Throughout this decade of gaming, several video games have been made. Some were made to be beautiful, others made just to be fun. The video games industry has evolved over the last 10 years, spanning from ragers of all genres ranging from RPGs to Battle Royales, with several in depth characters with vast ranges of emotions and popularity. Picking from a wide variety of games submitted by Olathe East student’s,  

Some of the best games came from earlier in the decade, with the best-selling game of 2010 being Call of Duty: Black Ops. Black Ops focuses on the story of Alex Mason, a Special Forces/CIA agent-gone-brainwashed whose involvement in the Bay of Pigs invasion led to his capture and tortu

re by one Nikita Dragovich. His brainwashing at the hands of Dragovich was manipulated by Victor Reznov, forcing Mason to believe himself to both be getting revenge for Reznov and to be Reznov himself. The previous story points are all a prelude to the only mission that takes place in the present day, which sees Mason escaping his confides of a tourture room being run by his shaky ally and fellow CIA operative, Hudson. Throw in a batch of numbers implanted into his head that were being unscrambled this whole time, and you’ve got a pseudo spy/action flick in a video game.

Alex Mason as seen in 2010’s Call of Duty: Black Ops

COD’s main attractions (and the reason it sells so well) are the multiplayer, the story, and possibly the most important, the zombies. COD Black Ops introduced a fleshed out version of the zombies gamemode that originated in COD: World at War. Including a hidden storyline and amazing mechanics, all made Black Ops a game to remember.

This process was repeated several times, leading to several other Call of Duty games being great sellers over the years. Similar to COD, Madden and all of the 2K10s basketball games have unlocked the ability to recreate themselves every year. In Madden, you take control of a football team in the NFL, and, depending on the game mode play against, your friend or an A.I. The recent Madden games include a “My Career” mode where you can play yourself and switch from team to team, immersing yourself in the world of the NFL. Most of this is the same story in all the 2K10s, except with basketball. This also includes a “My Career” mode, but for the NBA instead of the NFL.

Performing well and being loved are honorable alone, but there’s one game that manages to be at the height of both categories of the decade. Minecraft has been loved by all ages since it’s MoJang release in 2011. Minecraft sold more copies of its game then any other game, ever, and continues to sell to this day. Along with the variety of updates released and the amount of skins made (which are both borderline uncountable), one skin rises above all. Considered one of the most popular video game “characters” of the decade, this person has come to be known as Steve. As loved as Minecraft may be today, it wasn’t such a hit at its start, and must be considered a cult classic for this reason alone. 

Another pop game, originating in 2017 and quickly rising update by update, battle pass by battle pass, to become one of the most popular video games of the decade, Fortnite. Now i’m sure we’ve all heard of this game, as at its peak it was extremely challenging to avoid. however it was consistently loved by many and their love was repaid. Ninja, Tfue, Myth, etc. all built their popularity and, at this point, their livelihood off of this game alone. The number of crossovers Fortnite has had can be considered impressive in its own right, teaming up with movies such as Star Wars: Episode IX, both Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, and Batman just to name a few. In summary, Fortnite has creeped itself into every nook and cranny possible, and continues because of it, despite its controversies. Whenever it comes to controversies, only one game is able to take the cake.

Grand Theft Auto: Five released a mixed feelings in 2013, and promised an amazing, three protagonist story while also providing an MMO like multiplayer in the form of GTA: Online. The Online section of this game took a while to come out and stabilize, but while the players were waiting for that, they got to enjoy an amazing, heist filled set piece. The story follows the journeys of Franklin Clinton, a young kid trying to find his place in the world, Michael De Santa (originally Michael Townley), ex-bank robber turned angry millionaire father, and last but not least, Trevor Philips, the resident lunatic of the group. The premise of the game leads all these characters spiraling into a concurrent series of increasingly escalating heists and fight for their lives in a dangerous game of chess, sometimes against each other. GTA: Online originally takes place before the story, then after the story later on. You play as a custom character in the open world where you’re let loose to earn money and buy property and cars. Later updates added businesses to make more money, with each update one-upping the last, and adding content for years and possibly more years to come. Plenty of games continue to release sequels, like GTA, COD, and even fortnite.

From Left to Right: Trevor Phillips, Franklin Clinton, and Michael de Santa

The highest selling game of 2018 was a sequel to the 2010 game Red Dead Redemption, named Red Dead Redemption 2. The awkward cousin of the GTA franchise, RDR takes place in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The original RDR follows the odyssey of John Marston, a bad ass, gun slinging cowboy with a past that has caught up to him. Right off the boat, John begins hunting down his old gang mates who have wronged him. This all culminates with John killing his pseudo father, and then being betrayed by the government who sent him on these tasks. At the end, John sends away his wife, Abbigael, and his son, Jack and takes one final stand against the army. Staring them all down, he pulls his gun and fights back. In the end the army’s task was successful; the last one to be destroyed was just that, destroyed. 

These are some of the most impactful games of the decade. There will be plenty of options going into the next decade, and for you to keep enjoying one of the world’s favorite past times.