Eurogamer Readers' Top 10 Games of 2010
Call it.
This is happening. Following yesterday's explosive/lengthy rundown of the first 40 of your 50 favourite games of 2010, today we get to the real meat: the Eurogamer Readers' Top 10 Games of 2010. There may be exclusives. There may be surprises. There may be trouble. Thank you to everyone who voted!
10. Demon's Souls
FromSoftware / PS3
What we said: "It's stoic, uncompromising, difficult to get to know, but also deep, intriguingly disturbed and perversely rewarding. You can learn to love Demon's Souls like few other games in the world. But only if you're prepared to give yourself over to it."
FabricatedLunatic says: "Fiendishly challenging but utterly compulsive. I desperately wanted to hate Demon's Souls as much as it apparently hated me, but it just wasn't possible. Every time it knocked me to the ground – and it happened often – I got up with renewed determination to see it through to the end. Twisted genius."
9. Bayonetta
PlatinumGames, SEGA / PS3, Xbox 360
What we said: "A game that exemplifies so much of what commentators claim has died in the Japanese game industry. A blast of creative brilliance, both technically accomplished, strategically deep and infused with rare imagination, Bayonetta represents the pinnacle of its chosen niche."
bigjimbeef says: "Okay, so it's bloody mental, but it also has one of the most refined and well-balanced combat systems in any action game I've ever played. It was a masterpiece of gameplay design from Platinum, even if the story is a mindf*** of epic proportions."
8. God of War III
Sony Santa Monica / PS3
What we said: "A technical marvel, but with all the clever stuff turned towards the aim of very basic gratification. There are no branching paths, no complex decisions, and no multiplayer modes, but this particular game is all the better for it, since the results are rich and focused rather than drawn-out and a little ragged. Ultimately, if you want to revel in old-school pleasures decked out in the very brightest new armour, this is about as good as it gets."
ChanceSplinter says: "Great gameplay and wholesale mastery of technology are one thing, but God of War III further separates itself from the pack with excellent, considered game design and camerawork that ensures the player is constantly seeing the game at its best."
7. Super Mario Galaxy 2
Nintendo / Wii
What we said: "A simple extension of the Galaxy concept, Super Mario Galaxy 2 can't possibly have the same impact. But it does have the same spirit, throwing new ideas at you with gleeful and impulsive abandon, leaving you breathless, scrambling happily to keep up. You can't really complain about more of the same, when the same is the one thing it never is."
Jones says: "Despite looking more than a little similar to its predecessor, Galaxy 2 is packed full of fresh, new ideas in a more streamlined and colourful package. If the first Galaxy was the Mario 3 of the 3D Marios, then Galaxy 2 is the Mario World."
6. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Ubisoft Montreal / PS3, Xbox 360
What we said: "Never before have we seen a game whose open world is so densely packed with things to do while maintaining such high quality. Whatever your particular taste, you simply cannot run from one area to another without encountering something else that you want to stop and do."
ezeeryder says: "45 hours. That is how much time I have put in a game that was initially touted as a cash-in. It would have been very easy for Ubisoft to have gone down that route, but thankfully it chose not to. Instead, it chose to build on an already excellent game and, with Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, deliver the best game in the series to date. A fantastic single-player experience coupled with an incredible new multiplayer facet make Assassin's Creed Brotherhood an easy choice for one of the best games of the year."
5. Halo: Reach
Bungie, Microsoft / Xbox 360
What we said: "Reach is an encore, a victory lap, a crowd-pleasing last hurrah for a series that most definitely won't end here, but will just as definitely never be the same again. Halo deserves another game this good, and Reach is a deserving tribute."
bruno0091 says: "Bungie's swansong and the perfection of the series. Graphically impressive, perfectly paced, amazing multiplayer and a good story all combine to make it a joy to play and experience."