Games I liked this year

Fallout: New Vegas. Smurf yes. Absolutely fixed 90% of the problems with F3, and Obsidian weren't in a position to do much about Gamebryo (Though they still made an admirable effort, NV is way way more stable than F3 ever was). Superb from top to bottom.

Halo: Reach. The campaign was mediocre and disappointing in the extreme. The multiplayer on the other hand is sheer magic except when ponces act like ponces with armor lock all day erry day.

Red Dead Redemption. Hoooooly smurf this one kind of blindsided me, I wasn't ever impressed by Red Dead Revolver or by GUN for that matter, so Western games weren't appealing to me - it just didn't seem like a genre that worked in games. Then I watched some of the preview videos for this and was like "Day One Purchase Take all of my money" and yeah. Absolutely stunning. If only R* could make multiplayer 1/10 as good as they make single-player.

Europa Universalis III: Divine Wind. Okay okay I know it's an expack but it continues to make EU3 one of my favorite strategy games ever ever so yeah, it appears on this list. Continuing additions and refinements, new mechanics for Japan and more importantly China, just all around goodness.

WoW: Cataclysm. I know plenty of people have plenty of bile for WoW, but there is no credible way to deny that Blizzard puts an astounding amount of effort into each expansion and that each one enhances the game hugely. The Worgen and Goblin starting areas are superb, the remaking of the Old World is unbelievably great, Orgrimmar went from hateful hole to my second-favorite city, even the reworking of the talent trees has ended up being rather good, completely contrary to my expectations and fears.

Dwarf Fortress 2010. Toady One continues to update this game, continues to make it astoundingly complex, detailed, and incredible, continues to provide one of the best sandboxes ever made. If I could only ever play one game for the rest of my life, Dwarf Fortress would have to be a strong contender.

Honorable Mentions

One Chance. Some say this is pretentious. I poop on them from a great height. I don't think it achieves what it sets out to do - but it is an interesting and worthwhile experiment in game mechanics and I did get emotionally invested.

Final Fantasy XIII. I like FFXIII. I really do. But it falls very short when compared to other FFs (Except XIV obviously ) and I have no desire to replay it. I don't regret the time or money spent on it but I've no interest in going back, which for a Final Fantasy is a fairly major problem.

CODBLOPS. It's Call of Duty, whaddaya want? If you like it you like it, if you don't this won't convert you. I prefer Modern Warfare myself - though zombie mode with JFK, Nixon, McNamara, and Castro is pretty god damn amazing.

Not Appearing On This List:

PS3 Exclusives. Because I don't have one. Though as I've said elsewhere the system now has enough games that I actually want one and plan to get it once I have money.

Bayonetta. I feel bad badmouthing this because it was a gift from Rye, but it's the most overrated piece of mediocrity I have come across in years. Don't get me wrong, there are worse games out there by a long way, but I honestly can't bring to mind anything so bland dressed up so flashily.