Another year has passed and to those that struggle between work and play did have a really hard time balancing the two this year. For the most part, 2010 was a stellar year for gamers and gaming in general. This has been a year of record breakers where these records have literally been broken just months after the last record has been set.

There are games for every game out there but what makes this year particularly special is the high quality of the games that have come out during the year from strategy games such as StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty and Civilization V to shooters like Halo: Reach and Call of Duty: Black Ops. It is also the year of hardware peripherals with the PlayStation Move and Microsoft Kinect that finally validates Nintendo when it came out with the Wii with its motion controls.

Games

Mass Effect 2

Mass Effect 2 came out early in the year. It continues the saga of Commander Shepard in his (or her, depending on the character you create) battle against an enemy hell-bent on consuming all life in the galaxy. Mass Effect 2 combines RPG elements with fast-paced shooting wrapped in a great science fiction story.

On a personal level and at the risk of outing myself as a gaming addict, the Mass Effect series has touched all of my fanboy-buttons, as a science fiction fan, an RPG fan, shooter fan, and videogame fan. To date, according to Steam, I have logged 159 hours on the first Mass Effect. On Mass Effect 2, I have logged 143 hours and counting with my third play through in anticipation of the final Mass Effect in the trilogy coming out next year.

That’s basically more than 2 week’s worth of Mass Effect gaming throughout the year!

Civilization V

Arguably the best turn-based strategy game on the PC of all time, the Civilization series has been turning gamers into Civ-addicts since its first incarnation in 1991. The phrase, “Just one more turn” should be familiar to anyone who has played any of the Civ games since then. Civilization V is the latest in the series and still continues the addictive nature that has made the Civilization infamous. Civ V is based on an entirely game engine and now uses hexagonal tiles instead of squares which all previous Civilization games used.

Although just as with previous Civilization games, you still begin each game from the prehistoric times and lead your civilization through the ages until you reach one of the victory conditions of the game. The most obvious victory condition is defeat the other leaders through military conquest but if you don’t have the knack for combat, you can still win either through diplomacy, economy, or scientific research.

Fallout: New Vegas

On the heels of Fallout 3, New Vegas is not a direct sequel although it does use some of the same elements used in Fallout 3. And just as the title suggests, Fallout: New Vegas is set in a post-apocalyptic Las Vegas. This first-person RPG puts the player in the shoes of the Courier where he or she falls into an unfortunate encounter with one of the factions in the game which sets into motion the story of the game where the player actually has a hand in writing through the decisions he or she makes.

An atmospheric and engrossing game, this is one title that is a must play for RPG fans.

StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty

12 years in the making, StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty came out strong when it was released this year. It has a very tough act to follow considering its predecessor is still being play around the world since its launch 12 years ago.
In fact, the original StarCraft and its expansion, Brood War is still being played in professional competitions such as the annual World Cyber Games and broadcast competitions in countries such as South Korea.

When it launched, Wings of Liberty was the bestselling PC game of 2010 as well as the fastest-selling strategy game of all time until Call of Duty: Black Ops and eventually World of Warcraft: Cataclysm surpassed it mere months later.

The game has sold 1.5 million copies in the first 48 hours since its launch. Although it still retains the fastest-selling strategy game of all time. StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty is actually the first of a planned trilogy.

Wings of Liberty concentrated on the human side of the story where the other two will concentrate on the Zerg and Protoss, the other two races in conflict with humans.

Call of Duty: Black Ops

One of the most anticipated games of 2010, if not THE most anticipated game of 2010 is Call of Duty: Black Ops. In fact, Activision, the publisher of the game, announced in November that Call of Duty: Black Ops has set the highest grossing Five Day Entertainment Industry Record of more than $650 million dollars worldwide. It exceeded the previous record (set by its predecessor, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2) by about $100 million dollars.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

In the world of Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games (MMORPGs or MMOs), one game does stand above the rest, World of Warcraft. In its six year run, it has had 2 major expansions with The Burning Crusades and the Wrath of the Lich King with Cataclysm being the third expansion to the title.

The expansion takes the title to heart as it literally destroys the World of Warcraft with a global cataclysm with the arrival of the dragon Deathwing the Destroyer. Locales that are familiar to players after playing the game for six years will be vastly different due to the cataclysm which enables the players to go into brand new quests and adventures.

Another record breaker, according to a report, World of Warcraft: Cataclysm is the fastest selling PC game of all time with 3.5 million copies sold in just 24 hours when it was released on the 7th of December.There is more to Gaming 2010, the worthiest and the best-sellers. More in the continuation of this piece. (To be continued)