The game awards 2016 Roundup
From e-Sports being considered a serious competitive sport to games becoming increasingly political and politically correct, there's no doubt in anyone's mind that the world of gaming is becoming more than an industry that caters to basement dwellers and the stereotypical geek – in fact, the geeks have taken over the world and are ruling it from the front. The Game Awards, although not yet as big of a powerhouse as the Oscars or the Emmys, goes a long way in legitimising the gaming industry by shelling out awards yearly in multiple categories…only to result in Reddit and Facebook being engulfed in flames for the following six months or so. Here's our roundup, comments and views on the winners and nominations at this year's Game Awards.
Best Action Adventure Game Dishonored 2 (Arkane, Bethesda)
Dishonored winning the Best Action-Adventure award over the insane competition should tell you how good the sequel is. The original was brilliant – yet, somehow, the sequel charges at veteran entries like Uncharted and Hitman head on and comes out on top. Surprisingly, no nomination for Final Fantasy XV, while No Man's Sky is hilariously nowhere to be seen. Maybe the organisers should have a brand new segment – most overhyped game of the year?
Best Narrative: Uncharted 4 -A Thief's End (Naughty Dog, Sony)
Again, not many surprises here – Uncharted and Nathan Drake's story finally comes to a close with U4, along with Naughty Dog's involvement in the series' development. The game was praised by critics for its intensive emotional depth and visual design, not to mention the fantastic narrative quality that has defined the Uncharted series from the very beginning. It's a good swansong for the series, this award.
Games for Impact: That Dragon, Cancer
Crowdsourced funds and developed by a dad in memory of his infant son, Joel, whose life was claimed by cancer. Expect tears and emotional scarring.
Best Role Playing Game: The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt - Blood and Wine (CD Projekt RED)
Finally a nomination for Dark Souls 3, but in a category it would never win – you get SO much more from the Witcher 3 expansion that it should be considered a legitimate sequel to 2015's GOTY winner. Words cannot describe how good this game is at building an immersive world for you to slip into, the story buildup is nuanced at first but lands sledgehammer blows as you reach the climax. Pity that DS3 didn't win anything, but in this category, it was completely locked out.
Best Sports/Racing Game: Forza Horizon 3 (Playground Games, Microsoft).
Best Strategy Game: Civilization 6 (Firaxis Games, 2K)
Best Independent Game: Inside (Playdead)
Game of the Year: Overwatch (Blizzard)
Not many surprises here, although the online reaction of people who like being tortured and frustrated and constantly demoralised as a form of entertainment, suggests that there are huge gripes over Dark Souls 3 not being included in the list of nominations. With reason too – considering the amount of effort gamers had to put in just to progress marginally in the game, they have every right to claim they did it because it's the best game of the year. Other than that, Overwatch winning was probably to be expected – very rarely has a multiplayer FPS gained this much popularity in this short span of time, not since kids ran around with LAN cables and pirating copies of early arena shooters like Quake. It's revolutionary in its own right, and the win is well deserved.