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[Codeblue]

1. Super Mario Galaxy 2 ; 3-D platforming perfected.

2. Donkey Kong Country Returns ; This probably would have been my GoTY if Dave Wise had signed on.

3. Monster Hunter 3: Tri ; A massive game with a great atmosphere. The game consumed my summer. Having one of the most kind and helpful communities certainly helped.

4. NBA Jam ; I bought this expecting to enjoy it based on nostalgia but I got so much more. I have no interest in basketball but the arcadey feel and great announcer made this one of the most enjoyable co-op experiences I've had this year.

5. Kirby's Epic Yarn ; The most visually pleasing game I've ever played with solid platforming to back it up. I've gotten hit by an enemy while gawking at some animation in the corner of my screen multiple times.

6. Professor Layton and the Unwound Future ; Level-5 shows why they are one of the best developers around today. It's at this game that Professor Layton becomes one of my favorite series of all time.

7. Sin and Punishment 2: Star Successor ; A solid shooter that showcases why pointer controls need to become the standard for home consoles.

8. Minecraft ; If you loved Legos then you understand the appeal of this game.

9. Metroid: Other M ; I struggled with this one. I absolutely loved the gameplay, but they totally destroyed the Metroid universe most of us had envisioned while diminishing the appeal and personality of the protagonist.

10. Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars ; Solid fighter even if you don't have the time to invest in the game. It's not Marvel vs. Capcom, but it's close enough.

x. Dragon Quest 9: Sentinels of the Starry Skies

x. Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light

It's been a hell of a year for platformers, and a great year overall.

 

[(._.)]

1. StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty
2. Super Mario Galaxy 2
3. Minecraft
4. God of War 3
5. Fallout: New Vegas
6. Kirby's Epic Yarn
7. Mass Effect 2
8. Red Dead Redemption
9. VVVVVV
10. Amnesia: The Dark Descent

 

[Starbeh]

1. Bayonetta
2. Vanquish
3. Monster Hunter 3: Tri
4. Demon's Souls
5. Yakuza 3
6. Donkey Kong Country Returns
7. 3D Dot Game Heroes
8. God of War 3
9. Halo: Reach
10. Minecraft

 

[elektrixx]

1. Super Mario Galaxy 2; Which seems to have been forgotten by the mainstream gaming websites.
2. Heavy Rain
3. Mass Effect 2
4. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit; Eliminated the need to care about Gran Turismo 5. Too bad I already preordered it.
5. Alan Wake
6. Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction; So nice I beat it twice.
7. Donkey Kong Country Returns
8. GoldenEye 007
9. Battlefield: Bad Company 2
10. Rock Band 3; The set list wasn't great but everything else was.

 

[Dabanton]

HiResDes you need to fix your formatting, or your vote won't count.

 

[upandaway]

1. Monster Hunter 3: Tri ; Swallowed my life. There's not even that much grinding once you get to the latter game! I have at least 100 hours into this game as pure, untouched action. Lance > Hammer > SnS on Barioth > Switch Axe > LS > everything else, in terms of fun.
2. Pokemon Black/White ; I'm in PAL region and imported this from Japan.
3. Minecraft
4. Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver
5. Picross 3D


Seems my list is only made of really huge and long games. Oh well.

 

[OakHey]

1. Halo: Reach
2. Just Cause 2
3. Mass Effect 2
4. Picross 3D
5. Angry Birds
6. Limbo

 

[Blue Submarine No. 6]

1. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker ; one of the best games in the series, and one of the best handheld games ever, imho... This game ate 140+ hours of my life, and I still want to pick it up over my backlog from time to time... :lol
2. God of War: Ghost of Sparta ; another beautiful game that squeezes all the gameplay and story goodness of GoW onto the PSP...
3. Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light ; a terrifically fun two player co-op experience... played it through with both of my children!
4. Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep
5. Picross 3D
6. Heavy Rain
7. BioShock 2
8. Monsters (Probably) Stole My Princess
9. Puzzle Quest 2
10. Valkyria Chronicles 2

(belated) Honorable Mention: Valkyria Chronicles - ya, I'm LTTP (so what else is new! :lol ) but man, what a great game!!

 

[Mar]

1. Bayonetta
2. VVVVVV
3. Crackdown 2
4. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
5. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
6. Dante's Inferno
7. Alan Wake
8. Dead Rising 2
9. Super Meat Boy
10. Deadly Premonition

 

[wouwie]

1. Heavy Rain
2. Read Dead Redemption
3. Gran Turismo 5

Besides these, had lots of fun and was amazed by two non 2010 titles: Braid and Machinarium. Also liking the Sly Cooper collection a lot and had fun playing Lost Horizon.

 

[BoilersFan23]

1. Final Fantasy XIII
2. Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep
3. Heavy Rain
4. Yakuza 3
5. ModNation Racers
6. God of War III
7. Bayonetta
8. Tatsunoko vs. Capcom (NA)
9. Gran Turismo 5
10. Phantasy Star Portable 2

 

[Raziel]

1. god of war 3
2. heavy rain

 

[Cheesemeister]

HiResDes you need to fix your formatting, or your vote won't count.

I've updated the parser to pick up votes that have comments not separated by semicolons. Right now, only his honorable mention won't be picked up. Thank you for you help, though.

timetokill, could you update the rules in the OP to reflect the recent parser changes?

 

[Semblance]

List edit.

Inc. wordy post. I love lists though, so fuck it. If I messed up on the rules, feel free to call me out.

1. Bayonetta ; Sublime action. I've always felt like 3D brawlers, 2D beat 'em ups and fighting games shared a common thread, and I love those other two, but this particular genre never really found its ace card. It never had its own Final Fight or 3rd Strike, DMC1/3 were as close as it came. Bayo is that ace card, though. It not only makes the DMC series feel dated but spoiled me playing newer, similar games. The tight controls, fast action, crazy combos - then there were the last few boss fights, and infinite climax mode. Final Jeanne fight on infinite climax mode is basically god tier gaming. I really can't do Bayo justice. I've never had more fun playing a video game before in my life, though. This is my now favorite game ever.

2. Vanquish ; There's such a glut of stop and shoot cover-based third person shooters now. Vanquish throws up a middle pair of fingers at all of them and just has you tearing every robot in sight a new asshole. Why slow down? Why spend so much time behind a chest-high barrier? Instead try treating that shit like a springboard by boosting right into it, vaulting over, popping AR mode and then blowing a robot's head off. Platinum do action games better than anybody else right now.

3. Super Street Fighter 4 ; My biggest beef with vanilla SFIV was its roster: I'm tired of Street Fighter 2. The tacked-on Alpha characters were okay but very weak. All I really had was C. Viper who, while fun, was extremely difficult to use, especially when lag ate half of my EX ground pound, aerial burning kick into ultra combos. Super corrects vanilla SFIV's biggest flaw by throwing in plenty of fun new fighters, including Juri, my new favorite fighting game character ever. Better overall balance too. Online is still hit or miss, but at least with Juri I can keep combos simple and succeed. I still hate Blanka, though. Fuck Blanka.

4. Amnesia: The Dark Descent ; Lights off, headphones on, play alone. I don't think it's hyperbole to say that this game is so scary it's honestly devastating at times. I feel as if every twenty minutes I'm about to have a goddamn heart attack. Silent Hill, before it caught cancer and died anyway, was the bar for a very long time. Amnesia makes it look weak by comparison - something I formerly believed to be impossible. The "plish plosh, plish plosh, plish plosh" water bit is the new "dog jumping through the window." Amnesia does such a magnificent job of seeping under your skin, weirding you out, fucking with your head. Then it unleashes a monster you cannot defend against and crushes your spirit. Again, devastating. A superior horror game does not exist.

5. Limbo ; Exquisite art with simple but neat puzzle platforming. I loved the world, I enjoyed the puzzles and never once felt overwhelmed by them, something I usually get easily frustrated with. Beautiful game.

6. Civilization 5 ; This game gets a bad rap, but I enjoyed it, enough to have put in 110 hours. I suspect the reason for this is because I love to play aggressively, I love invading, and Civ V lets me crush all the assholes I want (h8 u Ghandi). Latest patch fixed a lot and this game will only continue to get better too. Absurdly addictive.

7. Guwange ; I took a long break from shooters and believed myself to be over them entirely, but Cave pulled me back in. I've purchased six of their games this year alone. I don't do that for any dev. While most Cave faithful seem to prefer Ketsui or Mushi Futari (equally awesome shooters), I think it's Guwange that's won my heart. Even with its admittedly peculiar mechanics, I love the way this game feels, and on top of that there's the artwork and music. It's dark, ancient Japanese brilliance. It's very unlike their kawaiiiii~~~ anime material, which I don't mind, but don't love either. Guwange is sort of polarizing and I can understand why, but I am firmly in the 'love it' camp and always will be.

8. Alpha Protocol ; Steven Heck, ladies and gentleman. Alpha Protocol is a bit rough around the edges at times, but it does so much right. Amazing dialogue, as you'd expect from Obsidian.

9. Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2 – Chaos Rising ; The campaign simply wasn't there for vanilla DoW2, despite everything else being on point. Chaos Rising has much improved variety and pacing, a number of memorable encounters. I still don't give a shit about Warhammer as a whole and Cyrus makes me cringe, but whatevs. Game is awesome fun, especially in co-op.

10. Metro 2033 ; This is almost like bizarro world Bioshock, or maybe like its futuristic nuked-out Russian cousin. Except you're never given crazy powers and it lolz at the idea of handing you super rad upgradeable weapons. In fact, your weapons aren't powerful at all, all your good shit is special ammo that also doubles as currency. You're even forced to pump specific weapons just to shoot them. This rough ride won't endear itself to everyone, but I thought it was an excellent trip. And unlike Bioshock - unlike most FPS campaigns, actually - Metro 2033's final hour or so is a fantastic payoff. Eastern European gaming has really been coming into its own. Metro 2033 is yet another strange but beautiful feather in their unique cap.

Honorable mentions:

x. Bioshock 2
x. Minecraft
x. DeathSmiles
x. Call of Duty: Black Ops
x. Red Dead Redemption
x. VVVVVV

 

[gillFTR]

1. Red Dead Redemption
2. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
3. God of War 3
4. Battlefield Bad Company 2
5. Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty
6. Assassins creed brotherhood
7. Need for speed: hot pursuit
8. Fifa 11
9. MAG
10. Halo: Reach

 

[adversesolutions]

Guwange <3.

If you are going to tackle it, definitely keep this guide nearby.

 

[topramen]

1. Red Dead Redemption ; I'm a nintendo fanboy so I can't believe I'm placing this above the great SMG2, but honestly it blew me away. this comes from someone who isn't a fan of GTA4 either.
2. Super Mario Galaxy 2 ; Great game in its own right, perfection of the formula.
3. Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty
4. Mass Effect 2 ;
5. Donkey Kong Country Returns ;
6. Monster Hunter Tri ;
7. Cave Story ;
8. Metroid: Other M ;
9. Halo Reach ;
10. Call of Duty Black Ops ;

x. Angry Birds ; Not worth a top 10 spot but a great iOS game.
x. Puzzle Agent ; Same thing, really enjoyed the atmosphere, although what gives with the end?

 

[Rad-]

1. Mass Effect 2
2. Civilization 5
3. Super Meat Boy
4. Limbo
5. Battlefield: Bad Company 2
6. Halo: Reach
7. Alan Wake
8. Football Manager 2011
9. Monday Night Combat
10. Metro 2033

 

[Flakster99]

1. Heavy Rain
2. Donkey Kong Country Returns
3. Alan Wake
4. Super Mario Galaxy 2
5. Kirby's Epic Yarn
6. Pac-Man Championship Edition DX
7. Mass Effect 2
8. Super Meat Boy
9. Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
10. Vanquish

 

[timetokill]

I've updated the parser to pick up votes that have comments not separated by semicolons. Right now, only his honorable mention won't be picked up. Thank you for you help, though.

timetokill, could you update the rules in the OP to reflect the recent parser changes?

Will do, next time I am at a computer, (using my phone right now)

Keep the votes coming guys!

 

[asa]

1. Minecraft ;
2. Heavy Rain ;
3. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 ;
4. Demon's Souls ;
5. Super Mario Galaxy 2 ;
6. Donkey Kong Country Returns ;
7. 3D Dot Game Heroes ;
8. Fallout: New Vegas ;
9. Limbo ;
10. Amnesia: The Dark Descent ;

I had more time to play games from my backlog than before, maybe has something to do with lack of good/interesting new titles. This year I also gave up on day one purchases, only game I bought day one was amnesia, which I had pre-ordered.

 

[HocusPocus]

1. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm ; My favorite game of all time just got better. Gotta love it.

2. Mass Effect 2 ; I thought it was a vast improvement gameplay wise from the first.

3. Halo: Reach ; Easily the best Halo game yet.

4. StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty ; I used to love RTS games, but now it's rare to find one I like. This one has all that Blizzard polish to make me love it.

5. Assassin's Creed Brotherhood ; Improving every time they make one.

6. Red Dead Redemption ; I enjoyed the game, but I just can't seem to ever finish a Rockstar Game out. Maybe one day I will this one.

7. Fallout: New Vegas ; Still playing this one slowly, but it will get more attention in 2011.

8. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit ; Love the racing, and Autolog is awesome.

9. Fable 3 ; Fun game until the ending. Step back from 2 though imho.

10. Alan Wake ; Great story and pacing.

 

[SirButterstick]

My list is a little shorter, as my #1 game really kept me from a lot of others this year.


1. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 ; I put 450+ hours so far for the year. Best online MP for the year, and it knocks CoD off the throne. Plus, DICE's continuing support and map packs really impressed me.
2. Deadly Premonition ; I bought this after reading all the hype from GAF. What a wonderfully weird game.
3. Civilization 5 ; This one had a bit of a rocky start, but after a few patches it really shaped up into everything I wanted from a Civ game.
4. Bayonetta ; A amazingly dynamic, fluid combat system wrapped in a campy package.
5. Halo: Reach ; Best Halo yet. Co-op is a blast.
6. Fallout: New Vegas ; A time sink, that's only going to get time-sinker as more mods are released by the community.

 

[RiccochetJ]

1. Red Dead Redemption ; The best game I've played this year. From the story to the multiplayer, I continually pop this game in and lose myself in the beautiful world created by Rockstar.
2. Super Meat Boy ; One of the best platforming games... ever.
3. Assassin's Creed Brotherhood ; Love the world and it is my current choice for multiplayer.
4. Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light ; Speed runs!
5. Dead Rising 2 ; Running over zombies with a tricycle while sporting a man thong never gets old.
6. Mod Nation Racers ; Mario Kart with potentially infinite tracks.
7. Enslaved: Odyssey to the West ; While the graphics stutter at times, and the combat is very superficial, the entire package makes it for me. Andy Serkis needs an award for something dammit!
8. Alan Wake ; Play this game on the hardest difficulty and you will understand tension. After slow mo dodging an attack and frantically fleeing to a generator, hoping that you can get it started in time is one of the best moments I've had this year. I love this game.
9. Mass Effect 2 ; Highly polished/fun game, but I hope BioWare scales back on the streamlining for ME3.
10. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 ; I don't especially like MP shooters, so the fact that this game is on my list should say a lot. Excellent job DICE, now give me Mirror's Edge 2!

 

[Barrage]

1. Super Mario Galaxy 2
2. Red Dead Redemption
3. Donkey Kong Country Returns
4. Bayonetta
5. Fallout: New Vegas
6. Super Street Fighter 4
7. Pac-Man Championship Edition DX
8. Super Meat Boy
9. NBA 2K11
10. Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

 

["God's Beard!"]

1. Super Street Fighter 4 - It's a good fighting game.
2. Fallout New Vegas - Can't stop, won't stop, don't know how to stop.
3. Mass Effect 2 - Sub Zero for life.
4. Amnesia - It's a good horror game.
5. Minecraft - Brings out all your inner creativity and turns it into something useless.
6. VVVVV - It's a good platformer.
7. Super Meat Boy - It's a slightly less good platformer.
8. Espgaluda 2: Black Label - It's the best shooter ever made.
9. Red Dead Redemption - It's got horses and a cool ending.
10. Bayonetta - Secret boss is awesome.

 

[HiResDes]

I've updated the parser to pick up votes that have comments not separated by semicolons. Right now, only his honorable mention won't be picked up. Thank you for you help, though.

timetokill, could you update the rules in the OP to reflect the recent parser changes?

I fixed my post, sorry about that.

 

[SpacePirate Ridley]

1. Mass Effect 2
2. Super Mario Galaxy 2
3. Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
4. Mafia 2
5. Minecraft
6. Super Meat Boy
7. Donkey Kong Country Returns
8. GoldenEye 007
9. Just Cause 2
10. Metroid Other M

 

[codecow]

1. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm ; Made WoW fun again, loving it.
2. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 ; Any game worthy of two days played is pretty damn hot.
3. Call of Duty: Black Ops ; The formula is getting stale, but it's still fun!
4. Mass Effect 2 ; Good, but gameplay got a bit repetitive for me after 10 hours or so.
5. Medal of Honor ; The MP for this was still fun and was good until CoD BLOPS.
6. Alan Wake ; Great presentation but fell a tiny bit short on the gameplay.
7. Fallout: New Vegas ; Deep RPG with guns but showing a bit of rust along the edges.

 

[Tricky I Shadow]

If ME2 wins GOTY, GAF will get it wrong yet again. Seems to flip flop years.

I agree. Red Dead Redemption deserves it more.

I suppose Mass Effect 2 just isn't for me. All I see with it is laughably bad gun-play, insanely dull combat and 'action' all with annoying technical issues....

Now, I can certainly still see why people love it though. I give it full props for the incredible cut-scenes and good music, but that's about it. It's overrated.

 

[Seraphis Cain]

1. Just Cause 2 ; This is basically the game I dreamed about playing last gen. Truly the best sandbox game ever created.
2. Vanquish ; If any game would finally get me to enjoy a cover-based shooter, it'd have to be Vanquish. To hell with the naysayers, Vanquish has more replay value than most games today.
3. Monster Hunter 3 Tri ; There's no way in hell I could play a game for 160-ish hours and not put it on my list. It'd be higher up if not for the fact that I massively burned out on it and haven't touched it in months. =/
4. Red Dead Redemption ; I have little to no patience for stories in games anymore (as evidenced by the lack of JRPG's on my list), but RDR's story really hooked me from beginning to end. They should have saved all that "Oscar-worthy" praise that GTAIV got for RDR. Still wouldn't be exactly true, but it'd be CLOSER to being true, at least.
5. Bayonetta ; Now THIS is how you make a "stylish action" game. Seriously. Platinum Games has quickly become one of my favorite developers this gen.
6. Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes ; Capcom takes Koei's Musou formula and makes it even better.
7. Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce ; Pretty much the furthest you can get from a traditional Musou game. Definitely the most unique game Koei's ever put out.
8. Dead Rising 2 ; Only just got this recently, but I love it. Had I gotten it earlier, it might be higher up on my list.
9. Pac-Man Championship Edition DX ; THE COLORS, DUKE! THE COLORS!
10. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game ; Amazing graphics, music, AND gameplay. Such a tremendous value for only $10.

 

[Zeouterlimits]

1. Super Meat Boy ;
2. Red Dead Redemption ;
3. Halo: Reach ;
4. Mass Effect 2 ;
5. Bayonetta ;
6. Super Mario Galaxy 2 ;
7. Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light ;
8. Limbo ;
9. Alan Wake ;
10. Minecraft ;

 

[bridegur]

1. Super Mario Galaxy 2
2. Darksiders
3. Kirby's Epic Yarn
4. God of War 3
5. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
6. 3D Dot Game Heroes
7. Just Cause 2

 

[astroturfing]

1. Red Dead Redemption ; a big open-world game from Rockstar, what can i say, it's near perfect for a western game
2. Final Fantasy 13 ; gorgeous music and visuals, cool battle system, interesting setting and for once a main FF character that isn't 100% annoying
3. Heavy Rain ; plot holes and red herrings aside it was a massively refreshing experience, a real eye opener
4. Fallout: New Vegas ; almost the perfect RPG for me, would be higher without bugs *sad face*
5. Vanquish ; incredibly fun to play, though somewhat frustrating at times, died 47 times on normal and 60 times on hard, and almost never knew what killed me...
6. Söldner-X 2: The Final Prototype ; ridiculously underrated PSN game, missing from the list too!!!
7. Dead Nation ; most fun i've had in local co-op for ages, such a solid fun game
8. Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City ; more GTAIV, love it
9. Mafia 2 ; good story, surprisingly fun gameplay and seasonal changes yay!
10. Bioshock 2 ; at times i loved it, at times it felt tedious. mixed feelings but overall it was good and the atmosphere was top notch


i have to admit, i wanted to put FFXIII as #1. because it was the game i enjoyed playing the most this year, for some reason. but it just wasn't nearly as good as it should have been, i can't forgive the ridiculous handholding and linearity of the first 70% of the game, i just can't. so RDR gets the nod because it really was as great as it could've been (just missing different camera view options grrrr).

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

Damnit. I am nearing the end of Amensia and it pains me to be playing this game so late it definitely would have ended up really high on my list.

4. Amnesia: The Dark Descent ; Lights off, headphones on, play alone. I don't think it's hyperbole to say this game is so scary it's honestly devastating at times. I feel as if every twenty minutes I'm about to have a goddamn heart attack. Silent Hill, before it caught cancer and died anyway, was the bar for a very long time. Amnesia makes it look weak by comparison - something I formerly believed to be impossible. The "plish plosh, plish plosh, plish plosh" water bit is the new "dog jumping through the window." Amnesia does such a magnificent job of seeping under your skin, weirding you out, fucking with your head. Then it unleashes a monster you cannot defend against and crushes your spirit. Again, devastating. A superior horror game does not exist.

Excellent write up this is exactly how I feel.

 

[GQman2121]

1. Red Dead Redemption ; Although its lead character--like all of his open-world R* predecessors--is plagued with the classic issue of "why the hell am I doing this?"; Red Dead Redemption is still the best, most complete title I've played this year. Whether I was following the revenge story of John Marston; killing time online in free roam; or luring bad guys deep into the woods for them to be mauled by bears--at no point during my 80+ hours of playtime did I ever feel like I was wasting time. In this day and age in gaming, that's no small feat. From the single player story to its online multiplayer modes (and free co-op DLC), no other game offered so much variety and random enjoyment for me in 2010.

There's really nothing like being in a large posse in free roam and hearing someone scream "beavers, beavers, there's beavers over here! I only need to skin three more!"

Or

"Oh shit....guys....hold up.....I need another horse, fucking cougars just jumped me."



2. Dance Central ; This shit is just plain fun. I'm horrible at Rock Band, but I can dance my ass off and this game proves it! It's also great that the songs on the disc are, for the most part, either classic tracks or recent dance pop songs. I've only played this on two occasions now at a friends house, but it's gotten to the point where I can't wait to play again and am considering jumping back-in and becoming a 360 owner. That right there tells me that this is one of the years best.


3. God of War 3 ; Visually this is one of the most impressive games released in any year this generation. The gameplay is what it is, which is familiar, yet still enjoyable GOW style action. It's only the conclusion of Kratos's story that left a lot to be desired. This is still a very strong game throughout.


4. Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City ; As someone who enjoyed 3/4's of GTA IV, I was excited to finally get a chance to play these two DLC Episodes. I found that the characters in L&D were the best of the three games; however, I thought the over the top missions of BoGT were absurd and didn't fit with what I expected out of the lead character. The online modes here are as strong as ever, and if you know what you're doing, the gunplay and driving are rock solid. I thoroughly enjoyed playing both of these games this summer.


5. Gran Turismo 5 ; I've admittedly not put in the time over the last month with this game that I would have liked to (so 5 could end up being too low), but regardless, I feel that the wait has been well worth it. It's GT and it's beautiful.


6. Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 ; The return of the king? Not so much....but the return of solid gameplay; excellent visuals; and a collection of different modes and leagues? Absolutely. Seabass still has a few things to iron out in the gameplay department (mainly adding more collision animations) and tweaking the menus which don't offer the most efficient way of viewing important information it the games most important mode. Still, this is a great game of footie and a huge improvement over 2010.


7. Heavy Rain ; This is such a hard game to judge. On one hand, it's so original, so different, and such a unique gaming experience that I feel it has to be mentioned among the years best. On the other hand, it's so full of deceiving plot holes and contrivances that it's disappointing that the game ultimately turned out the way it did. I feel the premise and structure were there for a very good story to be told; unfortunately, near it's completion, it's as if David Cage lost interest in the characters he did such a good job of creating early on, and then just ended it. My first playthrough was enjoyable, but going back to unlock the remaining trophies (to see the rest of the story) made me feel as if I had been ripped off.


Titles I wish I had the time/means to play this year: Galaxy II; Kirby; Peace Walker; BioShock II; Epic Mickey; and GOW: GoS.

 

[Kintaco]

1. Red Dead Redemption
2. Mass Effect 2
3. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
4. Super Mario Galaxy 2

 

[ShockingAlberto]

1. Bayonetta ; The perfect refinement of an action game. There have been better packages this year, but there have not been better games. For all the "I don't understand the love for this game," I kind of have to shake my head at those people. That really sucks for you that you don't understand the love. I do and I had a better year for it.
2. Mass Effect 2 ; In retrospect, I had a lot of problems with ME2, and those problems are ultimately what kept it from the number one spot. Those problems (fresh in my mind as they may be) still do not ruin what was an utterly engrossing experience. This is the game that made me wish OnLive fully delivered, because I wanted to be playing it no matter where I was.
3. Red Dead Redemption ; It's rare that I am so completely surprised by a game that it rockets from a summer doldrums risk purchase to one of my favorite games of the year. RDR was one of those games and, despite my problems with the cognitive dissonance of some of the mechanics and the story, the core game and the experience it created will probably stay with me long past this year.
4. Nier ; Trying to justify my thoughts on Nier is a fool's errand. At the end of the day, I really liked it and it was the right game at the right time for me. Not everyone is going to agree with that and that's fine. Anyone who can tell you for sure that you will or won't enjoy the game is probably someone you don't want to listen to in the first place.
5. Trauma Team ; I make no excuses for being an unabashed fan of Atlus' Trauma series. While Trauma Team was definitely a different beast than the previous arcadey titles disguised as medical procedures, it still managed to keep me up until daylight hours until I just. finished. another. chapter.
6. Super Meat Boy ; I HATE THIS GAME. It's really great.
7. Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light ; Fantastic co-op game that never loses its luster. Brilliantly inventive and just plain fun.

 

[JardeL]

1. Yakuza 3 ; In the age of short SP campaign games this game is a heaven for SP gamers. Packed with ENORMOUS content, every single substory has its own story. It took me more than 30 hours to complete half of the main story and half of the substories [ there're about 100 substories if I'm not mistaken] . Combat system is so satisfying. Lots of minigames including golf, bowling, darts & gambling. RPGlike character development etc. there're so much things in Yakuza 3 to talk about but you better experience it by yourself.

 

[GhaleonQ]

ShockingAlberto, I'm surprised. Did you play more and didn't think them worthy?

 

[ShockingAlberto]

ShockingAlberto, I'm surprised. Did you play more and didn't think them worthy?

I hit submit too early (meant to hit preview) and then didn't care enough to fix it. I feel like I said too many games already. I've played more or less everything this year, and loved a lot of games, but I would probably have been happy just saying my top choice and leaving it at that.

 

[Zzoram]

1. StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty ; the only good e-sport.
2. Mass Effect 2 ; the best blend of shooter and player driven story focused RPG yet.
3. Demon's Souls ; incredible atmosphere and exciting combat with just enough loot and crafting.
4. Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale ; addictive and solid gameplay, cutscenes can be skipped.
5. Civilization 5 ; just one more turn.

 

[Booshka]

1. Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light Best new game experience I had all year. I went to a friends house and we had a marathon Co-op session, it was amazing. Going back through the game for high scores and speed runs is extremely satisfying. I've played this game nearly 50 hours and would play it in a second for another Co-op run.

2. Red Dead Redemption Classic Rockstar, great open world, characters, sound, graphics and a good story. I did have problems with the game's direction in Mexico, but, overall the main story was the best of any Rockstar game I've ever played. The entire Epilogue part was a fantastic surprise that had me gripped to keep playing until the credits rolled.

3. Bayonetta The best action game I've played since Ninja Gaiden:Black. The story and characters are absolutely ludicrous, and I find it hard not to just skip the cutscenes, but the gameplay mechanics are unmatched this year. Tightest controls of any game I have played in a long time. The art design and graphics are beautifully colorful and unique. The combat flow you can achieve when you are really "in the zone" is bliss. Runs extremely well with a great framerate and crisp visuals (played it on 360).

4. Halo:Reach Finally, a Halo game that has at least come close to recreating the Campaign splendor of Halo:Combat Evolved. I thoroughly enjoyed the Campaign, loved the open sandbox for almost every level, and the story had much more continuity than Halo 2 and Halo 3. Bungie makes the slickest User Interface of any Console game even better with Reach. It is smooth and pretty, making it easy to navigate the vast amount of content and features that this game has. I do like the multiplayer a far bit more than H2 and H3, but the maps are pretty awful on a whole. I wish Bungie could find a way to get back to the glorious gameplay of H1, but I don't know if they ever will. Nonetheless, Halo:Reach has some pretty fun Multiplayer and an infinite amount of ways to play it with Custom game settings and Forge.

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

1. Red Dead Redemption ;
2. Mass Effect 2 ;
3. Grand Theft Auto 4: Episodes from Liberty City ;
4. Fallout: New Vegas ;
5. God of War 3 ;
6. Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition ;
7. Mafia 2 ;
8. Just Cause 2 ;
9. Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light ;
10. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 ;

 

[Thoraxes]

1. Super Mario Galaxy 2
2. Persona 3 Portable
3. Final Fantasy 13
4. Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth
5. No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
6. Sonic Colors
7. Red Dead Redemption
8. Mass Effect 2
9. Heavy Rain
10. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

 

[Seraphis Cain]

In the final listings, will there be anything that shows how many times each game was placed at #1 on a person's list? I think that'd be pretty cool to see.

 

[Ashes]

In the final listings, will there be anything that shows how many times each game was placed at #1 on a person's list? I think that'd be pretty cool to see.

Most likely, yes, iirc, he did that last year.

 

[N.A]

1. Mass Effect 2
2. Red Dead Redemption
3. Yakuza 3
4. Halo: Reach
5. Dead Rising 2
6. Persona 3 Portable
7. Super Mario Galaxy 2
8. F1 2010
9. Fallout: New Vegas
10. Battlefield: Bad Company 2

 

[Hazelhurst]

1. God of War 3
2. Red Dead Redemption
3. Dead Nation
4. Gran Turismo 5
5. 3D Dot Game Heroes
6. Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge

 

[will27]

1. Starcraft 2
2. Mass Effect 2
3. Halo reach
4. Alan Wake
5. Red Dead