Everyone loves action, but what makes a good action? Suspense? A great story? Awesome graphics? It’s a culmination of making a jaw-dropping and adrenaline-pumping adventure through some of the most awesome and memorable moments in gaming. Whether it be stabbing, shooting, punching, or running.

Grand Theft Auto V

Running around driving, shooting, training a dog, driving some more, shooting some more, and watching strippers. That’s some good action and GTAV was fun outside of the serious story and missions. The game packed a wallop and no other game this year was as action-packed and mind-blowingly crazy as GTAV.

Runner-Ups

Batman: Arkham Origins

Tomb Raider

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

The Last of Us

This year didn’t really see groundbreaking multiplayer games, but there were some that really kept you playing. A great multiplayer game is usually addictive, has a deep gameplay system, and just keeps you coming back months or even years after the game has been released.

Battlefield 4

Why Battlefield 4 and not Call of Duty? Honestly, Call of Duty Ghosts wasn’t all that great and was the same tired multiplayer suite. Battlefield 4 raised the bar with excellent graphics accompanied by an already amazing multiplayer system. No shooter this year has quite topped BF4.

Runner-Ups

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist

Killzone: Shadow Fall

FIFA 14

Injustice: Gods Among Us

This category is always fun and is an anti-award. A game doesn’t want this! There were a lot of horrible games this year and many disappointing ones. The next-gen launch has plenty. Despite the terrible games, there is one in this heap of junk that climbs to the top.

Aliens: Colonial Marines

Boy oh boy, this was one of the biggest gaming disasters in history. Even more so than Duke Nukem Forever. So many people were angry about how horrible this game was, there were even lawsuits! This game blew up the game industry and shamed Gearbox. It was a rushed nightmare of a mess that was incomplete and just plain awful. It looked bad, played bad, and sounded bad. I personally couldn’t even get through the first level. This is a perfect example of how not to do a game.

Runner-Ups

Fighter Within

Knack

Ryse: Son of Rome

Star Trek

It’s rare when new memorable characters come along, but this year had some great ones. A memorable character usually has a unique personality or personally personifies a game and is recognized by mainly the character.

Elizabeth – BioShock Infinite

When you think of BioShock you think of Big Daddy’s, Little Sisters, and Elizabeth. Elizabeth is a strong character and was the main focal point in Infinite. She’s a mysterious and strong woman and you want to save her, you want to reach into the game and hold her hand. She reminds me of a Disney princess in a way.

Runner-Ups

Lara Croft – Tomb Raider

Trevor Phillips – Grand Theft Auto V

Joel/Ellie – The Last of Us

A story can turn a bad looking game into something memorable. Before shaders, HDR lighting, and textures games were delivering memorable stories that we talk about to this day. Many games fail in the story department, but there are a select few who really shine and will have you talking about them for years to come.

BioShock Infinite

BioShock’s story was the most talked about thing in the video game industry for months upon release. The ending was so open that you had to guess what happened and that’s ingenious. It’s very hard to do that without making it a cliffhanger. Booker and Elizabeth’s journey is very memorable and the entire trip through Columbia was something that gamers won’t be forgetting.

Runner-Ups

Beyond: Two Souls

Tomb Raider

Grand Theft Auto V

The Last of Us

The technical side of graphics is just as impressive as art. The PC has been leading this category for years thanks to DirectX 11 technology that the current generation of consoles can’t use. Why don’t we see any of the next-generation console games in here? I feel it’s not the time for them yet. There wasn’t anything to graphically impressive that a PC couldn’t do.

Metro: Last Light

Last Light is a technical masterpiece. While next generation games like Killzone, Forza 5, and Ryse looked amazing, it’s just DirectX 11 stuff that the PC can do as well and has done for a few years now. The lighting effects are amazing, the textures look real, and the attention to detail is phenomenal. Stepping outside of the Metro took my breath away, the water splashing on your mask, the way blood splatters. It’s just something that hasn’t been seen this year. This is only for the PC version, the Xbox 360 and PS3 version suffered tremendously technical and lose the magic due to their inferior hardware.

Runner-Ups

Beyond: Two Souls

Tomb Raider

Battlefield 4

The Last of Us

Voice acting is a very important role in games with strong narratives. There were many great games with great voice acting this year and this was one of the toughest categories to decide on. There were a few games that had to get cut, this was a great year for voice acting. Great voice acting usually means the actor sounds unique and brings the character to life.

BioShock Infinite

The back and forth between Booker and Elizabeth along with all the crazy people in BioShock is what edged it over The Last of Us for me. While Ellie and Joel are excellent together you can hear Ellie’s actress lose focus sometimes and says some things in a cheesy way. Infinite has memorable characters and their voices go along with that.

Runner-Ups

Beyond: Two Souls

Tomb Raider

Grand Theft Auto V

The Last of Us

Indie games are on the rise as being better than anything an AAA high budget game can be. 2013 was a great year for indie games and there were many great ones that shined and reached out as far as a big-budget game could get.

Papers, Please

Papers, Please is one of the most entertaining games I have played all year. I beat the game 3 times and saw nearly every ending. It’s just so addictive it can’t be put into any game category. I passed up other AAA games sitting on my HDD just to play this game over and over again. Who knew checking passports could be this much fun?

Runner-Ups

The Stanley Parable

Gone Home

Monaco

Antichamber

Graphics aren’t just about what looks the prettiest. Artistic graphics are all about the art style and overall feeling the artist gives off in the game. While there is art direction in every game some shine more than others.

Tearaway

Tearaway is another artistic masterpiece from Media Molecule of LittleBigPlanet fame. The game comes to life on Vita’s beautiful OLED screen and just makes you giddy. Playing as papercraft characters and tearing them away from the screen is just something else. The game is bright and colorful and vivid and one of the best-looking games this year.

Runner-Ups

BioShock Infinite

LEGO City Undercover

Pikmin 3

Rayman Legends

Sound is much different from music. Every game has sound, but what makes one game better than the other? Immersion, use of the latest sound technology, realism, and diversity. A game with a great sound design will never repeat the same sound and will make you feel like you are right there in the action.

Battlefield 4

Once again Battlefield claims the crown for best sound design. DICE really knows how to draw you into a battlefield. The bullets whizzing by your ears, the sound differentiation from being outside and indoors. Battlefield 4 adds an extra level of realism and immersion that no other game this year has reached.

Runner-Ups

BioShock Infinite

Tomb Raider

Grand Theft Auto V

The Last of Us