The Moosies: Game of the Year!
By MooseyMcMan 6 Comments
And the big day is finally upon us. The first of the new year, and more importantly, the day that I reveal the winner of the coveted Moosies Game of the Year award, which is a trophy so magnificent that earth cameras cannot capture its image (mainly because it doesn't exist). But what am I doing rambling here? I should be rambling about the game of the year! Which is...
And frankly, no other games fits that criteria better than Deadly Premonition, the winner of the Moosies Game of the Year. Now don't get me wrong, Deadly Premonition is not a particularly good game, but as an experience, there's nothing else like it. Sure, the graphics are bad, the gameplay is clunky as hell, the sound mixing is poor at best, and there's umpteen other problems with it.
But that didn't stop me from playing the game through its entirety, doing all 50 side quests, finding all 65 hidden trading cards, starting another playthrough on easy to get the Achievement for beating it on easy (but running out of time due to college), and watching the entirety of both Endurance Runs here on GiantBomb. You know how many hours I spent playing that game? Over 50. Add to that the 20-ish hours each from both playthroughs, and that's upwards of 90-something hours I've spent with a game that most people would say is terrible.
And yet...There's just something magical about it. It's this weird low budget horror game made in Japan by a bunch of crazy people (the leader of which goes by SWERY 65), and really should not have made much of a splash. But the game is just so weird that I can't help but love every last second of it.
But what I really love about this game is the story. I'm not lying when I say that it's the best story I've seen in a game in a long time. Maybe the best story ever. No, it's not for everyone, because I know of a few guys who didn't even seriously discuss this game in their talk about best story, but the game blew my mind on a regular basis. And not just with the actual story, but in the way it's told. For a game that seems so bad on the surface, it's incredible how well choreographed some of the scenes are. Remember the bit where you fought the boss in the clock tower? That cutscene after it was one of the greatest things I've ever seen. Remember that bit when York leaped through the air to save that lady in the art gallery? So badass!
And then there's the music. As I've said before, it's easy to make fun of the game for blasting the music over dialog, but if you actually pay attention to it, it's pretty damn good, and super memorable. More than just Life is Beautiful too. Sure, that's the only one where I can think of the name, but just about every bit of music from the game is memorable.
And then there's the kooky cast of characters, which ranges from the gas-masking wearing mysterious capitalist and his rhyming assistant, to the famous Agent York and his best buddy Zach, and the amount of backstory that seemingly every character has. Sure, you won't see all of that in the main story, but if you take the time to do the side quests, you do. Remember the General who owns the junkyard, but where's a sergeant's uniform. Well, do a few side quests for him, and you see one of the most touching moments I've ever seen in a game.
And then there's all the utterly hilarious moments, some intentional, like the bit with the Sinner's Sandwich, others, like the bit where York describes how he determined someone was crazy not because he killed a bunch of people, or drank out of their skulls, but because he drank out of the same skulls he "relieved himself in."
So, the point that I'm trying to make here is that while there where numerous other games that are way better in lots of ways, Deadly Premonition is the most memorable game I've played all year. It's the game that's going to stick with me the most in the future. The game of the year, in other words.
First Runner up: Mass Effect 2 - They took Mass Effect, and improved upon it in almost every way. 'Nuff said.
Second Runner up: Red Dead Redemption - While the game has its fair share of flaws, including a third act that almost ruined the game for me, the first two thirds are good, and the thrill of playing a western game that is of this high level quality is more than enough for it to be my third favorite game of the year.
So, what do you guys (and gals) think? Do you think I'm crazy? You wouldn't be the first ones to do so? Or are you happy that I bucked the trend of picking normal games and went with the game I really think is my game of the year?