The 2010 List of Awesome

[Lord_Gremlin]

Amnesia is a very good game indeed. It focuses on immersion like no other. As for Fallout NV gamebreaking bugs can't be forgiven. It's like monkey shit. It once was bananas, and there's something left of them in it, but would you eat monkey shit? Would you, Shamus?

 

[BabyRaptor]

The best thing about Cataclysm is that they made the game hard again. Personally, I think their new ideas on the leveling process can go die in a fire. Way, WAY too many gimicky vehicle quests and unskippable cutscenes. I play the game to play my characters, not to watch Blizzard play my characters.

 

[Rad Party God]

There are many great games (hopefuly) coming in 2011.

I'm pretty excited for Brink as it's being developed by Splash Damage, the developers of my favorite 100% free FPS multiplayer goodness, Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory and yes, I know they made Quake Wars, but it wasn't that bad... at least the PC version wasn't.

Also, I'm pretty excited about Guild Wars 2 and everyone knows why (see the infamous manifesto).

And let's not forget the wave of amazing rpg's coming next year, like Mass Effect 3, Dragon Age 2, The Witcher 2, Skyrim(!) and Deus Ex Human Revolution (I refuse to call it a fps).

Also, let's hope Minecraft reaches gold status and make it on every single list of Best Game of 2011.

Also... finally... Duke Nukem Forever will grace my hdd. I can't wait to kick ass and chew bubble gum... and I'm all out of gum.

 

[Yassen]

Good list and I'm certaintly looking forward to the awesome games coming out next year. If anything 2011 could be Biowares year. Dragon Age 2, Mass Effect 3, The Old republic all in the same year? Geez that's insane.

 

[vxicepickxv]

HL2e3, Duke Nukem Forever, and Portal 2 all coming out next year. Wow, that was definitely one of the best laughs I've had in 2010.

 

[HT_Black]

Amnesia is a very good game indeed. It focuses on immersion like no other. As for Fallout NV gamebreaking bugs can't be forgiven. It's like monkey shit. It once was bananas, and there's something left of them in it, but would you eat monkey shit? Would you, Shamus?

Depends. Were they good banannas, and was I starving for that particular flavor of shit?
...That's a surprisingly good analogy you've got going there.

 

[4173]

Lots of stuff to look forward to in '11, but Arkham City is at the top of my list.

 

[insanelich]

... uh. Sim City 2000 to Civilization?

 

[Ghengis John]

4. Duke Nukem Forever

Last year I celebrated the fact that Duke Nukem Forever had finally been canceled and we could stop talking about it. Then they un-canceled it. But it's still not out. I'm not really happy that we're still waiting, but I have to give points to the developers for extending a joke that had already gone too far five years ago.

I'm putting it on my list this year. I hope to have it on my list next year after having played and enjoyed it. And then I hope we can stop talking about it.

Ah, but then the wait for the inevitable sequel begins doesn't it? Hehehe...

6. Fallout: New Vegas

It was a mess of bugs, but if you can forgive those then it's a rare jewel of sandbox gaming. It's superior to Fallout 3 in just about every way possible. Interesting world. Good characters. Fun quests. They managed to get some color into the game, despite the desert setting.

I've been saying this for a while now, It's nice to see professionals say it. All in all a pretty good list, a lot like my own, with the exception of Mass Effect 2.

 

[Geminel]

I would have put Starcraft II on the list.

This.

This game spent well over half a decade in development and was highly anticipated by just about anyone who played the first Starcraft. It may not have lived up to every expectation but it met most of them with gusto. Definitely deserves a spot.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

well besides fallout new vegas (which i HIGHLY agree with it improving on everything that 3 did) i didn't have any of those games on my list to buy/play this year, however i have seen them and can say they are all great games in there own ways. so to each their own.

this next year though..my goodness. i am truly excited to see how this is going to pan out, i'm easily going to be dropping a good 400-500 on games alone this next year on titles i know off the top of my head, let alone ones that i might pick up randomly off of steams crack deals..

 

[Sn1P3r M98]

Amnesia was great, it deserved its spot on that list.

 

[True Nero]

i have to agree. 2010 was a bit of a weak year as far as games go. or at least in recent memory. yeah we had halo reach, which in my account flawlessly ended bungies 10 year fragfest, and also black ops (while having a suck ass singleplayer campaign, and not having much new in multiplayer). but im looking at next year and i have a feeling that the VGA's for next year are going to be some EXTREMELY tough choices. we've already got dead space 2, duke nukem, mass effect 3, portal 2, dragon age 2, bulletstorm, marvel vs capcom 3, and (despite many cries of ruining the franchise) Devil May Cry 5, which no matter what anyone says im still looking forward to and will more than likely enjoy as long as dante doesn't lose his trademark fighting style (bring on the hate, fanboys)

Edit: I'm also hoping really hard that Hideo Kojima gets off his ass and actually gets Metal Gear Solid: Rising out before the end of 2011. i freaking love the MGS series and Raiden as a character, and i think its about time that he got his own game

so here's hoping to a great year. ^.^

 

[duchaked]

Half Life 2 Episode 3?
wait wut did I miss something

well at least DNF was actually confirmed (ish...we'll see) and is coming haha...maybe

 

[RobfromtheGulag]

I disagree on New Vegas being better than Fallout 3. Fallout 3 had more of a wasteland like feel without landmarks every 3 feet. Marauder's Cabin. Fishing Shack. Broken down tent. The landmarks in 3 were further apart and more memorable, and the unmarked places were also more interesting. With Vegas if you get all the landmarks you've seen just about everything. The characters - up to interpretation. Quests -- I don't recall any groundbreaking ones but then Fallout 3 was the same.

Still need to play Minecraft though. Looks great.

 

[theriddlen]

Mass Effect 2. Except this pinnacle of gaming, this was a bad year:
-Polish president, his wife and whole military command has been killed in plane crash
-Biggest ever flood has destroyed huge part of Poland
-BP leak
-Haiti earthquake
-Iceland volcano

Thankfully our new 2011 years seems to be much better from gaming perspective:
-Portal 2
-Duke Nukem Forever
-Crysis 2
-Guild Wars 2
-Witcher 2
-Mass Effect 3
-EP3, please, Gabe!

 

[Double A]

Really Shamus, you should try Dwarf Fortress. It's Minecraft with ASCII graphics and you control a bunch of little dwarves trying to set up a colony. I'm bad at describing it, so here is a link [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DwarfFortress]

Spoiler: and an image.

 

[Shamus Young]

We should also commemorate a year of amazing posting and blogging by Mr. Young here. F***ing fantastic job, good sir. Cheers!

Thanks a bunch. Happy New Year.

 

[Weslebear]

I disagree on New Vegas being better than Fallout 3. Fallout 3 had more of a wasteland like feel without landmarks every 3 feet. Marauder's Cabin. Fishing Shack. Broken down tent. The landmarks in 3 were further apart and more memorable, and the unmarked places were also more interesting. With Vegas if you get all the landmarks you've seen just about everything. The characters - up to interpretation. Quests -- I don't recall any groundbreaking ones but then Fallout 3 was the same.

Still need to play Minecraft though. Looks great.

I agree totally with the Fallout point, I've only reached level 15 and I'm utterly bored but I kept going back to Fallout 3 and bought it for PC and Xbox. It feels very bland and almost chore like to me.

On topic, pretty good list I definitely agree with Minecraft being number one, it really is a beautiful thing. I haven't had a 14 hour binge on a game for along time and that really inspired me to love gaming as much as I always have, which has waned recently.

And 2011 MMO wise I think you missed a trick, GuildWars 2 is looking very promising.

 

[Vanguard_Ex]

Cataclysm still has many noticeable bugs, it should have had a bit more polish. Still, a sound list.