That's right. As of 2025, it's now been 15 years since Katy Perry released "California Gurls." Sometimes, it's only when you look through a lens such as this that you realize just how alarmingly quickly time seems to be passing. What this does allow us to do, though, is look back wistfully at the gems of the past. 2010 was an excellent year for video games, with fantastic titles including Mass Effect 2, Super Street Fighter 4, Super Meat Boy, and Fallout: New Vegas.
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Those are just some of the honorable mentions. With just ten slots on offer, here are some of the most unique, memorable, and highly influential titles that landed in 2010, iconic games from a range of genres that are considered classics by today's standards.
Heavy Rain
One Of Gaming's Most Unforgettable Narratives
There are some who doubt the gaming industry's ability to tell a truly worthwhile, deep, and gripping story, compared to a medium like film. In response, advocates will point to particular titles that do a wonderful job of just that, and Quantic Dream's Heavy Rain is a prime example. Whether you've played it or not, you're probably familiar with the premise, which revolves around the Origami Killer's crimes and the police's battle to apprehend them.
As with titles such as Life Is Strange, gameplay itself is placed on the back burner, with the unfolding narrative being the primary focus. It switches perspectives and often introduces flashback sequences, heightening the mystery and intrigue while keeping the player guessing. Importantly, though, those players are not passive observers. Decisions made at critical points mark significant changes in the narrative and its outcome, with some of the possible endings being genuinely shocking. Heavy Rain is a title full of heavy emotional beats, which has helped it stay in the conversation for the last 15 years.
BioShock 2
The Same Rapture, New Horrors
It's a huge challenge to follow up on a success like BioShock. The original game introduced the iconic Rapture, an underwater city conceptualized by Andrew Ryan as his vision of a utopia. The aftermath of the brutal civil war that broke out there is detailed in the first game, but there was still much more to learn about this intriguing, shattered paradise. We return there as Subject Delta in BioShock 2, which explores the concept behind the Big Daddies and their connection with the Little Sisters in heartbreaking detail.
Being a Big Daddy, Delta has a different arsenal than Jack from the first title. Formidable melee attacks and shots from the Rivet Gun define his offense, and he also has more flexibility to weave Plasmids into his combat strategy, as they don't share a 'slot' with weapons as they did before. The saving or harvesting quandary also returns, with a similar decision to make regarding the fates of the Rapture Family. Delta's battle to retrieve Eleanor is no less impactful for being set in the same city, and the team did a fantastic job of sticking with what made the original so distinct while avoiding simply repeating it.
Bit.Trip Runner
A Vibrant Endless Runner Unlike Any Other
There are a lot of big names and AAA heavy hitters on this list, but to really paint a picture, we should also take a look beyond that. Gaijin Games' Bit.Trip titles are a series of rhythm games characterized by their retro visuals and stunning lighting effects. The series began with April 2009's Bit.Trip Beat, but for many, the most memorable entry was the following year's Bit.Trip Runner.
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This is also perhaps the most distinctive of the games, an endless runner starring Bit.Trip icon Commander Video. This is one of those titles that starts quite gently, introducing the protagonist's moveset (including kicks, slides, and shielding from incoming projectiles) and how to use it organically. You might confidently nab every collectible in the first few stages and think you'll breeze through the game. Suddenly, though, base battles are throwing a ludicrous amount of obstacles at you, and you'll wonder how you could possibly collect every piece of gold in that stage. Doing so for all the stages (and the bonus ones connected to them) is a remarkable achievement. Visually stunning, if you get a moment to really look, Bit.Trip Runner is a game beloved enough to be followed by sequels and a remake, Bit.Trip Rerunner, in 2023.
Red Dead Redemption
What Came Before The Legendary Sequel
Red Dead Redemption 2 is one of the greatest masterpieces in recent gaming memory. The devs at Rockstar will certainly struggle to outdo themselves when they decide to follow up on it (though the team certainly has some experience dealing with the pressure of high-profile sequels). Part of what makes the game so emotionally resonant, though, is that it is a prequel, intrinsically linked to Red Dead Redemption with all the tragic implications that has for certain characters.
Itself a follow-up to Red Dead Revolver form six years prior, 2010's Red Dead Redemption developed the blueprint that the next title in the series would follow. The morality system, the concept of Dead Eye gunslinging, and the broader idea of such a vast world to explore were all taken forward to Red Dead Redemption 2, tweaked and improved where Rockstar deemed necessary. The sequel is only as fantastic as it is because the first game was such a wonderful foundation to build upon, with a deftly shifting narrative and characters crafted to make players feel invested in their fates.
Super Mario Galaxy 2
Just Add Yoshi
The fanbase is always divided as to which of Mario's 3D platformers is the best. It's a stellar collection, but Super Mario Galaxy (with its intriguing secret ending) is certainly a top contender. This 2007 Wii platformer was perhaps the most ambitious adventure the hero had undertaken to date, taking the Mushroom Kingdom crew to space and being characterized by the new gravity effects and Mario's ability to circumnavigate smaller planets and bodies as the camera reacts to his movement. Three years later, it was given a rare numbered sequel: Super Mario Galaxy 2.
With this new installment, the idea was not to mess with the well-received spacefaring formula, but to add something substantial to it. Starship Mario and faithful steed Yoshi change up gameplay nicely, though there's again a lot of debate. Mario fans have their personal favorites between the two games, with some preferring the more direct world map approach for picking stages that the sequel embraced. The critical thing, though, is that Galaxy 2 introduced some all-new galaxies and mechanics. With a surprise at every turn, it's a worthy sequel, and both games remain must-plays for platformer fans. As you barrel around Hightail Falls with Yoshi's Dash Pepper, you realize that Nintendo still had so much more up its sleeve to take advantage of the whole space theme.
God Of War 3
A New Height For The Series
Kratos has really never been one for subtlety. By the conclusion of God of War 2, he has (among many other horrific things) killed a Kraken by crushing its head with a bridge and torn Euryale's head off. The question franchise fans had when it came to God of War 3 was: where exactly can we go from here? Tearing out Poseidon's eyeballs, apparently. With this title, Santa Monica Studio really put on a show.
Kratos' goal here was to open the legendary and formidable Pandora's Box and acquire the power within, on the way to a climactic showdown with Zeus. God of War 3 was a technical triumph and a visual treat on the PS3 , imbuing this tale of legendary beings and epic battles with the grandeur it deserved. It also switched up the gameplay with an overhaul to some aspects of combat, including weapon-specific magical abilities and new moves to vary up Kratos' arsenal. This is an iconic end to God of War's Ancient Greek saga.
Halo: Reach
A Doomed, Honorable Fight
There are many players who don't care for the storyline or main campaign of an FPS title at all. This is entirely valid if you're just in it for the multiplayer action, but some FPS plots just demand to be experienced. Halo: Reach has just such a story. The icon that is Master Chief is nowhere to be seen in this title (aside from a sneaky little Easter Egg), putting the spotlight on the unfortunate Noble Team instead. Their defeat, and the subsequent loss of resources on the planet Reach, is all but inevitable right from the start, but it makes for a harrowing, emotional, and high-octane campaign.
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Since it's not a numbered main series entry, there was perhaps more scope to change things up in terms of the mechanics. In Reach, Bungie made it easier for players to develop builds by ultimately separating abilities and pick-ups (through armor skills that could be set), a system that would be taken forward and expanded with the likes of Promethean Vision in 343 Industries' Halo 4. Just as with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the heroic cast of this prequel had no chance of survival, but they were instrumental in a much wider success, and brought fans a pacey, solid shooter to boot.
Civilization 5
The Introduction Of The All-Important Hexagons
Civilization 6, in coming to a huge range of systems including the Nintendo Switch, brought a lot of new series fans into the fold. Those fans couldn't have known how much the series changes between iterations, and how instrumental some of those changes can be. The previous entry, 2010's Civilization 5, added a huge genre mainstay: Hexes. This completely changed the game, as Sid Meier explained to Kotaku: "It really makes movement, battle, strategy, and positioning of the units much more interesting. It’s a more natural and more logical connection.”
Civilization 5 is fondly remembered, and indeed still played, by lots of fans for its accessibility. It received two big expansions, Gods & Kings and Brave New World, and by the time it was content complete, it boasted unique Civs like Venice (a trading powerhouse that's unable to use Settlers to expand). Whichever victory type you're pursuing, you might still consider this iteration the 'purest' Civilization to date, if you're not a fan of the increasingly intricate worker placement and city development added to the series since.
Limbo
A Macabre Monochrome Masterpiece
Heavy Rain is one excellent way of telling a story. Playdead's Limbo is another. It's reminiscent of the Little Nightmares games' relentless creepiness, but also their strictly visual approach. Limbo begins with a young boy waking in a forest. He proceeds forward, and obstacles (from spike pits to bear traps to a gigantic spider creature) must be overcome. In some cases, you can simply jump over them, but others require rather more resourcefulness than that.
Across the game's different environments, you'll encounter countless puzzles, and need to size up what's lying around or otherwise available and how it might help you open a door or cross a gap. One of Limbo's great strengths, along with its visual design, is the way it gently guides the player and encourages them to experiment. All the tools are there in plain sight; it's just about putting them together. It's a short-lived experience, but a wonderfully inventive one with an incomparable aesthetic.
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Possibly Ezio's Finest Hour
Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag often dominates discussions of the best games in the series. Three years before its launch, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood arrived, another entry with a strong claim to that title for many. In Brotherhood, the famed Ezio Auditore da Firenze is on a quest to strike a blow against the Templars' influence and claim an artifact called the Apple of Eden. In these games, of course, the primary way of acquiring unique artifacts is through stealth, and mechanics such as this were considerably improved for Brotherhood. With a dramatically enhanced free-running mechanic, pulley systems, and Ezio's newest gadgets, the environments are more interactive and far more fun to traverse.
The Animus intrigue (featuring the famed Desmond Miles) is always quite hit-and-miss with players, but the hunt for the Apple is at least used in an engaging way to connect the past and the present as the story progresses. Overall, Brotherhood added a blend of unique new mechanics (such as the Brotherhood system itself, which allowed for the creative use of a small Assassin army) and subtle but substantial fixes that would help shape the future of the series.
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