BD Games Awards 2010

[Haly]

Meant to do this earlier in the month but it's been exceptionally busy here. Not sure how many gamers are still about but here's the questions from last year

So *drumroll*:
what is your favourite game that has come out this year?
Your favourite single player gaming experience.
Favourite multiplayer gaming experience.
Your biggest letdown of the year, be it a game, hardware or some innovation that disappointed you.
Your surprise of the year, again be it game or hardware.
The game or future innovation you're looking forward to in 2011.
For the 360ers amongst us: your Arcade game of the year, and for the PS3ers your PSN game of the year.
And anything else you fancy bunging in

For those who want to cut and paste:

Your game of the year:
Single player gaming experience of the year:
Multiplayer gaming experience of the year:
Biggest Letdown of the year:
Surprise of the year:
Game or gaming innovation you're most excited about for 2011:

Xbox Live Arcade game of the year:
PSN game of the year:




Write as much or as little as you want but a bit of reasoning as to your answers always makes these things more interesting

Last year's thread was here: http://www.boat-drinks.co.uk/showthread.php?p=332648 and 2008's http://www.boat-drinks.co.uk/showthread.php?t=10073

[Streeteh]

Your game of the year: Heavy Rain
Single player gaming experience of the year: Heavy Rain
Multiplayer gaming experience of the year: Demon's Souls
Biggest Letdown of the year: Final Fantasy XIII
Surprise of the year: Enslaved
Game or gaming innovation you're most excited about for 2011: Uncharted 3

Xbox Live Arcade game of the year: Limbo
PSN game of the year: Final Fantasy VIII (well, it was released on the PSN this year )

I doubt Heavy Rain will be a popular choice. For me it had on the whole good voice acting, a good script, an interesting storyline, excellent graphics and (probably most importantly for me) it's an attempt at brining something new to gaming. Again i hightly doubt Demon's Souls to be a popular choice for multiplayer gaming, but i thought the system was incredibly clever. Little touches like leaving messages for passers by removed the typical confusion with difficulty curves in certain areas, in my second playthrough the words 'a black phantom has invaded' were something i was terrified of. Also, the way in which blue phantoms would almost always willingly throw themselves at some of the strongest of enemies in order to protect your mortal form was just fantastic and the sense of satisfaction when you aided a player into completing a particularly difficult level was unrivalled.

[NokkonWud]

Your game of the year: Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 gets it for the constant rushes that you get either in the very good Single Player game or the exquisite MP game where no two games are alike. The title added Onslaught mode and then Vietnam, offered numerous map packs for free and everything oozed quality, at no point in the game did I feel any shortcuts were taken. Stunning sequel that bettered the first in every way.

Single player gaming experience of the year: Halo: Reach
Halo: Reach is just a stunning game with almost no faults, but its the SP where it shines, a campaign that lives up to the epic example set by the first title, Combat Evolved, back in 2001. Fantastic balancing, great AI, excellent graphics, it's hard really to criticise, but it's the Solo Legendary run where it just came into its own, the challenge and reward ratio was just about as good as it gets.

Multiplayer gaming experience of the year: Battlefield: Bad Company 2
Based purely on the fact that it's never the same game twice, and that when the bullets start flying, buildings start falling and dust starts rising, it never fails to offer an intensity unmatched by any other game.

Biggest Letdown of the year: Heavy Rain
voice work on a major game this generation. Poor character representation. Story loopholes. Character loopholes. Awful scripting. A step backwards from Fahrenheit in terms of game style. Lack of freedom through character decisions. No emotion. Control's become more limiting as the game progresses and in the end, remove themselves from the immersion, after all, why press one button when eight will do? Character animation is at times ropey. Characters look soulless. Music was generic fare, but lacked editing resulting in it just stopping suddenly by cutting out. Sound effects lacked sound balancing. It's all over the place.

Outside of some pretty environments (some aren't so pretty) I really find it hard to give this game any credit whatsoever. The best thing this game did was include a piece of paper to create an Origami swap with instructions as the game installed.

Not just the worst game this year, but probably my least favourite exclusive this generation. If you're gonna try and make a game about human decision and emotional consequences, then you have to get a very limited array of things absolutely spot on, not only were they not, but they were probably the most flawed things about it all. I wouldn't recommend to my worst enemy.

Surprise of the year: Enslaved
Probably the greatest showing of main protagonists in a game this generation. Perfect voice work, incredible facial animations and a real sense of emotion and as a result there genuine compassion for them. It's rare I play a game and feel anything when a character gets killed, this absolutely nailed it probably better than any game I can think of. I just wish Ninja Theory were behind Heavy Rain, we'd have had something really special then.

Game or gaming innovation you're most excited about for 2011: Dead Space 2
There are loads, so I've gone for the first big one and the sequel the the best survival game of this generation, and for me, since Silent Hill 2.

Xbox Live Arcade game of the year: Super Meat Boy
Never bought the full release because I was busy with other, immersive games at the time, but played the demo, then played it again, then perfected it, then perfected dark world... you see where this is going...

PSN game of the year: Joe Danger
Outside of replaying the games bundled in the 3D pack for PS3 (which includes SSHD, one of the best games on the PS3) I'd have to go with Joe Danger. It's comparison to Trials HD is unfair, it's more comparitive to the old Tony Hawks games with multipliers compred to the precision and speed of completion in Trials. Hello Games did a good job with it.

[Del Lardo]

Your game of the year: Red Dead Redemption. Simple really, I'm not one for playing multiplayer games and have struggled to find a game that I could loose myself in for ages. Modern games (well the types that I play) seem to be so focussed on the online element that the single player parts take so little time to complete (Call of Duty series anyone?) that paying £40 makes me want to punch someone. Forza 3 came close but the lack of tracks really let it down. Not since Gran Turismo 3 on the PS2 have I been so engaged with a game that I would spend every non working waking hour sat infront of a console playing a game and enjoying myself even when it came to mundane tasks like picking flowers I was not alone, Mrs DL was equally addicted as were a number of my friends and these were people who probably spent more time on RDR than they had done on a console ever.

Single player gaming experience of the year: Red Dead, simples

Multiplayer gaming experience of the year: None

Biggest Letdown of the year: erm, I can't even remember what it was called, first person shooty/adventure game. You're Captain of a space ship and have to work with mercenaries to complete missions, I think some of them looked like giant walking fish. Anyway, it bored the **** outta me.

Surprise of the year: You might spot a theme here, Red Dead

Game or gaming innovation you're most excited about for 2011: I'm actually intrigued to see what happens with the mobile platforms. Games like Angry Birds have shown that you can make a lot of money with a relatively simple game that harks back to my Acorn & Atari childhood as it's all about the gameplay. I also had a play with the NFS series on an iPad t'other day and it was really good fun, nothing serious but what gaming needs to be for me, fun!

[Dymetrie]

Your game of the year: Has to be Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas, became hooked on Fallout 3 earlier this year and New Vegas just seems slightly more polished. Have clocked up over 100 hours playing the pair (much to Mrs Dym's dismay!) which is a lot of game time for me. Plus, it's a game which I can run at high settings on my decrepit old X64 system

Single player gaming experience of the year: I've gone back to the classics this year and a chance find in a charity shop catapulted me back to 2001 and the joy of Halo: Combat Evolved. So simple and easy to play, but with an excellent storyline and some challenging levels. Now on the lookout for Halo 2 and after that I may go round to my brother's house with the rest of the series and make use of his eggbox

Multiplayer gaming experience of the year: I suck at games, so multiplayer games are not normally something I'll be found playing. Other than Eve I've not really played many multiplayers, certainly not for long, over the past few years. However, on Christmas Eve, me and Mrs Dym bought ourselves a Wii and she's loving it. It's the first time I've managed to get her playing anything outside of popcap games, so it's been a good investment. We only have sports and Rayman, so far, but to be able to play games with the missus (albeit she's not that agile at the moment) has made me smile.

Biggest Letdown of the year: The installer on Call of Duty (the original). It was bobbins and really pissed me off (multiple swapping of CDs and then I had to reinstall it twice to get the damn game to work!). Thanks EA, you spoilt my (initial) enjoyment of the game

Surprise of the year: Wii Fit Plus (does that count as a game?). Picked up the Wii Fit bundle primarily as Mrs Dym was interested in using it to get back in shape after Little Miss Dym arrives, but I've started the fitness exercises and have been finding it really useful, and a bit challenging (I cannot balance on one leg ). I defintiely didn't think it'd be something that I'd really get involved in, how wrong was I!?

Game or gaming innovation you're most excited about for 2011: Still waiting for Half Life 2: Episode 3... And, of course, finding more games which incorporate the Balance Board

[Pickers]

I've not done a lot of gaming this year at all, so this is going to be heavily limited in experience, but I'm currently in procrastination overdrive, so this will prove a nice diversion!

Your game of the year: Red Dead Redemption
Id like to spend mre time playing it, but Ive not been able to really!

Single player gaming experience of the year: Mass Effect 2
Im hooked on this! I've gone through the first game a few times over now, and now I'm going through ME2 for a second time.

Multiplayer gaming experience of the year: Red Dead Redemption
Its about the only thing I've played online this year!

Biggest Letdown of the year: Bioshock 2
I bought this second hand, and have failed to be gripped by it, instead I spent my time on red dead redemption and ME2


Surprise of the year: Learning about Fable III and Fallout New Vegas - came out of the blue to me!

Game or gaming innovation you're most excited about for 2011: If I have time, it will have to be Mass Effect 3.

Xbox Live Arcade game of the year: N/A

[Creature]

Your game of the year: Rock Band 3, surely? Nope, Final Fantasy 13.

I've never played a FF game before, not even the highly recommended FF7, which as a JRPG fan, should be a bit of a shock. The story, the graphics, the gameplay are all just incredible, only Lost Odyssey has provided such a good story. There are a lot of games that leave me feeling a bit 'meh' at the end as I feel there could be more, but not with this, everything felt wrapped up and explained. Only runied by that **** bag Abooie finishing it first.

Single player gaming experience of the year: Rock Band 3 (keyboard)

Obviously, I could choose FF13, but I don't like picking the same game twice. FF was my GOTY for the story and the presentation, but as a game playing experience, it's much like most other turn-based RPG's.

The most fun with a game i've had this year is with Rock Band 3, but only with the keyboard. As much as I love the game, playing plastic guitar for 5 years becomes a bit easy after a while. The introduction of the keyboard has re-introduced the challenge, and completely and utterly destroyed me. It provides a challenge whilst still being immensely fun, especially in pro mode. And yes, i'm back down to medium to start the progression all over again.

Multiplayer gaming experience of the year: None, I haven't played anything multiplayer wise to my knowledge all year.

Biggest Letdown of the year: Red Dead Redemtion

It's going to be huge! It's going to be amazing! It's going to be boring as hell. I don't normally bow down to hype, but I was caught out by this. I knew it'd be GTA: Wild West, but I still went ahead with it. After a few hours, I felt like I was wrong, but then it just became the same drag that GTA does and just slowly destroyed my spirit.

Surprise of the year: MagnaCarta 2

Yes it's a 2009 release, but I didn't play it till this year. The only new games I played in 2010 were either poor, or were as I expected. MC2 is the first RPG I completed, which was the main suprise for me as I usually don't complete games as long as this. It also drew me in more than I thought, and I think I completed it in not much more that a week, quite good when you consider it took me 60 hours.

Game or gaming innovation you're most excited about for 2011:

In all honesty, I have no idea what's happening in 2011

Xbox Live Arcade game of the year: Doritos: Crash Course

It has to be D:CC, simply because it's the only one i've played. It's fun and challenging, mostly in an enjoyable way. However, it can be incredibly frustrating, which is upsetting.

PSN game of the year: Not played any.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yea, I played a lot in 2010 =/

[Aboobie]

Originally Posted by Creature

Only runied by that **** bag Abooie finishing it first.

Glad to oblige


Your game of the year: Mass Effect 2

Single player gaming experience of the year: Mass Effect 2 ~ Unparalleled; maybe my game of the generation.

Multiplayer gaming experience of the year: Halo Reach (which I played for 2 days)

Biggest Letdown of the year: Red Dead Redemption ~ Really wanted to love this and did for 5 or so hours but the typical rockstar pacing killed it for me. I might give it another go one day though.

Surprise of the year: Final Fantasy XIII ~ In a good way. I played it for 3 hours earlier in the year on the PS3 and got bored but after being persuaded by Creature I gave it another go on the 360 and fell in love. 1k'ed it as well a day before him and he's still not forgiven me :P I can't pick Kinect as I knew it would be as amazing as it is.

Game or gaming innovation you're most excited about for 2011: Kinects 2nd year titles.

Xbox Live Arcade game of the year: Limbo with Costume Quest in 2nd.

PSN game of the year: Haven't bought one since Flower.

[Goose]

Your game of the year: Red Dead Redemption

I love this game, I really do. I can still pick it up, play for hours and not be bored.

Single player gaming experience of the year: Mass Effect 2

Loved the story, loved the feel and loved the looks. Really competing with Red Dead Redemption for my game of the year (pretty much a coin toss).

Biggest Letdown of the year: Fable 3

Is it me, or is it distinctly worse than Fable 2?

Surprise of the year: Limbo

Picked it up as I liked the style, and fell in love with it.

Game or gaming innovation you're most excited about for 2011: Gears of War 3

Is it autumn yet?

Xbox Live Arcade game of the year: Limbo

Purely for the spider bit, the rest was a nice plus. My partner doesn't like spiders. She wasn't a fan.

[Jingo]

I've not really bought many games this year (and I'm not sure on release dates but this is my personal review of the last 12 months!



Your favourite single player gaming experience:
Call of Duty: Black Ops (360) / Pokemon Fire Red (Android). The former was highly anticipated and entertaining with an immersive storyline. The latter provides great entertainment on the move with great updates.

Favourite multiplayer gaming experience:
Battlefield Bad Company 2 (PC): Nice change to the COD format - requires teamworking, tactical play and you can shoot down helicopters into buildings that explode!!! /excitable child.

Your biggest letdown of the year:
APB: All Points Bulletin (PC). So much potential yet so utterly buggy and flawed that it closed within 3 months.

Your surprise of the year, again be it game or hardware:
Doritos Crash Course (360). Most would expect free games to be absolute parp, so it was truly a pleasant suprise to find many hours of competative, entertaining and light humoured arcadia for the princely sum of SQUAT!

The game or future innovation you're looking forward to in 2011.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution / Portal 2. I'm not overly excited about anything but these two raised an eyebrow... It would cause more excitement if Kinnect was retrospectively incorporated into more games/further immersive environmental technology were to be released- who knows?!

Arcade game of the year:
Limbo! / Toy Soldiers. Superb styling and gameplay principless on both of these titles; be careful - they'll absorb your time, but leave you with a smile and yearning for more!