Game of The Year Countdown: May 2010
As we stated before, Jan-March were jam to the rafters with releases, but May was probably the biggest month in the first half of the year when it came to releases including two bonafide Game of the Year contenders and several really strong contenders. However, don’t take my word for it, let’s go to the board!
Lost Planet 2 (360/ps3) 6.8
Follow-up to this rather successful 360 title, added a lot of stuff gamers would have liked if the core experience was enjoyable. At the end of the day however, left a lot to be desired.
3D Dot Game Heroes (PS3) 7.9
This love-letter to the Zelda franchise and others, struck a cord with those who played it, but releasing in such a packed month really went under the radar.
Skate 3 (PS3/360) 8.0
When did I miss Skate 2? I’ve never really been into this genre, but I hear its the best of the best, I didn’t know we were on a 3rd though!
Split/Second (PS3/360) 8.1
The first of 3 racing games released this month. Each with their own unique gimmick. This game tried to mimic the feel of a Hollywood movie chase, and worked for the most part, though some didn’t really take to some of the scripted nature of the driving.
Red Dead Redemption (PS3/360) 9.3
I’m sure at one point or another, we’ve all asked ourselves what would GTA be like in the Wild West? While Rockstar answered that question in spades with this game, one of the year’s best entries and one of the first (and I could be wrong) really strong Western based games ever. Which is odd since the Western has always been a huge thing in movies.
Trauma Team (Wii) 8.0
Trauma Center was fun, but why do surgeons get all the play? The sequel to the Trauma Center game focused on several key personals in the hospital. A solid game that sadly went overlooked in part to the game above and one below.
Alan Wake (360) 8.5
Over a billion years in development, Alan Wake finally saw the light of day (bad pun, I know!) in May. While it may not have lived up to everyone’s expectation, it was still a solid game that many enjoyed. Some of the mechanics seemed to have been left over from its various incarnations over the year, but the final package was a treat.
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (PS3/360/Wii/Movie) 7.5
Not since the days of Street Fighter: The Movie: The Game have we had a video game tie in for a movie based on a video game. Sure, Ubisoft claims this had nothing to do with the movie at the time, but yeah it did. A solid if not special entry in the Prince’s saga.
Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii) 9.6
The sequel to probably the best game of this generation (objectively speaking of course) improves on it in almost every single way. We have more levels, more use of Luigi, the return of Yoshi, even more gravity defying puzzles and mechanics and even after 25 years, Mario still manages to surprise us with new tricks around every corner. A game that everyone must check out.
UFC Undisputed 2010 (PS3/360) 8.3
If this game proved anything, its that UFC fans probably won’t be receptive to yearly sequels even if it improves on the original.
Blur (PS3/360) 8.2
The 2nd of our 3 racing games for the month. This was billed as Mario Kart for adults as it combined the power-ups and speed with that with more realistic cars and settings. A fantastic experience for sure that just kind of got lost in the shuffle. And now the studio is being closed down/sold/chopped up/sent to China/working at McDonalds so not likely we’ll see a sequel.
Modnation Racers (Ps3) 8.3
Built as a successor in some ways to the LittleBigPlanet franchise, this game also took the ability of making the users go wild with content. However, being the 3rd racing game of the month didn’t really help it. A solid experience that no one experienced.
This is a tough one (well not really), I’m sure a ton of people love Red Dead Redemption, and sadly I wasn’t one of those people, but to make this call easier, I will just go with the game that scored the highest for the month. Game of the Month