This is a list of Reviews 360′s top 10 favorite games of 2010 in no particular order.
10. Mass Effect 2
9. Call of Duty: Black Ops
8. Alan Wake
7. Halo: Reach
6. Fallout: New Vegas
5. Just Cause 2
4. Bioshock 2
3. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2
2. Medal of Honor
1. Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Halo: Reach has the potential to be the game of the year, however, it has a few minor problems.
Difficulty: One of the great things about Halo: Reach is its difficulty. If you select the ‘Easy’ difficulty, you can blow through missions with ease. However, if you select the ‘Legendary’ difficulty it can take hours to complete a single mission.
Variety of Environments/Mission Types: This game takes you from lush forests, to cities, to dark caves. There is no shortage of environments here. The mission types are just as varied as the environments they will take you through. In one mission you will find yourself sniping enemies over 200 meters away, in others you will be piloting a Falcon (a new addition to the UNSC’s arsenal of vehicles) in order to rescue stranded civilians, and yet you will find yourself in full-on assaults in others.
Variety of Weapons/Equipment: Halo: Reach boasts a massive array of weapons from the Covenant’s deadly Energy Sword to the UNSC’s powerful Spartan Laser. In this regard, this game does not disappoint. New to Halo, however, are armor abilities. There is a very nice assortment of these armor abilities from a jetpack to armor lock (the ability to make yourself completely invulnerable for a few moments).
Graphics: Halo: Reach has absolutely stunning graphics. The explosions look near photo-realistic and up close you can see small scratches on your armor. I dare another first person shooter to rival this game’s graphics.
Sounds: This is yet another area that Halo: Reach shines. Bungie absolutely nailed the sound effects. You can almost feel the massive ‘boom’ of a nearby explosion and yet you can still hear other battles raging on in the background.
Campaign: Halo: Reach’s campaign is another fantastic part of its experience, but this is one area where a couple things disappointed me. The campaign starts off terribly slow and does not pick up until around the third mission. Then at the end of the game there is no ‘Warthog Run” which has become a trademark of Halo. But do not get me wrong, the campaign does not disappoint and it does in fact end fantastically.
Multiplayer: While I can not stress enough how well done and polished Halo: Reach’s multiplayer is, there are a few exploits that can ruin matches for those not willing to cheat. For example, on the map ‘Asylum’ during infection matches non-infected enemy players often climb up the edge of a cliff in order to get up onto a ledge where they can easily snipe the infected players down below without threat. Bungie obviously did not intend for this to be possible, and it is possible they will fix it in the near future. Other than these fairly common cheaters, however, the multiplayer is quite enjoyable. It has basic option such as team slayer and more skill-based option such as SWAT.
The Verdict: Halo: Reach is a fantastic game and it deserves credit for that, but a few minor issues can get quite annoying at times. If you are a fan of first person shooters, I recommend a full purchase, as there is just so much to do in this game. I give it a 9/10.
Developer: Bungie
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Sniper: Ghost Warrior had the potential to be a great game, but ended up being a complete failure.
Difficulty: The majority of Sniper: Ghost Warrior is ridiculously easy, however, it’s littered with painfully frustrating points all throughout the game.
Variety of Environments/Mission Types: The entire game is in a tropical jungle environment, but you will come across some industrial environments. As far as mission types go, there is a nice variety. In one mission you may be sneaking through an enemy camp, in another you will be a spotter for a friendly sniper, in some you might be taking down high value targets at long range.
Weapon/Equipment Variety: In Sniper: Ghost Warrior there are only four sniper rifles, a couple of assault rifles, as well as one shotgun. There are also a few pieces of equipment. There is a near useless grappling hook, C4 you can only use in two parts of the game, and binoculars you get to use for about four minutes.
Graphics: This game has about average graphics, although the rain forest looks pretty nice.
Sounds: Most sound effects are pretty good, although the voice acting gives me suicidal thoughts.
Campaign: The campaign is the best part of Sniper: Ghost Warrior; and the campaign sucks. The enemies can see you from far away while you are prone in a bush, the AI is stupid, and everything is painfully glitchy. Some parts of the game are barely passable due to getting stuck behind a rock.
Multiplayer: Really, Sniper: Ghost Warrior’s multiplayer is a joke. It takes multiple shots with any sniper rifle to kill someone unless you get a headshot, and the ghillie suits do little or no good.
The Verdict: Unless you want to blow $40 on a piece of junk, do NOT buy this game. City Interactive would have to majorly overhaul this game if they wanted it to be any good. 3.2/10
Developer: City Interactive
Publisher: City Interactive
It is with a heavy heart that I write this review. Pixar’s Toy Story has been near and dear to me for a long time, and I experienced countless hours of fun with the Toy Story 2 game. But alas, I have grown up and this type of game just can not entertain me like it used to.
Difficulty: It should not be surprising to discover that this game is extremely easy. After all, the game was marketed to kids. While a few puzzles here and there set me back in a few spots, I didn’t find anything to be very challenging.
Variety of Environments/Mission Types: Toy Story 3: The Game has a fantastic amount of environments. From western themes, to outer space, to a day care center, this game has it all. There is also a big difference between how the different levels are designed, however, before I bought Toy Story 3: The Game, the thing I kept hearing about was this “Toy Box” mode. I heard how great it was, how much you could customize, and how much fun it is. But when I got around to playing it, the “Toy Box” mode turned out to be painfully boring. Sure I could change how the different characters looked, but why the freak do I care whether this small, insignificant character is wearing a pirate suit or firefighter suit?
Graphics: Toy Story 3: The Game has a nice graphical style. They obviously weren’t going for photo-realism, but I really like what they came up with. At times it looks similar to the movie, and at others it looks almost like a cartoon.
Sounds: After watching all of the Toy Story movies and getting used to the different character’s voices, I can’t stand how they sound in-game. While the voice actors are fine, Buzz Lightyear just isn’t the same without Tim Allen. Other than that, I would say the sound effects are a notch above average.
Main Story: More work was obviously put into this game than an average “movie game”, but the gameplay just doesn’t deliver; and it does get a tad repetitive.
The Verdict: Sadly, this is what Toy Story 3: The Game has turned out to be. I would die to have played this game when I was eight years old, but unfortunately…I can’t. I give it a 5.6/10
If anyone is interested in joining a clan, this one is mine: http://noirclan.wordpress.com/
Battlefield Bad Company 2 is a great game. But, as usual, there are several simple things DICE could do to improve it.
Difficulty: Battlefield Bad Company 2′s campaign is fun, but ridiculously easy. Even on the hardest difficulty it’s laughable. As easy as it is, it’s still plenty fun. (More on this later) However, the multiplayer is different. Although relatively often you’ll be against an entire team that is sniping, (stupid Call of Duty) the multiplayer can prove to be difficult. Especially in hardcore mode. You may have to defend an M-Com Station in the Rush game mode with your life or capture a flag in the Conquest game mode and hope the enemy won’t find you. It can be heart-pounding in close games.
Variety of Environments/Mission Types: Battlefield Bad Company 2′s campaign takes you from frozen mountains, to blazing deserts, to tropical jungles, to urban towns. You won’t get sick of the environment here! Also in multiplayer, the maps are based off of parts of the campaign so there is a nice variety there too.
Weapon/Equipment Variety: In Battlefield Bad Company 2, there is a spectacularly large amount of weapons and equipment. There are plenty sub-machine guns, assault rifles, light machine guns, sniper rifles, shotguns, and pistols. There is also plenty of interesting pieces of equipment such as a tracer dart gun, (to shoot enemy vehicles so the engineers can lock on with their RPGs for more accurate fire) med-kits, ammo boxes, and sensors the recon class can use to reveal enemy locations in close proximity to sensor they throw.
Vehicles Variety: There are many vehicles in this game. There are boats, jeeps, tanks, APCs, and helicopters. There is even a UAV you can use to call in missiles and spot enemies with.
Graphics: While Battlefield Bad Company 2′s graphics are very nice, they aren’t quite as polished as Modern Noobfare 2′s. This is with good reason though, because Bad Company 2 has much longer ranges than Call of Duty, so it has to process a lot more every second. That said, Bad Company 2 has some pretty nice graphics.
Sounds: While not quite as nice as Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising’s sounds, Bad Company 2′s sounds are not bad. In fact, they are pretty good. While they could have a bit more “oomph”, they are very nice sounds. Gun-fire even sounds different if you’re inside a building.
Campaign: I actually found Bad Company 2′s campaign to be quite enjoyable, contrary to what most people say. There was a very nice variety of environments and, excluding a few parts, it was pretty good campaign.
Multiplayer: Most would say that multiplayer is Bad Company 2′s core. And they would probably be correct. You can tell how much work Dice put into making this game have a great multiplayer experience. While, like I stated earlier, you do run into some annoying noobs who only snipe (and they suck at it), Bad Company 2 has a pretty well balanced and very fun multiplayer. My only complaint is that in the Conquest game mode, if you are losing a battle, this horrible horn starts blaring at a ridiculously loud volume. I can’t stand it! If Dice removes this horn I will be very happy.
The Verdict: While it could use some anti-noob spray and a foul language filter, Battlefield Bad Company 2 has a very fun singleplayer and multiplayer experience. I give it a 9.4/10.
Have you preordered the limited edition yet?
In Bungie’s first ViDoc for Halo Reach, they confirm that Elites will be playable in multiplayer. It’s a good video; I would suggest watching the whole thing.
The Beta for Halo Reach will be released to those who have copies of Halo 3: ODST on May 3rd, 2010! Yes, that is a while from now; but at least we have an official date now.
So make sure you keep your copies of Halo 3: ODST and do NOT trade them in.
