Game On

THE BEST VIDEO GAMES OF THE 2010S

JASON SAVIO

The past decade gave us a plethora of awesome games. From familiar faces presented in a new light, to innovative gameplay that put story in the forefront, the 2010s will go down as a memorable time for gamers and an embarrassment of riches. With the 2020s ahead of us, lets take one last look back at the best of the best from the past 10 years. Here’s the top 5 best games of the 2010s:

THE WAKING DEAD: The now-defunct Telltale Games was responsible for bringing one of the 2010s’ most popular entertainment franchises to the video game world. When the Walking Dead first aired on television way back on Hal- loween 2010, no one expected it to blow up into the pop culture juggernaut that it is (yes, even though the ratings have slipped recently, the show’s numbers are still blowing all others out of the water). Such a big hit needed a video game to go with it, and the 2012 episodic Walking Dead series matched the tone and heart of the show and comics perfectly. Taking place in the same world as both, but with new characters, the Walking Dead game emphasized storytelling and character development. It gave gamers an opportunity to pick how they wanted to interact with other characters, changing the course of the story every time they played depending on the different choices they made.

MORTAL KOMBAT X: 2015 saw Mortal Kombat X build off of the success of 2012’s Mortal Kombat and take it to a whole other level. Fan favorites like Raiden and Scorpion continued to play a big part in the tenth installment, alongside a new generation of fighters that fit in perfectly with the veteran cast--Sonya Blade and Johnny Cage have a daughter, who could have guessed it? The fatalities in Mortal Kombat X continued to up the ante on the brutality meter, and the fighting gameplay was as smooth as a roundhouse kick. But the best part of Mortal Kombat X? The downloadable content. You don’t often hear that, but Mortal Kombat has started a tradition of introducing new playable fighters through DLC and Mortal Kombat X brought the goods.

BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY: The 2011 sequel to 2009’s Batman: Arkham Asylum kept the momentum going and created an even more dangerous set of obstacles for the Caped Crusader. Instead of having all the criminally insane locked up in a prison, they are transported to their own island where they are free to do what- ever they want as long as they don’t try to leave. What could possibly go wrong? Flying around in the open world that is Arkham City is one of the great joys of any Batman game ever, and the quick action-packed fighting style is fun and keeps the energy up. Kevin Conroy of animated Batman television series fame returns to voice the Dark Knight, and the one and only Mark Hamill provides the voice of the Joker yet again. That’s fan service at its best.

METAL GEAR SOLID V: The Phantom Pain: The Metal Gear series made its return in 2015 under the watchful eye of its creator Hideo Kojima, resulting in pos- sibly the best game of the entire franchise. Taking place in 1984, Phantom Pain is actually a prequel to the original 1987 Metal Gear Solid, and features Venom Snake venturing into Afghanistan on a revenge mission. It’s personal for Snake, and as such it deals with subject matter most games try to avoid, making it a standout amongst many other games of the decade.

RED DEAD REDEMPTION: Rockstar Games was best known for bringing mayhem to the streets with their Grand Theft Auto series, but with 2010’s Red Dead Redemption they threw everyone for a loop by trading in the fast cars for some real horsepower. Everything about Red Dead Redemption is amazing. Playing as former outlaw John Marston, you traverse the western United States of the early 1900s, search- ing for members of your old gang to bring to justice in order to save your family, who is being held for ransom by none other than the good ‘ol government. The attention to detail in the world this game creates is overwhelming in a good way, as is the breathtak- ing view of the (fake) sunset. Oh yeah, you also get to ride a horse and pretend you’re Clint Eastwood. It doesn’t get much better than that.