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Geno

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Geno's 2010 Game of the Year Awards Extravaganza

Welcome to my GOTY list for 2010. This list will be PC-centric as I’m mainly a PC gamer.
 

Category Awards 


Best Multiplayer  

 
 
Dawn of War II engages you in the deep lore of the Warhammer 40K universe, and provides a robust multiplayer with various modes and maps. The game is highly balanced, and all of the factions along with all of their leaders are all extremely different from each other, making game matchups practically endless. The graphics are the best of any RTS right now, with units in the game looking almost as good as their tabletop counterparts. The sound is also very well developed, from the thick thudding of bolter fire to the explosion of plasma grenades. Finally, we also have the excellent soundtrack which ranges from ominous and brooding to uproarious chanting, and dynamically changes in intensity depending on the state of the game.  

Runner Up: Battlefield Bad Company 2      
  

Best Indie Game

 
  
This was a good year for indie games with quality releases in almost every genre. The indie game that wowed me most this year was Recettear: An Item Shop’s Tale. Not only is it fairly unique (a Japanese indie RPG with an economy aspect), it’s downright fun. The art is uplifting, and the story makes you continually want to see what’s next (and also prevent Recette from her losing her home). There’s a dungeoneering aspect that’s just enough to be worth doing, but not so in-depth that it overbears the player. The best indie game is typically a game that I would purchase even at $60. Recettear is one such game. 

Runner  Up: Super Meat Boy 
 
 

Best Graphics 

 
   
On the technical side, Metro 2033 wins this hands down. The engine that 4A put together does quite a job, and the only one real criticism that can be levied against it is its poor DOF implementation which brings even the strongest cards down to their knees without really adding any tangible effect. This game competes very closely with Crysis for best looking game ever made, and definitely excels over it in certain areas.  
 
       
Metro 2033 wins on the art side as well. The dystopian future of Metro is rendered with almost unparalleled detail and immersiveness. Children scratching pictures of monsters on walls, people huddled together around a fire listening to a melancholy tune on someone’s guitar, the surreal lighting deep within the metro tunnels and the whitewashed, abandoned look of Moscow in an eternal nuclear winter all work together to cohesively and effectively paint the world of Metro.  

Runner up (technical): ARMA II: Operation Arrowhead
Runner up (artistic): Kirby’s Epic Yarn 
 
 

Best Surprise 

 
   
This award goes to a game that I didn’t expect much out of upon announcement, but turned out to be one of the best games of the year. Just Cause 2 seemed like a Bionic Commando rip off out of the gate, but after playing the demo and then finally purchasing the game, I realized how wrong I was. Massive open world meets crazy physics meets ridiculous voice acting. It’s the only game I’ve played this year where you can play for hours on end having fun in ways that the developer never thought of. Add some mods that enhance the gameplay even further and some of the best graphics of the year, and you’re in business.  

Runner Up: Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
 
 

Best Game Released in a Past Year 

 
   
Spectacular open-ended gameplay on gigantic maps, solid first person shooting, the best graphics around and one of the most moddable game engines ever made. That I played Crysis through for the fifth time this year is a testament to its quality.  

Runner Up: Grand Theft Auto San Andreas
  
 

Best Story and Characters

 
     
From the surprising beginning to the revelations towards the end of the game, Mass Effect 2 packed a punch with its storyline. Even more so however were the unique and fleshed out characters that made up your crew. Garrus, the noble vigilante; Tali, a princess of sorts that joins your crew as part of a pilgrimage; Jack, a psychic with a short fuse; Mordin Solus, a doctor that helps people “by any means necessary”, the list goes on. All delivered with great dialogue and detailed character models. No game has quite created and populated an entire universe all of its own before, but Mass Effect succeeds in doing so.  
 
Runner Up: Dragon Age Awakening
  

Best Game That I Will Probably Never Play 

 
Amnesia: Dark Descent. Because I’m a big baby. Currently watching a playthrough on Youtube though and it looks incredibly well-designed.  

Runner Up: Starcraft II (already too involved in DoWII MP, also I’m not a big fan of traditional RTS)
     

Best DLC 

 

  
After some bad Dragon Age DLC and the so-so Mass Effect 2 DLC released prior, I was skeptical towards Lair of the Shadow Broker but bought it nonetheless. Boy am I glad I did. Not only does Lair of the Shadow Broker integrate itself with the main ME2 game (something that the previous DLC failed to do), it was also longer, more involving, and had higher production value. The payoffs at the end were also better than the other DLC released. This was by far and away the best DLC Bioware has ever released, and also the best DLC I played this year. This package should be what all further DLC are modeled after. 

Runner Up: Battlefield Bad Company 2 Vietnam
    
 

Best Sound Design 

 
  
 (video above is not mine) 

After playing countless games with muted gun effects and other such annoyances, ARMA II: Operation Arrowhead was breath of fresh air with its visceral and realistic sound design. As a war simulator this is part of its job, and it does it right. The ARMA series has always prided itself on realism and it lives up to its reputation in the sound department with the most realistic gun, vehicle and environmental sound effects ever released in a game. 
 
Runner Up: Metro 2033  
 
  

Best Soundtrack 

 
  
   

ME2’s soundtrack goes a long way in delivering the epic feel of its story. From the theme during the unveiling of the SR-2 to the music in the end game sequences, the soundtrack instills awe, fear, and intensity in the scenes as required, which besides sounding good is really what a soundtrack is supposed to do. 

Runner Up: Shatter (PC)
     
 

Genre Awards 

 
Here I'll just list the winners.
 

Best Racing Game 

 
Dirt 2 
 
  

Best Platformer

 
Super Meat Boy  
 
   

Best Puzzle Game

 
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light  
 
   

Best First Person Shooter 

 
Metro 2033  
 
    

Best RPG

 
Dragon Age: Awakening 
 
 

Best Music Game 

 
Chime 
 
   
 
 

Game of the Year 

 
    
Mass Effect 2 either excelled or was the best at every area. As mentioned in the previous awards, fantastic story, characters and soundtrack, and along with that solid gameplay, excellent voice acting and great graphics. There’s tons of replay value through the DLC, morality choices, ending variations, Shepard’s gender, and skillset as well (I’m personally starting my fourth playthrough). Furthermore on the PC version Shepard can be modded quite intricately, allowing me to create an in-game avatar that was extremely close to what I had envisioned in my mind, leading to a more immersive gameplay experience. Mass Effect 2 wins this by being great all around, and for delivering an unparalleled cinematic experience as well as creating one of the most fully developed game worlds of all time.
   
Thanks for reading and happy holidays. 
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