The bodies of dead little boys, the impact of extinction, the vicious torture of two of video gameâs least likable characters and hundreds of death by spike⊠these are, strangely, my most memorable video game moments of 2010.
Some of them are even my favorites, despite how gloomy and violent they were. Itâs a good thing my personal list of great video game moments from last year includes at least one choreographed dance number.
Note: This list is not ranked. There are some spoilers below, including some that discuss the endings of Red Dead Redemption, Bayonetta and BioShock 2.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_zweRe9Czrc
The Benefits of Civilization (Red Dead Redemption) Itâs already been discussed by Kotakuâs own Luke Plunkett, who ranked this moment as one of his 2010 favorites, but rarely have I been so surprised by video game music. Red Dead Redemptionâs soundtrack switch from minimal Western moodiness to Jamie Lidellâs âCompassâ during John Marstonâs ride home to his ranch altered my expectations about the power of video game music. Little did I know, at the time, that I was due for so much more from this game, including a change of perspective on how a game should end.
The Birth of the Conservationist Movement (Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare) Two worthy moments in the same game? Sort of. Red Dead Redemptionâs zombie-filled expansion, Undead Nightmare, featured a surprising, unsettling, even saddening run in with a species on the brink of extinctionâthe Sasquatchâthat could have (or should have) been great comic relief, but instead wound up being⊠touching?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsS4EqP3bG4
Potential For Anything (VVVVVV) Magnus PĂ„lssonâs wonderful soundtrack to Terry Cavanaghâs thrilling VVVVVV is rich with great, catchy tunes. And Iâll cop to not fully remembering at what point during VVVVVV the song âPotential For Anythingâ kicks in, but I do remember it as a moment that I stopped playing to start listening. Had I made good on my threat to write a list of my favorite video game music from 2010, this song would have been near the top of that list.
The Message To Yourself (BioShock 2: Minervaâs Den) After playing through BioShock and BioShock 2 within the same two weeks, Iâd effectively burned myself out on Rapture in short order. When the expansion Minervaâs Den arrived, I approached it with a grumble. Stupid Little Sisters. Stupid Big Daddies. Iâm sick of âem! But Minervaâs Denâs story unravelsâand finally concludesâin such a refreshing way, thanks to the last words of Charles Porter, that Rapture was redeemed in a third, once again plot-twisting visit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMsccqr-NxA
The Lost Boys (Limbo) The horror of Limbo reaches a zenith early when the boy meets the gameâs other inhabitants. In a world already fraught with danger and gloom, the other lost boys who show you nothing but cruelty makes this world a sadder place. Worse was the realization that to survive the trip through Limbo, you would have to debase yourself to their levelâand use their corpses as video game devices, platforms.
Strangling A Man Naked (Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days) Not to say that this was a favorite moment, but it certainly was memorable, even when we knew about Kane & Lynch 2âs excessive nudity well in advance. Suffering from the pain of hundreds of small cutsânot to mention the brutal killing of a loved oneâanti-heroes Kane and Lynch travel through a Shanghai hell bloody, beaten and completely naked, ratcheting up the abrasion of this unsavory adventure to its maximum.
Whatever Ending This Was (Bayonetta) In this carnival ride game brimming with ridiculous moments, from riding motorcycles into space to fighting monolithic bosses with angel wings and tentacles for tongues, it was Bayonettaâs bizarre stack of endings that culminated in a three and a half minute-long dance sequence that managed to stand out.
The Betrayal of Kerrigan (StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty) Is it cheating to use a pre-rendered cut scene? Even if it is, Blizzardâs retelling of a key StarCraft event in this beautifully rendered short helped to ground me in the universeâs fiction in a powerful way. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty ended on a similarly vivid way, a turn of events that wouldnât have had the same impact if it werenât for this gorgeous flashback.
Those were my favorite video game moments of 2010. Throughout the week, weâll be publishing the favorite moments of other writers on the Kotaku team. And at weekâs end, weâll want you to sound off.
