9 Games more deserving of Game of the Year than The Last of Us

GameZone writes, "Don't get us wrong, The Last of Us is a great game. It's emotional, tense, and visually gorgeous. But out of all the games we've played this year, there are nine game more deserving of the "Game of the Year" award."

[Hatsune-Miku]

no game is more deserving than tlou for goty.

we can all prefer a lot of other games but tlou deserves it because everything about this game is done in high quality and pushed the ps3s tech to its limits to achieve it. indie games and other games with smaller budgets can be game of the year but most games often are strong in one area but lacking in others.

the last of us immerses the player in its world better than most games that ever existed and it introduced new techniques and ideas never seen before in video games. i cant really think of one area tlou was weak in using the technology available on ps3.

[MONKEYDLUFFY]

"New techinques and ideas"...just no. I told myself I'd respect peoples opinion if they enjoyed the TLOU experience.
But it introduced absolutely nothing new.
Name one game mechanic never seen before.

[brbobcat]

I don't think it had any "new" mechanics, but the way Naughty Dog blended everything together was an amazing experience. Sometimes you don't need a new mechanic, you just need a new way of incorporating it into a game.

[xHeavYx]

No game is more deserving than any other game (except Aliens:Colonial Marines, that's a POS) but this "journalist" made some poor choices

[Metallox]

@xHeaVyx Now, every single game mentioned (except Dark Souls because it's not a 2013) deserve the nonexistent award. Those games are full of quality, and definitely aren't poor choices.

[Kleptic]

i've yet to play TLOU...but from every source i trust in the gaming media (read: all 3 of them)...they said it takes relatively known mechanics and blends them together in a way never done before...layered with story telling that tops even uncharted as a series...

to monkey: that is fundamentally a new 'technique and idea'...a game is never its individual parts, its the sum of them...

[themiracle]

better yet

how about you name one game mechanic from any of your other goty's, or maybe just any game at all, that was 'never seen before'.

my feeling is that nothing is created in a vacuum, and that all games rely upon, and build upon existing gameplay mechanics..

further, I thought that lastofus really put together an interesting set of gameplay mechanics that did, in total, create a unique gameplay experience.. for me at least, perhaps moreso than any other game I played this year..

your turn.

[Rimeskeem]

Sometimes it's not about bringing something new to the table but bringing something that's the same but raises the bar much higher and shows what the genre is truly capable of

[plaZeHD]

Easy, in-game crafting.

[morganfell]

@MONKEY

You do not see people trying to invent new ways of playing football. You just see some that can play the game like an artist. They have that perfect yet impossible to duplicate blend of all the essential elements required to succeed, the same that are available to others, yet they take those abilities and elevate them to something more. There is an indefinable quality to their play that not only cause them to stand out but also chnages the game for viewers.

The same can be said for Naughty Dog and The Last of Us. It isn't that they introduced new game play, but they made us look at every effort, every walk in an abandoned building, every encounter in a different light. They blended the pallet of game features, mechanics, and story telling as only an artist can. Our gaming hobby and in many cases our lives are richer for it.

Try as they might, these continual articles do fail to see that by not trying to reinvent the gaming football but rather approaching it in a different light, ND have indeed changed the game for all time.

[scott182]

I think in TLoU there are a lot of "New techinques and ideas" in multiplayer.

Most games that people clam re invented the wheel, did not at all, including Halo. But they did everything they did better than the other games before it in their genre, and deserve the high praise they get, and generally get a lot of haters. TLoU is no exception.

[dedicatedtogamers]

I can't think of a game that does so many things well, compared to TLoU. Mind you, 2013 was an amazing year. Metro Last Light had wonderful graphics. FF Awakening had phenomenal characters and battles. SMT4 was a great return-to-form for the SMT series. Starbound was great. KZ Mercenary and Tearaway were quite surprisingly good. Etc etc.

But TLoU just does...everything really well. It's the complete package. Even the "throwaway" online mode is very well done and it's very fun and unique. It's Game of the Year because I can't think of any game that does everything better than TLoU.

[Ezz2013]

so what i took from this topic is that the dude is angry that most gamers and sites have different opinion than him ...is that it ?!

people have different opinions than you
get over it and move on
it's not "the end of the world" for you

[RVanner_]

It enhanced and perfected every mechanic, it was flawless. That's why it deserves it.

[sobotz]

that's just your opinion, not everybody think the same as you

[erathaol]

He didn't even bother to list some of the incredible indie games that came out in 2013. Dark Souls?! Really guy?

[MysticStrummer]

Dark Souls was my GotY when it came out, but it definitely shouldn't be on this list.

GTA5 was great, but it was simply more of the same GTA we've been playing for years, just bigger and prettier, and in my opinion wasted some potentially great characters on a potentially great story that turned out to be merely ok. Online is fun but gets old pretty fast.

The only other game on this list that anyone I know has played is Bioshock:Infinite, and I got two wildly different opinions from the two people I know that played it… One thought it was a candidate for best game of all time, and the other found it so boring that he traded it in without finishing it.

TLoU is definitely my GotY. The story is cool and well told with well acted characters, the gameplay was fun and tense, and the visuals were amazing for hardware getting toward the end of it's lifespan.

I'd put Walking Dead and Journey above any of these listed games, but like I said I haven't played most of them and never will.

All of the above are merely opinions.

[Magicite]

I absolutely ROFLed @ Bit.Trip Presents Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien deserving GOTY more than The Last of Us.

[gillri]

TLOU is my GOTY but boy Zelda A Link between Worlds pushed it for my top spot

I also loved Gone Home and Metro Last Light

[PX54]

@Hatsune-Mike
"the last of us immerses the player in its world better than most games that ever existed and it introduced new techniques and ideas never seen before in video games. i cant really think of one area tlou was weak in using the technology available on ps3"

As much as i like the game, the main area where it fell down for me (and caused loss of immersion) was the AI interaction with each other.
I remember going through a level full of clickers, and the two AI characters following me were making all sorts of noises, running about and even bumping into the clickers but none of them were reacting to them. To be honest I was expecting much smarter AI, both allies and enemies.

[Gamefan12]

You know it was done on purpose right? They had it better but you can not control the others and it became impossible to really play

[mobijoker]

Though Nintendo's games are always overlooked and ignored by Western award givers...to say these many games bettered TLoU this year is a blasphemy...The game is absolutely brilliant...only GTA V awes that much this year....

But if you seek signs of new innovations, you will not get any in TLoU....It didn't invent anything but brought old mechanics to their maximum limits...

If one has to award GoTY for new things, no big releases boast them...you've to look at indie games for those things....

[come_bom]

"9 Games more deserving of Game of the Year than The Last of Us"

This article is not going to go well with Sony fanboys.

[FPSRUSSIA]

Good list but none of them deserve it more then Last of us

[Metallox]

Why? What is your criterion? Your opinion? Great... People don't understand that this thing of the "GOTY" it's just an opinion, a very respectable one, but not for that I wouldn't deny that other games can deserve such an award, too.

[MONKEYDLUFFY]

Zelda yes. Mario maybe. Fire emblem...no(I love fire emblem but awakening is not goty material) Pokemon: NO just no. Everything else I haven't played

[thegent]

Fire emblem is the only game that I played in the past couple years hat I wanted to play the campaign again right after beating it. I definitely have no desire to play tlou again, however I have put nore houra into tlou than any other online game ive playes rececently

[MONKEYDLUFFY]

Have you played any other Fire Emblems? I think the Radiant games are better but thats just my opinion.

[brbobcat]

It's a respectable list. GTA 5 (maybe) could top it but only because of the scope. Both games had wonderfully created characters, but I got bored of GTA 5.

[DaveFleming]

GTA V is the only game on there worthy of challenging The Last of Us.

[Neonridr]

Your GOTY is whatever YOU want it to be. Don't let anyone else tell you differently.

TLOU is not the GOTY in my mind, because I haven't played it. So how can it be a GOTY to me? You could tell me till you are blue in the face that one game "deserves" GOTY however your interpretation of a great game might be completely different than mine.

Pick your favorite, and be happy with that. If your game happens to be picked by other people, then great, if not, then so what.

So many people up in arms if someone says that TLOU doesn't deserve it. I remember how many people were crying when Gamespot gave it to Zelda. It's all based on opinion anyways. Everyone is entitled to their own, but that doesn't mean that it's correct.

[Kayant]

Well said.

I don't why people are acting out like it's law for it to be everyone's GOTY. We can all agree it's a great game (Have yet too play it though :() whether or not it is GOTY is up the individual's preference.

[Moncole]

Seriously. People make like there can only be one GOTY and its not an opinion.

[mamotte]

Well said. I played The world Ends With You until this year... and it's my GOTY.

[danny818]

this is mostly Nintendo content. although some games were fun the last of us deserves game of the generation.

[deafdani]

I respectfuly disagree. It isn't even close to GOTY for me, let alone game of the entire generation.

That said, yes; The Last of Us is a superb game.

[danny818]

Everyone has their own opinion. I guess cuz it was one of the last games i played and ended up playing it 3 2 times on different difficulty. I left the generation with a great taste with that game. Bioshock was good too but didnt captivate me at the end like tlou did

[MysticStrummer]

Personally, either Demon's Souls or Dark Souls would be my Game of the Generation, and maybe even Best Game of all Time. Right now I'm thinking Demon's Souls, but I may change my mind later, and then change it again, and again, and again…

; )

[Hicken]

And what IS close, dani? What games are ahead of TLOU, in your opinion? Likewise, what games are ahead of it for being the best of the generation?

TLOU IS superb, and it's that level of greatness that makes it a candidate for GOTY. But the way you talk- and this author, for that matter- The Last of Us is hardly worth mentioning. At best, you might be able to put three or four games in front of it, and even then not by much.

But tenth in the running? HA!

[deafdani]

@danny: of course it's all a matter of opinions. I made it very clear that it was my own personal opinion, after all. :)

@hicken: for me, GTAV, Mario 3D World, and Wonderful 101 are better games than The Last of Us.

As for the whole generation... damn. Uncharted 2, Uncharted 3, the Mass Effect Trilogy, GTAIV, Zelda Twilight Princess, Mario Galaxy 2, Xenoblade Chronicles, Motorstorm Pacific Rift, Saints Row 2, Saints Row 3 and God of War 3 are some of my favorite games of this past generation, and all of these are games that I enjoyed more than Last of Us, for various reasons.

Again: The Last of Us is a great game. It's just not among the top games of the past generation for me. High production values and a superb narrative (because yes, TLOU's narrative, in my opinion, is second to none) just aren't enough for me; GAMEPLAY-wise, there are a lot of games that are far superior in that criteria... and, generally speaking, gameplay is a much more important factor for videogames than narrative, for me.

I hope I make my point clear here. I don't necessarily agree with this article, and Last of Us is definitely a noteworthy game, and one of the best produced games of the whole generation, and I can perfectly understand why it may be the GOTY for many people... just not me.

I enjoyed it quite a lot, still, and it's only the second game I managed to play to completion with my wife (Heavy Rain being the first), and nothing will change that. :)

[Hicken]

No offense, but that list of yours is kinda poop.

W101 was good, for example, but it had quite a few of those "glaring flaws" you'd say kept Red Dead from being GOTY when it released. Likewise with GTAV, whose online was utterly broken at launch and still isn't fully functional. And Mario is... Mario.

And your GOTG list is populated with plenty of games that were lacking in many areas. GTAIV, the most overrated game of the past generation; Mass Effect 3 was a lackluster ending to a trilogy that was going downhill as a result of losing its identity- with 2 being more shooter than RPG, and 3 continuing that; Uncharted 3, while good, didn't surpass the bar set by Uncharted 2; Pacific Rift was fun, but far from GOTY, let along GOTG; Saints Row 2 and 3? Really?

Which flaws were there in TLOU's gameplay? The intentionally bad shooting that you can improve? The AI companions made to not be seen by the enemy so they wouldn't screw things up because of how complicated that would have made things? There weren't a lot of flaws in the game at all, certainly less than most of the games you would list before it. And the presentation is superb.

It might be my GOTY this year, though I sadly didn't get to play a whole lot. My GOTG goes to Journey. But to say The Last of Us is barely in the running is pure madness.

[for we are many]

Totally agree with you Deafani, SM3DW, GTA V and W101 are better "games" in my opinion.

[gedden7]

Why am I not surprised that 4 out of the 9 games are Nintendo Games... Nintendo gets the credit they deserves, Why you ask...?? Well they don't pay for it like other companies do.

[DCfan]

LOL, your conclusion is mind boggingly stupid.

[gedden7]

How many doom articles have you read/seen about Nintendo? Countless, but Nintendo as a company always has LARGE profit margins?? How's this possible?? MS hasn't hasn't made any profits from the xbox brand yet.. Operating in 2 billion in losses.

YES THE XBOX MAKES A TON OF SELLS BUT FROM MS JUST THROWING MONEY @ DEVS AND 3RD PARTIES AND ADVERTISING THEY HAVE LOST $2 BILLION IN SELLS. I would think that would very NEWS worthy NOPE and no where to be seen. But you see how great the xbone is and great these new un-played games are, from mostly damage control style articles. Where do you think that comes from? MS themselves as they try to promote their machine. It takes a lot of money to dismiss and promote news year around right???? Nintendo doesn't care about that, they just want to make the best games out there.

Best games meaning FUN games. Thats what games are supposed to be FUN not movies or immature crude jokes with violence. FUN! Thats all they care about. Meaning any sense?? What two games kept winning game of the year??? The last of us and GTA V...

Both games are good, well one is boring, immature, violent and GLITCHED to HELL and the other suffers from very poor AI and is basically just a good story. The game that were on this list that Nintendo made is mostly great and VERY "FUN" to play.

Not so stupid now I bet...

[DCfan]

I don't agree on the goty prize crap since its basically goes to the most popular game.

And i agree that both games suck hard. but nintendo games suck too since they're the same with each iteration.

[gedden7]

Nevermind.. I really think gamers get dumber and dumber

[DCfan]

They're the same people who get sucked into a game if the marketing is loud enough.

[kindi_boy]

Lost me at Pokemon X&Y

[kB0]

Here it comes.

More anger, more raging.

Either way a stupid article. Pokemon x/y? Just no...Yes it's an awesome step forward, but we've seen it since late 90s. Pokemon games no longer deserve an award or even a score. They are like the simpsons, they are just there.

Dark souls wasn't even released in 2013. So stupid choice.

Bioshock was awesome, but not GOTY worthy.

GTA 5 I can see it being Goty and even Fire emblem.

The rest...been there done that.

I'm not saying they are crap games, far from. I loved the Super Mario World game...same goes with Link 2 the past...but seriously it's been done for both of them.

Bit trip runner 2? Ok guys you need to distinguish between addictive and fun, and a game that defines the year. That's what GOTY means. The game stands out and sets it's mark for the year. Like Red Dead did, when it came out EVERYONE knew the game and were crazy about it.

[deafdani]

So, you are saying that GOTY should be the most popular game, then? In that case, Call of Duty would win almost every year.

And I honestly think that Red Dead Redemption is grossly overrated. Yes, it's a good game, but that's it. It has so many glaring flaws, I couldn't even consider it for GOTY.

[WeAreLegion]

I don't think that's what he's saying. He's just saying that it should do something different; set a new standard.

Journey and The Walking Dead weren't multi-million sellers until they won all those GOTY awards, deservedly. Journey changed the way we think about multi-player and each playthrough was different for every gamer. The Walking Dead changed interactive drama and episodic content in the industry. (Though Telltale had tried and failed many times before. Lol.)

[kB0]

@WeAreLegion

Thank You, you are correct:)

[JohnnyTower]

Saying some games are better than others encourages discrimination and leads to hate. Lets learn to love all of our games. Except alien marines of course.

[MooseyXTC]

No Revengeance?

Dark Souls which was a 2012 game?

Why did I give these people a page-view, goddammit.

[sags79]

That's why sometimes you read the comments first, to check if there controversialy-named articles are nothing more than flamebait :)

[Grave]

Dark Souls !! Yes! Hahaha.

Still praising the sun in '13 yo!

[BlackPrince 42]

All GameZone articles should come with this qualification:

"From the website that scored Tony Hawk's Ride higher than Uncharted 2."

[Geobros]

I saw 9 great games there, 2013 was a nice year for gamers. GOTY is very objective though.

[DanielGearSolid]

GOTY is an opinion... so you cant really definitively say one is more deserving than another

[kB0]

That is simply not true...

[WeAreLegion]

Ya know... I have played the crap out of some 3DS titles this year. They were some of the best games I've played in a long time.

But... Not a single one of them came close to The Last of Us. Nowhere close. GTA V and Beyond: Two Souls were my ties for second place though. I also had Tearaway and Bioshock: Infinite tied for third. Lol.

Zelda, Super Mario 3D World, and Rayman: Legends are all very fun games. Don't get me wrong. Fun is an important aspect of any entertainment medium. That's why I had Pacific Rim as my second favorite film of the year. However, if I can have both fun and an engaging story that will stay with me long after the credits roll...then, I'm going to come back to it.

Fun does sometimes win out for me though. Wario Ware: Smooth Moves was easily the most fun you could have gaming last generation. It convinced me to get a Wii.

[listenkids]

"I know -- Dark Souls definitely didn't come out in 2013. But I got it in 2013."

Pretty much explains the article worth.

[Reeze]

I love Pokemon and am almost done with X, but I don't think it should be game of the year simply because it's all the exact same formula we've been getting for decades. If Pokemon Plus and Minus are true, however... I would consider THAT for GOTY.

Great job to TLOU and all the other nominees!

[N2NOther]

Click bait. I clicked. I'm ashamed.

[TheGrimReaper0011]

Some are also worthy GOTY title
Pokemon though?
Rayman Legends? I mean, it was really fun, but it felt like Rayman Origins 1.5
Bit Trip Runner 2? Again, pretty fun, but GOTY?
But thet fact that we get all these different opinions shows that we had some great games 2013
Here's hoping the same for 2014

[KontryBoy706]

Now do a new article titled "MANY games more deserving of GOTY than GTA V or GTA IV during its time"

[KingKevo]

I can get some of the pics, especially if you prefer certain genres, like Pokémon, Mario and Zelda, but I'd be really really curious why people think BioShock is such a great game. I liked it, but it is not outstanding overall (and the ending is good, also because it manages to ignore other major flaws of the gameplay and the plot). I'd also like to hear why exactly GTA, which is fantastic, would deserve it that much more.

The author's arguments do not seem very convincing and 'deep', as he'd like to say.

[MWH]

if one of those games is the game of the year, then this list will have Last of Us listed, it's an endless loop.

the game deserves it, deal with it.

[MasterofMagnetism]

Everyone has their own opinion but The Last of Us is definitely my GOTY.

[ziggurcat]

half of those games don't even come close, and one of them didn't even come out in 2013...

[Visiblemarc]

Bit trip Runner 2 is better than TLOU?...

That's the well past the line that says that GOTY is subjective.

TLOU obviously deserved the wins it received, despite there being other contenders worthy of consideration.

That said, I'm growing a deep hatred for "gaming journalism" and have come to expect that more than 50% of articles are absolutely devoid of journalistic merit and are rather clickbait editorial pieces featuring opinions that are not worth sharing and are possibly not even truly the opinion of the author. (Think: "This will get people talking about my article! I'll be the next Greg Miller!")

[MegaSackman]

However.

[goldwyncq]

There's really no such thing as an absolute GOTY - it all differs from one person to another. With that said, IMO The Last of Us deserved GOTY since it was the most technically astonishing and polished game released last year.

[SneakyDoo]

Strongly disagree, GTA V was the most astonishing just from the scope alone. The lighting is beautiful, and the environment felt real with NPC's comporting in realistic behaviors. The game was very polished too for its size (single player.)

[SixtyNine]

I don't believe in 'game of the year' 'cause I don't have any favourites.

But this guy thinks there are more games more deserving of the title than the Last of Us?:O Quickly! Take him down, he must be a troll . . . ehehe.

[SixtyNine]

Oopsy double post

[whyisthehorsestaring]

Personally for me, the last of us is the best game I've ever played.

[corvusmd]

Only 9? Last of Us was good, but only deserves "most overrated game of the year"...it's like everyone that says it's the best game ever hasn't played any other games or something.

Side note...the gif they used for GTA5 is HILLARIOUS!!! There are AT LEAST 4 games on this list that I have no idea how anyone can argue that LoU was better and more original. Any arguments otherwise are just pure fanboyism.

[Relientk77]

BioShock Infinite
Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

[fatstarr]

people consider this movie a game?

[kevnb]

what is game of the year? its not some official generally accepted fact, its a persons or a group of peoples favorite game that year. That being said, who cares? Everyone could have sim city as their goty for all I care.

[LAWSON72]

I would not say more deserving there are plenty of great titles this year and TLOU is among them.

[JackieCruise69]

Oh nooo, opinions.
Don't say anything against TLOU being lower than anything unless you wanna get chewed out. :/

[Germaximus]

I agree with the sentiment, but that list of nine games more deserving is ridiculous, especially the #1 spot. There's not a single game on that list of nine that deserves it more than TLOU. The least you could have done was actually pick out better games.

[NeoTribe]

Tlou wont be everyones favorite. It just happens to be the majoritys favorite. Thus crowning it goty by most known gaming sites And individuals.

[Tdmd]

Bit.Trip Runner 2?! Wtf? Trolling much?

[for we are many]

SM3DW, GTA V, ALBW are better "games" than TLOU in my opinion. TLOU is great but somewhat overrated.

[oIITSBIIo]

I agree .

TLOU wasn't that good it is an over rated game .

Bioshock I is way better - Dues Ex HR DC - Metro LL ... etc .

[LAWSON72]

Deus Ex HR came out in like 2011, a stupid rerelease should not win GOTY over TLOU.

[SneakyDoo]

jeez! People on this site are such sony fanboys. Where's the huge statue of Crash Bandicoot you guys worship? I wanna take a picture of it! What happens if I bring a microsoft fanboy here? Will you guys crucify him? Haha, no joke, but everyone on this craphole website is overly melodramatic towards games like TLOU and BioShock. "Oh jeepers! Elizabeth felt like a real person talking to me!" Grow a pair, outside of that, the game is so linear and repetitive. It's creative, i get it, but by gameplay- it's just another FPS. Shoot here, shoot there. I'm gonna get so many disagrees out of people being butthurt.