The Button Presser

Behind the amazing visuals of Heavy Rain is a story that puts you in control of the action of protagonists with something to lose and gain as their paths cross throughout the title. Not a typical game to say the least, but Heavy Rain was an experience that made you the key of a movie-quality adventure. It was also recently updated to support the PlayStation Move, so you can feel like you're part of the story even further as you attempt to catch the Origami Killer.


God of War games have never been a let down, and its PS3 debut was backed with some amazing visuals to accompany the always fluid combat in the game. Kratos was back and angrier than ever.














Alan Wake puts you in the middle of a nightmare created by the title character. Mr. Wake has a bad case of writer’s block, and his wife decides to take him on a vacation to Bright Falls to help him get writing again. Built like an episodic television series, each part of the game left you wanting more, as you delved deeper into the game's mysteries.


Bungie’s final Halo game was a triumph in both sales and quality, and a great way for them to end a 10 year saga of Halo content. Showing the beginnings of humanity’s struggle against the covenant and featuring an all Spartan squad was really neat, as well as the tweaks to the ever popular multiplayer component of Halo. from the early beta provided a experience that will be played for years.

















Limbo gives you a simple look and simple task, but simple is the last thing I would use to describe how the game made me fell in the end. Its dark and twisted world featured engaging puzzles and platforming action, and any failures to complete them would result in the gruesome death of small boy just looking for his sister. From the ambient sounds to the minimal amount of music, Limbo will provide an experience that will stick with you for quite some time.


Serving as a way to introduce players to Chuck Greene and provide some backstory for Dead Rising 2, Case Zero asks for $5 and gives a few hours of gameplay in exchange, making it a cool way to learn the mechanics of DR2. Better than a demo could, Case Zero got me more excited for Dead Rising 2 than I already was, and was a great way to help ease the wait for the main sequel.












With Mass Effect 2 launched and in the hands of gamers, Bioware still found time to support their Fantasy-RPG title released last year with a slew of DLC that added hours to the already plentiful game.


With modes to play like Campaign, Firefight, Forge and Multiplayer, Halo Reach has it all to keep you entertained. Tired of the same maps over and over? Hop onto forge world with friends and create your own using a nice collection of items. With one map pack already available and more to come, you’ll have plenty of reasons to go back to Reach.














After Infinity Ward wowed players with Modern Warfare, Treyarch decided to visit the WWII era once again with World at War. It played fine and multiplayer was fun, but it just didn't have the same magic that COD4 did. Fast forward to now, Black Ops went forward with the timeline and delivered a great experience that millions have been enjoying since it launched last month. Once again, Kudos to Treyarch.


The original Dead Rising is a great game, but only those who could get around the crazy elements like a strict time-frame and less than helpful A.I survivors. Escorting civilians was also a nightmare, and missing a scoop because you were trying to keep people alive was not very fun. It was almost an acquired taste, but with Dead Rising 2 anyone could have fun and enjoy a game with better A.I and more unique ways to take out the undead. Throwing in co-op helped as well, and made Dead Rising 2 even more fun than it already was when playing solo.














Killing hordes of Zombies by yourself if fun. Killing hordes of Zombies with a friend is even better, and that’s what Dead Rising 2 offered up. With drop in co-op, you could be transported into a friend’s game and help them discover the truth in a fairly quick process.


You can now control your own camera and bring your own hero and dog into a friend’s world. Fable III finally got co-op right. Lionhead improved on what was just a neat little addition in Fable II, and fleshed out co-op even more in the third game. I don’t think we've seen the end of Fable games, so let’s hope the next one will improve upon co-op even more.









Man this game.

It’s pretty out there, but I really enjoyed playing it. It was $20, contained 20+ hours of content, and had a surprisingly great story to boot. The gameplay was a bad Resident Evil/ Silent Hill/ GTA type, but you got through that just to watch Francis ‘Call Me York’ Morgan interact with a town experiencing some brutal murders. Put this one on your Christmas list and you’ll see what the fuss is about with York and the many interesting characters of Greenvale.





When Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow was released, I wondered how in the heck Ubisoft would create a multiplayer mode for a stealth game, and they answered by delivering one of the best online experiences on consoles that helped put Xbox Live on the map. Prior to AC: Brotherhood's release, I wondered the same thing, but Ubisoft once again created a experience that embodies the gameplay from campaign, while creating something new and fresh for players to experience online.

It's so cool to have a target you're supposed to take out while avoiding someone on trail and thanks to the crowd composed of multiplayer models, meaning anyone out there could be coming for you. It requires patience and stealth, and is a ton of fun to play.





The short, yet sweet demo for Enslaved was enough to get my attention for the full release. From the small taste of the combat to the simple platforming, the Enslaved demo was a great way to get people excited for the game which went on to become a sleeper hit.




It may look fun and cute, but don't let its looks fool you: Super Meat Boy is freakin' hard! The levels can be completed in a few minutes and require precise timing to get through, meaning you'll most likely be completing them over and over again. Or maybe that's just me! There are no checkpoints and if you mess up, it's back to the start of a level. Super Meat Boy is fun and infuriating!






This achievement required you to complete Prison Break without ever being seen during the stealth sections. Not too bad, but this game was about 80% stealth, so it was a major deal when you got caught. The rest of the achievements on this game were pretty easy to obtain, but I didn’t want to go back through and try for this one since the game isn’t that great to begin with.







Your crew was ready. Your ship was upgraded (Hopefully!). What was said by many to be impossible, Shephard and his crew made it look easy. This epic sequence showed that Bioware is one of the best in gaming to deliver experiences that feel like great action movies, but still having you in control is why they succeed so well.

















Red Dead Redemption has plenty of content to keep you busy for weeks, and Rockstar once again proved that they are the best at delivering Open-World games. Multiplayer in Red Dead was another strong point that gave you and friends the chance to explore the west as you took out gangs, unlocked new weapons, and fought against each other in the competitive modes. Rockstar may only release a few games each year, but they always deliver and keep millions of players occupied.


Mass Effect 2 proves that in the gaming world sequels can be better than the original installment of a franchise. I personally believe the ME2 was a much better game than Mass Effect, as it provided a great storyline that could be enhanced with your save data, as well as tight controls and gameplay that rival even the best of shooters out there. With a steady stream of DLC available, you could play this game for months and not lose interest. Well done Bioware!





Once again these are the awards and games I have chosen. Many games of 2010 deserve a look and although I didn't put them all, there are plenty out there other than the ones I included. Congrats to the Developers and Publishers for a great year in Gaming, and a Congrats to all the awesome gamers like you. Happy Holidays and Here's to a great year of gaming in 2011!!!