Community Game of the Year 2010

Most of the honest, hard-working and totally bodacious VideoGamer community can probably take an educated guess as to what we’ve picked out for Game of the Year 2010 – though there’s a couple of days left before our very own winner is announced to the world at large. But our totally sweet to the max readership has also taken it upon themselves to vote for their very own favourite games of the year ever. So now the votes have been counted, we can reveal that the community plumped for 77 individual games in their personal Top 10 lists; the following are the ten that finished top. Will their list match up with what the staff chose?

Like David Cameron says – we’re all in it together. The community is the life and soul of VideoGamer.com, and without it the staff would probably all get flayed by an army of angry PS3 owners absolutely convinced we’re massive 360 fanboys. So, thanks to everyone who took the time to write in with their suggestions, and a special mention to forumite extraordinaire Altaranga for letting us nick off with his original idea from earlier in the year.

We love you all, apart from the ones who can beat us at Black Ops and Pac-Man Championship Edition DX. Which is probably most of you, sadly. On with the list!

10. Super Street Fighter IV

What Wez said: “[Super Street Fighter IV] is an essential purchase. It is the best fighting game available on this generation of games consoles, and further reinforces Capcom’s dominance of the fighting game genre.”

CheekyLee said: “If Street Fighter IV was the second coming, Super Street Fighter IV is what happened after puberty. This is nothing less than a complete makeover akin to Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion. All that was already good has been refined, and new tricks have been taught. The bar for future fighting games has been raised clear out of sight.”

9. Battlefield: Bad Company 2

What Tom said: “Bad Company 2 is a stunning game, one of the best of this console generation and only bettered by the likes of Crysis and Killzone 2.”

Thompo555 said: “I found Battlefield Bad Company 2 to be my best game of the year, with the thrilling multiplayer it boasts. It had me captivated for the longest time, begging me to beat those ‘Yanks’ in as many ways as possible. That’s what it’s about, is it not?”

8. Super Mario Galaxy 2

What Tom said: “[Super Mario Super Galaxy 2] is, for want of a better word, the ultimate design template for a 3D platformer. It’s been so tightly designed that it’s hard to see anything bettering it.”

pblive said: “Hats off to Nintendo on managing to improve on something that I never thought could be improved. It makes you wonder why they have never done a direct sequel to a Mario game before. The levels are so beautifully designed and the gameplay so balanced that it begs the question; ‘how can Nintendo better this?'”

7. Call of Duty: Black Ops

What Martin said: “Treyarch proves itself as a more capable developer since the immature outings of yesteryear.”

Neon-Soldier32 said: “Well, it was bound to be here somewhere, right? The campaign is actually interesting this time round and is more cinematic than World at War. It tries to tell an intelligent story and while it is intriguing, the big ‘twist’ is predictable, from a long way off, maybe from one of the first levels if you’re observant enough. Multiplayer is much improved, balancing perks, more prestiges, an economy system and best of all: Wager Matches. If you’re one of the uncool kids who haven’t already picked up a copy already: Do it!”

6. Alan Wake

What Tom said: “Alan Wake is a writer.”

chelskiboy247 said: “I’ve played a lot of great games this year: Mass Effect 2, Red Dead Redemption, and Halo: Reach to name a few. But none of them grabbed me in the way Alan Wake did. I was totally immersed in it, and once I had finished it I immediately wanted to play it again.”

Karlius said: “If you want a throwback to when survival horror was survival horror and not another unelaborate shooter, then this game is for you. Remedy has yet to disappoint me as Alan Wake is amongst the best games I have experienced on this generation of consoles. Five years in the making, and worth almost every minute.”

5. Heavy Rain

What Neon said: “If you want a true indicator of the PS3’s abilities, and of the true potential of what video games can do, I can think of no better candidate.”

Dudester said: “I know someone people didn’t like some of the routine things you had to do in the game, but for me that was part of the charm. Surprising to me was that it also held up when I replayed the game last weekend – I was expecting to think, ‘Oh maybe this wasn’t as good as I thought,’ etc. I can even forgive some of the plotholes.”

4. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood

What Emily said: “You’re not going to find much in the way of completely new material, but this is a superior game to its predecessor and a solid bridge to the next entry in the series.”

Stegosaurus-Guy-II said: “This is probably my most looked forward to game this year, which…. shows how boring 2010 has been.”

3. Halo: Reach

A few people at VG Towers have remarked that Halo: Reach actually gets better with time, which is an exceedingly rare feat when it comes to video games. There will probably be debate about whether or not it’s the best entry in the series until the Sun goes supernova, but as I said in my review back in September, “anyone following the Halo series for the last decade couldn’t ask for a better game, as Bungie has exited its most precious series with one almighty, planet-shattering bang.”

But what did the community make of Bungie’s noble effort?

Wido said: “Putting the Spartan helmet back on – and this time in a team. Halo: Reach was pure ‘kick-ass’ for the masses. If Master Chief had a cameo appearance, blasting some Covenant, would it have ruined Reach? Nope, as you’d easily forgotten about the Chief.”

CheekyLee said: “The best Halo? I certainly think so.”

pblive said: “It’s not the best in the series, I’ll admit that, but Halo Reach is certainly a fitting final chapter to the Halo series, and I enjoyed every single minute living through the fall of Reach.”

2. Mass Effect 2

So close, BioWare! Mass Effect 2 was a prominent candidate for GOTY 2010 as soon as it was launched in January – more than a few web sites were already hailing it as a classic three minutes after it came out. Before leaving us for pastures new, Wez took the time to say in his review that “the adjective ‘stunning’ is overused, especially when it comes to video game criticism. Everything’s stunning these days; graphics, story, characters… everything. Well, in the case of Mass Effect 2, it’s the only word that even comes close to describing the experience on offer. In Mass Effect 2, everything is stunning.”

Could anyone lavish as much stunning praise on it as Wez? No, but the community came rather close.

Woffls said: “I love Mass Effect; I have the comics, the books, the collector’s editions, and the iPhone game. So it hurt a little when BioWare shifted the focus to combat rather than exploration and immersion in the environments they’d already created. Preference aside, the game is still phenomenal in just about every respect when you consider its intentions. It’s not until you go for the Insanity playthrough that you can truly appreciate how engrossing and refined the combat is. And with the knowledge of what can happen in the story, it doesn’t half put you on edge for a few hours.”

SexyJams said: “In danger of sounding like everyone else, my number one is blatantly Mass Effect 2.”

Guyderman eruditely said: “I liked Mass Effect 2 the bestest because it was very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very [snip] very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very good!”

1. Red Dead Redemption

This is it! The big one. Red Dead Redemption was absolutely miles ahead when it came to the public vote, and Rockstar’s latest comprehensively takes the throne as the VideoGamer.com Community’s Game of the Year 2010. In his review, Neon called it, “a magnificent piece of work that everybody should play.”

But what did the beloved community make of it?

FantasyMeister said: “Red Dead just blows the opposition away – new IP, original setting, fantastic storyline.”

GeNeCyDe1993 said: “Very few games captivate me into cramming as much gaming as possible into such few spare hours. Even fewer games captivate me SO much that I try and press this onto other people. On top of the 50+ hour campaign, which offers tonnes of replayability, there is the incredible online multiplayer allowing you to posse up and wander the entire gaming world, take on other posses, complete challenges or even take part in co-op missions. Red Dead ticks all the boxes for Game of the Year. And then some.”

Wido said: “Its captivating story is what brought out Red Dead’s true colours, and Rockstar set the Western scene ablaze.”

rbevanx said: “This is what a game should be for me, as it had a world full of character, depth and is also stunningly detailed. The ending is one of the best, and the acting is the best from what I can remember in a videogame.”

Get2DaChoppa said: “Some people said ‘just GTA with horses’, well some people were wrong. Engaging characters, beautiful vistas, epic gunfights….oh and horses.”

For more end of year content, head over to our Game of the Year 2010 hub. Amongst other things you’ll be able to watch videos in which we talk about each game in the Top 10.