2010: Looking Back at a Decade of Games

While most sites compile a Game of the Year feature, we here at LevelFortyTwo decided to take things to the next level (pardon Michael's pun). Each one of our writers, and some committed community members have contributed what they believe is their game of the decade. Staff members have also included a list of three runners up and on the third page you will find each person's disappointment of the decade. We hope you enjoy this feature, and if you feel like sharing your Game of the Decade or Disappointment of the Decade, feel free to leave a comment below!

Ian Walker – Metroid Prime

While trying to come up with my game of the decade, Metroid Prime is one that kept coming back and reminding me of its greatness. With its stunning architecture and unforgettable soundtrack, Retro Studios crafted a world gamers could truly become immersed in. And while the two sequels Metroid Prime spawned fleshed out the story with more human character interaction, the isolation felt exploring Tallon IV created an amazing adventure in every sense of the word. Few games before and after have come as close as Metroid Prime to achieving perfection in my book.

Runners Up:

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - As a huge Star Wars and WRPG fanatic, I was blown away to see the two gel in such an amazing way.

Metal Gear Solid - Espionage, back-stabbing, and a convoluted plot? I couldn't ask for more.

Team Fortress 2 - Sure, it's slowly becoming an MMORPG, but TF2 is the best multiplayer experience on the scene today. Provided you play it on PC, that is.

Erika Szabo – Chrono Cross

Despite being the so-called disappointing sequel to Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross is quite possibly the best RPG I’ve ever played.  The game’s complex and emotive plot, innovative battle system, varied characters, vibrant graphics and moving score made Chrono Cross less of a sequel and more of a stand alone in the Chrono series. By successfully breaking convention with its predecessor,Chrono Cross’ evolving gameplay is what kept the series moving forward. The self-proclaimed “dream team” of scenarist and director Masato Kato (Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy VII, Xenogears), art director Yasuyuki Honne (Xenogears, Baten Kaitos), sound planner Minoru Akao (Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy series, Chrono Trigger), composer Yasunori Mitsuda (Chrono Trigger, Shadow Hearts, Xenogears, Xenosaga Episode I) and character designer Nobuteru Yuki (The Vision of Escaflowne) had, indeed, created a masterpiece.

Runners Up:

Cave Story – Lengthy, charming, beautiful and absolutely free, Cave Story is not only the best indie game ever made, but also one of the most heartwarming.

Okami – Effortlessly blending art and storytelling, Okami is one of the most creative action adventures in recent memory.

Shadow of the Colossus – Minimalist environments, wistful story, stirring soundtrack and engrossing battles make SotC one of the most compelling and memorable games ever experienced.

Nathan Barker – Shadow of the Colossus

Sony’s Playstation 2 was reaching the end of its life, its slow demise in light of Microsoft’s behemoth looming nearby. Yet with the Playstation 2’s last dying breath, it managed to reach a height of exhilarating gameplay, aesthetically and purposely. It was the stuff of dreams, the likes of which nobody had ever experienced before. Resident Evil 4 was a genre twist and beautifully dark. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty was both theatrical and splendid in its masterful use of action and stealth. In the end though, they didn’t quite catch me as off-guard as Famito Ueda and his little team did. Shadow of the Colossus is an emotive, engrossing story in which you slay the most gigantic foes every created in video game history. Each towering Colossi is a puzzle to solve, each being more creative and different than the last. Who can deny the unprecedented sheer quality and compelling involvement in this game? Its artistry mind-blowing and tale emotive so that even the hardiest of hearts can be broken by such a massive and simply gorgeous world, embedded with believable and lifelike characters.

Runners Up:

Final Fantasy X – Nobuo Uematsu dazzled me with his usual fantastic talent, bringing those memories to life whenever I hear the song ‘To Zanarkand’ again. I invested a lot of time in this game and will never forget it.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - The dreadfully intense and thrilling ‘Cold War’ era at your fingertips and the most pleasurable sniper dual since the original game, what more could you ask for from Kojima Productions?

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker – I absolutely adored its cell-shaded, fancy graphics engine that paved a new way for ultra cute games. It was successful proving once more that the Nintendo GameCube was a must buy system of that generation.

Joel Cornell – World of Warcraft

Whether you love it, hate it, don’t get it, want to quit it or can’t wait to start, it is impossible to deny the manner in which World of Warcraft has dominated not only the MMO market, but a huge section of our culture as well. Everyone knows someone who plays WoW. To put it in perspective, the number of citizens of Iceland, Belize, Luxembourg, Slovenia, New Zealand and Ireland (as of 2008 surveys) all added together are approximately equal to the number of WoW subscribers. In addition, by charging $13-$15/month for a subscription, by 2011 the US Senate will pass a bill deeming Blizzard Entertainment an official US Mint. All this wasn’t by luck either; this phenomenon was built on a world that can compare with the scope of Tolkien’s work, addictive gameplay, challenging quests/dungeons, an enthralling aesthetic and an open-ended accessibility that many have tried to copy and failed to re-imaging.

Runners Up:

Uncharted 2 – One could easily classify Uncharted 2 as a 10 hour interactive CG film. The level of realism, character development and unmatched ambiance gave us a game that will serve as a benchmark for adventure games about until Uncharted 3.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare – With a high level of realism and some seriously addictive multiplayer, Modern Warfare and its sequel mean that we can expect to see future FPS games taking quite a bit out of these.

Super Mario Galaxy – Where Super Mario 64 revolutionized platforming and launched the genre into 3D, Super Mario Galaxy raised the bar exponentially and giving us a new way to perceive the genre.

Cody Johnstone – Advance Wars: Dual Strike

What makes a game worthy of being labelled the game of a decade? Does it have to be the game that made the largest impact on the industry? Is it the game that sold the most units? Does it have to be a technical masterpiece? For me, I like to think a person’s game of the decade is something more personal. A game that was more than just a game for them, something that defines the decade in their mind.

For me that game was Advance Wars: Duel Strike on the Nintendo DS. It didn’t change the face of gaming or spawn a new take on the genre, but it still sucked me in like no other game in recent memory. Advance Wars games have amassed a fanbase based off its simple but deep strategy mechanics. The first game established itself during the early days of the Game Boy Advance with a follow-up two years later that felt like more of an expansion than a stand-alone game. Dual Strike on the other hand had a unique story, a bevy of upgrades to the core mechanic and tonnes of new modes and maps to play on.

In the end Advance Wars: Dual Strike is my game of the decade simply because it was one of the best pure-fun games I played in the past ten years and the game that gave me the most solid play-time. Any game I can still play regularly play five years later and that can provide me with literally hundreds of hours of game time is something special.

Runners Up:

Metroid Prime – This game had just as much thick atmosphere and addictive exploration-based gameplay as Super Metroid before it.

Valkyria Chronicles – One of the biggest sleeper hits of the decade, it was a fusion of a great, character-driven story, intense tactical combat and a great sense of style.

Super Mario Galaxy - The embodiment of pure fun gameplay, Mario Galaxy is the kind of game that we used to expect out of Nintendo but that we rarely see anymore.

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