Batman Arkham Asylum wins BAFTA Game Of The Year 2009

A lot of games recieved well recieved recognition tonight at the Bafta's, although nothing compares to recieving the covented 'Game of The Year' award – Batman Arkham Asylum prevailed tonight recieving this award while up against such AAA tiles as:

* Assassin's Creed II

* Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

* FIFA 10

* Left 4 Dead 2

* Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

[Greywulf]

http://n4g.com/NewsCom-4945...

But in all fairness.. UC2's won 4 bafta awards tonight.. I agree that BATMAN:AA is definitely GOTY quality, but without the online, UC2 takes the edge as a "GAME" of the year. Sure as hell isn't Left 4 Dead 2, or uh MW2 considering the competition. AC2 was pretty good I hear as well, but never played.

[RememberThe357]

Well played.

[-Alpha]

It's all about the quality of the SP: Arkham Asylum doesn't need MP for it to beat out UC2 so I'm not sure what you are trying to get at GreyWulf.

I am pretty sure MP was won by MW2 by many of these guys awarding UC2 with awards (unfortunately)

@Grey below

Whoa, calm down. Wasn't trying to antagonize you. I was talking about how some groups awarded MW2 for MP. My point was regarding your AA comment about not having online. UC2 has been getting recognition for the SP: sure it may get nominated for MP but AA wouldn't win if it had MP as MP is not a needed component for SP games.

All these SP games lately are adding MP for longevity but it's not needed, though it's well appreciated. I strongly doubt that AA2 would ever get recognized for MP the same way UC2 has been receiving most of its awards for the SP. Best story, sound, visuals, etc are are factors from the SP.

[Greywulf]

I said Batman AA is a great GOTY, but if you're looking at an overall game of the year - You have to include the game part. Which is online, UC1 was struck down for not having online. As are many titles when it comes review time, should be no different for an entire package of a game of the year, Its definitely edged out by UC2. If thats your measuring stick that you use to remove points from a title.

I say Batman AA is GOTY, and you're trying to find something spurious with what I said? I'm just glad I enjoyed them both. Gamers & Developers gave UC2 GOTY because they rate a game as an overall product\package. Without online, even though Batman was amazing, it still lacks & I bet Batman 2 will have online to increase the playability, Just like Bioshock did. Although at the time, no one cared Bioshock was lacking online because it wasn't being used as an excuse to mark down PS3 games, it was definitely tacked on for the sequel. I doubt it will make a difference for the game since it was overall mediocre, where as Batman was firing on all cylinders. Sound/Graphics/Controls/Presen tation were all some of the best any have seen in a multiplatform game in a long time. Multiplatform games are generally garbage, which is why you only see the generic repeats(maddens/mw's) of the world ever getting nominated. Rocksteady did an amazing job with batman. Its gameplay would have definitely matched up with an online mode for sure. With the leaderboards & challenges its not like it wasn't on their mind.

[PaLaK-]

This game is just amazing! I finished all the challenges to 3 batarangs and finished the game twice - on normal 1st and then hard for the 100% platinum trophy which is the same as 1000g/1000g for you xbox owners. Uncharted 2 was just immense, but I feel this was definitely a worthy winner and that Rocksteady deserve an award of this calibre for finally creating a good superhero game! Bring on Arkham Asylum 2! PS check this out if you haven't already http://www.arkhamhasmoved.c...

[maniacmayhem]

Warden Samuel Norton: What? What did you call me?

Andy Dufresne: Obtuse. Is it deliberate?

Warden Samuel Norton: Son, you're forgetting yourself.

[Cheeseknight28]

GDC also gave Scribblenauts Handheld of the Year. Their opinion doesn't matter to me at all after that.

[Tony P]

My first thought after reading the headline was: "Seriously?"

But hey, nothing against the game. It deserves recognition.

[MazzingerZ]

Batman AA is not GOTY, far from that, it reaches the same level Bioshock did, great potential and gam designe but all the backtracking tuntin into a "almost here" game...althoúgh Bioshock is a way better game

Seriously, you neeed to not to have played Killzone 2, InFAMOUS and Uncharted 2 to think Batman AA can be GOTY....all of them SONY exclusives and has nothing to do with fanboyism...those games are easily better than Batman AA...horrible animation in cut scenes...the Unreal Engine "quality" is obvious

[raztad]

Still have to play Batman:AA. After GoW3 I'm slowing down my game purchases, my backlog has got big enough to keep me entertained for a while, however Batman:AA is a must play. Got to give it a try at some point.

[MazzingerZ]

@raztad
I played Batman AA after Uncharted 2 and Heavy Rain and it just felt so average "good" game

[Christopher]

Could have guessed that considering it's a UK-based company that developed the game. Great game, but I wouldn't put it ahead of U2.

[sid4gamerfreak]

Batman AA is an awesome game! It deserves GOTY

[RememberThe357]

Uncharted 2 has had so much sun blown up it's ass (and deservedly so) that it's time for one of 2009's other great games to get the nod.

[TheTwelve]

Arkham is definitely a great game, no doubt. It falls short to Uncharted 2 due to lack of level/scenery variety and lack of enemy variety but if Uncharted 2 didn't come out last year, this game would be getting all the awards.

12

P.S. I just wish they made such a quality game for Iron Man.

[ExPresident]

I'm fine with all the "sun blown up it's ass" because it deserves it. Nothing wrong with that.

[Nevers]

what it feels like to have the "sun blown up your ass".

That is an amazing string of words... I'm stealing them.

[Biggest]

It sounds unsavory to me. But I am glad for this game. I haven't been surprised by the quality of many games. Usually what it seems like, based off of random assumptions and past ventures, is what it is. Batman changed that perception for me. Great game. I can't wait for the second.

[GR8 1]

Well deserved award for Batman Arkham Asylum.

[cyborg6971]

Love this game. Close call for 09 that's for sure, well at least if your a ps3 owner that is.

[AliTheBrit19]

Much deserved.

FANTASTIC game, was such a treat, I didn't expect it to be that good, but it turned out to be in the top 3 of 2009 for me.

[Cold 2000]

Played the demo, didnt see what was so great about it. Maybe should give it a 2nd try.

[The Wood]

i was really surprised by this game AND the unreal engine...It proved to me that it still had life in it. The effort put into the game was also apparent. I suppose its fitting that a british award ceremony gives goty to a british developers game...Only the harshest people would grudge that even though i, along with many others, felt uncharted was the better game and total package. My only issue with batman AA was that i didnt get to actually see all of the scenery properly as i was using the goggles like 80% of the time. Either way well done to all the award winners. Did anybody see how much money MW2 generated on sky news earlier. Its up there with avatar the movie....Gaming is big business.....our business

[Pozzle]

I'd definitely consider giving B:AA a second try. The demo had so much cut from the full game, it feels completely different from the get-go.

[user858621]

Well deserved game, nobody expected a batman game to be this amazing

1st The Dark Knight, then Arkham Asylum

batman my hats off to you xD

[AliTheBrit19]

Damn, there sure is some amazing British Developers

off the top of my head...

Media Molecule

Lionhead Stuidos

Rocksteady Studios

Rockstar North

Criterion Games

Codemasters

The Creative Assembly

Probably missing loads of great ones off too :)

[Killjoy3000]

Codemasters has pretty inconsistent work, but you did miss Studio Liverpool and Evolution Studios.

Though there are many great British developers, I definitely don't think they're at the the top. They face some pretty tough competition.

America
- Naughty Dog
- Santa Monica Studios
- Insomniac Games
- Sucker Punch
- Infinity Ward
- Bethesda
- Bioware
- Zipper Interactive
- Bungie
- Valve

I'm not saying America's developers are better, nor am I making the inference that you were trying to strike up a debate over which countries have the best developers. I'm rather striking up a question that should lead into a discussion that I haven't yet seen brought up - which country do you guys feel has the best developers? I'm really curious.

As for Japan, well, they're simply the best. Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil 4, Gran Turismo, Shadow of The Colossus, Ico, Legend of Zelda, and Mario are all landmark achievements in the gaming industry.

[NeoBasch]

Naturally, I prefer American devs, because they're often overlooked. Everyone thinks Japan has all the class and swagger, but I personally think the American style is just as good or better. For instance, I can't help but marvel at the art from such games as God of War III, Uncharted 2, Mass Effect 2, and Splinter Cell. Please tell me I'm not the only one that falls for the majestic and visceral (how I would define much of America's prevalent cinema).

[AliTheBrit19]

Yeah, US has some great devs too

But I guess I'll always be bias ;)

As always though, you got to look at my country and the fact that it could fit in your state of Florida

and be amazed at all it has accomplished, and still to this day accomplishes, it is always at the front of quality in every aspect of life :)

[Killjoy3000]

I completely agree. This generation, I prefer the work of the American developers far more because we are the ones that are truly melding a cinematic experience with a videogame. This point is no more prevalent when taking into account just what has been produced over the past couple years. (Uncharted, Mass Effect, God of War 3,)

While other developers from other nations rely on more contextual or movie-like means of telling a story, Heavy Rain and Metal Gear Solid 4 respectively, American developers are taking that same experience and are seamlessly intertwining it with the gameplay, narrative, and even the character development all at once. Uncharted 2 proves this.

BTW, Splinter Cell is from Ubisoft and is developed by a French studio.

[Killjoy3000]

I can totally respect that. Not much good has come out of the Americans either.

- Modern Warfare 2
- Xbox 360
- Guitar Hero

To sum it up, America is a the forefront of the casual gaming market, which I feel is destroying our industry.

Those are just three that set me off.

(Sorry if I offended any fans of the Xbox brand name. There was no illl intentions in my comment, I just don't like Xbox very much. I'm not an Xbox hater, I just far prefer the other companies, just to clear things up.)

However, I do believe it was the Americans who invented online gaming if I'm not mistaken. And if I am, the Xbox did popularize online gaming on a console, even if Playstation 2 had it first.

[NeoBasch]

Whoa, would've never guessed. I'm loving Splinter Cell's art. Always have. Feels so American. Not that I'm an all for American kind of guy. I actually don't like our nation anymore than the next person's. I just love the art style. Very similar in ways to Splinter Cell's. Other examples would be games like Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, BioShock, inFAMOUS, and Dead Space. Like WOW!

[NeoBasch]

My second favorite game of '09. Game is full of win, and, if it couldn't be Uncharted 2, I would've awarded Arkham Asylum as well. Easy choice. Though, I did enjoy Uncharted 2's SP more than Arkham's. However, I thought Arkham Asylum had better direction. Fine line indeed. :D

Anybody whom hasn't played AA yet, do so NOW! You will not be disappointed.

[CorporateClown]

Agreed. Although Uncharted 2 was goty in my book, if I had a second choice it would definitely be AA. As a lifelong Batman fan, getting the platinum trophy was just a little extra special!

[2FootYard]

I still have yet to play this.

[ballsofsteel]

i'm happy i absolutely loved batman AA felt it was the freshest game we've seen in a while. I never quite understod UC2 to be honest.don get me wrong i think the game is fun but GOTY quality? MW2 and L4d2 shouldn't even have been nominated. AC2 was great but didn't exactly change from the first one

[dtalon3]

I agree with you all the way up to AC2 being not much different from the first one. AC2 is leaps and bounds better than the original. what makes you say that?

[ballsofsteel]

while i agree AC2 is easily better then the first one the reason is because it fixes that flaws of the first one but doesn't add anything really new to the mix. The hole economy system isn't really important cause eventually you earn so much money that there isn't even enough things to spend on it. the much touted flying machine really has no place in the game. as i said before i still love AC2 but imo its more of what the first one should have been rather than a full squeal. you mentioned below you felt uncharted 2 was more of a step in the right direction and thats kinda how i fell about AC2. but again love the game and eagerly awaiting AC3

[dtalon3]

Finally this game got an award it deserved. Sorry people for this game to come out of left field with such greatness in all areas of the game (gameplay, visuals, original story, length of game, and voice acting)especially considering how poor previous attempts at a batman game went, I think it deserves game of the year. Uncharted should undoubtedly win many many other sub categories but considering it is a sequel and just a really good step forward from the original uncharted I feel that the originality of batman arkham asylum wins out at the end of the day.

[Biggest]

Thanks for how you feel. Can people that don't matter PLEASE stop telling us how you feel in relation to something that wins awards? Batman won an award. Good for Batman. That is where it ends. Unless you are a voting member of a serious gaming entity that hands out awards. . . YOU DON'T MATTER!

I am not directing all of that at you, by the way. It's spill over from the many other posts of the same vein.

[HoofHearted]

That's like the Oscars giving away a video game award. BAFTA is supposed to be about the film and television industry.

Weird