GOTY Awards

Well I do this every year, because I don't agree with many of the choices the major websites pick, as it seems like they're trying to push certain games over others. So here's my GOTY awards.

Best Action-Adventure

Winner: God of War 3

Runner Up: Red Dead Redemption

Honorable Mentions: Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, Bayonetta, Darksiders, God of War Ghost of Sparta, Metal Gear Solid Peacewalker,

Best First Person Shooter

Winner: Halo Reach

Runner Up: Cal of Duty Black Ops

Honorable Mentions: Battlefield Bad Company 2, Bioshock 2, Medal of Honor, Singularity

Best RPG

Winner: Mass Effect 2

Runner Up: Final Fantasy 13

Honorable Mention: Fable 3, Fallout New Vegas,

Best Sports Game

Winner: NBA 2K11

Runner Up: NBA Jam

Honorable Mention: Fifa 11, Madden 11, MLB 10: The Show

Best Platformer

Winner: Super Mario Galaxy 2

Runner Up: Kirby's Epic Yarn

Honorable Mention: Donkey Kong Country Returns, Limbo, Little Big Planet (PSP),

Best Fighting Game

Winner: Super Street Fighter 4

Runner Up: Tatsunoko vs. Capcom

Honorable Mention: UFC 2010

Best Strategy Game

Winner: Star Craft 2

Runner Up: Civilization 5

Honorable Mention: Valkyrie Chronicles 2

Best Racing Game

Winner: Gran Turismo 5

Runner Up: ModNation Racers

Honorable Mention: Blur, Hydro Thunder Hurricane, Need for Speed Hot Pursuit, Split Second

Best Puzzle Game

Unfortunately I didn't play any puzzle games so please recommend one.

Best Music Game

Again didn't play any. Tell me which is best, the music game fad faded with me after the first year.

Best Xbox 360 game

Winner: Mass Effect 2

Runner Up: Halo Reach

Honorable Mention: Alan Wake, Splinter Cell Conviction, Fable 3, Limbo

Best PS3 game

Winner: God of War 3

Runner Up: Heavy Rain

Honorable Mention: Gran Turismo 5, Joe Danger, ModNation Racers,

Best Wii game

Winner: Super Marion Galaxy 2

Runner Up: Kirby's Epic Yarn

Honorable Mention: Donkey Kong Country 2, Epic Mickey, No More Heroes 2, Red Steel 2, Tasunoko vs Capcom

Best PC Game

Winner: Starcraft 2

Runner Up: Civilization

Best PSP game

Winner: God of War Ghost of Sparta

Runner Up: Metal Gear Solid Peacewalker

Honorable Mention: Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep, Little Big Planet, ModNation Racers, Valkyrie Chronicles 2

Best DS game

Again you guys pick :D, my DS got not love this year.

Best Single Player

Winner: Mass effect 2

Runner Up: Heavy rain

Honorable Mention: Alan Wake, God of War 3, Splinter Cell Conviction, God of War Ghost of Sparta, Metal Gear Solid Peacewalker

Best Co-op/Multiplayer

Winner: Halo Reach

Runner Up: Battlefield Bad Company 2

Honorable Mention: Fable 3, Call of Duty Black Ops, Need For Speed Hot Pursuit, Splinter Cell Conviction

Best Story

Winner: Mass Effect

Best Writing

Winner: Heavy Rain

Best Graphics

Winner: God of War 3

Best Character

Winner: Kratos (God of War 3)

Best New Character

Winner: Monkey (Enslaved)

Best Sequel

Winner(s): Mass Effect 2/ God of War 3/ Red Dead Redemption (You can tell what my GOTY winners are going to be, but in what order?)

Best new IP

Winner(s): Vanquished, Bayonetta, Darksiders, Alan Wake, Heavy Rain

System of the Year

Winner: PSP

Reason: If you have a PSP it was the best year by far. God of War Ghost of Sparta, Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker, Little Big Planet, ModNation Racers, Valkyria Chronicles 2, Gran Turismo PSP, Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep, and more.

Now couple that with some great ports like Tekken 6,, Fifa 11, MLB 10: The Show, Blaz Blue, some re-releases of older games, and some great PS minis and the PSP secretly had the best year of all.

Most anticipated game for 2011

Winner: Uncharted 3. This was a tough category, but the Uncharted franchise has become one of my all time favorites so it would only be right to give it to Drake and company.

Runner Up: Resistance 3. The new footage look great, and after seeing it I want to know more.

Honorable Mention: Mass Effect 3, Batman Arkham City, Little Big Planet 2, Killzone 3, Infamous 2, Twisted Metal PS3, Last Guardian, Gears of War 3, New Zelda game, New PS Move and Kinect titles.

GAME OF THE YEAR

This was actually a lot harder than I thought. I enjoyed a lot of games this year, and surprisingly many of them were on my PSP. But when it comes down to the games that had it all the choices came down to 5 different.

Mass Effect 2, God of War 3, Red Dead Redemption, Halo Reach, and Heavy Rain.

I liked Alan Wake, Splinter Cell, God of War Ghost of Sparta, Gran Turismo 5, and Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker, but they just couldn't reach the same level of greatness the previous 5 games offered (the PSP titles being limited by the hardware.)

Heavy Rain was an amazing game, with a unique way of play, and an emotionally gripping story. The Lizard scene where you have to cut your finger off was one of the most memorable scenes this year for me. But it can't win GOTY because, of minor technical issues, lack of perfect voice acting (for a narrative game that's a problem), and lack of depth to the character death system (Nect game it needs to be easier to die, you shouldn't be able to reset, and you should have a larger cast of characters to play with to make things more interesting).

Halo Reach is a multiplayer dream. It is the best multiplayer experience of 2010. But that's the problem the multiplayer is a 10/10, but the single player while very good, isn't the strong point of the game. The single player lost it's importance in Halo 2, Halo 3 tried to get it back, but had a couple of slips, and Halo Reach rebounds, but doesn't push any boundaries, it's just run of the mill.

Now the final 3.

Mass Effect 2 was epic and I'm not talking about the maker of the game's engine. It starts off with action. Slows down almost too much for my taste, but kick you into a world that you can easily get lost in. There just so much to do that you can literally spend hours doing minor side quest before touching your mission. The story is great, the writing is great, the voice acting is great, the revamped gameplay is great, and the graphics are great. Almost everything about this game is perfect.

God of War 3 = Roller Coaster. The game has the best graphics by far of any game to come out in 2010, and possibly this gen. The story isn't as strong as previous games and has some unnecessary parts especially towards the end, but it's a tell about revenge, and there has never been one so sweet. God of War 3 plays like a dream, fluid controls, great new weapons and powers, some of the best boss fights ever, scale the dwarfs almost every other game made, and a hero who's journey finally comes to an end.

Red Dead Redemption. To be honest at first I hated this game. I don't like westerns, I'm not the biggest GTA fan, and the beginning bored me. But so many friends on my 360 kept playing it that I just pushed through and eventually I enjoyed it, A LOT. The world, like Mass Effect, just captures you. The multiplayer rocks, and the single trounces pretty much all the GTA's. The game looks phenomenal for an open world game, and it's just a joy to play.

After long and hard consideration I have come to a conclusion.

The winner of GAME OF THE YEAR 2010 is.

MASS EFFECT 2/ GOD OF WAR 3

These 2 games blew everything else away this year. Mass effect has the advantage of longevity, but God of War 3 is my type of game, a game that feels like playing a movie. Both of these games represent their consoles in the best light, and PS3 gamers should be honored to get their hands on Mass Effect 2 next month.

Enjoy the rest of your 2010, and do yourself a favor and play all the games mentioned on this list. Oh and get a PSP and buy all those amazing games.

[sdtarm]

agree except on FPS category, Ill say BF BC2 - Winner Runner Up: Halo Reach

and Kotick can go and fuk himself

[ABizzel1]

I can understand that. Here's my take on it.

Halo Reach- Good single player, very good multiplayer with by far the most options for a MP shooter this year.

Call of Duty- Surprisingly good single player, same old multiplayer with wager.

Battlefield- Decent Single player, very good multiplayer.

And to me single player is the most important. I like the time they put into the story, and the lore, and if it's done right it makes the game that much more special. Battlefield's multiplayer is amazing, but single player was meh, compared to the other 2.

[ISKREEM]

Very comprehensive list, well done.

Personally, my game of the year was Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, hands down. Being a huge fan of MGS3, the story for PW absolutely blew me away. It truly was "the missing link" in the Metal Gear saga. It reminded me exactly why I adored the franchise in the first place.

It also boasted the most content in a Metal Gear game to date, with hundreds of extra ops missions, 2-4 player co-op, a secret ending to the game, personnel management, you name it. This is one of the only games that i've sunk more hours into then most RPGs.

And then the graphics and controls, not once did I think to myself "if only I was playing this game on a PS3". I mean, sure, who wouldn't want to? But playing it on the PSP did not hurt my experience one bit, I was still completely immersed within the game. The boss fights were on a simply undeniable epic scale.

Now that I think about it, the game is much more then just a "game of the year" to me, it's one of my favourite games ever. Ranking alongside The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Metroid Prime, Fire Emblem, Twisted Metal: Black, Bionic Commando: Rearmed, LittleBigPlanet, and of course, Metal Gear Solid 1 & 3.

[ABizzel1]

I liked MGS a lot, but to be honest it's hard to put a handheld game over a console game simply because the handheld limits the games potential.

[slinky123456]

good job and well thought out... im with sdtarm though bfbc2 should be fps of the year, and i have to say RDR was a bit over rated to me so im glad you did not put that as goty. and so i mostly agree with you.

[ABizzel1]

I rated the FPS based on the overall package, and Halo Reach had everything. The single player was good, and online multiplayer was great, but the huge push for it was how much there was to the multiplayer.

Call of Duty, and Battlefield were neck and neck, but I think Call of Duty had a better single player than Battlefield, and ultimately that's why I came to that choice.

But yeah Battlefield is great.

[GLoRyKnoT]

The game of the year is Red Dead Redemption

Best Shooter BF Bad Company 2

Best Racing NFS Hot Pursuit

Best DLC Undead Nightmare

[BattleAxe]

Ah, so you don't own a PS3.

[GLoRyKnoT]

Yes i own a PS3 & will never buy a 360! Why would i want a console that is obviously for children & teens. Thanks

[trainsinrdr]

GOW 3 is the most overated ps3 exclusive in history its just a guy that goes around killing things without a proper storyline to back it up its just meet this new guy and kill him for the whole 8 hours of the game.
its a good game just way to overated.
but red dead redemption on the other hand has a proper storyline imo more satisfying gameplay and i dont normally consider multiplayer but its so fun to travel in gangs of cowboys and kill shit and its has so much support so its definitely my GOTY

[TheLastGuardian]

I clicked disagree as soon as you called GOW III overrated. I do agree with you about Red Dead though, GOTY for sure. God Of War is incredible, all 5 games, and the series has an amazing story. What more is there to say? They're epic games so play them.

[ABizzel1]

Personally I like God of War.

I like games like God of War, because they allow me to play through them, and be done and on to the next game, because other priorities won't let me sit down and play a long epic game unless I make time for it. God of War is in no way overrated.

It has very good gameplay (not the best, but it's perfect for what it is), it has a good story (especially considering the competition in it's genre), it has amazing production values (by far one of the best looking and most cinematic games this gen), it has great audio both voice work, dialog, and soundtrack. And when you have all of these things to me that makes you a great game.

[Z501]

Totally agree Merc_With_A_Mouth

My GOTY is Peace Walker.

[Ace_Man_6]

I saw Halo Reach get best FPS, I immediately lost interest in this list.

[Xwow2008]

huh...go back to BO.

on topic:great list :)

[Ace_Man_6]

Funny, I don't play shit games like Shit Ops, better insult please…

[never_waste_a_bullet]

I disagree with best shooter... I'd say BFBC2 not by much
and best sports game... I'd say MLB The Show by a lot

[ABizzel1]

Sports was hard, because I really don't care for sports games, but after playing their demos, I just couldn't help it. All the games are really good, and while I hate, career/franchise/or whatever you want to call it, mode in all of them I do like playing with friends, and their gameplay was on point.

FPS is easily going to be a preference, I was surprised by Halo Reach. I like the first Halo, and hated the 2nd, thought the 3rd was OK, and hated ODST. But Reach was surprisingly good, really good. Again to me it had the best single player of the nominees, and multiplayer just overwhelmed the others with all the options you have. And personally I like Sci-Fi/fictional shooters more than I do realistic ones.