Best of 2010 Awards: Story
Story: Red Dead Redemption In most cases, Rockstar has a knack for getting us to
In most cases, Rockstar has a knack for getting us to root for the bad guy. While Red Dead Redemption follows the same general landscape as the Grand Theft Auto series, the Rockstar San Diego-developed game is much more than an offshoot of that franchise's core mechanics.
Telling a rich, detailed story with memorable characters is one of the developer's strongest abilities and in Red Dead Redemption we're introduced to one of the finest the company has ever produced.
A tough as nails, family man with a soft side for those in need, protagonist John Marston is on the hunt for his former crew of rabble-rousers to bring them to justice. With one of our favorite video game endings of this generation, Red Dead Redemption weaves an incredible story of one man fighting for good in a wild world full of evil.
Runner-up: Mass Effect 2
From the moment it begins, it was clear that BioWare was holding no punches in terms of the story of Mass Effect 2. Including everything--and a few space-age kitchen sinks--Mass Effect 2 ties up loose ends from the original (if you completed that quest), introduced fantastic new characters, and revealed the war of good versus evil is muddled with as many gray spots on land as they are in the stars. Although it may be forgotten since it launched in January, Mass Effect 2 was one of the finest games to launch in 2010.
Nominees: Alan Wake, Heavy Rain, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, Fallout: New Vegas, and Halo: Reach.
[Story is part of Shacknews Best of 2010 Awards. For more information, including selection methodology, see this introduction.]
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House
replyThe ending section of Red Dead was good, and saved it from mediocrity, as a lot of the story leading up to that just felt to me like treading water. GTA IV was the same.
"Do this thing for me and I'll help you out."
"Thanks for doing that thing for me, but I lied. However, do this next thing for me and I'll promise I'll really help you out."
"Haha, I can't believe you fell for it again! Fortunately for you, another letter just appeared on your mini-map and maybe that guy will help you out instead."-
This x 100. It got really stupid by the end of Mexico, to the point where I stopped caring about the story and the characters. It was like, fool me once, shame on you, fool me 15 times, shame on me. Even if you stripped all that away, I don't think the story itself was any good. The voice acting was amazing, but other than that, it seemed like a standard video game story to me.
