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Reset’s Top 10 Video Games of 2010
BurnTheBlueSky here. The following is taken from my partner in podcastery Kiel/Reset. It is his top games of 2010 list, so, enjoy!
A year that was birthed with a scream of great titles and ended with holiday releases that housed the biggest entertainment sale opening of all time; 2010 was quite a year for video games. This year had a big push in downloadable games and also the catch up game of Microsoft and Sony in the motion controlled games market. Here is my humble list of games and their explanations.
It’s hard to remember that this game even came out in 2010 since it came out in the far out land of February. Quantic Dream excelled in making an evolved adventure game that was leaps and bounds better than their prior release, Indigo Prophecy. The tone and graphics in the game were great, but the controls that were applauded made the game frustrating for me. My frustrations are outweighed by the great story and anxiety from it. I am saddened that the things that will be remembered about the game though are the horrible accents and “press X to Jason.” Note: I played the game in French (Quantic Dream developers are French), and thoroughly enjoyed it and was very believable. I am also aware that makes me sound like a pretentious jerk.
I played this game right at the end of the year, but I am glad I got to play it to include it. Enslaved came out in an already busy 4th quarter with very little promotion but this is a game that should not be missed. Ninja Theory (of Heavenly Sword fame) provides a well animated game with a story by the guy who wrote the Beach and the screenplay for Sunshine, and motion capture/voice work by the guy who did Golem in Lord of the Rings. It’s an all-star team-up to bring a different take on the ancient Chinese story Journey to the West. It takes the platforming from Prince of Persia, combat from Arkham Asylum and a story all its own that make one it great title. I think in time, this will be the Beyond Good and Evil for this console generation.
After the fallout of the incredibly disappointing Brutal Legend, developers Double Fine were at an impasse. Instead of spending millions of dollars and years making one game, they made small teams to make games in less than a year for downloadable services. Costume Quest is the first in that series. It is a mixture between an adventure and a light RPG, very casual and fun. The plot revolves around a sister or brother saving their sibling from goblins when they were misinterpreted as a giant piece of candy. The player and their friends must then go door to door getting candy and fighting goblins. Did I mention the costumes that they wear are magically turned into fighting machines? (i.e. Cardboard Robot into a Giant Mech, etc) This was also the funniest game I played this year; it was legitimately intentionally funny…which is very hard for a video game. If you have a heart, play this game.
What really needs to be said about the “Biggest Entertainment Launch Ever?” While those numbers are heavily skewed, it definitely was a huge game. This was the game that proved Treyarch was more than just a B-team for the modern warfare franchise. A plot from a conspiracy theorist wet dream, solid controls, and a action movie matinee pace…the single player was very entertaining. Most people bought Black Ops for the amazing multiplayer though. Gone are the days of using weapons you don’t want, now you earn money round to round and can get that semi-automatic darling you’ve been eying. The best thing I can say about this game is that a devout hater of the Call of Duty franchise fell in love with it thanks to this game.
While the sequel with the return to Rapture didn’t thrill me, it was entertaining. The multiplayer was a ham fisted Call of Duty clone that was not very fun. They released a couple DLC packs just for the multiplayer, but finally they released Minerva’s Den; A single player campaign expansion for the game. This is more of a “Tales From Rapture,” than a continuation of the story of Bioshock 2. I don’t want to say much about the story except it has a hard sci-fi feel and has an ending that was surprisingly different. New characters, weapons, and one more dive into a broken utopia….I’m in.
Similar to Minerva’s Den, I was not in love with the main game of Dead Rising 2. I felt it was too long, bloated, and frustrating. Case Zero took the best parts of Dead Rising 2 and put it in an appetizing downloadable game. It took me a couple hours to beat which was the right time for me. Case Zero actually turned me around on my stance on Dead Rising, since I did not care for the original title. Weapon customization, great protagonist, story, length, and price were the reason this game is on the list. I believe these downloadable cheap episodes of games will start to be the new standard over expensive boxed games…at least I hope.
The final ride into the sunset for developer Bungie, this truly was a love letter to the fans. Fun over the top single player, co-operative Firefight mode, competitive multiplayer, and an expansive level creator all on one disc…the best sixty dollars you could spend on a game this year for your buck. The additions of objective based multiplayer and experience rewarding via challenges will help the multiplayer live on well after Bungie leaves to work on their next title.
My anticipation for this game was intense; compound that with my media blackout of the game so that nothing was ruined for me, I was chomping at the bit for this release. A game to follow Fallout 3, which is one of my favorite games of all time, is no hard task. Developer Obsidian takes you on a different adventure back into the land of the first two games, the west coast. New Vegas continues on the tradition of Fallout: great story, interesting characters, humor, and hard sci-fi. Unfortunately New Vegas also had all the bug and glitches that Fallout is known to have as well. Even with the bad bugs, this is a 60+ hour game that shouldn’t be missed.
A game that is so much more than “GTA with horses.” Redemption is a tale of an ex-outlaw that tried to get out of the game, do the right thing, and then found out you can never outrun your past. A heart-wrenching tale of struggle and strife mixed with equal parts humor and action. If I was an American History teacher, I would make this game a supplement for the “Death” of the Wild West. This game actually takes place much later than most think, it is during 1911 during the Federal expansion of the west. There is an actually part in the game that you are ordered by the federal government to kill Native Americans with a Gatling gun; I can’t think of a more dense metaphor for technology and government killing the Wild West. I could write more about this game, but I will leave you with this: This was the only game on this list that made me cry at the end of it. Note: I am aware I’m lame.
A sequel that shines brighter than it’s original. Mass Effect 2 lets you use save data from the previous game including all your choices: who lived and died, what planets did you save or destroy, romances, and other conquests all carry over. The ability to import your saves helps shape the game into your own unique story. The game has a deep story with robust characters that are intriguing enough to keep talking to them until they have nothing left to say. Mass Effect 2 has some of the most rewarding supporting characters in a game. Going on loyalty missions that not only help you bond with your crew also gives a vertical slice on the history of your ally. Mass Effect 2 has so many strong parts that together it is stronger than steel. This is the closest thing to Star Trek: The Game I’ve ever felt, which is probably the reason it’s at the top of my list.
Note: Honorable mentions go to Rock Band 3, Kirby’s Epic Yarn, and Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare. Rock Band 3 was great, but it seems a little late with all the music game exhaustion, also it needs better integration and more keyboard support. Kirby is just gorgeous, simply beautiful but I have not played it entirely. Undead Nightmare is a blast and super cheap for the price, but I started to get exhausted of the game halfway through and have not gone back yet.
We are now one full month into Spring 2024, which kicked off on Tuesday, March 19 and comes to an end with the start of Summer on Thursday, June 20. This year’s summer movie season has a whole bunch of exciting horror highlights, including A Quiet Place: Day One, MaXXXine, and Alien: Romulus, but let’s hold that particular thought until June rolls around.
We’re here today to talk about Spring 2024 and the many horrors we still have left before the weather gets warmer and we find ourselves in the heat of one hell of a spooky summer.
Here are 12 horror movies you don’t want to miss in Spring 2024!
STING – April 12
Two words: SPIDER HORROR. Writer/Director Kiah Roache-Turner (Wyrmwood) hopes to induce eight-legged terror with his brand new horror movie Sting, only in theaters April 12.
Of particular note, Sting features practical spider effects from 5-time Academy Award Winner Weta Workshop, with the spider in this one inspired by H.R. Giger’s Xenomorph!
In Sting, “One cold, stormy night in New York City, a mysterious object falls from the sky and smashes through the window of a rundown apartment building. It is an egg, and from this egg emerges a strange little spider. The creature is discovered by Charlotte, a rebellious 12-year-old girl obsessed with comic books. Keeping it as a secret pet, she names it Sting.
“But as Charlotte’s fascination with Sting increases, so does its size. Growing at a monstrous rate, Sting’s appetite for blood becomes insatiable.”
BLACKOUT – APRIL 12
Indie darling Larry Fessenden is back with new horror movie Blackout this Spring, Fessenden’s third movie – following Habit and Depraved – to put his own spin on classic monsters.
While Habit was centered on vampires and Depraved was a fresh take on Frankenstein’s Monster, Larry Fessenden’s Blackout is the filmmaker’s contribution to werewolf cinema.
The film follows Charley, an artist whose drinking binges blur with his sneaking suspicion that he might be a werewolf. He distances himself from those he loves and sinks deeper into solitude, his flashes of memory of his nighttime grisly acts manifested through his artwork.
ARCADIAN – APRIL 12
If Nicolas Cage is covered in blood, you better believe we’re going to be watching. Cage gets his own A Quiet Place with Arcadian, a new creature feature coming to theaters April 12.
In Arcadian, which also comes to Shudder later this year, “After a catastrophic event depopulates the world, a father (Nicolas Cage) and his two sons must survive their dystopian environment while being threatened by mysterious creatures that emerge at night.”
Jaeden Martell (IT 2017) also stars in the post apocalyptic monster movie.
ABIGAIL – APRIL 19
If you’re bummed about Melissa Barrera being fired from the Scream franchise, you’ll definitely want to get out to your local theater this month to support Abigail, the new VAMPIRE BALLERINA horror movie from Scream and Scream VI directors Radio Silence.
Barrera stars alongside fellow horror favorite Kathryn Newton (Freaky) in Abigail, which is actually the latest horror movie in Universal’s relaunched Universal Monsters Universe.
In the film, “After a group of would-be criminals kidnap the 12-year-old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, all they have to do to collect a $50 million ransom is watch the girl overnight. In an isolated mansion, the captors start to dwindle, one by one, and they discover, to their mounting horror, that they’re locked inside with no normal little girl.”
LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL – APRIL 19
One of the most talked about horror movies of Spring 2024 has been the Halloween 1977-set Late Night With the Devil, which has been playing in theaters since its premiere on March 22.
Late Night with the Devil will begin streaming at home on April 19, 2024, less than one month after arriving in theaters. Shudder will be the exclusive streaming home of the movie.
David Dastmalchian (Dune, The Suicide Squad) stars as the host of a late-night talk show that descends into a nightmare in Late Night with the Devil, set on Halloween 1977.
In the found footage-style film that captures a period aesthetic, “A live television broadcast in 1977 goes horribly wrong, unleashing evil into the nation’s living rooms.”
INFESTED – APRIL 26
Spring 2024 is all about SPIDERS – sorry, arachnophobes! – with the previously mentioned Sting being followed by the French creature feature Infested (Vermines) later this month.
What’s particularly exciting about Infested is that its director, Sébastien Vaniček, has been hired to direct the next installment in the Evil Dead film franchise, so this will be our first taste of what Vaniček is capable of within the genre. And the buzz for this one is strong.
In his review out of Fantastic Fest last year, for starters, Bloody Disgusting’s own critic Trace Thurman raved that Infested is “one of the best spider attack movies in years.”
In the upcoming horror film, “Fascinated by exotic animals, Kaleb finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap.”
HUMANE – APRIL 26
The daughter of horror master David Cronenberg, Caitlin Cronenberg is making her own mark in the genre filmmaking space with IFC Films’ Humane, coming to theaters this month.
The film is described as “a dystopian satire taking place over a single day, months after a global ecological collapse has forced world leaders to reduce the earth’s population.”
The wild premise? 20% of the world’s population must VOLUNTEER TO DIE!
“In a wealthy enclave, a recently retired newsman has invited his grown children to dinner to announce his intentions to enlist in the nation’s new euthanasia program. But when the father’s plan goes horribly awry, tensions flare and chaos erupts among his children.”
I SAW THE TV GLOW – MAY 3
Fresh off the haunting and singularly creepy indie We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, Jane Schoenbrun is back with A24‘s I Saw the TV Glow, releasing only in theaters this May.
Meagan Navarro wrote in her Sundance review for BD, “I Saw the TV Glow offers a layered and authentic portrait of identity, wrapped in ’90s nostalgia and surreal imagery that embeds itself deep into your psyche.” Meagan continues, “Schoenbrun delivers a singular vision of arthouse horror that entrances for its fevered dream style and insanely cool imagery.”
In A24’s latest, “Owen is just trying to make it through life in the suburbs when his classmate introduces him to a mysterious TV show — a vision of a supernatural world beneath their own. In the pale glow of the television, Owen’s view of reality begins to crack.”
TAROT – MAY 3
Originally titled Horrorscope, a much better title if you’re asking me, Screen Gems returns to the big screen with studio horror movie Tarot this Spring, a Tarot-card themed spookshow.
When a group of friends recklessly violates the sacred rule of Tarot readings – never use someone else’s deck – they unknowingly unleash an unspeakable evil trapped within the cursed cards in the upcoming Screen Gems horror movie Tarot. One by one, they come face to face with fate and end up in a race against death to escape the future foretold in their readings.
The hook for this one? Artist Trevor Henderson designed the film’s eight monsters!
THE STRANGERS: CHAPTER 1 – MAY 17
Bryan Bertino’s 2008 home invasion classic The Strangers spawns a brand new reboot trilogy this year, with first film The Strangers: Chapter 1 kicking things off in theaters on May 17.
The Strangers: Chapter 2 is expected to follow in Fall 2024.
Madelaine Petsch is the lead of the new reboot trilogy, playing a character who drives cross-country with her longtime boyfriend to begin a new life in the Pacific Northwest.
When their car breaks down in Venus, Oregon, they’re forced to spend the night in a secluded Airbnb, where they are terrorized from dusk till dawn by three masked strangers.
IN A VIOLENT NATURE – MAY 31
Slasher fans who have been hungry for a new Friday the 13th movie won’t want to miss In a Violent Nature, which plays out like a Friday movie… entirely from Jason’s perspective!
IFC Films will release In a Violent Nature exclusively in theaters on May 31.
In the film, “When a locket is removed from a collapsed fire tower in the woods that entombs the rotting corpse of Johnny, a vengeful spirit spurred on by a horrific 60-year old crime, his body is resurrected and becomes hellbent on retrieving it. The undead golem hones in on the group of vacationing teens responsible for the theft and proceeds to methodically slaughter them one by one in his mission to get it back – along with anyone in his way.”
Meagan Navarro wrote in her Sundance review for Bloody Disgusting, “In a Violent Nature may offer slasher thrills and a delightfully gory rampage across the wilderness, but the approach captures the carnage through ambient realism. It results in a fascinating arthouse horror experiment that plays more like a minimalist slice-of-life feature with a grim twist.”
THE WATCHERS – JUNE 14
M. Night Shyamalan returns with the new thriller Trap this coming August, but the road to that film’s release will be paved by the feature debut of his daughter, Ishana Night Shyamalan.
Ishana Night directed The Watchers, in theaters from WB/New Line on June 14.
The film follows Mina, a 28-year-old artist, who gets stranded in an expansive, untouched forest in western Ireland. When Mina finds shelter, she unknowingly becomes trapped alongside three strangers who are watched and stalked by mysterious creatures each night.
Which Spring 2024 horror movies are YOU most looking forward to?
4 New Horror Movies Releasing This Week Including ‘Late Night with the Devil’ at Home
‘Ready or Not’: Radio Silence Filmmakers Tease the “Absolute Banger” of a Sequel That’s Taking Shape
‘Sting’ Review – Throwback Creature Feature Entertains With an Impressive Practical Monster
“We Built Every Creature” – ‘Alien: Romulus’ Goes Heavy on the Old School Practical Effects!
‘Terrifier 3’: Filming Has Wrapped on Damien Leone’s Christmas Slasher Sequel!
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