Game Of the Year Countdown: Jan 2010
As the year begins to draw to a close (I realize we still have 6 weeks or so to go, work with me here), everyone begins to reflect back on the year that has past. Generally, that also includes picks for the best of the year, in any field, biggest news story, best movie, best game, book, etc. Here we will start a Game of the Year Countdown as we dissect the 12 months and their releases. Finally, we will pick our Game of the Year on a very special year end edition of Dual Wielding.
The first 3 months of this year was jam-packed with releases as every publisher tried to avoid the Modern Warfare 2 juggernaut at the end of 2009 so January got the ball rolling with a ton of excellent releases. Here’s a snapshot of the major ones.
Bayonetta (Xbox 360/PS3)- 90 MetaCritic Score
A solid action game that sadly will probably be left off the table come contention time. It is a very unique looking game, so recommend everyone checking it out especially since can be had for cheap now.
DarkSiders (Xbox 360/PS3) Â 83 Metacritic
A dark Zelda meets God of War mash-up that had an interesting voice cast. I doubt this was the Game of Jan yet alone Game of the Year Contender. Still a solid game, and worth checking out during the next gaming slump.
Army of Two: The 40th Day (xbox 360/PS3) Â 73 Metacritic
I’ll be honest, I forgot this game came out this year. That’s really all you need to say about that.
Dark Void (Xbox 360/PS3) 59 Metacritic
Yeah, I don’t think this game will be going far in any race, and from what I played of the demo avoid it like the plague!
Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars (Wii) 85
A really solid fighting game and probably the crown jewel of fighters on the Wii. Sadly with a cast of characters that most of the west wouldn’t know wasn’t destined for greatness.
No More Heroes 2 (Wii) 84
A fun sequel that remedies most of the problems people had with the original, though lost a bit of its charming in the transition. Solid romp, I don’t know if would even consider it for Wii’s Game of the Year sadly.
Mass Effect 2 (Xbox 360) 96
Easily Jan’s best game of the month, and early contender for Game of the Year. One of the best games I’ve played this year, and I implore anyone who hasn’t tried it to check it out especially with a PS3 port due in a few months.
MAG (PS3) 76
Lame name aside, it was an interesting shooter, that just never really found its footing. It was given a second breathe with the Move patch, but I still don’t think it will carry this game far into people’s heart.
There you have it, the look at all the major releases in Jan, really of the group Mass Effect 2 was the only one that had a chance of being considered. I can see Bayonetta winning some awards and possibly Vs Capcom getting some nods in the fighting department.
Join us when we go through Feb.