Well, seeing as I haven't posted anything in a while, I thought it
might be appropriate to take a second and recognize my nominees and pick for
Game of the Year. For the most part, I’m assuming that anyone who’s reading
this has already played these games or has at least a workable knowledge of
them, so I’m not going to beat a dead horse. I’ll be doing more than one
category though, so please sit back and enjoy the show.
Best Dowloadable
Game Nominees:
Fez
Sound Shapes
Walking Dead: The Game
Winner:
Walking Dead: The Game – Telltale put together a gripping
narrative, tension-soaked settings and characters that I truly cared about into
a package that screams quality from the get-go. I’d never played a Telltale
release before, but knowing what I know now, I’m definitely a fan and will be
watching them from here on out.
Best
Handheld/Mobile Game Nominees:
Angry Birds Star Wars
LittleBigPlanet Vita
Sound Shapes
Winner:
LittleBigPlanet Vita – While not vastly different from its
console-based siblings, LBPV does use the Vita’s touch screens in inventive
ways and it was the first time I truly felt like I was able to play
console-quality games on a handheld. Sony needs more releases with this kind of
polish if the Vita is going to survive, let alone hope to unseat the GameBoy or
other mobile devices.
Best RPG Nominees:
Diablo III
Mass Effect 3
Xenoblade Chronicles
Winner:
Mass Effect 3 – The culmination of Commander Sheppard’s tale
was nothing short of epic. Seeing old friends, making new ones and watching the
devastation that the Reapers unleash makes for some of the most memorable
moments in gaming this generation.
Best
Action/Adventure Nominees:
Assassin’s Creed III
Darksiders II
Dishonored
Winner:
Dishonored – Arkane Studios crafted a masterpiece that is
equal parts stealth/action as it is an emergent experience. Truly one of the
gems of this generation, and should not be missed. But more on it later…
Best PC/Mac Game
Nominees:
Diablo III
Winner:
Diablo III – I own all Macs, so this was the only ‘PC’ game
I played all year. That being said, Diablo III was a long-way coming, and would
have likely taken the top spot regardless.
Best Turn-Based
Strategy Game Nominees:
Great Big War Game
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars
XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Winner:
XCOM: Enemy Unknown – This is a genre that I find is sorely
underrepresented in gaming today, so I was ecstatic when I was finally able to
get my hands on XCOM. The unforgiving difficulty (there will be blood, oh yes,
there will) and cerebral squad-based gameplay is something I’ve missed for many
years. If I ever get around to learning how to program, the first games I’m
going to make will be TBS ones.
Best Wii/Wii U
Game Nominees:
New Super Mario Bros. U
The Last Story
Xenoblade Chronicles
Winner:
New Super Mario Bros. U – Mario in HD. And on the Gamepad. ‘Nuff said.
Best PS3 Game
Nominees:
Assassin’s Creed III
Dishonored
Journey
Winner:
Dishonored
Best Xbox 360 Game
Nominees:
Assassin’s Creed 3
Dishonored
XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Winner:
Dishonored
Studio of the Year
Nominees:
Arkane
Bioware
Telltale Games
Ubisoft Montreal
Winner:
Arkane – They’ve taken what could have been written of as a
shooter/stealth hybrid and turned it into something so much more. Dishonored is
a title and Arkane is a studio that should be talked about for years to come.
And finally, the moment you’ve all been waiting for…..
Game of the Year
Nominees:
Assassin’s Creed III
Dishonored
Mass Effect 3
Walking Dead: The Game
Winner:
Dishonored – Based on what you’ve read so far, should it be
a surprise?
A few times each generation we gamers are treated to experiences
that transcend the medium. I firmly believe that Dishonored is one of those
experiences. To be sure, the game isn’t perfect. It’s got tropes out the
wazoo—dystopian nightmare where a protagonist looks to revenge/avenge the
crimes he’s been wrongfully accused of. I could go further, but there’s no need
to. We’ve all been there and played/read that game/book before.
That isn’t it though. It’s the execution by which the story
is told and the gameplay laid out that truly makes Dishonored shine. At its
core, it’s another fairly linear, action/adventure/stealth/quasi-shooter
(depending on how you play it). But it doesn’t feel that way. Arkane gives
players myriad options when taking on a mission. Does one go sneaking around by
themselves, using the ‘Blink’ power to teleport high above the heads of guards?
Or perhaps morph into a rat and use the tunnels available in order to escape
those that would seek to do Corvo harm? And if a player is so inclined, they can
go through the game like a wrecking ball of bad-assery, slitting throats and
filling guards full of lead and crossbow bolts as they see fit.
And that’s just the beginning. The emergent gameplay that
comes out of Dishonored is like few I’ve encountered in over three decades of
gaming. Players really see the consequences of their actions in a way that
really stays with them. A high-chaos play through changes Dunwall from a city
on the brink of disaster to a veritable hell. I’ll never forget after
completing the penultimate act/mission (in a high-chaos game) and returning to
the hideout, having a young NPC ask me “How many did you kill today, Corvo?”
There’s so much more I could go on about here, but I don’t
want to delve into the realm of spoilers and this game really needs to be
experienced firsthand. Anyone who considers themselves a core gamer of any
stripes owes it to himself or herself to play this game.
High Honorable Mention:
Walking Dead: The Game – I actually
came to TWD late. I’d heard of the series but hadn’t watched an episode. I like
zombies (who doesn’t), but didn’t want to get into a series I was already
woefully behind on. Well, the family decided to kill our cable and go with the
Netflix/Hulu+ combination. On a whim, I watched the first episode. I was
instantly hooked. I proceeded to watch the remaining episodes in season 1 and
all of season 2 within the next 34-ish hours. I purchased Walking Dead: The
Game for my iPad 3 the next day and played it. The story is gripping, the
narrative awesome and the character development is nearly without peer. Perhaps
had I had more time to spend with the game’s 5 episode before writing this I
might feel somewhat different. That being said, Walking Dead: The Game is
another must play for anyone of any gaming stripes.
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