Wednesday, January 26, 2011

My ten best games of 2010

4. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow(XB360, PS3)



For the people who know me, it isn't a big secret that my favorite series is Castlevania. Hell, this blog is named after it. So when it came time for MecurySteam and Kojima Productions to pull together for a Castlevania 'reboot', I was thrilled. Since entering the 3D realm the series hasn't had much luck. With 2 lack-luster entries for the N64 and 2  average games for the PS2, MercurySteam took 3 popular series' game mechanics and mashed them together. Castlevania contains the fighting system of God of War, platforming of Uncharted, and monstrous battles found in Shadow of the Colossus. The resulting game has entered into many fans top 10 lists for 2010 including this one.  Following the story of a new belmont(and the first according to THIS games timeline) Gabriel, the world is in chaos from a spell cause by a powerful necromancer to cut the ties from earth to the spirit world allowing monsters to roam and the spirits of the deceased to stick around. Gabriel's wife was murdered by evil forces, and so begins his quest to not only destroy the one who caused this chaos but also retrieve a mask said to bring the dead back to life. Running on a proprietary engine Castlevania became one of the most beautiful games of last year, forests, snowy fields, gigantic castles, and a surprising last area gave astounding visuals. The game clocks in at around 20 hours, a very lengthy time for a single-player action game. Trials for each level offer challenges to gamers and collectibles litter the 50 different stages, and 12 chapters giving players more incentive to complete the game fully. Ending with a bang Lords of Shadow delivered what is quite possibly the most satisfying(and surprising) ending of any game of last year. MecurySteam has definitely proven their worth with this entry in the Castlevania franchise, not only have they made the most successful 3D Castlevania to date, but they also have reached a wider audience. We can only wait for their next outing in the series.

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