Escape Artist's Best Games of 2010

I've just spent a couple of hours playing Dead Space 2 on my own, in my flat, at night. This might mean nothing to you, but trust me, this pretty much makes me a goddamn superhero. Horror games are the perfect example of the power of the interactive medium. I get scared watching [REC] or Night of the Living Dead, but the difference with horror games is you're expected to actually do something about the awful things happening on screen. The whole appeal of horror is putting yourself in the shoes of someone experiencing a terrifying ordeal, and there's no better way to do that than to pick up a controller and take part.

Anyway, to distract myself from thoughts of horrific mockeries of nature ambushing me from air vents, I thought I'd do a quick round-up of some of the best games of the past year. 2010 was a pretty strong year for gaming, with a great mix of reliable sequels that built on the work of their predecessors and new titles to expand our horizons.

There were disappointments - Fable III and Vanquish spring to mind - but for the most part last year's games delivered. 2010 also marked a bit of a turning point for the games industry, as publishers began to release more top-drawer titles outside of the traditional pre-Christmas period. This is a great thing for gamers and for the industry itself as it begins to realise that quality speaks for itself, no matter what time of year. With the success of early-year titles like Red Dead Redemption and Mass Effect 2, and now Dead Space 2 in 2011, this promising trend looks set to continue.

Bayonetta (Platinum Games)

The third-person action genre is a pretty crowded one, with the likes of Ninja Gaiden, God of War and Devil May Cry filling our screens with musclebound anti-heroes grunting and shouting for our entertainment. Bayonetta trumps all of these games on most counts, and adds a healthy dose of batshit insanity for good measure.

At the game's core is a rock-solid combat system. Titular (not to mention tit-tacular) heroine Bayonetta feels lithe and responsive to control as she pirouettes between enemies unleashing a wide array of crunchy, satisfying combos. But the game really separates itself from the crowd with its sheer eye-humping visual splendour. The design of levels and enemies is consistently surprising, throwing an astonishing variety of extra-dimensional environments and enemies at the player. The story is pretty inscrutable (something about witches and motorbikes and angels with glowing vaginas?), but when a game offers you the chance to throw a reborn god-queen into the fires of the sun, the wheres and whys are pretty irrelevant.

Mass Effect 2 (BioWare)

Hands-down the best videogame story of 2010, as Commander Shepard recruits a new crew on his space-faring mission to defend the galaxy against the planet-harvesting Reavers. Yeah, it might sound like an episode of Stargate SG-1, but the appeal of Mass Effect lies in making the story your own. With the best conversation mechanics of any game so far, the ability to make meaningful choices that alter your game world in sometimes unexpected ways, and some of the best characters this side of the Omega-4 Relay, there's a real feeling of consequence behind the superb firefights. I got my entire team through the game unscathed because I am the King and Queen of Cheese, but the very real chance of losing treasured teammates before the game's end adds consistent tension and even (whisper it) a hint of emotional resonance.

Red Dead Redemption (Rockstar San Diego)

How did it take this long for an unreservedly great cowboy game to come out? All the elements are right there - quickdraw duels, roaming the open plains, fisticuffs in smoky saloons... you know, cowboy stuff. Whatever the case, it wasn't until 2010 that a game brought all these elements together, bundled them into the back of a rickety ol' wagon and rammed them into our eye-holes. Rockstar San Diego has made expert use of Grand Theft Auto's game engine to create a gorgeous natural game world, spanning pine forests and great plains in the north to the ochre-tinged sandstone monoliths of Mexico in the south. The diversity of gameplay options is more than a match for Red Dead's setting. The long journey of blackmailed ex-outlaw John Marsden makes for a great story, filled with imaginative diversions and the colourful characters that have made Rockstar releases so special over the years.

Limbo (Playdead Studios)

A brilliant X-box Live Arcade puzzle-platformer with a unique atmosphere. Players control a little boy searching for his sister in a spectral purgatory realm. That's all the story there is, and this game needs no more. Everything else in Limbo is conveyed through its shadowy, silhouetted world. Threatening little details emanate from every crevice, from the world's mysterious and hostile inhabitants to the shockingly gory death animations when the player slips up. The game's puzzles, which revolve around using physics to move through areas, constantly introduce new mechanics to keep things fresh for the duration. Limbo is an excellent puzzle game, but it's the melancholy ambience that makes it great. Oh, and the giant spider chase sequence. Can't go wrong with a giant spider chase sequence.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (Ubisoft Montreal)

After two games that struggled to match their immaculate sense of style with equally engaging gameplay mechanics, Brotherhood is the first game in the AC franchise that's an unmarred pleasure to play. The action may see players jump back into the bejewelled pantaloons of AC2's Ezio Auditore as he murders his way up Rome's corrupt Borgia hierarchy, but Brotherhood comprehensively refines the series' ideas that work and overhauls those that don't.

Combat is smoother and more interesting; assassination missions are better structured and reward good planning; stealth sections are now a joy rather than a chore. The most impressive thing about Brotherhood is the sheer amount of content there is to distract the player in Rome's vast play area, from the simple pleasure of chasing thieves and couriers across the city's terracotta rooftops to piloting a frankly absurd 16th century stealth bomber. The story continues to be sub-Dan Brown secret society wankery, but if the franchise's gameplay continues to improve at this rate, all that nonsense can be forgiven. Now let's have Assassin's Creed III set in Victorian London, please.

Halo: Reach (Bungie)

The only straight-up shooter on this list, Bungie's swansong to the legendary series just radiates the experience and dedication of its development team. The Call of Duty franchise might have overtaken Halo as the number one blockbuster FPS, but for my money Reach outstrips Black Ops both as a single-player story and a multiplayer playground. The game's premise of fighting a losing battle against overwhelming Covenant forces on a doomed colony world packs more emotional punch than most other shooters (including a brilliant ending), and the enemy AI is superb, creating combat moments with a real sense of space rather than the shooting galleries that have become so popular of late.

Online, Reach is the best of the best. I may have spent more hours compulsively logging into Modern Warfare, but Reach makes every new game a unique encounter. The game types are varied, the maps are stupendously well-designed and playing Firefight mode with friends is like a whole extra game. And for hardcore fanatics, there are the well-featured Forge level creation tools. With this treasure chest of riches, Bungie has ensured that Reach will continue to thrive long after the studio has moved on to new projects.

Alan Wake (Remedy Entertainment)

Not a smash hit by any means, but if Alan Wake doesn't get a sequel it would be a great shame. This isn't necessarily because of the scares and solid combat (based on giving your corrupted enemies the willies by lighting them up with your torch), both of which are excellent, but because Alan Wake is quietly revolutionary in its approach to interactive storytelling. We guide our titular confused writer through the town of Bright Falls and the surrounding forests in search of his missing wife who has been abducted by a dark presence that's infecting the whole area.

The fascinating layer buried beneath the narrative is that Wake has lost time, during which he seems to have written about the events he's currently living through. Pages found on the forest floor or strewn about rusty old sawmills serve to deepen the narrative as well as warn players about dangerous encounters ahead. It's an amazing way for the developer to communicate with the player, not to mention push some pretty far-out ideas about authorship and the constraints of moving through a world that has been designed for you. As the game progresses the rabbit hole only gets deeper, with Wake beginning to question why he wrote the things he did and realising that his words might be the key to breaking free of the town's strange curse.

Fallout: New Vegas (Obsidian Entertainment)

After 60 hours or so of exploring Fallout 3's post-apocalyptic nuclear wasteland, the thought of diving back in to a sequel that uses the same creaky engine and transports the story from Washington D.C. to the ostensibly less memorable Mojave Desert didn't seem all that appetising. New Vegas didn't immediately prove me wrong - the first couple of hours is filled with the critter hunting, stat-levelling and V.A.T.S. combat strategies that had become all-too familiar from the previous game. The story's opening is also a little contrived. The player wakes up after being shot in the head and having his courier package stolen, and decides, with a slightly incredible level of job dedication, to hunt down his ambushers and get it back.

It was only when I arrived at the New Vegas Strip, filled with decay and corruption but a bustling vibrancy that was missing from Fallout 3's communities, that it all started to come together. Obsidian, a team that contains some of the original Black Isle developers who worked on the first Fallout PC games, has pushed the modern franchise forward by thrusting players into a more rich and morally confusing world. None of the Strip's factions are unblemished, which makes choosing who to support (if any) all the more thrilling because there are no convenient signposts. You begin to realise that you are, much more so than in Fallout 3, a catalyst for massive change across this seedy desert, and by leaving you to make your own mind up, New Vegas burdens you with the full weight of your actions. It's a scary prospect, and one that provokes real thought. After another 60 hours of wandering the wasteland, I really would like to see the back of the game's charming but tired and buggy engine. Then again, I've been proved wrong before...

MASS EFFECT 2: JUST THE FACTS, JACK

In Europe, January 29 is the day Mass Effect 2 steals our lives and forces us to quit our jobs, divorce our spouses and start having sex with our Xbox disc trays. All signs so far point to exciting improvements across the board and a solid evolution of the BioWare formula. In order to purge myself of the hysteria that overtakes my brain and crotch every time I think about the game, I’ve decided the best course of action is to compile all the known facts about ME2’s new features (minus the spoilery story reveals) so that the two-week wait feels just a little more bearable. So I present to you everything I know about the upcoming RPG, henceforth to be referred to as Mass Effect 2: Massive Erection.

Just to get you started, here's a link to the game's ludicrously awesome cinematic trailer.

THE STORY

Some sites have posted articles giving away specific plot details from the opening minutes of the game, which are apparently explosive and far-reaching. I’ve studiously avoided such articles, wanting to actually play the game myself rather than experience it vicariously through the words of a lucky games writer.

I must limit myself, therefore, to the basic premise of the game, such as might be printed on the back of the box. So, while Commander Shepard and crew have saved the known galaxy from annihilation at the hands of genocidal space-squid flesh harvesters the Reapers, two years have passed, and there’s a new game afoot. Entire human colonies are quietly being abducted by a mysterious force of insectoid freakbags called the Collectors, and Shepard must recruit a new team from the darkest corners of space in order to get to the bottom of things. He/she must also collaborate with Cerberus, a shady pro-human organisation headed up by the Illusive Man (voiced by Martin Sheen, which makes me damp with excitement), in order to get shit done. BioWare is pushing the idea of Shepard’s quest being somewhat of a suicide mission, with the main portion of the game being preparing the Commander and his squad for a final showdown with a very real possibility of permanent death, so expect darker themes and the constant spectre of your own mortality this time around.

LINKS TO MASS EFFECT 1

Players can transfer any character they used in Mass Effect 1 to the new game, although you’re still free to change appearance and class before you start ME2. But then what’s the point, right? Shepard’s class will be reset to level one, presumably so BioWare can implement all the class changes they have planned.

Similarly, any major plot decisions made in the first game will carry over into the second. Did you kill Urdnot Wrex? If so, he ain’t coming back, Jack. Did you save Kaidan or Ashley? I hope you saved Ashley, otherwise you’ll have to put up with more of the blandest character in sci-fi history. I’m particularly excited about whether the Rachni, whose queen I saved after she promised to start a colony under the principles of peace and tolerance, will come back to rape me and my human compassion.

CHANGES TO CHARACTER CLASSES

The six classes from ME1 (Soldier, Engineer, Adept and combinations of those three) all appear to be returning for the second instalment, although all are substantially tweaked to make them more tactile and immediate. Here’s a quick rundown of some of the major upgrades:

1. Soldier: Access to all weapons; unique ‘combat mastery’ talent; access to all special ammo types; two new active skills – Concussive Shot(single shot which knocks an enemy off their feet) and Adrenaline Rush (fancy bullet time)

2. Vanguard (Soldier/Adept): Short-range specialist; great with shotgun; unique power – Biotic Rush (charge attack which propels Shepard across open ground to slam into enemies); access to some special ammo; access to most aggressive biotics

3. Engineer: Can summon combat drone to attack enemies; hack enemy AI; Five offensive tech powers including Incinerate and Cryo-freeze; Class Talent – Tech Mastery (bonuses to negotiation, tech power recharge and health)

4. Infiltrator (Soldier/Engineer): Tactical Cloak stealth power; Operative power(slows time and increases weapon damage – great for lining up sniper rifle headshots); can hack enemy AI; Incinerate power

5. Sentinel (Engineer/Adept): Access to biotic and tech powers; Tech Armour power boosts personal shields; Class Talent – Defender (increase to negotiation, health and power recharge speed)

6. Adept: Access to all biotic powers; can now use any armour and expanded weapon skills; ability to evolve biotics once maxed-out – evolutions will affect gameplay use of biotics rather than simply upping damage

NEW CHARACTERS

In the interests of keeping things fresh, BioWare have tossed out many of the companions from the original, in favour of a new gang of violent reprobates to discover and make sweet love to. Based on promotional videos I’ve watched, there’s space for ten characters to join your death squad. The emphasis seems to be on recruiting various hard nuts with nothing to lose and massive sets of steely testicles. The new characters presented are, by-and-large, more extreme personalities who will almost certainly elicit more of an emotional response from players than the first game’s wet blanket parade. Reportedly, a key part of the core gameplay is earning the loyalty and trust of your teammates to ensure as many as possible survive the final onslaught, so prepare to delve deep into their scarred psyches. To my knowledge, six of the ten characters have been revealed, five of whom are all-new. Here they are:

Subject Zero: A human female who has been subjected to scientific experiments, super-charging her biotic powers as well as warping her personality, making her fiery/mental in the Sarah Connor sense. She’s covered in tattoos representing her favourite kills, and her time spent in a cult has left her with a deficiency of hair. At some point in the game, she may slam Shepard into a wall and bone him into submission. Subject Zero's intro trailer

Samara: An Asari biotic user, Samara is a member of the Justicar, a sort of Asari armed police force, but with more murder. She clearly brooks no bullshit, seems to see matters in black and white (not in a racist way), and is definitely of the shoot now, don’t bother asking questions school of policing. From hints released so far, it seems she’ll be tough to recruit, but fiercely loyal once she does enter the fold. Samara's intro trailer

Grunt: A Krogan who just likes to fight, just like the Krogan from the first game. Prediction: he’ll be the dullest character, but you’ll want him around as a bullet sponge. The clue's in the name, really. Grunt's intro trailer

Miranda: A human female, probably a Sentinel class, Miranda joins your squad through Cerberus and the Illusive Man, so her loyalty will clearly be called into question at some point. Seems ruthless and driven. Definitely a potential candidate for the ‘Ultimate Betrayer 2009’ award. Miranda's intro trailer

Thane: Clearly the coolest character revealed so far, Thane is of the Drell race (think Hellboy’s Abe Sapien). He’s described as a ‘warrior monk’, but is clearly the badass assassin of the group. Apparently he used to take contracts for pay, but now chooses targets based on his own moral and philosophical compass. So he’s a serial killer, basically. Thane's intro trailer

Tali: Mild-mannered Quarian Tali is back from the first game, hopefully with a personality upgrade. Since ME1, she has rejoined the Migrant Fleet and is now a respected member of Quarian society. Her rejoining Shepard’s squad seems to be linked somehow into the player’s early discovery of the Collectors and their schemes. She may end up being more of an exposition vendor than a character, but we’ll see. Tali's intro trailer

NOTE: Some videos show Shepard teaming up with Garrus, the Turian from ME1, but whether Garrus will be permanently available as a squadmate is unconfirmed.

OTHER FEATURES & IMPROVEMENTS

· Mass Effect 2 takes up a lot of disc space, so will be spread over two discs. We’ve been promised that there will be no constant disc-swapping, as the disc change will happen at one single predetermined point in the game.

· One of the strongest complaints about the first Mass Effect was the repetitive exploration sections, filled with empty planets and unsatisfying driving sections. Well, steps have been taken to fix these problems. Players will now be more actively involved in planetary exploration, with planet scanning transformed from a button press into a minigame, and BioWare promise a host of diverse, beautiful and engaging galactic locales. And that Mako shit-can has apparently been scrapped in favour of a vehicle that actually drives like it has real wheels. One can only hope.

· Watch any of the promotional gameplay videos and it should be instantly obvious that ME2’s graphics represent a serious upgrade from the original game. Reports indicate that frame rate remains silky smooth throughout, and texture pop-in has been eliminated. So expect much more fluid combat, with the shooting sections of the game much more comparable to dedicated third-person action experiences like Gears Of War. As an example, in the first game Shepard had 2 animations when moving into cover – in ME2 there are over 200 cover animations. Boom, I just blew your mind.

· The conversation system worked well in Mass Effect, but it shared the somewhat stiff camera perspectives with other story-driven RPGs (Fallout 3, Oblivion). BioWare have drawn attention to ME2’s more dynamic camera angles during key conversations, but it remains to be seen if this only applies to a select few scenes.

· The voice cast is pretty incredible. I’ve already mentioned Martin Sheen, but the game also features the voices of such sci-fi luminaries as Carrie-Ann Moss (The Matrix, duh), Tricia Helfer and Michael Hogan (Battlestar Galactica), Adam Baldwin (Firefly and Serenity) and Michael Dorn (Star Trek: TNG). Seth Green and Keith David also reprise their roles as Joker and Admiral Anderson respectively.

· Mass Effect’s score was a vital key to the game’s space opera atmosphere, so it’s good news that BioWare have re-teamed with original composer Jack Wall.

· Finally, BioWare have heroically responded to players’ understandable frustration with the bewildering lack of fish tanks in the original game. Shepard’s personal quarters now come with an enormous fish tank which can be populated with various aquatic life-forms as they are collected throughout the game. An angling minigame remains infuriatingly unconfirmed.

And there you have it; the sum of my knowledge on Mass Effect 2: Massive Erection. The sickening irony of it all is that my 360 recently died (for the second time) and it’s unlikely that Microsoft will have been returned it to me by the end of the month, so I’ll probably have to make do with crying and staring intensely at the box art for a week or so before I get to start my own intergalactic fish collection. Damn you, universe!