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Top 10 games of the year

  • Need for Speed: Most Wanted 2. A return to form for EA’s long-running racing series, Need for Speed: Most Wanted 2 skips out the boring cars – you’re handed the keys to growling monsters such as Lamborghini Gallardos pretty much from the start – and instead focuses on gruelingly intense races with the cops in hot pursuit. From the makers of Burnout, it’s the best Need for Speed yet.
    1/7

    Need for Speed: Most Wanted 2. A return to form for EA’s long-running racing series, Need for Speed: Most Wanted 2 skips out the boring cars – you’re handed the keys to growling monsters such as Lamborghini Gallardos pretty much from the start – and instead focuses on gruelingly intense races with the cops in hot pursuit. From the makers of Burnout, it’s the best Need for Speed yet.

    Need for Speed: Most Wanted 2. A return to form for EA’s long-running racing series, Need for Speed: Most Wanted 2 skips out the boring cars – you’re handed the keys to growling monsters such as Lamborghini Gallardos pretty much from the start – and instead focuses on gruelingly intense races with the cops in hot pursuit. From the makers of Burnout, it’s the best Need for Speed yet.
  • Minecraft. The block-building role-playing strategy game Minecraft swept from its home on PC onto Xbox and phones this year, marking a coming-of-age for ‘indie’ titles. The simple graphics and build-and-mine gameplay of Minecraft were created by one man, Markus ‘Notch’ Persson, and has since sold more than 4.5 million copies.
    2/7

    Minecraft. The block-building role-playing strategy game Minecraft swept from its home on PC onto Xbox and phones this year, marking a coming-of-age for ‘indie’ titles. The simple graphics and build-and-mine gameplay of Minecraft were created by one man, Markus ‘Notch’ Persson, and has since sold more than 4.5 million copies.

    Minecraft. The block-building role-playing strategy game Minecraft swept from its home on PC onto Xbox and phones this year, marking a coming-of-age for ‘indie’ titles. The simple graphics and build-and-mine gameplay of Minecraft were created by one man, Markus ‘Notch’ Persson, and has since sold more than 4.5 million copies.
  • Marvel: Avenger's Alliance. The role-playing Facebook app Avenger’s Alliance appeared as part of Marvel’s marketing blitz for the summer’s Avengers movie – but it still has 5.3 million regular players, drawn by a mix of great graphics, RPG gameplay and a nerd-pleasing selection of Marvel characters old and new. A breath of fresh air in a genre too often filled with stale city-builder games built to milk money from their players.
    3/7

    Marvel: Avenger's Alliance. The role-playing Facebook app Avenger’s Alliance appeared as part of Marvel’s marketing blitz for the summer’s Avengers movie – but it still has 5.3 million regular players, drawn by a mix of great graphics, RPG gameplay and a nerd-pleasing selection of Marvel characters old and new. A breath of fresh air in a genre too often filled with stale city-builder games built to milk money from their players.

    Marvel: Avenger's Alliance. The role-playing Facebook app Avenger’s Alliance appeared as part of Marvel’s marketing blitz for the summer’s Avengers movie – but it still has 5.3 million regular players, drawn by a mix of great graphics, RPG gameplay and a nerd-pleasing selection of Marvel characters old and new. A breath of fresh air in a genre too often filled with stale city-builder games built to milk money from their players.
  • FIFA 13. Vastly improved artificial intelligence makes the solo game in this year’s installment far more chewy. The FIFA Ultimate Team mode has been changed to add online leagues and cups to ensure fans of EA’s official game keep playing even longer. As ever, it looks great, and the players' statistics and form are more realistic and up-to-date than ever.
    4/7

    FIFA 13. Vastly improved artificial intelligence makes the solo game in this year’s installment far more chewy. The FIFA Ultimate Team mode has been changed to add online leagues and cups to ensure fans of EA’s official game keep playing even longer. As ever, it looks great, and the players' statistics and form are more realistic and up-to-date than ever.

    FIFA 13. Vastly improved artificial intelligence makes the solo game in this year’s installment far more chewy. The FIFA Ultimate Team mode has been changed to add online leagues and cups to ensure fans of EA’s official game keep playing even longer. As ever, it looks great, and the players' statistics and form are more realistic and up-to-date than ever.
  • Dishonored. This PC hit wowed gamers with a cinematic steampunk world, and offered a fantastic storyline about a disgraced assassin, made rich with painstaking detail, that offers a refreshing departure from the barrage of current formulaic shoot 'em ups. A brilliant mix of stealth, action and the occult.’
    5/7

    Dishonored. This PC hit wowed gamers with a cinematic steampunk world, and offered a fantastic storyline about a disgraced assassin, made rich with painstaking detail, that offers a refreshing departure from the barrage of current formulaic shoot 'em ups. A brilliant mix of stealth, action and the occult.’

    Dishonored. This PC hit wowed gamers with a cinematic steampunk world, and offered a fantastic storyline about a disgraced assassin, made rich with painstaking detail, that offers a refreshing departure from the barrage of current formulaic shoot 'em ups. A brilliant mix of stealth, action and the occult.’
  • Resident Evil: Revelations. This 3DS hit was easily the best handheld game of the year - and probably of all time. A proper, full-fat haunted-house horror set on a cruise ship infested by watery 'bioweapons', this was a far better game than the big-budget Resident Evil 6 which launched later in the year. Revelations is one of the best reasons to buy Nintendo’s 3DS.
    6/7

    Resident Evil: Revelations. This 3DS hit was easily the best handheld game of the year - and probably of all time. A proper, full-fat haunted-house horror set on a cruise ship infested by watery 'bioweapons', this was a far better game than the big-budget Resident Evil 6 which launched later in the year. Revelations is one of the best reasons to buy Nintendo’s 3DS.

    Resident Evil: Revelations. This 3DS hit was easily the best handheld game of the year - and probably of all time. A proper, full-fat haunted-house horror set on a cruise ship infested by watery 'bioweapons', this was a far better game than the big-budget Resident Evil 6 which launched later in the year. Revelations is one of the best reasons to buy Nintendo’s 3DS.
  • Halo 4. Fans were nervous as the flagship sci fi shooter Halo was handed over to a new studio – but the new team proved more than up to the task, with an epic piece of sci fi storytelling that added just enough to the formula to feel fresh, and looked absolutely stunning to boot. New downloadable ‘episodes’ kept players battling long after the main game was over.
    7/7

    Halo 4. Fans were nervous as the flagship sci fi shooter Halo was handed over to a new studio – but the new team proved more than up to the task, with an epic piece of sci fi storytelling that added just enough to the formula to feel fresh, and looked absolutely stunning to boot. New downloadable ‘episodes’ kept players battling long after the main game was over.

    Halo 4. Fans were nervous as the flagship sci fi shooter Halo was handed over to a new studio – but the new team proved more than up to the task, with an epic piece of sci fi storytelling that added just enough to the formula to feel fresh, and looked absolutely stunning to boot. New downloadable ‘episodes’ kept players battling long after the main game was over.
Need for Speed: Most Wanted 2. A return to form for EA’s long-running racing series, Need for Speed: Most Wanted 2 skips out the boring cars – you’re handed the keys to growling monsters such as Lamborghini Gallardos pretty much from the start – and instead focuses on gruelingly intense races with the cops in hot pursuit. From the makers of Burnout, it’s the best Need for Speed yet.
Minecraft. The block-building role-playing strategy game Minecraft swept from its home on PC onto Xbox and phones this year, marking a coming-of-age for ‘indie’ titles. The simple graphics and build-and-mine gameplay of Minecraft were created by one man, Markus ‘Notch’ Persson, and has since sold more than 4.5 million copies.
Marvel: Avenger's Alliance. The role-playing Facebook app Avenger’s Alliance appeared as part of Marvel’s marketing blitz for the summer’s Avengers movie – but it still has 5.3 million regular players, drawn by a mix of great graphics, RPG gameplay and a nerd-pleasing selection of Marvel characters old and new. A breath of fresh air in a genre too often filled with stale city-builder games built to milk money from their players.
FIFA 13. Vastly improved artificial intelligence makes the solo game in this year’s installment far more chewy. The FIFA Ultimate Team mode has been changed to add online leagues and cups to ensure fans of EA’s official game keep playing even longer. As ever, it looks great, and the players' statistics and form are more realistic and up-to-date than ever.
Dishonored. This PC hit wowed gamers with a cinematic steampunk world, and offered a fantastic storyline about a disgraced assassin, made rich with painstaking detail, that offers a refreshing departure from the barrage of current formulaic shoot 'em ups. A brilliant mix of stealth, action and the occult.’
Resident Evil: Revelations. This 3DS hit was easily the best handheld game of the year - and probably of all time. A proper, full-fat haunted-house horror set on a cruise ship infested by watery 'bioweapons', this was a far better game than the big-budget Resident Evil 6 which launched later in the year. Revelations is one of the best reasons to buy Nintendo’s 3DS.
Halo 4. Fans were nervous as the flagship sci fi shooter Halo was handed over to a new studio – but the new team proved more than up to the task, with an epic piece of sci fi storytelling that added just enough to the formula to feel fresh, and looked absolutely stunning to boot. New downloadable ‘episodes’ kept players battling long after the main game was over.

This year saw Facebook games and hit apps jostling with the usual console franchises - with Angry Birds still worth about 10% of the total gaming market in the UK. But 'hardcore' gamers were well-served as well, with Nintendo's 3DS dishing up an unexpected treat in the form of the superb Resident Evil: Revelations.