5) DJ Hero (PS2/PS3/Wii/X360)
I really don’t like rhythm games. I look like a fool playing DDR, I feel like a dirty impostor when I karaoke, and, in a self destructive “I’m gonna beat this game at it’s own game” type of mentality, I hit the chord buttons preemptively in Guitar Hero. I had sworn off music games as something that was decidedly not for me. Then I played DJ Hero. Now, it helps that I enjoy turntablism music, but something else about this game clicked. I still looked like a fool, felt like an impostor, and tried to usurp the button taps, but I felt like I was playing the music. It’s something no other music game had managed for me. I realize that this economic climate is not particularly friendly to excess spending. 120 dollars (or 100 dollars if you find it on sale) is nothing to scoff at, but if you like this style of music, then I guarantee you will like this game. Even if you are a stalwart rock enthusiast who swears by Guitar Hero, you will probably enjoy this game because it’s a different experience within the same medium. Do yourself a favor: go to your nearest big box store, see if they have a demo set up, and give it a whirl. You will be surprised.
4) Silent Hill: Shattered Memories (Wii)
If you haven’t read my review yet, you should, but if you insist on getting the Cliff Notes, I’ll do the best I can. The game, like Silent Hill, messes with you. It’s a beautiful symmetry that no one else seems to be talking about. Based on the way you answer questions and the actions you take, the game can change just about anything to tailor itself to your mental makeup. That alone would be worth playing, but it also introduces this amazing flashlight mechanic that I, were I developing games, would steal immediately. Being able to focus a player’s vision in a free roaming game is one of the things we haven’t quite gotten right yet. Players often miss things because they are looking the other way or are paying attention to a different part of the screen. The flashlight in Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is the first step in solving that problem. It also opens the doors for a goldmine of potential scare tactics. The game is comically short, but you will want to play it again when you are done just to see if you can change it. And you can…in just about every way possible.
3) Metroid Prime Trilogy (Wii)
I am not going to stand here and talk to you about how great the Metroid Prime games are because you’re a gamer and you already…wait, what? You didn’t play them? Well friend, you are in luck! All three of them are available to you in one tidy package! Metroid Prime 1 and 2 have been optimized to use the Wiimote and Nunchuck just like Metroid Prime 3. No, it’s not the Citizen Kane of video games, but it is, for my money, the best series since Legacy of Kane (that is a huge endorsement btw). I realize that putting an old game on this list appears to be a cop out, but I cannot tell you how many people I have talked to who have never played these games. You have no excuse now. Play them.
2) Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor (iPhone/iPod Touch)
This very easily could have been number one because of its quality and its importance to the platform. Here you have a game that is arguably doable only as an iPhone game. Beyond that, not only is it a good iPhone game, it is a damn good game in general. You are a spider. You make webs and catch bugs as you travel through Bryce Manor. You are also a human being who is controlling the spider on your phone while you try and figure out what happened in Bryce Manor. It’s the most ingenious meta game mechanic I have maybe ever seen. If you want, you can just be the spider and not care about anything. The game functions as a complete entity in that way. But if you want to go beyond the spider’s apathy and function as a curious human being, you can, and the game becomes even more rewarding. They just updated it to add a few more levels and a level select feature. Look, you got an iTunes gift card this holiday, the game costs a measly $2.99, buy it.
1)Flower (PSN for PS3)
Flower came out so long ago that most have forgotten about it. It’s a game that is hard to explain and even harder to sell to someone because the premise is so strange. But there is one thing this game is: Beautiful. It’s one of the few games I would describe as truly beautiful to experience. Instead of giving you a synopsis for the game, I’ll just share an experience with you. The level takes place in a field outside of a metropolitan area. It is night. I float over to the first bed of flowers, the controller rumbles ever so slightly, the music picks up, and then the flowers begin to glow. This combination of seeing, feeling, and hearing gave me one of the strongest cases of goosebumps ever… and I don’t know why. Forget about the “indie-ness” of it or the “games as art-ness” of it, and just bask in the beauty of it. Just do yourself a favor, and play it. It is, after all, number one on my precious list.
There, now we all feel better. You can go out and buy Dead Space: Extraction or Flower without fear of being burnt by a bad game, and I can rest easy knowing that I performed my journalistic bloodrite without giving in to a Top 10 Bestest Games of the Year list. It’s really a beautiful thing we have worked out, and I can’t wait to do it all again next year.
Don’t worry, that list is already being made…
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