Top 20 Games of 2010: part one
Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas without an array of list features to argue with and shout at. So here's our contribution to the great festive debate. Over the next four days we'll present the Guardian review team's twenty favourite games of 2010. They are, quite simply, the titles we played the most, and that gave us the most pleasure.
Feel free to heckle, contradict and mock – that's the fun of it. Some of the more quirky favourites from the team have been ejected as part of the democratic process, but we'll list a selection of those on Christmas Eve.
For now, prepare your indignation – or agreement – for the first five games...
(Lionhead, Xbox 360, PC)20. Fable III
Once again Peter Molyneux promised the Earth and delivered... well, at least a continent. The third title in Lionhead's RPG adventure series takes place 50 years after Fable II and demands that you rescue an ailing kingdom then learn to govern it effectively. Our team loved the fusion of game styles, the engrossing plot and the sense of your actions and interactions having a profound effect on the world around you. Certainly though, it was let down by some technical issues and the rather uninspired environment design, while some gamers criticised the simplified structure. However, most of us agreed that Fable III represents an enthralling and often witty take on an over-subscribed genre. It also boasts a voice acting cast that stuffs in more stars than most Hollywood blockbusters. Not bad going for a British development.(Bungie, Xbox 360)19. Halo: Reach
This is a game about last stands – it is the Spartans' final and ultimately doomed attempt to save Reach from the encroaching Covenant forces, and it is Bungie's closing Halo game before moving on to other projects. No wonder the story of valour and sacrifice is so epically drawn – and no wonder some felt it failed to hit the stratospheric emotional heights it aimed at. It's difficult to pull off tragedy with giant guns and wisecracking uber men. Whatever its narrative failures however, Halo Reach does everything fans of the series wanted and more, providing a compelling range of weapons and vehicles, and an intelligent foe to aim them at. And with its multiplayer engine still firing on all cylinders, Reach, ultimately, is a Triumphalist 'best of', a cocksure culmination of the whole Halo experience, as envisioned by its departing creator. Halo – and by logical extension, the Xbox 360 – will never be the same again.(Square Enix, PS3, Xbox 360)18. Final Fantasy XIII
Another Final Fantasy adventure, another band of plucky young super models out to save their world from an invading evil. As with every title since the epoch shattering seventh incarnation, it has split critical opinion with a mighty battle-axe. The Guardian referred to this mammoth cinematic odyssey as 'grandly and unapologetically linear'. Hardcore game site Destructoid preferred to label it, 'a pompous and masturbatory affair'. Most gamers will swivel between both viewpoints as they trek through the 50-hour campaign, often marvelling at the almost ridiculous beauty of the landscapes and set pieces. Indeed, wherever you stand on the whole 'adventure-game-as-travel-documentary' debate, and whatever you think of the smoothed down active battle system, only a churl would wish an end to this idiosyncratic series – the Gran Turismo of RPGs.(Remedy, Xbox 360)17. Alan Wake
Very specifically billed as a 'psychological action thriller', Alan Wake, was always a fascinating project – an obsessive labour of love, teased out over several years by Remedy's comparatively tiny development team. The central concept, a horror author travelling to a remote town to combat writer's block – only to end up combating an all-pervasive evil – is the familiar stuff of a hundred survival horror yarns. But the intense plotting, interesting light-as-a-weapon mechanic, and endlessly self-doubting hero make this much more of a 'think piece'. It is never quite the revelation it thinks it is however, and following the much weirder Heavy Rain, it looked positively conventional at times. Alan Wake is a paradox then. Time Magazine called it the game of the year – even the game's sternest detractors will understand why some love it so ardently.(Treyach, PC, PS3, Xbox 360)16. Call of Duty: Black Ops
It was too conventional, too representative of the big money gaming mainstream, for some to stomach. But Black Ops is superlative blockbuster entertainment. The single-player campaign skilfully pickpockets twenty years of Cold War history, generating a conspiracy thriller that's as plausible as anything the movie biz could have chucked at us. And within it, there are marvellous set-pieces and well-tuned cultural references. The sequence where you start off on a murderous cruise down a Vietnamese river with Sympathy for the Devil kicking in over the speakers is approaching genius. Then you have the exhaustive multiplayer functionality, the zombies, the retro arcade game… There have been troubling problems with the PS3 version – these need to be addressed. And as I wrote in my review, the game stretches the whole CoD premise to snapping point. One more over-blown, globetrotting, shoot-fest could bring the whole edifice crashing down.(Playdead, Xbox Live Arcade)15. LIMBO
Amid the cacophony of E3 2010, a monochromatic indie game by a small Danish team somehow managed to grab the attention of the gaming press. LIMBO is an enigma, ostensibly a puzzle-platformer about a boy searching for his sister, it's more an expressionistic, psychological quest, the silhouetted monsters and shifting shadows hinting at primal, barely perceived terrors. If this makes it sound like some sort of arcane, artsy experiment, it is a huge disservice. The game has an excellent physics system around which it bases a series of individual logic puzzles that tease and intrigue as much as any of the technicolour tasks that befall Mario. Like Heavy Rain, LIMBO beautifully illustrates what can happen when leftfield minds are applied to the latest in games hardware. (Firaxis, PC, Mac)14. Civilization V
Unlike most philosophers, political leaders or scientists, Sid Meier always knows what is best for Civilization. For the fifth incarnation of this legendary strategy title, the great designer and his team at Firaxis have re-written the rule book, retaining the basic concept (developing a fledgling race over six thousand years, from nomadic tribe to nuclear super power), but chucking out the old square-based grid system in favour of a hexagonal map, where units cannot be stacked on top of each other. It means that every city siege is a tense multi-faceted tactical encounter, where ranged weaponry and infantry muscle must be employed in tandem. It also looks lovely, the detailed randomly generated landscapes awash with life and colour. Some have criticised the loss of several key features; the words 'dumbing down' have been thrown about. For those people, well, Civ IV is still out there. But as a new take on the classic concept, it is fascinating, enjoyable and as ever, educational. There should be a PC running this game in every school in every corner of the world.(Ubisoft, PS3, Xbox 360)13. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
The latest title in Ubisoft's history-spanning adventure series had no right to be this good. Essentially representing an add-on to Assassin's Creed II, it follows renaissance hitman Ezio as he attempts to liberate Rome from the mighty Borgia clan, recruiting a new guild of killers on the way. But this is no hastily produced stopgap, it's a gripping epic playing out amid the crowded streets and over the rooftops of an intricately realised city. Along with the enthralling main campaign, there are dozens of side-quests and missions, while the story of Desmond Miles is also continued and expanded. Add in the unusual cat-and-mouse multiplayer and this is a luscious offering, rich with atmosphere, wallowing in the sort of historical detail that Dan Brown can only prod at. What a set up for Assassin's 3…(Rovio, Android, iOS, mobile, PSP)12. Angry Birds
How has a simple physics-based mobile timewaster become a cultural phenomenon? How did combining the game design principles of Worms, Crush the Castle and Boom Blox into one portable catapult-'em-up possibly inspire a hilarious satire on the Middle East peace process? It probably shouldn't, but it has. And really, one should never underestimate the entertainment alchemy that comes from merging cute visuals and animal cruelty – this was, after all, the stock-in-trade of the Looney Tunes animation factory for half a century. Ultimately, Angry Birds is a masterclass in casual game design. It looks funny, it has a one-stop user-interface, it reveals its complexity gradually, and it is easy to talk about and share. The rumours of a motion picture tie-in will surely be confirmed in 2011. It will probably be an inept insult to this brilliantly constructed game.(Nintendo, Wii)11. Super Mario Galaxy 2
Forget mere galaxies, what the latest Super Mario adventure reminds us all about is the sheer universality of Miyamoto's work. As Steve Boxer wrote in his Guardian review, "the youngest children and grizzliest hardcore gamers alike will be held equally rapt by its charms." SMG2 takes the structure of its predecessor, a series of themed worlds, each with multiple galaxies to explore, tightens things up and adds new abilities, new characters and, most importantly, a ludicrous wealth of fresh ideas and game design treats. Somehow, Nintendo is able to craft an experience that is both utterly logical and astonishingly surreal – like a Dali painting with an instruction leaflet. But much more fun. So, so much fun.(Eurocom, Wii)10. GoldenEye
No fan of the N64 original could dare dream that its return would be this good. Certainly, the modern interpretation was never going to make the same impact as Rare's classic, but it takes both the bones of the story and the guts of the missions we all remember (the opening dam sequence, Frigate, Runway) and augments them into a solid, thoroughly enjoyable shooter. This is a remake that understands the unreality of nostalgia; it knows that our perception of the past is irrevocably painted by the present – hence, for example, the seamless replacement of Brosnan with Craig. Consequently, though a little scrappy and worn in places itself, it indulgently salutes our memories of a legend rather than rubbing our noses in the reality of that 1997 relic. Maybe we shouldn't love this game so much, but we adored its predecessor, and the new GoldenEye carries its spirit somewhat intact.(2K Marin, PC, PS3, Xbox 360)9. Bioshock 2
Here was another follow-up that some of us expected would go badly wrong. Developed by a fresh studio and seeking to build on a rather singular piece of creative brilliance, Bioshock 2 might have been a Jaws 2. Or a Godfather 3. Instead, it's a proper follow-up to the Bioshock vision, set ten years after its predecessor and putting you into the clomping boots of a Big Daddy out to find his Little Sister. Once again, philosophy plays its part in the background story, as competing doctrines slug it out over the husk of Rapture – Objectivist ambition against Stalinist community. Meanwhile, there are spine-tingling enemies, beautifully decrepit surroundings, new weapons and plasmids, shocks and revelations. And all games should reward exploration with astonishsing sights. Often they just don't. This one does.(EA Sports, PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii)8. Fifa 11
The obsessives at EA Canada made some controversial decisions this year, tweaking the passing model for added directional challenge and "improving" goalkeeper AI to rule out the last vestiges of the old generosity toward 60-yard punts and cheeky lobs. But it also simplified the Career mode, brought in 11 vs 11 online play and accentuated the individual genius of star players – all intriguing additions. It took many of us a while to get used to the changes, but the result is a challenging, enthralling simulation, that dearly wants to replicate the unpredictability and variety of the real sport – and often gets very close. You can play this game everyday (and believe me, some of us probably have) and spot new stuff all the time – that's what Pes used to be like. On that subject, Konami's series is on the up again and a couple of our writers had it on their personal lists. The crown is there to be snatched back; Shingo 'Seabass' Takatsuka and his team are within grabbing distance.(Ninja Theory, PS3, Xbox 360)7. Enslaved: Odyssey to the West
It's short, it's comparatively easy and the enemies are repetitive, yet Enslaved somehow contrived to be one of the most compelling action adventure titles of the year – for us, anyway. Taking place on a futuristic Earth plundered by intergalactic slavetraders, the game follows a displaced warrior named Monkey who escapes from a crashing spacecraft and finds himself protecting a young woman – Trip – as she heads back to her tribe. Yes, it's a modernisation of the 16th century Chinese novel Journey to the West, and yes, the interplay between the two characters is the focal point as they shift from mutual distrust to friendship and codependence. It is the development of this relationship, played out via a decent script by Alex Garland and some fine virtual acting by Andy Serkis, that makes the game such a pleasure to spend time with. Not everyone was prepared for an interactive sci-fi rom-com, of course, but there are plenty of games out there for gamers who just want to shoot stuff. With its endless identikit robot baddies, Enslaved is almost a riposte to ritualised virtual slaughter. It says forget the baddies, it's the characters that matter. Not everyone will agree, but how brave to pursue this vision in the era of multi-million dollar development.(SCE Santa Monica, PS3)6. God of War III
And so one of the defining 'franchises' of the modern PlayStation era comes to its predictably bloody conclusion. God of War III has no handbrake; it is a hurtling maelstrom of carnage. Kratos is a machine of revenge, slicing deities with his signature chain blades, bludgeoning his way through the pantheon. The visuals are truly spectacular, the sense of scale simply awesome. The combat mechanism is hack-and-slash game design near-perfected, a visceral combo of accessibility, variety and depth. Somehow, there is even a mini sex game – just in case your senses hadn't been brutalised enough. A few of the reviews team argued vociferously that Bayonetta should be here. But despite that game's idiosyncratic genius, not enough of us were truly passionate about Hideki Kamiya's masterpiece. The God of War won.(Obsidian, PC, PS3, Xbox 360)5. Fallout: New Vegas
Yes, there were bugs. When originally released, New Vegas was so littered with technical issues, a subsequent patch contained over 200 fixes. But the latest title in the post-apocalyptic adventure series was a victim of its own ambition – the best way to fail. And of course, this is no failure. Switching the action to America's West Coast, it's another freeroaming quest in which various tribes, the remnance of humanity, carve out violent lives amid the wreckage of civilisation. The game's appeal is similar to Red Dead's – as Jake Arnott put it in his review, "Perhaps its greatest strength is the fact that everybody can play it differently. Rigidly follow the main storyline – or wander off and ignore it entirely. Try and be as moral as possible – or kill and rob the first merchant you come across. It's a tailor-made gaming experience where everything can be done at your own pace and in your own way." I also love that within the chaos, writer Josh Swayer has used the New Vegas setting as a satire on contemporary financial markets (see our interview with him here) – it is a city of sisyphean madmen risking everything and doomed to lose, never understanding the absurdity and inhumanity of it all. New Vegas is Wall Street: the casino on the edge of Armageddon.(Polyphony Digital, PS3)4. Gran Turismo 5
Once upon a time, Gran Turismo was cutting edge – now it is a belligerent iconoclast clinging to its late-nineties vision of how a complex driving simulation should look and feel. Hence, rudimentary collision detection and sketchy AI, but a massive roster of cars and circuits; an atavistic celebration of storage capacity. "But it has a sheer appreciation, and love, for cars and driving that is difficult to resist," wrote Nicky Woolf in his review of the title. "At times it feels less like playing a game and more like indulging in a hobby." And that is Gran Turismo 5 all over. Away from the complex interplay of A-spec, B-spec and License tasks, it's game about obsessing over cars, tweaking them, learning how to get the absolute most out of them, and then driving them around dozens of beautiful courses. Swapping them, as regular inhabitants of the Gamesblog's Chatterbox forum have discovered, is also an engrossing pleasure. In the first part of this list, I joked that Final Fantasy XIII was the Gran Turismo of RPGs, because both games adhere to their own game design rulebooks, quite apart from advances elsewhere. But the GT series has always been RPG-like in its obsessions with stats and inventories – GT5 is the culmination of that. Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit has the thrills, GT5 has the crazed depth. It should have its own Haynes manual – it probably will.(Quantic Dream, PS3)3. Heavy Rain
The only game of the year to involve changing a nappy, making an omelette AND cutting your finger off, Heavy Rain is a phenomenal work. Like Alan Wake, it is a psychological thriller with a disintegrating hero at its core. But the tale of Ethan Mars, who must perform a series of grotesque tasks to save the life of his kidnapped son, is somehow so much more grim and immersive than Remedy's supernatural romp. It is amazing really that this weird and ambitious game ever got made – created by cult French studio Quantic Dream and published by Sony, it's like an indie title that's somehow been greenlit for international distribution and handed a multimillion dollar budget. While not everyone enjoyed the stilted control mechanism, the staged structure or the reliance on 'quick time events' for the major action set-pieces, it was a game you just had to experience. And as plot twists go, Heavy Rain's is a nasty ontological trick that could only work in an interactive medium. Groundbreaking – not in terms of gameplay systems, of course, but in terms of what can be achieved with story and character in games.(BioWare, PC, Xbox 360)2. Mass Effect 2
No one else in the world makes games like BioWare. In many ways, the talky, rambling, complex Mass Effect was a throwback to the era of the original computer RPGs and text-based adventures – difficult, intellectually challenging, conceived by and for adults. This mammoth sequel, another quest to save human colonists from various intergalactic foes, does make concessions to modern gamers, with its simplified structure, cover mechanic and streamlined narrative. But this remains an action RPG and the emphasis is on having to communicate with and understand other characters. Even with an improved combat system, this is far from the realms of Halo or Gears of War. And the fact that you can load up your character and situation from the first game gives the whole Mass Effect universe a sense of epic continuity, like those bulky sci-fi novels that range over several books. And now Mass Effect 3 has been announced and the quest will continue – if you haven't already met Commander Shepard and his crew, now would be a very good time to get acquainted.(Rockstar San Diego, PS3, Xbox 360)1. Red Dead Redemption
For me, this was never in question; it was always Red Dead. The first time I played, I saw an outlaw murder a prostitute on the steps of a saloon; I chased him and gunned him down. It was a tiny piece of emergent narrative, but it spoke volumes about what this game was – a universe equally created by the designers and every individual player. Rockstar vainly fought comparisons with Grand Theft Auto; the similarities are obviously there. Yet, by moving the action to the dying years of the Old West, the publisher's San Diego team lent this open-world epic a sense of profundity, of grandiose meaning that GTA never attained, even when GTA IV tried to talk about the tragedy of immigration and belonging. The story of John Marston, the ex-outlaw forced to track down his old gang, is the classic stuff of Leone – it is about the inescapability of the fate we draw for ourselves. Red Dead Redemption is a game that understands, as the best Western movies do, that the West is about mythology, it is filled with ghosts. You need never face it, though – you can just ride out into the scrubland and never come back. You can ride and shoot and enjoy the evocative soundtrack and feast on the DLC, and turn away from what Marston has in store. It is always your story.
