2018 |

2018 Game of the Year Awards Round-Up

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 01/11/2019

Posted in: 2018, Game of the Year Awards. Tagged: 2018, awards, game of the year, goty, round up. Leave a comment

God of War

Awarded

Game of the Year
Best PlayStation 4 Exclusive
Best Atmosphere
Best Story
Best Sound Design
Best Voice Acting
Best Graphics, Artistic
Best Graphics, Technical
Best Action
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Red Dead Redemption II

Awarded

Best Multi-Platform

Nominated

Game of the Year
Best Atmosphere
Best Story
Best Sound Design
Best Voice Acting
Best Graphics, Technical
Best Action
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Octopath Traveler

Awarded

Best Switch Exclusive
Best RPG

Nominated

Game of the Year
Best Story
Best Graphics, Artistic
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Battlefield V

Awarded

Best Shooter

Nominated

Game of the Year
Best Atmosphere
Best Sound Design
Best Graphics, Technical
Best Multi-Platform
Best Multiplayer
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Monster Hunter World

Awarded

Best Multiplayer

Nominated

Game of the Year
Best Sound Design
Best Graphics, Artistic
Best Multi-Platform
Best Action
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Forza Horizon 4

Awarded

Best Driving

Nominated

Game of the Year
Best Graphics, Technical
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Kingdom Come: Deliverance

Awarded

Best Indie Game

Nominated

Game of the Year
Best RPG
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Fallout 76

Awarded

Most Disappointing Game
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Battletech

Awarded

Best PC Exclusive
Best Strategy

Nominated

Game of the Year
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Pocket City

Awarded

Best Mobile Exclusive
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Spyro Reignited Trilogy

Awarded

Best Reissue
Best Platformer
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Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Awarded

Best Fighter

Nominated

Game of the Year
Best Switch Exclusive
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Tetris Effect

Awarded

Best Puzzler
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This is always the hardest category for me to pick and I always spend weeks thinking about it. What makes a game better than all the others? Does it have to be revolutionary? One of a kind? Bigger than any other game? Not necessarily. GotY is usually for a game that exceeds expectations and feels solid, structured, fun, and memorable, and just stands out as a whole over any other game. This was a hard year to pick from as there were so many fantastic games that fell under these criteria.

God of War

It was really only a close call between God of War and Red Dead II this year with Spider-Man right behind them. This was one of those rare years where I had to analyze each and every piece of both games to determine the winner. They both have fantastic acting, characters, gameplay elements, and visuals. God of War however did most of this with more finesse and less experimentation. I felt the story of Kratos and Atrius cut a little deeper and I felt more attached and wanted to die to see the next cut-scene while Red Dead II was a really slow burn. The gameplay in God of War single-handedly reshaped combat for its own genre while Red Dead II just refined it. They both had large open worlds, but God of War’s was more memorable and had so much incredible detail that Red Dead just didn’t have.

Runner-Ups

Marvel’s Spider-Man

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Kingdom Come: Deliverance

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Octopath Traveler

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Monster Hunter World

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Red Dead Redemption II

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Battlefield V

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Battletech

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Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

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Forza Horizon 4

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2018 Game of the Year Awards — Genre Awards — Best Shooter

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 01/04/2019

Posted in: 2018, Game of the Year Awards. Tagged: 000, awards, battlefield v, best shooter, black ops iii, blops4, call of duty, cod, far cry 5, game of the year, goty, mooncrash, prey, vermintide ii, warhammer 40. Leave a comment

While this wasn’t as strong of a year as 2016, there were quite a few awesome shooters this year. Any shooter fan wouldn’t be disappointed one bit.

Battlefield V

Battlefield V may seem too similar to Battlefield 1, but it’s still an exemplary shooter with visuals that push boundaries, fantastic multiplayer, and a great campaign with the years of expertise from DICE behind the game.

Runner-Ups

Far Cry 5

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Prey: Mooncrash

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

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Warhammer: Vermintide 2

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2018 Game of the Year Awards — Achievement Awards — Best Atmosphere

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 01/04/2019

Posted in: 2018, Game of the Year Awards. Tagged: awards, battlefield v, best atmosphere, call of cthulhu, deliverance, game of the year, god of war, goty, kingdom come, red dead redemption ii. Leave a comment

The atmosphere in a game can be just as memorable as the story or be a character itself. Fallout 3 proved this as the Capital Wasteland was a character all on its own. A great atmosphere is something that can draw you in and make you feel a part of the world.

God of War

The atmosphere in a game is supposed to suck you into its world and make you feel exactly how the characters are feeling. God of War did this best with its cold and dark environments and massive scale levels that are out of this world. The beauty of this Norse realm was incredible to take in and each realm really made me feel like I was actually there.

Runner-Ups

Red Dead Redemption II

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Kingdom Come: Deliverance

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Battlefield V

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Call of Cthulhu

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2018 Game of the Year Awards — Achievement Awards — Best Story

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 01/02/2019

Posted in: 2018, Game of the Year Awards. Tagged: awards, best story, game of the year, god of war, goty, marvel's, octopath traveler, red dead redemption ii, spider-man, vampyr. Leave a comment

The story is probably the second most important aspect of a game next to the gameplay. A good story can be memorable, impactful, controversial, enlightening, frightening, and any other emotion humans can feel. We didn’t have many games with memorable stories this year, but there were some out there that stood out.

God of War

There weren’t that many engaging stories this year, and there seems to be less and less every year, but God of War not only portrayed memorable characters, but the story Kratos goes through is very memorable and something you talk about long after the game is complete. Stories that stand the test of time are the ones that are remembered through history.

Runner-Ups

Red Dead Redemption II

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Octopath Traveler

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Vampyr

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Marvel’s Spider-Man

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2018 Game of the Year Awards — Achievement Awards — Best Sound Design

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 01/02/2019

Posted in: 2018, Game of the Year Awards. Tagged: awards, battlefield v, best sound design, game of the year, god of war, goty, marvel's, monster hunter, red dead redemption ii, spider-man, world. Leave a comment

Sound design isn’t something we normally think of every day, but without great sound design we wouldn’t be as immersed in games, it’s something that’s on the back burner and never gets enough credit.

God of War

Making realistic sound can be done any day, but making sounds that don’t actually exist is a serious challenge. Every sound, breath, whisper, grunt, and weapon slash brings you into the game and helps make you feel like you’re really there. Even the voice of the World Serpent’s rumble is eerie and actually made me a little uncomfortable.

Runner-Ups

Red Dead Redemption II

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Battlefield V

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Monster Hunter: World

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Marvel’s Spider-Man

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2018 Game of the Year Awards — Achievement Awards — Best Indie Game

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 12/31/2018

Posted in: 2018, Game of the Year Awards. Tagged: awards, best indie game, celeste, dead cells, deliverance, game of the year, goty, kingdom come, vampyr, wreckfest. Leave a comment

Indie games are no longer becoming cute little distractions between AAA releases, they are now becoming the AAA releases as major companies have lost their imagination and ability to create new and unique experiences. Every year this just builds up more and never falters, with many of my most memorable games being indie, you should not overlook this category.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance

Kingdom Come is a massive undertaking for such a small studio. With state of the art visuals and tech on top of a massive open world, great voice acting and characters, and ambitious combat, it’s not surprising it had such a rough launch, but the developers have put so much love into patching the game out, and quickly, that’s it’s almost an entirely new game now.

Runner-Ups

Celeste

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Dead Cells

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Vampyr

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Wreckfest

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2018 Game of the Year Awards — Achievement Awards — Best Voice Acting

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 12/31/2018

Posted in: 2018, Game of the Year Awards. Tagged: awards, become human, best voice acting, detroit, far cry 5, game of the year, god of war, goty, red dead redemption ii, vampyr. Leave a comment

The best voice acting in games aren’t just the best delivery, but how it fits into the game. Is the character tortured, insane, or psychotic? Delivering the characters the way we would see them in person is how a game delivers the best voice acting.

God of War

The voice acting of Christopher Judge is just out of this world as an older Kratos. He brings the entire character to life is really rare for a video game character and I couldn’t wait to see the next cut-scene or soak in the next piece of dialog. Judge alone gave a one-dimensional character so many layers and feelings and helped suck the player into the story like no other.

Runner-Ups

Red Dead Redemption II

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Detroit: Become Human

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Vampyr

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Far Cry 5

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2018 Game of the Year Awards — Achievement Awards — Best Graphics, Artistic

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 12/30/2018

Posted in: 2018, Game of the Year Awards. Tagged: artistic, awards, best graphics, game of the year, god of war, goty, monster hunter, octopath traveler, sea of thieves, unravel two, world. Leave a comment

Artistic graphics don’t necessarily mean the most impressive technically. They probably won’t push your system to its limits, but instead, provide a fantastic visual experience that you won’t forget.

God of War

God of War is not only one of the best looking games of all time, but the art direction is on another planet with a beautiful recreation of Norse mythology and an atmosphere that really brings you into the world and makes you feel like you’re really there. From every texture to leaf and creature, God of War is a piece of moving art.

Runner-Ups

Octopath Traveler

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Sea of Thieves

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Monster Hunter: World

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Unravel Two

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2018 Game of the Year Awards — Achievement Awards — Most Disappointing Game

Posted by BinaryMessiah on 12/29/2018

Posted in: 2018, Game of the Year Awards. Tagged: agony, awards, darksiders iii, fallout 76, fear effect, game of the year, goty, most disappointing game, sea of thieves, sedna. Leave a comment

This is one award you do not want. Many games can be disappointing due to development hell, or just a lack of inspiration. Many AAA titles and beloved franchises have fallen to disappointing depths for many a reason. While many people may agree there were other disappointing games this year, to me they weren’t depression worthy of how utterly horrid they were.

Fallout 76

There were too many disappointing games this year, but Fallout 76 made me the most upset. I’m a hardcore Fallout fan and was so stoked at the idea of a Fallout MMO as on paper it seems like the next best move. Recycle assets, use a ten-year-old game engine, and shoehorn ideas that don’t work and you get Fallout 76. A buggy, boring, and lifeless mess that probably won’t be playable even after a year of updates.