Midyear Report: The Best Games of 2010 So Far

[+Audioboxer Subscriber²]

Now that we are at the midway point of 2010, what do we know? For starters, you haven't been buying as many games as you used to; through May, game sales are down 6% in 2010 vs. the first five months of 2009, according to NPD Group.

But the decline in sales doesn't mean that there has been a corresponding drop in game quality in 2010. On the contrary, for every platform we track, the average game Metascore has been higher in 2010 than during the first six months of 2009 — meaning the games have been earning somewhat better reviews this year.

So far in 2010, seven individual titles (some on multiple platforms) have achieved stellar Metascores of 90 or higher, a number comparable to the first half of 2009. Three separate titles — the ones listed in the box at the right — all scored higher than 2009's best-reviewed first-half release, Street Fighter IV (PS3: 94). And, at the other end of the quality spectrum, 25 separate titles received terrible reviews (49 or lower) in the first half of 2009; that number is down to 16 this year.

That could be a very good sign for 2010, as many of the year's best releases typically don't surface until autumn. Of course, the news wasn't equally good for every platform over the past six months, as our comparison chart indicates below.

Before we get into the platform-by-platform lists, here are the top performing games across all platforms, in terms of reviews and units sold:

...........

Long read so: http://features.meta...t-midyear-2010/

[Hani]

Mass Effect 2 is my favorite so far, hopefully to be superseded by Mafia II.

[Victor Rambo]

Mass Effect 2 (Y)

[Sethos]

Isn't that a pretty subjective matter?

[DrunknMunky Veteran]

There’s no way to put a good spin on it: fewer than a third of the PSP’s releases so far this year received generally positive reviews from game critics.

:pinch: ouch

Overall I've been pretty bored this year with gaming so far. All the titles I'm looking forward to are still unreleased.

Lost Planet 2 and BFCB2 were supposed to be keeping me occupied, but LP2 sucked, and I simply didn't have the time to invest in BFBC2.

Mafia II, Halo Reach, Fable 3, Castlevania: LoS, F1 2010, DK Country Returns and loads more are Q3 or later.

[LingeringSoul]

So far, the only standout 2010 titles that come to mind for me are Mass Effect 2 and Red Dead Redemption. Keep in mind that I haven't played God of War III yet, so I can't really speak to that. I'll try to get around to it before the summer is over. As far as huge upcoming releases are concerned, I still have Starcraft II and Halo: Reach to keep me occupied as far as multiplayer is concerned, so I'm not too worried on that front.

I thought that Bad Company 2 was going to have me addicted like BF1942 and Counter-Strike: Source did in their respective heydays, but the lack of support and the random tweaks (and when I say random I mean random) have made me lose hope rather quickly. Still a great game, but it could have been so much more. As for Final Fantasy XIII, I enjoyed it overall, but as a Final Fantasy game it was a huge disappointment. I won't go into detail, but I have certain baseline expectations when it comes to FF, and they were not met.

Overall, I'd say that so far it hasn't been an amazing year for gaming, but it has certainly been quite solid. While there haven't been a lot of unforgettable gaming experiences so far, we've seen our fair share of good games, and the Fall season hasn't even happened yet. Modnation Racers, Splinter Cell: Conviction, Split/Second, Bad Company 2 (still solid despite my disappointment), and Blur have all been enjoyable for me.

EDIT: On a side note, that PC list makes me very sad. One DRM-laden game (Assassin's Creed II), one DLC package (General Knoxx), and one missed opportunity (BC2). Starcraft II can't come soon enough.

[Hedon]

Alan Wake FTW.

[Ayepecks]

I really haven't been interested in anything released this year so far, save for Singularity, which I plan on picking up sometime. Besides a few XBLA games, I don't think I've bought a game yet this year, which is rare.

Things will definitely pick up closer to September for me, though, with Crysis 2, Halo: Reach and F.E.A.R. 3. Next year will have a lot of big-name games much earlier in the year, though (Portal 2, Gears of War 3, Bulletstorm).

[George P Global Moderator]

This really just depends on what types of games one looks for, I'm all for a good RPG and a nice FPS, but something with a good story will win me over easily compared to fancy graphics alone.