming moment for me was Mass Effect 2's suicide mission. It did everything right. The music, the choices you had to make. And of course, the ending cutscenes.

Spoiler

The truly beautful scene of watching Shepherd, Tali and Grunt running through the exploding base and barely escaping, with the collector general finally being released from Harbringer's control to see his demise was followed up by the horror of thousands of reapers dramatically heading towards the Terminous system put chills in my back like never before. Bioware did a truly brilliant job telling the story with the choices and consequences of mistakes it puts forward.

 

[RedDeadFred]

My favorite moment of the year was going through the Omega 4 Relay in Mass Effect 2.

This, by far. Best gaming moment of this generation, in my opinion. You can see me ranting about it here:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.249831-Miracles-Whip-Best-games-of-2010

Good rant. I couldn't agree more.

 

[repeating integers]

Favourite moment of the year:

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This is one of my favourite cutscenes, because it just does everything right. Mostly, because of how well it manages to characterise Jorge in those few moments.

The way he stares down at his planet and almost points to some place he knows on it, before remembering who and what he is and getting back to his mission... the mournful, heartbroken way he says "Megszakad a szivem..." (This breaks my heart) as he sees the damage done to it, the explosions, the war tearing his beloved home to pieces... the defeated, helpless "I know..." when he's told there's nothing he can do... and to top it all off, the music accompanying it. Oh, and it's beautiful - Reach and the backdrop of space look amazing. Then there's the view of the Covenant Corvette and the approaching UNSC force you get through the eyes of a satellite at the end - I'm a real sucker for that camera technique.

I will repeat my mantra of "screw the haters, this game is awesome". This is one of the reasons why.