Allow me to respond with my list of wonderful surprises, the underdog games that blew me away in 2010.


ENSLAVED: ODYSSEY TO THE WEST
This was a game that had an uphill battle. For starters, it dared to have a post-apocalyptic world full of color and beauty instead of the usual dirt brown and ash gray that permeates every other doomsday world. Secondly, it wasn't a terribly deep, long, or difficult game. Lastly, it was an original IP in a sea of surefire hit sequels that came out the same damn day as Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and a few days before Fallout: New Vegas. But those that played it discovered that, wow, this is a really, really good game. Not just that, it's a game with something most games really lack: it has heart. This is a beautiful game full of fantastic characters with a wonderful story in a fantastic world, and everyone should experience it at least once. Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Beyond Good & Evil and Okami of 2010. Don't let it pass you by.


DARKSIDERS
To be fair, Darksiders was actually a modest success, outselling even the critical darling Bayonetta. Still, even now it's sort of forgotten in favor of all the Call of Duty, Halo, and other big-name franchises in remembrance at year's end. Several detractors and critics panned the game for one key flaw, which is that it borrows elements from God of War and The Legend of Zelda rather freely. I would also like to remind said critics that both games are some of the greatest games ever made, and Darksiders suffers none from including some of the best ideas from the best idea-makers in the industry. The game is action-packed, visceral, fun, and surprisingly deep and thoughtful, while sporting a style all its own and a unique end-of-the-world scenario that's a joy to play through.


DANTE'S INFERNO
People were ready to hate this game before it ever came out. The sheer concept was mocked from several journalists and even Penny Arcade. Accusations that it was a God of War clone were also quite justified, especially once God of War 3 proper came out and showed Dante's Inferno as the petty imitator that it was...
... but none of that lessens in any way that Dante's Inferno was a GOOD imitator. It played well. It's scenario was suitably hellish. It was visceral, disturbing, dark, and very adult. Much like Darksiders, it borrowed wholesale from some of the best in the industry, and while never transcending into something jaw-dropping, it nevertheless was full of memorable setpieces, surprising depth, and a clever twist on literary and religious iconography. For what it was, it was, *ahem*, a helluva game.


VANQUISH
If you combined Iron Man with Gears of War, Metal Gear Solid, and Sonic the Hedgehog, you'd probably end up with a game like Vanquish. This is, pure and simple, one insane rush of a game, with more explosions, gunfire, bullets, and chaos in its first chapter than most games have in their entire campaign, and it never lets up. It only gets bigger, crazier, and more awesome all the way to the explosive finish line. Sure, it's a tad short, but it's good enough to punch, shoot, and explode your way through again and again.

Besides the one's Garlador named i'd have to go with Nier.

I WANT IT! A game (somewhat) based off Journey to the West? Apocalyptic, yet bright imagery? It looks awesome, and I had no idea it existed. Thanks for bringing that out Garlador I'm definitely gonna pick it up.

I will say it like this. The game that surprised me the most this year isn't out even out yet. It was only revealed. And it is the remake of DMC. And it surprised me in a very bad way.

I'm gonna go cry now.

I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to do a little switcharoo on this one.

I certainly don't hate this game, but it did surprise me, in a negative way.

This here revamped version of what is my favorite generation of the Pokemon franchise felt more like a new generation game than a well done remake.

Many of the names of people and places were changed, hence damaging the inner stories of the game.

The music also didn't come up to par, imo. Ironically, the 8-bit tracks from the original version is much stronger than the high-technological tracks in HGSS.

The New Pokedex was altered into a likeness similar to the Team Select of Pokemon Stadium. While it made it easier to loacted a particular pokemon, it also made a manifestation of one's lack of achievement throughout the game, for many of the pokemon are not available until after the Champion is defeated.

I must say though, the Pokeathalon was kinda fun, and I certainly enjoyed walking around with my pokemon.

All in all, the game is really cool, but I like the original so much more. HGSS just doesn't have that old school feel to it, not like FRLG did.

I'm gonna cheat and say Saints Row 2. Yeah I know, it came out prior to 2010, but that's when I finally played it. Easily the most fun I've had gaming in at least three years.

Heavy rain an outstanding game!!

Enslaved: A game I really had little to no interest in. The only other game I had played from Ninja Theory was Heavenly Sword(Hated it), but Enslaved blew me away. The Demo is ultimatly what got me to slap down some money on this one. It had me hooked, it was beautiful to look at, epic in scale, and was really well done. The game from a purely design stand point isn't anything we havn't already seen before, but the game overall is something that deserves to be experienced. It just dropped down to 40 bucks as well, so if you were on the fence...get off it and pick it up.

Heavy Rain: I picked this one up on a whim. This game does one of the best jobs of totally immersing you in the story that I have ever seen. You end up truly caring for these charaters. The game just had a real, kind of Silence of the Lambs type feel to it. Awesome game.

BAYONETTA

I was surprised at how fun this game was mechanically and just how ridiculous it was visually. As much as I've fallen out of favor of the Devil May Cry series, I really enjoyed this game.

Dante's Inferno - My brother had to force me to play it and I'm sooo glad he did. It was awesome!

Deadly Premonition - As people said it's soo bad that it's good, the more I played it the more I wanted to see how the story developed.

Blur - An underrated grown up mario kart. Really fun online!

Just Cause 2 - Hated the first one, LOVED this one. Such a massive game!

LIMBO

I did not expect Grant Turismo 5 to make my Christmas.
I was repulsed t receive it, overjoyed to still be playing it. Fantastic!

Not exactly an underground sleeper, but not something I even remotely expected to enjoy as much as I have, just the same.

I normally never play flash games, but Transformice was fun before they kept updating and updating and updating it until it was complicated.

I know this game came out in 2008 but I didn't get to play it until recently. The game is Valkyria Chronicles. I wanted to play a SRPG and I saw this game. At first, I wasn't really interested because the game had shooter elements. (I'm sorry I don't really like FPS) but i gave the game a try and I LOVED it! I loved the game so much, it was one of the most best gaming experiences I have ever had along with mortal kombat, mario and sonic. :)

I agree with most of your points, and this is honestly the only game I played that came out in 2010 (Flash Games don't count IMO)

However, I have to disagree about the soundtrack, it was the music that drew me into the game. When I first stepped into Violet City I just stopped walking to listen to the music, same goes for Dark Cave(which I visited as soon as I saw it, even though didn't have Flash), and certain parts of the Generic Trainer Battle Music in Johto (For lack of a better word).

I guess it was nostalgia above all else that stopped me, but it still left an impact... oh, and I really liked the GB Sounds item and the Pokemon Music Channel when it plays 8-bit music.

However, in terms of Game Related Surprises in 2010, Twisted Metal at E3 crowns my list (a list consisting of two games)