Best of 2010 Awards: Unsung Hero

Unsung Hero: Alan Wake

So many games launch within a single calendar year that, sadly, many fantastic titles are left collecting dust on store shelves. The Xbox 360-exclusive Alan Wake is our choice for Unsung Hero--or "Best Game that No One Played."

Developed over the course of nearly five years by the team at Remedy Entertainment, Alan Wake follows a writer who must battle forces of darkness (both internally and externally) as he searches for his missing wife. Although Remedy has expressed interest in continuing the dark adventures of Alan Wake, the developer announced the game's second DLC would be the final downloadable content for Alan Wake. Inquires as to whether it would be the last time gamers ever see Wake, sadly, went unanswered.

What gamers missed out on was a beautiful world, haunting story, and intense action. For those of us who played it and adored it, we hope Remedy isn't ready to lock Alan Wake away in a dark cabin just yet.

Runner-up: DJ Hero 2 Blame it on the flood of titles and subsequent decline of music game popularity or the pile of plastic accessories in our closets, but DJ Hero 2 did not get a good start out of the gate. This, as anyone who has played it will tell you, is unfortunate because DJ Hero 2 was a fantastic sequel to an already great title. Although the game failed to capture an immediate audience, we're hoping there's enough juice to ensure a steady and ongoing stream of new content for the foreseeable future.

Nominees: Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, Metro 2033, Valkyria Chronicles 2, Singularity, and Vanquish.

[Unsung Hero is part of Shacknews Best of 2010 Awards. For more information, including selection methodology, see this introduction.]