Game of the Year
No beating about the bush. No skirting around the subject. No sidestepping the issue. No - well, you get the idea. Without further ado, here you are: GameShard's Best Game of 2010.
3rd: Halo: Reach
Bungie has never been on as good a form as it was with Halo: Reach. Few developers ever have, in fact. As the developer's final entry in the series that made them - and the Xbox brand - Reach had to be special. It is. Its the perfection of the type of sandbox FPS Bungie has been building over the eight years of the series; chock full of memorable moments that occur on-the-fly, not pre-scripted. Every time you play, you'll discover something different, something new, something you may never see again. We will remember Reach.
2nd: Heavy Rain
We had our doubts, particularly after Fahrenheit's hit-and-miss approach to cinematic gaming riddled with QTE's, but Quantic Dream surpassed all of our expectations. Okay, so the story isn't quite as free and open as you might have been led to believe, but its utterly riveting, playing out as well as -if not better than- the most accomplished thriller, and the different outcomes for different scenes ensure that there's plenty of reason to replay it, and even more reason to discuss the outcome of your story with friends.
1st: Mass Effect 2
BioWare's sequel was everything a sequel should be and much much more. Expanding on the first game in every conceivable way, Mass Effect 2 is the quintessential sci-fi epic, with its strong cast of characters, engrossing storyline, and sexy hardware. And aliens. Most of all, though, it plays like a dream, rewarding and challenging in equal measure whilst never feeling dry or stale. An absolute masterpiece.
