The Escapist Awards 2009 - Winners Announcement

[DeadpanLunatic]

I have removed my words from this site.

 

[Jared]

Brutal Legend: Best writing? Really?

Yeah, I saw that too and was a little "Uhhh?"

Well, some good mentionables on tere...and some on there I am really, really confused about. Overall though, I suppose its an idea of something at least

 

[MatsVS]

If Uncharted beats Assassin's Creed in every category they share, why wasn't that game nominated for game of the year instead?

Just curious, honest. I am quite indifferent to both games, but often find the reasoning behind these decisions to be interesting.

 

[Jim Grim]

Another two choices that confused me were 1 vs 100 and Shadow Complex. In what way was Shadow Complex the best 360 game released last year?

 

[Benjeezy]

If I turn off my hatervision, I honestly do agree with these. I'm glad you provided explanations for them, it's a detail I really appreciate.

 

[xqxm]

I myself really quite loathe World of Warcraft and think it's a seriously bad offspring of the whole MMORPG genre, because it goes in just the exact opposite of what you described. Okay okay, so it's a game for everyone - but at what cost? Making the game piss-easy as long as you follow the instructions the questlog gives you and does quests only for your level. Which brings me to the "World of its own" part. How can anyone think that a game is immersive when dying has pretty much no penalty, you can't seriously ruin anybody elses day by murdering them, and you have a f***mothering questlog to help you level and to point you in the direction you need to go to do so.

It robs the game of any sense of roleplaying and exploration when you see the world for what it is - a great big canvas of grind/questing areas with some hills thrown in for good measure.

For me, it's all just a feeding belt that keeps everyone happy enough to keep renewing their subscriptions and Johnny Cash (yes, WoW's lead programmer is named Johnny Cash) is probably going to hell for it.

Cheerio.

 

[John Funk]

I myself really quite loathe World of Warcraft and think it's a seriously bad offspring of the whole MMORPG genre, because it goes in just the exact opposite of what you described. Okay okay, so it's a game for everyone - but at what cost? Making the game piss-easy as long as you follow the instructions the questlog gives you and does quests only for your level. Which brings me to the "World of its own" part. How can anyone think that a game is immersive when dying has pretty much no penalty, you can't seriously ruin anybody elses day by murdering them, and you have a f***mothering questlog to help you level and to point you in the direction you need to go to do so.

It robs the game of any sense of roleplaying and exploration when you see the world for what it is - a great big canvas of grind/questing areas with some hills thrown in for good measure.

For me, it's all just a feeding belt that keeps everyone happy enough to keep renewing their subscriptions and Johnny Cash (yes, WoW's lead programmer is named Johnny Cash) is probably going to hell for it.

Cheerio.

Wow. You and I could not possibly disagree more.

Quest log = good thing.

Lack of death penalty = good thing.

Lack of griefing douchebags = good thing.

 

[JourneyThroughHell]

I myself really quite loathe World of Warcraft and think it's a seriously bad offspring of the whole MMORPG genre, because it goes in just the exact opposite of what you described. Okay okay, so it's a game for everyone - but at what cost? Making the game piss-easy as long as you follow the instructions the questlog gives you and does quests only for your level. Which brings me to the "World of its own" part. How can anyone think that a game is immersive when dying has pretty much no penalty, you can't seriously ruin anybody elses day by murdering them, and you have a f***mothering questlog to help you level and to point you in the direction you need to go to do so.

It robs the game of any sense of roleplaying and exploration when you see the world for what it is - a great big canvas of grind/questing areas with some hills thrown in for good measure.

For me, it's all just a feeding belt that keeps everyone happy enough to keep renewing their subscriptions and Johnny Cash (yes, WoW's lead programmer is named Johnny Cash) is probably going to hell for it.

Cheerio.

Wow. You and I could not possibly disagree more.

Quest log = good thing.

Lack of death penalty = good thing.

Lack of griefing douchebags = good thing.

Yeah, as much as I dislike World of Warcraft, this is seconded.
If you want to take pleasure in ruining days for other people - seek help.
OT: Well, those are pretty good awards, seeing how I can't really disagree with them - it's your awards after all.
And "Dinosaurs That Shoot Lasers When They Roar"? What an awesomely retarded name.

 

[Susan Arendt]

Another two choices that confused me were 1 vs 100 and Shadow Complex. In what way was Shadow Complex the best 360 game released last year?

If it helps, only platform exclusives were considered for those awards. Which is why something like Arkham Asylum wasn't nominated in that category.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

Agreed on Batman.

Glad to see it getting the recognition it deserves, even if the boss fights were lame.

Shameless plug of my fan review:

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/326.180125-Miracles-Whip-Batman-Arkham-Asylum

 

[Fox242]

Stop complaining guys. Aye. Every time there is some kind of award announced or a game becomes really popular and receieves good reviews, the whiners come in and cry and wail about how overrated it was and how it's a piece of crap and how the reviewers and the editors here at the Escapist are being bought off by the big, evil video game companies. Enough already! The editors here chose the best of the best and you really shouldn't go onto hate-filled rants if you don't agree with it. It just makes you look like a big baby. Just make your own award list if it will make you feel better.

Now that that is out of the way, I'm very happy to see Uncharted, Arkham Asylum and Shadow Complex getting recognized for their greatness. I love those games and congrats to the other winners.

And one more thing...

Another two choices that confused me were 1 vs 100 and Shadow Complex. In what way was Shadow Complex the best 360 game released last year?

Because it was the best 360 [i/]exclusive[/i] to choose from.

 

[Zing]

Perfect picks pretty much across the board imo, only one I disagree with is voice acting. I found both Batman: AA and DA:O to have better voice acting then Uncharted 2, it's a close one but Mark Hamill is an awesome Joker and everyone is top notch in DA:O.

 

[xqxm]

Wow. You and I could not possibly disagree more.

Quest log = good thing.

Lack of death penalty = good thing.

Lack of griefing douchebags = good thing.

All I'm saying is that when you are pretty much put on a belt-feeder to ensure that you stay and ensure profits for blizzard, and you really can't have any real impact on others or the world around you, your game really really fails as an MMORPG. Otherwise you could just be playing a singleplayer game.

 

[Omni-Bot]

I don't really agree with most of the awards, but that's just my opinion. Although one that I can definitely get behind is the best original soundtrack; Blazblue had a seriously stellar soundtrack, it was enough to get me into Metal, a genre of music I have never had an interest in.

 

[JeanLuc761]

A fairly good list, as excellence is subjective. Big props for Batamn: AA as Game of the Year, well deserved!

One thing though: Best Voice Acting to Uncharted 2? Seriously? Not Batman: AA, for Mark Hamill's magnificent Joker?

I love Arkham Asylum with a passion but the voice acting in Uncharted 2 is some of the best, if not the best in a videogame to date.

 

[Gottsmik]

When reading this, I'm amazed that in many of the categories there were no serious contenders at all: proof of a slow year. For the remainder I agree with most all of the winners.

 

[Kermi]

Oh wow, gee, what a surprise, The Escapist looks past the sticky gameplay, outrageously short length, horrid, laggy, bumpy multiplayer that is filled with cheaters, crashing servers and hackers, and calls MW2 the best shooter? And the "shooting man's shooter"? Excuse me, what? And Infinity ward knows guns? Are you people high? It's the "hey look at me I'm 12 and I'm teh bestest snipar evah! -man's" shooter. A slightly below average boomfest for kids who think Transformers is the best film ever, because it had tanks and guns and stuff.

So what was a better shooter released in 2009?

 

[StriderShinryu]

Overall, I'm quite pleased with the winners and I hope this trend is continued next year. That trend being generally looking beyond the hype and rewarding the better games.

Yes, I'm another person that's happy to see DA:O win as much as it did while Uncharted 2 only won a couple times.

 

[CopperBoom]

I disagree with most of these, but I agree with best name... http://armorgames.com/play/3469/robot-dinosaurs-that-shoot-beams-when-they-roar

 

[Mentalist]

It's too bad L4D2 didn't net any awards, but then again I'm very biased