Yes that is discussed, not disgust, for those our there who are outraged by the nominations or omissions.
On the 16th of November nominations for The Game Awards 2021 were announced, with voting to begin immediately. There were some very expected nominations and some very surprising (or not so surprising) omissions. I know gamers are a passionate bunch and some will strongly disagree, but being an art form it is all subjective, so no personal attacks.
That said, it doesn’t stop me or anyone else from giving my thoughts on it. As you might have guessed, I am going to go through each category of nominees, tell you who I would vote for, and discuss any games that potentially should be included/omitted.
*Disclaimer* Game personalities, mobile games, VR/AR, ongoing, community support and esports are not included. I have not included games for impact either having played none of them. Nor have I included performance because I think that is one for The Oscars myself. These are not my predictions.
Most Anticipated Game
Looking at this category, it honestly has the most mouth watering line-up. The Game Awards 2022 are going to be a real nail-biter to call. I’m hype for all of these games, as I’m sure most of you are too! For me, it is not a tough call. I am a massive Bethesda Game Studios fanboy and an Elder Scrolls nerd. Starfield is my most anticipated game and I would not make any changes to this list. Potentially could Halo feel hard done by not to be included? But I could not tell you who to swap it out for. If I had to (at the time of writing), I’d say Horizon Forbidden West but that is a personal preference and despite personal preference, would still give Horizon the nod at this moment in time.
Best Debut Indie
I agree with this selection. It is a tough category to call. I think if I’m back to a wall, I would select The Artful escape. It was a close call between that, Kena and Valheim too.
Best Multiplayer Game
It Takes Two gets it for me from this list. If I were Halo, I’d be gutted I’m missing the cut off for this, although not launching with co-op could have hurt its chances. Ask me about this category of games back in January, I would have laughed at you if you’d not said Back 4 Blood. Sadly, I think it under-delivered and underwhelmed many, including me. Notable absentees include Call of Duty: Vanguard, although I am not surprised. I think this is a pretty solid line up. The only one I personally would swap out is Knockout City. But for who…?
Best Sports/Racer
This is an interesting category. I mean Forza Horizon 5 definitely wins it! But I would have Forza Horizon 5 in with the main game of the year, but more on that later. Take out Forza Horizon 5 and it becomes a much tighter contest. Anyone who knows me, knows I’m a big football fan, (soccer for all the Americans out there) but I just can’t keep buying Fifa each year. They don’t improve each iteration enough for me. If we take Forza out of the running, who wins? Fifa? For me it would be F1 2021 but only if using a racing rig setup! I think MLB The Show can feel a little hard done by not getting onto the shortlist this year…
Best Sim/Strategy
I’m not massive on real-time strategy games myself. I used to love the OG Age of Empires, but would cheat and get the car that fired rockets every time. I would vote for Microsoft Flight Simulator, but technically it came out in 2020… I have no strong feelings either way on this, and am not sure who I might include instead, except perhaps Football Manager…
Best Family
I want to give this to It Takes Two again, not just because it is probably my personal Game of the Year, but Super Mario 3D World is a Wii U port, not a new game. Mario Party Superstars is slightly disappointing, on a personal level.
Best Fighting
I feel my opinion will be heavily controversial here, but my vote goes to Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl. All the fun of Super Smash Bros with some nostalgia infused Nickelodeon goodness. No debate needed here… Save it for the comments section.
Best Role Play Game
I love a good Western RPG. Sorry JRPG fans, but I’m just not massive on the anime games (exceptions made for Dragon Ball Z). Because of this, I’m going to cause some controversy again and say Cyberpunk. I know there were massive issues with this game but honestly, I never came across anything too severe myself and I was far too immersed in the game to notice littler things.(I was playing on Series X.) Although, if I could, I’d give this award to Skyrim Anniversary Edition lifting out any of the anime games in the category. Just my opinion guys, please no hate… Unless it is in the comments section.
Best Action/Adventure
This is a great selection, I’m honestly torn like Nathalie Imbruglia here. For me personally, I think it is a toss up between Ratchet & Clank and Guardian’s of the Galaxy. I think Returnal can definitely feel hard done by to not have made this category too. Based on current selection I would say Guardians of the Galaxy, just because they took a (in my opinion) less than good film and made a great game out of it. If Returnal was included in here though, that game would have won for me definitely. I don’t like Marvel… Fight me. Just kidding I’ll tear like wet paper.
Best Action Game
Another good selection here. The combat in Back 4 Blood is one of it’s strengths. Far Cry, is classic Far Cry, satisfying and fun – hasn’t really built or improved on anything though… Deathloop, very interesting. I would want to give it to that or Returnal but I think Chivalry II deserves it. If you look at the “focused primarily on combat” I don’t see how you can not give it to Chivalry.
Innovation in Accessibility
A tough one for me to call. What I think is super accessible for some, might not be so for others – particularly using access technology. But I think Forza Horizon 5 is very accessible. It’s inclusive in character selection, is developed with sim rig support and Xbox Adaptive controller support, providing settings for a very wide variety of race styles (arcade races, off-road, and road races). Would be interesting to see what others have to say about this section in the comments.
Best Indie
Despite all of these games being very good and very well received, I think it will surprise no one when I say, Death’s Door. It was a toss up for me between Death’s Door and Kena, but I think Death’s Door just clinches it by reminding me of old-school Zelda games.
Best Audio Design
Super solid shortlist here. I think Resident Evil or Returnal should take the award. I personally would give it to Returnal, because I prefer the setting and and am a bit of a horror game wimp. I do love the sound of the cars in Forza, but the narrators and radio stations are just blah! Take me back to the GTA San Andreas days when radio stations in cars were good. Segueing nicely into…
Best Score & Music
The artful escape. Music is most essential to that game by design, therefore is arguably most important to that game. I know music is important for atmosphere in almost all games but no particular track is essential to game design… Would be keen to hear more from music enthusiasts in the comments.
Best Art Direction
An interested one. If I am Death’s door or the Ascent, I’m pretty gutted I’m not making the short list. But I wouldn’t choose either of those to win. I think Ratchet & Clank wins it. Most of these are good contenders but if you look at the detail in the stylised artwork, in my opinion it is best in this game. I also really like the art in Kena, but Insomniac’s quality pulls through here.
Best Narrative
There are some great narrative driven games out there and looking at this list I wouldn’t swap out any of them. It’s such a close call for me. Deathloop or Psychonauts 2 I think are my finalists here. But I am going to give it to Psychonauts 2. It is such a brilliant idea for a game and, despite Arcane consistently delivering quality, Psychonauts 2’s narrative definitely shines through.
Best Game Direction
Deathloop. I think this is a pretty open shut case based on the short list and category. The game design is extremely innovative. For all those shouting it takes two, there are other similar games – A Way Out and Army of Two.
Game of the Year
Down the rabbit hole we go… Firstly, congratulations to all the nominees across all categories. All games on this list are fantastic games in their own right. From this selection, my personal Game Of The Year is It Takes Two. The Story, gameplay, level designs, attention to detail and value offering is top notch here! That said, the crowning turd in the waterpipe, Playground Games should feel robbed here. It is embarrassing that it has been omitted from the short list. You have to wonder why? Is it because it is a racing game?
Games should not be discriminated against based on genre. Forza Horizon 5 is so much more than just a racer. It spans the variants of racers and adds in a beautiful open world. This is not the first time it has happened to Forza Horizon either. In general, there should be come clarification from those who put the shortlists together as to what criteria they measure against, and the weight of each one. E.g., Gameplay(25%), storyline/narrative(25%), technical quality(25%) etc. In the sub categories they do make this clearer, but it would certainly help prevent such outrage and/or help us to understand why the highest rated new AAA game this year has not made the shortlist for Game Of The Year. In my opinion, it takes away from the credibility of the awards. A problem I’m sure Geoff Keighley will want to sort out if he truly wants to compete with The Oscars in terms of worldwide prestige.
What do you think? Who would win for you? I wanna hear if you agree disagree or think I’m just crazy in the comments.
