Choosing our favourite games of 2010 was no easy task, with arguments, witchcraft and mathematical equations all being used to take hundreds of games and whittle them down to just 10. Read on for our thoughts on why each game deserves its place and head to our Game of the Year 2010 hub for access to video features and loads of other content.
It was never going to be easy for any first-person shooter to follow Modern Warfare 2, but it's arguable that the collapse of Infinity Ward put Treyarch in the hardest place of all. Still, with a bit of elbow grease - and a massive truckload of Activision's cash - the boys just about pulled it off. I have my criticisms of the single-player campaign, but the high points are spectacular, and there are plenty of them. More importantly, the multiplayer is excellent. I don't even mind the frequency with which Nuketown pops up, as it's one of the most interesting FPS maps in years.
I haven't always been too kind about Treyarch. After playing Spider-Man 3, for instance, I said that everyone at the studio should be forced to eat a bowl of somebody else's vomit. I thought Call of Duty 3 was terrible, that World at War was tedious, and I considered it a deep, personal offence that the studio should be allowed to work on Infinity Ward's much-adored franchise. Giving Black Ops a 9/10, then, was either proof that the studio had finally sorted out their act or a result of a very generous bribe on the part of Activision. I'll leave you to decide, but know that I've been overdrawn since 2007 and I live in a heap of my own filth.
While it lacks a certain spectacle that was on offer in Modern Warfare 2, Black Ops is just as rammed with memorable set pieces as its predecessor. If you like blowing up tanks, slitting the throats of enemy soldiers and jumping in slow motion to a background of explosions, Black Ops is unlikely to disappoint. True, it's a very linear experience, but this has allowed Treyarch to funnel so much well-scripted, in-your-face action into each level that you never really have the time to notice. Despite jumping from location to location and time to time, the story is weaved together really well. It's a fantastic campaign, but I suspect the game finds itself on this list primarily for multi-player. I've only played it for half an hour or so online, so I'll leave my justification there.
Black Ops is a fair game. It doesn’t take from the poor and give to the rich like so many previous iterations of CoD, but somehow you still feel a little robbed each time you venture online. You'll rarely have a session where you feel that you've performed consistently well, and even when you do win, it often feels like beginner's luck. But Call of Duty is a rather hardening experience, and you best not be crying to Mum about scraped knees, or some sticks and stones bullshit; just man the hell up and get on with the learning grind. Ultimately, there is no easy way to become a godless killing machine like so many others… but if you possess such abilities, boy is it amazing. It's hands down the best online shooter around, to the point of being pretty much perfect: The guns feel real, the perks are brilliant, and the maps are keenly balanced. It's a game that's hard to fault, and definitely worth putting the time in to become at least competent.
For more end of year content, head over to our Game of the Year 2010 hub. Amongst other things you'll be able to watch videos in which we talk about each game in the Top 10.
