[Question] The Gamingforce Game of the Year 2010: Vote a Go Go

I'm going to go chronologically because that seems like fun.

Mass Effect 2 - 20 points
Back in February when I got a 360 my first problem was that I wasn't sure I would want to have a subscription to Live. (This problem still exists now; $5/month is cheap, but I haven't played online once since subscribing.) So after The Beatles: Rock Band (WHERE IS MY DLC CRASH LANDON HARMONIX) I decided ME2 would be my single-player game, just in case. ME2 and Beatles basically split time with each other for a month until MLB2K10 came out and that was that.

ME2 would've been a strong candidate for GOTY for everyone until the rest of the year happened. It's another very good BioWare game, but it neither has the pedigree of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (which I feel like I unfairly compare ME2 to, but alas) nor the emotional pull. I really don't care if I'm able to fuck some other chick onboard the Normandy; Shepard just isn't an interesting guy. It probably doesn't help that I didn't play ME1. Still, I'm happy I got to play it and maybe I'll go back to it someday.

VVVVVV - 10 points
I somehow completely forgot VVVVVV came out this year. Then again, see above.

VVVVVV is the first death-platformer I've played, and it was a fun challenge to beat it, then go back for the trinkets I missed. The music is fantastic and the graphics recall those old-but-good DOS days that games like VVVVVV will be sure to remind me of.

Kirby's Epic Yarn - 10 points
Kirby's Epic Yarn is a simple game, no doubt. But, as I've said before, there's a lot of Yoshi's Island hidden behind and woven into the fabric of KEY and that's a pleasant aspect of the game. I don't know if I approve of not being able to die, particularly in light of Donkey Kong Country Returns. It waters down the achievement of beating a level while retaining all the beads you've collected and unlocking the hidden stages. It may be too simple for its own good.

NHL 11 - 25 points
So NHL 11 is the first new NHL game I've played since they started with the current-gen engine and while I have some minor hangups the game is probably the best it has been since the 16-bit days. The physics are fairly impressive, particularly when the puck comes off the goaltender. (Although I cannot tell you how many times I've had the puck float on an opposing goaltender's back before it somehow floats into his glove instead of rolling behind him, then having my goaltender lose the puck in a similar way and the other team scoring.) Checking is the other bright spot, both body- and stick-checks, and I LOVE hip-checks, probably a little too much for my own good sometimes. My only issues so far are that player faces still aren't realistic enough and jerseys (logos, patches, numbers) still stretch, warp and bend like they have since NHL '98.

Nevertheless, I haven't even gotten into the meatiest parts of the game yet (Be a Pro, Be a GM, Hockey Ultimate Team) and I'm enjoying it immensely. This is one I'll be playing for a long time.

Red Dead Redemption - 35 points
Boy, am I glad I picked this up on December 29. Not just to help make my GOTY vote look better, but because it is an excellent game. I know it's a short time to make an informed decision, but any game Danielle will sit down and watch while I play has to be good at least visually and story-wise. Which it is.

The Rockstar "feel" oozes in this game, making it feel like a spiritual successor to GTA4, and I only need to get used to the combat before I'll be loving this game.

Jam it back in, in the dark.