by ShardsOfBlue

10. Flower

Flower is a PlayStation 3 video game. It was developed by thatgamecompany, designed by Jenova Chen and Nicholas Clark, and announced at the 2007 Tokyo Game Show. Flower was released on February 12, 2009, via the PlayStation Network. The game was intended as a “spiritual successor” to Flow, a previous title by Chen and thatgamecompany.

In it, the player controls the wind, blowing a flower petal through the air using the movement of the game controller. Flying close to flowers results in the player’s petal being followed by other flower petals. Approaching flowers may also have side-effects on the game world, such as bringing vibrant color to previously dead fields or activating stationary windmills. The game features no text or dialogue, forming a narrative arc primarily through visual representation and emotional cues.  

Flower was primarily intended to arouse positive emotions in the player, rather than to be a challenging and “fun” game. This focus was sparked by Chen, who felt that the primary purpose of entertainment products like video games was the feelings that they evoked in the audience, and that the emotional range of most games was very limited. The team viewed their efforts as creating a work of art, removing gameplay elements and mechanics that were not provoking the desired response in the players.

The music, composed by Vincent Diamante, dynamically responds to the player’s actions and corresponds with the emotional cues in the game. Flower was a critical success, to the surprise of the developers. Reviewers praised the game’s music, visuals, and gameplay, calling it a unique and compelling emotional experience. It was named the “best independent game of 2009″ at the Spike Video Game Awards and by Playboy, and won the “Casual Game of the Year” award by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences. -Wikipedia.org

9. Batman: Arkham Asylum

Batman: Arkham Asylum is an action-adventure stealth video game based on DC Comics’ Batman for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. It was developed by Rocksteady Studios and published by Eidos Interactive in conjunction with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Comics. The PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game were released on August 25, 2009 in North America and August 28, 2009 in Europe, and the PC version was released on September 15 in North America and on September 18 in Europe.

Arkham Asylum, written by veteran Batman writer Paul Dini, is based on the long-running comic book mythos, as opposed to most other Batman games which are adaptations of the character in other media besides the source material. The Joker, Batman’s arch enemy, has instigated an elaborate plot from within Arkham Asylum where many of Batman’s other villains have been incarcerated. Batman investigates and comes to learn that the Joker is trying to create an army of Bane-like creatures to threaten Gotham City, and is forced to put a stop to the Joker’s plans. The game’s main characters are voiced by the actors from the DC Animated Universe, namely Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, and Arleen Sorkin reprising their roles as Batman, the Joker, and Harley Quinn, respectively. The game is played as a third-person perspective action-adventure game with a primary focus on Batman’s combat abilities, his stealth and detective skills, and an arsenal of gadgets that can be used in both combat and exploration.

The game received high praise from critics, earning a 92% average on GameRankings, a game aggregator. The game also holds a Guinness World Record for ‘Most Critically Acclaimed Superhero Game Ever’, with an average score of 91.67 from reviewers. Several awards were given to Arkham Asylum, including a Spike Video Game Award and the coveted Best Game BAFTA Award. A sequel, titled “Batman: Arkham City”, was announced at the 2009 Spike Video Game Awards. On May 11, 2010, a Game of the Year version of Batman: Arkham Asylum was released in the United States. This edition includes four new challenge maps and is packaged with two pairs of glasses which may be used to play the game in 3D on any regular 2D television, using TriOviz, a new kind of anaglyph image technique. -Wikipedia.org

8. Halo 3

Halo 3 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie for Xbox 360. The game is the third title in the Halo series and concludes the story arc that began in Halo: Combat Evolved and continued in Halo 2. The game was released on September 25, 2007 in Australia, Brazil, India, New Zealand, North America, and Singapore; September 26, 2007 in Europe; and September 27, 2007 in Japan. On the day before its official release, 4.2 million units of Halo 3 were in retail outlets.

Halo 3′s story centers on the interstellar war between 26th century humanity, led by the United Nations Space Command, and a collection of alien races known as the Covenant. The player assumes the role of the Master Chief, a cybernetically enhanced supersoldier, as he wages war in defense of humanity, assisted by human Marines as well as an allied alien race called Elites, which is led by Rtas’Vadum. The game features vehicles, weapons, and gameplay not present in previous titles of the series, as well as the addition of saved gameplay films, file sharing, and the Forge map editor; a utility which allows the player to perform modifications to multiplayer levels.  

Halo 3 grossed US0 million in its first week. More than one million people played Halo 3 on Xbox Live in the first twenty hours. As of January 3, 2008, Halo 3 has sold 8.1 million copies, and was the best-selling video game of 2007 in the U.S. Overall, the game was very well-received by critics, with the Forge and multiplayer offerings singled out as strong features. By March 2009 more than one billion online matches had been played. A prequel to the game, Halo 3: ODST, was released worldwide on September 22, 2009. -Wikipedia.org

7. Super Mario Galaxy

Super Mario Galaxy is a 3D platform game developed by Nintendo EAD Tokyo and published by Nintendo for the Wii. It was released in Japan on November 1, 2007, the United States on November 12, 2007, Canada on November 14, 2007, Europe on November 16, 2007, Australia on November 29, 2007, South Africa on February 1, 2008.

It is the third 3D platformer in the Mario series, after Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Sunshine.  The game follows the protagonist, Mario, on a quest to rescue Princess Peach from the game’s primary antagonist, Bowser. Levels are galaxies filled with minor planets and worlds, while gameplay is updated with gravity effects and new power-ups.  

Super Mario Galaxy was first shown at E3 2006 and enjoyed a high level of pre-release awareness. The game has been hailed by several gaming websites as one of the best video games of all time and has won a BAFTA. GameRankings lists the game as the best reviewed Wii game and the second best reviewed game of all time. The game is the ninth best selling Wii game worldwide with sales of over 8.84 million.  

A sequel, Super Mario Galaxy 2, was announced at E3 2009, and was released on May 23, 2010 in North America, May 27 in Japan, June 11 in Europe and July 1 in Australia. -Wikipedia.org

6. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is an action-adventure video game developed by Naughty Dog and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 3. It is the sequel to the 2007 game Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune. Officially announced in the January 2009 issue of Game Informer, it was released in October 2009.

A critical and commercial success, it was named by Metacritic as the most critically acclaimed game of 2009, and won Game of the Year awards on IGN, Giant Bomb, AIAS, X-Play, Reviews on the Run, Game Developers Choice Awards and the Spike Video Game Awards for the year 2009. Uncharted 2 received universal critical acclaim.

The first publication to review Uncharted 2 was the French edition of PSM3. In their review, they called the game “Long, visually stunning, deep and explosive, Uncharted 2 combines all the qualities you can find in a videogame, and more! A new milestone has been reached in the videogame history.”

The magazine awarded the game its first ever, 21/20. PlayStation: The Official Magazine awarded the game a perfect score. In their review, they stated, “Forget Game of The Year. This is one of the greatest games of all time!”. The UK edition of the magazine also gave the game a perfect score, and was later awarded “Game of the Year 2009″ by the magazine. -Wikipedia.org

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5. Assassin’s Creed II

Assassin’s Creed II is a historical fantasy third person action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is the second video game installment of the Assassin’s Creed series and is a direct sequel to the 2007 video game Assassin’s Creed. The game was released on video game consoles in November 2009, and released for Windows in March 2010. The sequel, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, comes out in November, 2010.  

The game is set in 2012, with player-controlled protagonist Desmond Miles escaping from Abstergo Industries with an employee, Lucy Stillman, after being forced to relive the genetic memories of ancestral assassin Altaïr ibn La-Ahad through a machine known as the “Animus”. After escaping from Abstergo, Desmond enters a device which is more advanced than the original Animus, the Animus 2.0, and relives the genetic memories of ancestral nobleman Ezio Auditore da Firenze, who lived during the Renaissance period of the late fifteenth century in Italy. The player controls Ezio, who becomes an Assassin after his father and brothers are murdered by a traitor to the Auditore family. While controlling Ezio, the player can explore game renditions of Italian cities, regions and landmarks in open world gameplay.  

Assassin’s Creed II was met with widespread acclaim, garnering aggregated scores of 91% for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and 86% for PC, from review aggregator Metacritic. The game was praised for its stronger emphasis on open-world exploration and interaction, non-linear gameplay and greater mission variety compared to the first Assassin’s Creed. The game was also credited with improved non-player character AI and combat mechanics, and its new economic system allowing players to purchase accessories, armor and improved weapons through the course of the game. -Wikipedia.org

4. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (often referenced as Oblivion) is a single-player role-playing video game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks and the Take-Two Interactive subsidiary 2K Games. It is the fourth installment in The Elder Scrolls action fantasy video game series, following The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. Oblivion was released March 20, 2006, for Windows PCs and the Xbox 360. A PlayStation 3 release was shipped March 20, 2007, in North America and on April 27 in Europe. After a number of smaller content releases, a major expansion pack—Shivering Isles—was released. The Game of the Year Edition became available on Steam on September 11, 2007.

Oblivion’s main story revolves around the player character’s efforts to thwart a fanatical cult that plans to open the gates to a hellish realm called Oblivion and unleash its horrors on the mortal world. The game continues the open-world tradition of its predecessors by allowing the player to travel anywhere in the game world at any time and to ignore or postpone the main storyline indefinitely.

Developers opted for tighter pacing and greater plot focus than in past titles. Oblivion was generally well received and won a number of industry and publication awards. The game had shipped 1.7 million copies by April 10, 2006, and sold over three million copies by January 18, 2007. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Game of the Year Edition, a package including both Shivering Isles and the official plug-in Knights of the Nine, was released in Autumn 2007 for Windows PCs, the Xbox 360, and the PlayStation 3. -Wikipedia.org

3. Far Cry 2

Far Cry 2 (commonly abbreviated as “FC2″) is an open-ended first-person shooter developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It was released on October 21, 2008 in North America and on October 23, 2008 in Europe and Australia. It was made available on Steam on October 22, 2008. Crytek, the developers of the original game, were not involved in the development of Far Cry 2.  

Ubisoft has marketed Far Cry 2 as the true sequel to Far Cry, though the sequel has very few noticeable similarities to the original game. Instead, it features completely new characters and setting, as well as a new style of gameplay that allows the player greater freedom to explore different African landscapes such as deserts, jungles, and savannas. The game takes place in a modern-day East African nation in a state of anarchy and civil war. The player takes control of a mercenary on a lengthy journey to locate and assassinate “The Jackal”, a notorious arms dealer.

Far Cry 2 has received positive reviews from game critics, leading to an average Metacritic score of 85%. The graphics that went into the open-world design and the African setting were generally praised. Critics also liked the intelligent enemies who actively hunt for the player, but noted that it was occasionally unresponsive. Some critics, such as Terrence Jarrad in the first Australian review of the game, praised all three aspects: “The unique setting, brilliant AI, and palpable atmosphere make Far Cry 2 a quintessential gaming experience.” -Wikipedia.org

2. BioShock

BioShock is a horror first-person shooter video game developed by Irrational Games—then under the name 2K Boston/2K Australia—and designed by Ken Levine. It was released for the Windows operating system and Xbox 360 video game console on August 21, 2007 in North America, and three days later in Europe and Australia. A PlayStation 3 version of the game, which was developed by 2K Marin, was released internationally on October 17, 2008 and in North America on October 21, 2008 with some additional features. It became available on Steam on August 21, 2007. The game was also released for the Mac OS X operating system on October 7, 2009. A version of the game for mobile platforms is currently being developed by IG Fun. A sequel, BioShock 2, was released on February 9, 2010.  

Set in an alternate history 1960, the game places the player in the role of a plane crash survivor named Jack, who must explore the underwater city of Rapture, and survive attacks by the mutated beings and mechanical drones that populate it. The game incorporates elements found in role-playing and survival games, and is described by the developers and Levine as a “spiritual successor” to their previous titles in the System Shock series. The game received overwhelmingly positive reviews, which praised its “morality-based” storyline, immersive environment and Ayn Rand-inspired dystopian back-story. -Wikipedia.org

1. Mass Effect 2

Mass Effect 2 is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts. The game is a sequel to Mass Effect, and the second game of the series. The game was released on PC and Xbox 360 in North America, Europe and India on January 26, 2010, Australia on January 28, and New Zealand on January 29.  

After the events of the original game, Commander Shepard is killed in an ambush by a mysterious alien species called the Collectors. Shepard is revived two years after the attack by an enigmatic organization called Cerberus, and is tasked with finding out more about the Collectors and why they are abducting entire human colonies.

Shepard must build a team in order to accomplish what seems to be a suicide mission. Many elements and locations from Mass Effect return, in addition to ones new to the series.  A critical and commercial success, Mass Effect 2 had shipped over two million copies worldwide within a week of release, and has also received highly favorable reviews. It is ranked third on the Xbox 360 according to GameRankings, and is, overall, the fourteenth best reviewed game of all time. The game holds over 30 perfect scores and has an average of 94 and 96 for the PC and Xbox 360 on Metacritic respectively. -Wikipedia.org

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