Zero Punctuation: Top 5 of 2010

[mrpenguinismyhomeboy]

Wait what. Woah.

What a deconstruction of the entire gaming art form.

 

[mirror's edgy]

Ha! Everyone (including me) who supports the cultural betterment of games has now shamelessly admitted that Just Cause 2 is just a blast.

 

[Erdie]

A bunch of sandbox games, bleh, not my thing.

 

[Superior Mind]

Decent. Still I don't really understand why the top two.. no top three - were fairly unstructured sandbox games. I'd say that Red Dead is deserving and playing through Dead Rising I can agree it's a barrel of dumb gaffaws to mow through a mob of zombies with knives strapped to your mitts. But Just Cause 2 as well? And at number one? Yeah I know it's fun enough and the world is gargantuan and pretty enough to make getting around it not a massive chore but at the end of the day I couldn't give a rat's arse about anyone in the damn thing. Once strapping a soldier's boot to a rapidly ascending lift a couple of times there's not much else to it all. It's forgettable and to illustrate that the Zero Punctuation today reminded me that I haven't actually finished it... or even played it to any great degree.

On the other side I think the list of worst games was pretty expected and warranted. I could almost hear the sphincters clench when Halo: Reach was named worst of 2010.

 

[Echo136]

The music made me LOL!

I beleve everyone agrees that Bioshock 2´s place came as a suprise.

No, I was thoroughly disappointed by that game so I was in no way surprised by his choice.

 

[Xocrates]

I don't think Bioshock 2 was that BAD per se, but it was simply not the same quality of game as the original. People revere the incredible design of rapture, the characterization of Andrew Ryan, and the deep questions it poses over free will. The only part of Bioshock 2 that I ever remember all that vividly (And I was TRULY impressed by it too) was a certain part where you gain perspective from a different character (I'm sure you know which part it is, I don't want to spoil it).

I won't disagree with you, but I would like to point out that the perceived difference in quality in plot is more that Bioshock 2 is more subtle in its approach.

Bioshock characterized its environment and characters better I won't argue that, but while Bioshock was about the world and its characters (and frankly, I would argue that Bioshock's questions on free will only apply to videogames), Bioshock 2 was about you wanting to rescue your "daughter" and how your actions affected her. Bioshock was more memorable, but Bioshock 2 presented the more personal and meaningful experience (though not as well as the first).

We can argue all day on which game is better on which point, frankly I'm not sure myself. My entire point is that if you place Bioshock 2 in a "worst of the year" list then you cannot possibly have played that many games or you simply never even gave the game a proper chance.

 

[Machineboyyy]

Brilliant list!!! You, Sir Yahtzee, have impeccable taste. Just Cause 2 is a brilliant sandbox game, I love it. Your other top 5 are definitely winners in my book, good show.

Concerning the worst 5 list; I haven't played Bioshock 2 myself but surely there must of been something worse to add to that list of five?

Bioshock 2 doesn't look bad at all from what I've seen online.

Good call on Kane & Lynch 2, the first game wasn't too hot to begin with, then they created a shaky, flare-filled camera gimmick and threw out a generic third person shooter. Although I'm no Halo/XBOX fan, I can honestly say that the Halo franchise is doing pretty well with Reach being a very well made game (even if it's just a straight forward FPS). Reach sincerely wouldn't deserve to be on the either list.

 

[zHellas]

I must be the only one who actually likes Bioshock 2

I liked it, but only after I got out of that Persephone Whorehouse place.

Up until then it was pretty slow.

 

[Lionsfan1986]

I would agree with some of the List, but he is openly and admittly bias toward JRPGs. I am sorry once FFXIII was on the list he lost me. I agree with DR2, but i think FFXIII was the best.

 

[antipunt]

Bioshock 2 wasn't all that great IMO, but putting it on a top 5 -worst- list is kind of a stretch?

I suppose he might be incorporating a comparison between it and its predecessor. That, and how 'anticipated' a title is. But then that makes the Kane and Lynch one moot.

I think I'm going to stop overanalyzing this now.

 

[Xocrates]

Honestly, I think you're putting a little too much faith into the average gamer.

Most average gamers wouldn't even go so far as do what I said up there, they would simply hate BS2 because it was popular to do so at release (most not even having played the game I bet).

I don't disagree with you, which is why I said previously that the "(anti-)fanboys have moved on" was a reason why the hate for the game seemed to have disappeared, with the other being that people in general realising that the game wasn't actually bad.

My only point of contention was that I don't believe the announcement of Bioshock Infinite had any major influence on this. Especially since this trend started before the announcement of that.

 

[Warforger]

I was surprised by Just Cause 2 being best, yah it was really fun but I didn't expect it as #1. I thought when he completed the story and the good secondary missions he would get bored and forget about the game since that's what happened to me for the most part.

 

[Hunter6475]

The list was pretty good for your favorites, honestly can't agree with Final Fantasy XIII being bad, but that's just my opinion.

 

[michiehoward]

I remember Ben tearing JC2 a new asshole, at least taking a mickey out of the damn name -runs to rewatch review-

I mostly agree with the list, especially bioshock 2 and ff13 -vomits-

 

[VanillaBean]

Very good list Yahtzee loved the change of pace from the normal award ceremony.

 

[The Random One]

Did a piano player invade Yahtzee's tasteful mansion?

 

[Exdeath47]

I found myself largely agreeing with the list (though I would have switched Other M and Force FF13 on the list), but honestly your awards show was better done. The inventive names and setting were preferable to a simple list. But at the same time, I appreciate experimentation, and look forward to next week's show

 

[IamQ]

I have a friend who also loves Just Cause 2.

Personally, the only thing I liked about it was driving really fast, and driving really fast off large mountains.

 

[BabyRaptor]

YAHTZEE, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD, PLAY MASS EFFECT 2!!!!!!

He did ME2 months ago. http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/1461-Mass-Effect-2

 

[BabyRaptor]

Was totally not expecting Just Cause 2. Nice one.