Top 5 games of 2010 | Geek Node Archive

Published April 1, 2016

This entry is part 20 of 26 in the series Top 5 Games of the 25 Years The following are the games that really stood out for me in 2010.

Red Dead Redemption (Xbox 360)

When I’m done with these lists in seven weeks I would have highlighted 130 of my favourite games (with the exception of Super Mario Brothers, Circus Charlie and Super Mario 3 which were all released before 1990). It won’t be hard to whittle it down to 100, and from there, 50, 20 and eventually 10 and three constants in all those lists will be GTA 5, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Red Dead Redemption. Have you ever played a game that was so good that once you finish it, you go on a gaming hiatus because you know that no other game in your library will be able to recreate that high? I didn’t play games for a month after Red Dead.

God of War 3 (PS3)

Kratos’ third adventure (not counting the PSP games which were impressive in their own right) was bigger in scale, boss fights (Hades is my favourite and I have his action figure on my desk at work) and puzzles, yet it could not dethrone its PS2 swansong. I really enjoyed God of War 3 yet there was something missing – perhaps it was all too familiar (catch 22 really as we as gamers want more of the same, but tire of the taste). Having said that, I’d lose my mind if they previewed God of War 4 at E3 (and would be a little bummed if they developed it for the rumoured PS4K (not a fan of upgrading my console every three years).

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood (Xbox 360)

Ezio’s second tale takes the ‘silent but violent’ assassin to Rome for a solid second stab and what is considered to be a highly competent sequel to Assassin’s Creed 2. Personally, as much as I enjoyed Brotherhood, and the absolute shocker of a climax (I’ll never forget that night I stayed up till 4 am, having just played a marathon session of 6 hours straight, and being punched in the stomach by something so unpredictable, it shook the sleep from my eyes – the last time an ending made such an impression on me was when Ocelot revealed himself as Adam in the MGS 3 Snake eater credits), I found the location less mesmerizing compared to 2011’s Revelations (this probably speaks to my bias for Ottoman architecture and as such, should probably be dismissed).

Limbo (Xbox 360)

Limbo was the first Xbox Live Arcade game I played and it introduced me to indie games that weren’t afraid to have singular focus and serve up small doses of gameplay magic. The combination of intuitive puzzles, grisly trial and error deaths, washed out lighting effects and a jarring ending made this game stand out, and having recently replayed it as a PS4 PSN title, I can confidently say it hasn’t lost its touch. Speak to anyone who has played Limbo and the first thing they will mention is the spider. Just the thought of it gives me shivers like a hyena who just heard someone say ‘Mufasa’.

Splinter Cell: Conviction (Xbox 360)

Splinter Cell has always been a mixed bag for me – I appreciate the disciplined stealth of the initial titles, but they never really appealed to me (and I have not completed any of them). I prefer my stealth to be less overwhelming, which is why I prefer Sly Cooper, MGS and ‘All Ghillied up’ from Modern Warfare. I noticed Splinter Cell started changing with Double Agent (something that also happened with Hitman), and allowed people to be a bit more flexible in their approach – this was truly realized by the time Conviction came out (with Splinter cell Blacklist fully embracing the different ways we like to play, which for me is ‘start of stealthy until someone spots me and then go into full-kill mode) Splinter Cell: Conviction was cool, without trying too hard – from the mission names sprawled across buildings (like the Heroes TV show) to a strong story that only had one weak point (the slip that was the war mission), Splinter Cell Conviction is a great game and one that I loved.

To ensure consistency, here are the rules I follow when compiling these lists

I will only write about games I’ve played Even though I played most of these games a few years after they released, I will stick with the year they were released (otherwise this list will be all over the place)

Due to the second rule, it does mean I won’t be able to list gems like Super Mario Brothers and Circus Charlie

This entry is part of 26 in the series Top 5 Games of the 25 Years << Top 5 games of 2009 Video Game Feature: Top 5 games of 2008 >>

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MJ Khan

Gaming / Entertainment Author at Geek Node

A veteran gamer and award-winning strategist, MJ enjoys eating chocolate eclairs and watching WWE. He completed his Masters coursework on videogame theory and enjoys writing about representation in games.