The awards are based on the games I've played so bear with me if something you love doesn't win. I may not have played it this year.
So, without further adieu...here are the awards. We'll start with some small ones and build up to the grand daddy of them all...GAME OF THE YEAR!
Best Voice Acting
This was a tough one...as games get closer and closer to movies, voice acting has become an integral part of the experience. Gone are the days when voice acting was a second thought and the quality was usually terrible. It used to be surprising when a game actually took the time to get some decent voice work in. Now though, games are becoming more and more cinematic, and with that comes some amazing voice work. I had to really spend a lot of time thinking about this one but in the end, there was one game that stood out above the rest and it was really the work of one man that gave the edge to this game over any other. That man...is Mark Hamill.
...and the winner is (I kind of gave it away there)
BATMAN: ARKHAM CITY
Mark Hamill as the Joker is probably my favorite performance by any voice actor ever, whether it be game or movie. His portrayal of the Clown Prince of Crime is absolutely perfect. The tone and inflection of his voice chills you to the bone and his laugh is timeless. Now obviously, if the rest of the voice acting was poor, Batman wouldn't have won. However, every voice actor in that game is of the utmost quality. You can tell the care was put forth to make Batman a game of the highest quality and it shows throughout every facet.
...Runner Up
LA NOIRE
LA Noire is a game that easily could have won for best voice acting. I was really torn for awhile over whether or not to give it the nod over Batman. The scale of the voice acting is truly impressive considering the rather gigantic cast of characters. The biggest issue with LA Noire though is the sometimes spotty interaction between characters. Too many interrogations that jump from yelling and screaming back to calm relaxed chat back to yelling again. It was wonky and awkward and took away from the experience a bit.
...Honorable Mention
BASTION
Not every category will have an honorable mention but I felt like I had to say something about Bastion. When it came down to it, I never considered it for best acting only because it is all the work of one man, and the scope of the other games was much greater. If I were doing an award for best use of voice acting, then Bastion would win hands down. The narrator, with his deep gravelly voice, keeps you in the game. He weaves the tale set out before you. Rather then use cutscenes and flashy visuals to explain the history of Bastion, the narrator seamlessly crafts a story as you progress along.
Best Comeback Franchise
Another difficult decision between two games with very different comeback stories. One franchise had fallen so far from grace that they had to start back from the drawing board and completely re-imagine the franchise as a whole. The other franchise made a massive comeback by going back to what made it so great in the first place. In the end, the winner was the game that made the bigger overall comeback.
...and the winner is
DRIVER: SAN FRANCISCO
Within the first 20 minutes of playing this game I had a thought about it being the biggest comeback I've ever played. The Driver franchise was poop. Just stinky poop from a butt. Along with everyone else, I had written off the franchise and assumed it was dead. The last Driver game was so bad that I don't even remember it. It's like my brain closed off that section of memories to protect me from the horror contained within. Driver: SF completely reinvigorated the franchise, like a defibrillator to the chest of a heart attack victim, it brought it back from the dead. Taking away everything but the meat of the game was step one. The game is called Driver, not Walker, so let's just not ever have to walk. You play a cop in a coma who is dreaming and trying to wake up. In your dreams though, you have the ability to QUANTUM LEAP into anyone driving around the city. This leads to you helping out some Asians in over their head with street racing, get dying people to the hospital, or prevent bad guys from doing bad things. Being able to warp from car to car and send people smashing into bad guys is one of the most fun things I've done all year. Kudos to Driver: San Francisco...you used your necromancy to bring a dead franchise back to life.
...Runner Up
MORTAL KOMBAT
Mortal Kombat almost won this category. It was a very close call. Mortal Kombat is a better game overall than Driver: SF but in the end it didn't win because it wasn't as big of a comeback. While the MK franchise had fallen off quite a bit, it never fell as far as Driver did. I love that Mortal Kombat became awesome again by undoing all of the crap and going back to what made the franchise awesome in the first place...fighting and gratuitous violence. They got rid of all of the fighting styles and weak crappy characters, and just made the game fun again. Then there are the fatalities..oh my, the fatalities. No other game this year made me as uncomfortable as MK did at times. Ripping people in half as Noob Saibot actually made me slightly queasy. Each character has multiple fatalities that are all brutal as hell, and the blood and gore and violence is what made Mortal Kombat great back in the day and it is no different now.
(OK, I'm writing too much about each award and I'm never going to finish so I'm cutting the writing way down so this can be done and I can write about other things.)
BEST DOWNLOADABLE TITLE
A lot of really good downloadable titles this year but one really stood way above the rest.
and the winner is...
BASTION
Really head and shoulders above the rest of the games released this year, Bastion stands out due to it's excellent story telling and gameplay. An old school feel with a twist all being narrated by the smoothest voice you could ask for. A winning combination for sure.
Runner up
Outland
Quietly released with little to no fanfare, Outland is still the most gorgeous XBLA title I've played to date. The gameplay is a mix of sword fighting platforming and color changing bullet hell, and it seamlessly blends to make an excellent game. I think a lot of people missed this one and that is a shame.
QUICKY GENRE AWARDS
Best Fighting - Mortal Kombat
Honorable Mention - Marvel Vs. Capcom 3
Best RPG - Skyrim
Honorable Mention - Dragon Age 2
Best Sports - Fight Night: Champion
Honorable Mention - Madden 2012
Best Shooter - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Honorable Mention - Gears of War 3
Best Horror - Dead Space 2
Honorable Mention - Resident Evil 4 (XBLA Release)
Best Platforming - Rayman: Origins
Honorable Mention - Sonic: Generations
and now for the final award...GAME OF THE YEAR
When I decided to do these awards, game of the year was obviously my first though. A lot of games passed through my mind, but no matter what they all fell short when compared with the winner. In the end, it was never really close because one game just flew miles above every other in terms of overall quality. Nothing against the games that didn't win, there were some amazing games this year, but only one can be the 2011 BEARDY AWARD WINNER FOR GAME OF THE YEAR.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
I know, I know, nothing surprising here. Just about every publication named Skyrim game of the year. It is for good reason though. The quality and craftsmanship of Skyrim is above and beyond just about anything ever seen in a game before. Story, graphics, music, everything is top notch. The exploration in the game is nothing short of amazing with literally a million things to find. I've been playing on and off since day 1 and will probably not be done for another year. It's the kind of game that will be entertaining for a long time and in this day and age, that is a great accomplishment. Even if Skyrim represents a genre you are not interested in, you have to respect the sheer scope of the game. Hats off to you, Skyrim. Today you're a winner.
Honorable Mention: Batman: Arkham City
Definitely the second best game of the year, and really the only other game I considered giving the award to. In the end, Arkham City doesn't lose by anything it did wrong, it loses because the competition was too much. Any other year and Arkham City is a clear winner. Kudos to you, Batman!
