Best Original Game
Previous Winner: New Award
Nominees: Broken Age, Child Of Light, DayZ, Device 6, Don't Starve, Monument Valley, Nidhogg,
OlliOlli, Resogun, SHovel Knight, The Stanley Parable, Tearaway, Titanfall, Towerfall
Ascension, Transistor, Valiant Hearts, Watch Dogs, The Wolf Among Us
3rd: Don't Starve
2nd: The Stanley Parable
1st: DayZ
This was the first award of the night, and also one of the most intriguing. I like the fact that this section has got its own category as I feel developers are commonly just rehashing old franchises for profit in recent years. New ideas deserve a lot of respect, and when they come together to make a good result they should be rewarded with awards like these. 'DayZ' rather predictably won, and in doing so produced what may be the least enthusiastic winner ever, or maybe it was just snobbery. I do have a problem with this result, mainly because the definition of the word 'original' is "the first or earliest." DayZ is not the first or earliest, the standalone game, which has been nominated here, originated from an 'Arma 2' mod, and so I don't think the standalone game deserves to qualify.
I do think 'Titanfall' deserved a top three, that game at least had the potential to revolutionize a genre, and so I think it deserved more credit than it actually got. DayZ is no doubt a great concept, but in terms of originality the award has to go to 'The Stanley Parable', which isn't really my type of game, but a deserved winner anyway.
Best Storytelling
Previous Winner: The Last of Us
Nominees: Broken Age, Child Of Light, Device 6, The Last Of Us: Left Behind, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, The Stanley Parable, South Park: The Stick Of Truth, Tearaway, Valiant Hearts: The Great War, The Wolf Among Us, Wolfenstein: The New Order
3rd: South Park: The Stick of Truth
2nd: The Wolf Among Us
1st: The Last of Us: Left Behind
There are some great storylines in contention for this one, the outcome was of no surprise, and to be fair it probably deserved to win. Every critic seems to love 'The Last of Us', and it seems so do the public. I thought Assassin's Creed deserved some credit, I loved the story in that one, and it was almost the saving grace of an otherwise decent game. That didn't even get a nomination, instead it got one in every other category. Add 'Wolfenstein' and 'The Stanley Parable' for my top three, as they contained some excellent storytelling. The storyline in South Park wasn't anything special, and didn't even merit a nomination in my opinion.
Best Visual Design
Previous Winner: BioShock Infinite
Nominees: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Child Of Light, Contrast, Device 6, Destiny, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Don't Starve, Hearthstone, Hitman GO, Infamous Second Son, Killzone: Shadow Fall, Kinect Sports Rivals, Mario Kart 8, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Monument Valley, Resogun, Ryse, South Park: The Stick Of Truth, Tearaway, Thief, Transistor, Valiant Hearts
3rd: South Park: The Stick of Truth
2nd: Destiny
1st: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
It may have seemed the obvious choice to award the victory to 'Assassin's Creed', and after all there are some very nice visuals in the game, especially on next gen consoles. But I couldn't help notice a few poor textures lying around in my playthrough, and although there is nothing wrong with the graphics overall, there isn't anything forward thinking about them either, we've seen it all before in previous 'Assassin's Creed' games, and so in terms of design it was nothing special. 'South Park' was a mindblowing choice, how that was even in contention was beyond me. The graphic are nothing new, they just rehash the rusty and basic South Park animation formula, and it never once looks special. The visuals are underwhelming from start to finish, and never once produced a moment that looked aesthetically pleasing in the slightest.
I agree with 'Destiny' being placed second, it looked really good, better than 'Assassin's Creed' in my opinion. The solid gameplay came through the impressive visuals, and although the formula was pretty standard, it still looked and felt great. My nomination would be 'Ryse', I genuinely thought that looked absolutely amazing. The framerate was solid, and although the gameplay was lacking in some areas, the visuals looked stunning. For me this game showed everyone the capability and power of the next gen consoles, and that is why I think it should have won this category.
Best Audio
Previous Winner: New Award
Nominees: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, The Banner Saga, Battlefield 4, Broken Age, Destiny, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Forza Motorsport 5, The Legend Of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, Mario Kart 8, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Super Mario 3D World, Tearaway, Thief, Transistor, The Wolf Among Us
3rd: Transistor
2nd: Battlefield 4
1st: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
A category that 'Assassin's Creed' always does well in, and rightfully so. The franchise's music composition is always a mile above any other game. This year was no exception, and once again Ubisoft treated us with another brilliant soundtrack, and the welcome addition of sea shanties, which were expertly produced. But best audio implies that both score and effects need to be taken into account, and the inclusion of 'Battlefield 4' seems to prove this, it's musical score was absolutely dreadful, but its sound effects were fantastic. For this reason I would give the award to 'Destiny', it has both an amazing score and sound effects which have been expertly put together. I know 'Destiny' isn't the most popular game, but I do think it deserves a lot more credit than people are giving it.
Best Multiplayer
Previous Winner: PayDay 2
Nominees: Battlefield 4, Call Of Duty: Ghosts, Killer Instinct, Kinect Sports Rivals, Lego Marvel Super Heroes, Mario Kart 8, Nidhogg, Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare, Sportsfriends, Super Mario 3D World, Titanfall, Trials Fusion, Towerfall Ascension, Ultra Street Fighter IV, Watch Dogs
3rd: MarioKart 8
2nd: Titanfall
1st: Battlefield 4
There was also an award for the best online game, but to me these areas are very similar and should probably be merged into one. Whether people like it or not this award could become a very significant prize in years to come with the shift of video games to more online capabilities, but we still only have nominations from the more traditional cooperative games this year, so there was only going to be one winner. Last year they gave the award to 'Payday 2', which was just absurd, considering there wasn't anything revolutionary or different about the multiplayer, and it added absolutely nothing to the actual game. The only reason you would join a multiplayer game was to get away from the horrendous and borderline unplayable AI from single player. But at least this year their was a worthy winner.
The result does show the hatred of gamers towards 'Call of Duty'. If 'Battlefield' wins then surely 'Call of Duty' deserves a nearby finish, as they're practically the same, except that maybe COD is more accessible to casual gamers. I would personally give the award to 'Titanfall', since that game is solely based around the idea of multiplayer, and what they're trying to do is far more forward thinking than just rehashing a similar system from an old franchise. Face it, the multiplayer is the saving grace of 'Battlefield 4', and although I'm not going to complain about it winning, did it really deserve to win if the multiplayer was exactly the same as last years outing?
Gaming Personality:
The gaming personality was obviously won by 'PewDiePie', as I suppose it couldn't really go to anyone else. I don't agree with this decision as I personally find his content rather poor, and I think his style encourages the making of poor games on purpose in order to get coverage from him, like 'Goat Simulator'. However it was nice to see Charlie Brooker getting a nomination, who is one of my favorite comedians, and is never ashamed to admit that he's a big gamer. I'm also glad that Anita Sarkeesian ended up losing as well, since she is a blight on the whole gaming industry and then blames other people on her own failings. I'm glad that lying and misleading your own viewers is not rewarded here, although she will probably use this defeat to claim that the patriarchy caused this, citing no information but herself in that claim. So I can't complain too much about this category, it was almost a moral victory for gamers, but it still doesn't make me like the people voting.
Studio of The Year:
Telltale picked up third, which is a great achievement for a company who just make episodic games. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, if anything I think their unique approach is what got them this prestigious position. It is a well deserved third with two standout titles coming from their studios this year, including the critics favorite 'The Walking Dead'. I only hope they continue this run of good form as they go onto their 'Game of Thrones' project, which I'm praying will be excellent. Second went to Blizzard, who in my opinion are the most overrated developer of all time, and this result proves that. It's also surprising considering they released one game this year, which was the well received 'Hearthstone', but that's it, hardly a good output. But the winners were Ubisoft Montreal, which is a decision nobody can argue with really. With 'Watchdogs' and 'Assassin's Creed' both coming out this year, it's been a stellar year for the French Canadian developer. It just had to be them.
Game of The Year
Previous Winner: Grand Theft Auto V
Nominees: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Battlefield 4, Dark Souls II, Destiny,
Device 6, Hearthstone, The Legend Of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, Mario
Kart 8, Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Resogun, South Park: The
Stick Of Truth, Super Mario 3D World, Tearaway, Titanfall, Towerfall
Ascension, Watch Dogs, The Wolf Among Us, Wolfenstein: The New Order
3rd: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag
2nd: Hearthstone
1st: Dark Souls 2
This is a big, big surprise. It's also very interesting considering that this game was barely nominated for any other award, yet alone winning them. Surely if the awards cover a wide range of elements that contribute to make a great video game then this should have at least picked up a few. The only impression I got from this is that this game doesn't excel at anything, and so why should it be the best game of the year? I don't think it deserved it either, the impression I got from reviewers is that it was good, not excellent, and certainly not award caliber. There have been some brilliant games released this year and so the fact that best game award goes to an overrated and mediocre franchise is not the right decision.
You will surely be asking what would have been my pick. Well unfortunately you'll have to wait for my best games of the year list in a few months time, so watch this space.
No comments:
Post a Comment