| 06 January 2011
The Easy Mode is counting down its top games of 2010 throughout the week! Stay tuned for more reveals, more twists and a satisfying conclusion. On the way, we reveal what our editors picked and their personal take on the year.
1. Mass Effect 2
2. Bayonetta
3. Amnesia: The Dark Descent
4. Heavy Rain
5. Split/Second: Velocity
2010 was something of a surprise year for gamers. We finally got that long-awaited sequel to Red Dead Revolver, which turned out to be better than anyone could have predicted; Bayonetta arrived, and despite all of the creepy innuendo and innate Japanese-ness, turned out to be a surprisingly well made - not to mention fun – game, with a combat system that would make Kratos weep; Alan Wake proved that it was no longer vapourware by finally making it to store shelves after a nightmare five-year development cycle; Duke Nukem Forever also shed its vapourware tag, though this time by being cancelled… and then resurrected like some freaky Frankenstein’s monster, albeit one that likes to shoot stuff, crack wise and make dookie on alien’s heads. Hell, it was even a decent year for proper survival horror with a strong showing from both Silent Hill: Shattered Memories and Amnesia: The Dark Descent.
Not content with just that however, 2010 also taught us that Natal was really Kinect, and was actually (surprisingly!) pretty good, the games we were looking forward to were – despite a strong start to the year – mostly disappointing, and that both XBLA and PSN would have a relatively mediocre year. Oh, and that racing games don’t sell unless they’re developed by Polyphony Digital (Gran Turismo 5) or Criterion Games (Need For Speed Hot Pursuit).
For me, the first six months of the year were by far the best, with Mass Effect 2, Bayonetta, Heavy Rain, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Red Dead Redemption stealing the spotlight early on. If I have any regrets about my list, it’s that I wish I could have placed Battlefield: Bad Company 2 in my top 5. However, whilst Bad Company 2 was admittedly my multiplayer game of choice for several months, I just felt it was perhaps a little too similar to its predecessor, and I never got the mileage out of it that I expected to. Also, I feel a little bad that no XBLA/PSN titles made my list this year, as we all had at least one arcade title on last year’s list.
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