Post by R¥UÐØ™ on Jan 5, 2006 18:33:16 GMT -5
Ohooo! Hell people! I Ryudo(again alone...) will be delivering the top games of 05. I will also be handing out the worst of 05. Its gonna hurt but someone has to do it...
Special Acheivements
Part I
Best Original Music
God of War
God of War's music boasts no fewer than five different composers, and yet the game still manages to provide a cohesive soundtrack assembled with the same care and precision you would expect from an Oscar-caliber movie like Gladiator. The power of God of War's music is that in every moment, from the softer ballads to the epic main theme, the quality is consistent and is above and beyond anything we've heard in video games this year. While many other aspects of God of War's gameplay contribute to the overall presentation, the music leaves an indelible impression because it is so appropriate, so thematic, and so good.
Most Surprisingly Good Game
Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks
Shaolin Monks isn't nearly the best game of the year. Heck, it's not even the best game on this list. But it's a good game, and when you compare that fact against the towering, mountainous odds set forth by its pedigree, you can't help but be impressed. To explain this contrast, we have to look all the way back to late 1997, starting with the Mortal Kombat series' first foray into action gaming with a middling side-scroller called Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero, which was followed up in 2000 with the absolutely horrid MK Special Forces. Needless to say, prospects for future Mortal Kombat action games were not good.
So when Shaolin Monks was announced earlier this year, we feared the worst--not least of all because Paradox, the developer of the abysmal Backyard Wrestling series, was behind it. But Paradox proved us wrong by delivering an entirely solid two-player beat-'em-up with nostalgic hooks, a bunch of playable characters, and even Mortal Kombat II as an unlockable. Kudos, Paradox.
Best Licensed Music
Project Gotham Racing 3
After the outstanding soundtrack to Project Gotham Racing 2, it's somewhat surprising that the soundtrack to Project Gotham Racing 3 is smaller than that of the previous game: It features 90 tracks to PGR2's almost 250. What it loses in sheer numbers, though, it makes up in variety; whether you're a fan of classical music, electronica (two kinds!), alt-rock, bhangra, hard rock, hip-hop, or even J-pop, you're going to find something to suit you here. The intuitive and easy-to-use music controls let you flip between songs and genres in the middle of a race as well, without ever having to enter the pause menu.
Best Story
Indigo Prophecy
Waking up to find yourself on the floor of a public restroom is a bad enough scenario; doing so with blood-soaked hands and the corpse of a complete stranger beneath you is quite something else. This very thing happens to Lucas Kane, the protagonist of this year's best story. Indigo Prophecy is a mixture of horror and science fiction themes that does an excellent job of keeping you guessing throughout the adventure. You spend the bulk of the game trying to find out what has happened to Lucas, why he has killed this complete stranger, and what he can do to stop it from happening again. Lucas is a richly written character, filled with completely believable emotions and reactions, but you don't get to play only as Lucas. You also get to play as the pair of detectives investigating Lucas' crime, giving you a multilayered gameplay perspective that basically pits two sides against each other for much of the game. Indigo Prophecy really does play out like some kind of an interactive movie, and it feels like it could have just as easily been another Hollywood thriller. We're thankful that such a great story could be brought so effectively to the gaming medium.
Best Sound Effects
Condemned: Criminal Origins
The bone-crushing sound effects of Condemned are as thrilling as they are haunting. While this year offered many fantastic-sounding games, Condemned took sound effects in gaming to a whole new level by featuring some sickeningly real noises to go with all its savage weapons, ranging from two-by-fours to sledgehammers. Even the simple sound of glass breaking is enough to make you flinch here. We had to wonder how exactly the makers of this game managed to make the sound of guys getting hit in the face with pipes sound so real, but regardless, we'll long remember Condemned as the best-sounding game of 2005.
Best Graphics
F.E.A.R.
Aside from this unusual shooter's fantastic artificial intelligence and its distinctive, horror-themed premise, F.E.A.R. offers plenty of visual fireworks. The game features a "slow motion" ability that lets your character slow time, and in this mode, you can see exploding grenades warp the air around them while the bullets and sparks fly. In fact, even though the game has good character models and animation, F.E.A.R.'s particle effects for its explosions and gunfire add a special kind of intensity to the game that you'd normally expect to see in a Hollywood action movie. When bullets start flying, sparks erupt from gun barrels and clouds of dust and shards of glass get kicked up from the environments. Perhaps no other shooter has had such spectacular firefights, which is why F.E.A.R. takes this highly coveted award.
Best Voice Acting
Psychonauts
Although you wouldn't recognize the names of any of the main voice actors in Psychonauts, save perhaps Armin Shimerman in a late-game role, they do a uniformly great job of bringing the weird world of the game to life. Whether you're talking about psychic kids, paranoid government agents, or the mighty Kochamara, the actors in Psychonauts managed to bring together a wide variety of characters and make them all believable, not to mention laugh-out-loud funny. (Stealing children's brains is good.)
Best A.I.
F.E.A.R.
Your typical opponent in a typical first-person shooter will kind of stand there and shoot at you. If you're lucky, your opponent might duck behind some cover. In F.E.A.R., the bad guys will knock tables and bookshelves over for cover and pin you down while a buddy runs up and tosses a grenade at you. Or they'll leap down from a ledge and flank you. Or they'll sneak behind you and shoot you in the back while you're busy fighting other soldiers. These guys are smart, tough, and ruthless, and they're the best AI soldiers we've ever battled, which is why F.E.A.R. features the best artificial intelligence of the year.
Best Budget Game
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved
The other games in this category all hover around the $20 mark--exactly what you'd expect to pay for a "budget" game. But don't think that Geometry Wars won by default just because it will scarcely set you back $5. The game offers a frenetic and infinitely replayable action experience that's equal parts Asteroids and Robotron, and it does it with eye-searing high-definition graphics that take advantage of the Xbox 360's graphical muscle in colorfully impressive fashion. If that weren't enough, Geometry Wars has more gameplay depth hidden below the surface than you'd expect on first glance. Throw in a worldwide Xbox Live leaderboard that lets you track your best performance against everybody else's, and you've got a game that will remain enjoyable a long, long time after you've gotten your money's worth.
Best New Character
Harman Smith, Killer 7
Words can't properly describe the experience of playing all the way through Killer7, a game that's purposely incoherent at times, because at the center of the game is an assassin with multiple personalities--basically, he's crazy. But he sure is a compelling character. He's witty and confident, and yet he defies virtually all conventions of what constitutes a typical hero, between being wheelchair-bound and, well, being a killer. When you finally reach the mind-blowing conclusion of the game, many questions about Harman Smith are answered, but many more are raised, cementing this uniquely unusual protagonist as one of the most memorable video game characters we've ever met.
Biggest News
San Andreas Turns AO
With two platform launches (PSP, Xbox 360) and two next-gen console unveiling (PlayStation 3, Revolution), 2005 was a HUGE year for game news. However, the one story which had the biggest impact on games regardless of platform was the massive fallout from the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas sex-mini-game scandal.
When the "Hot Coffee" sex mini-game was first found inside the PC version of San Andreas, released in June, Rockstar Games' parent company Take-Two dismissed it modders' unauthorized tinkering of code. However when the offending minigames were found inside an unalterable, first edition of the original PlayStation 2 game, the Entertainment Software Ratings Board found itself backed into a corner. Unable to dodge the oncoming avalanche of media invective and public outrage, it slapped San Andreas with a retroactive AO for Adults only rating, the kiss of death at retail.
While Take-Two paid a hefty price in the form of the top-selling San Andreas being pulled from most store shelves, the scandal had serious implications for the industry as a whole. It made games a convenient political whipping boy, as evidenced by a series of state laws restricting game sales. It also prompted federal action in the form of the Family Entertainment Protection Act, co-sponsored by Democratic U.S. Senators Hillary Clinton and Joe Liebermann.
If passed, the Family Entertainment Protection will make it a federal crime to sell M-rated titles to minors, regulating game sales along the same lines as cigarettes, alcohol, and pornography. If that comes to pass, the effects of Hot Coffee will be felt not just in 2005 and 2006, but five, 10, or 20 years down the road.
Special Acheivements
Part I
Best Original Music
God of War
God of War's music boasts no fewer than five different composers, and yet the game still manages to provide a cohesive soundtrack assembled with the same care and precision you would expect from an Oscar-caliber movie like Gladiator. The power of God of War's music is that in every moment, from the softer ballads to the epic main theme, the quality is consistent and is above and beyond anything we've heard in video games this year. While many other aspects of God of War's gameplay contribute to the overall presentation, the music leaves an indelible impression because it is so appropriate, so thematic, and so good.
Most Surprisingly Good Game
Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks
Shaolin Monks isn't nearly the best game of the year. Heck, it's not even the best game on this list. But it's a good game, and when you compare that fact against the towering, mountainous odds set forth by its pedigree, you can't help but be impressed. To explain this contrast, we have to look all the way back to late 1997, starting with the Mortal Kombat series' first foray into action gaming with a middling side-scroller called Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero, which was followed up in 2000 with the absolutely horrid MK Special Forces. Needless to say, prospects for future Mortal Kombat action games were not good.
So when Shaolin Monks was announced earlier this year, we feared the worst--not least of all because Paradox, the developer of the abysmal Backyard Wrestling series, was behind it. But Paradox proved us wrong by delivering an entirely solid two-player beat-'em-up with nostalgic hooks, a bunch of playable characters, and even Mortal Kombat II as an unlockable. Kudos, Paradox.
Best Licensed Music
Project Gotham Racing 3
After the outstanding soundtrack to Project Gotham Racing 2, it's somewhat surprising that the soundtrack to Project Gotham Racing 3 is smaller than that of the previous game: It features 90 tracks to PGR2's almost 250. What it loses in sheer numbers, though, it makes up in variety; whether you're a fan of classical music, electronica (two kinds!), alt-rock, bhangra, hard rock, hip-hop, or even J-pop, you're going to find something to suit you here. The intuitive and easy-to-use music controls let you flip between songs and genres in the middle of a race as well, without ever having to enter the pause menu.
Best Story
Indigo Prophecy
Waking up to find yourself on the floor of a public restroom is a bad enough scenario; doing so with blood-soaked hands and the corpse of a complete stranger beneath you is quite something else. This very thing happens to Lucas Kane, the protagonist of this year's best story. Indigo Prophecy is a mixture of horror and science fiction themes that does an excellent job of keeping you guessing throughout the adventure. You spend the bulk of the game trying to find out what has happened to Lucas, why he has killed this complete stranger, and what he can do to stop it from happening again. Lucas is a richly written character, filled with completely believable emotions and reactions, but you don't get to play only as Lucas. You also get to play as the pair of detectives investigating Lucas' crime, giving you a multilayered gameplay perspective that basically pits two sides against each other for much of the game. Indigo Prophecy really does play out like some kind of an interactive movie, and it feels like it could have just as easily been another Hollywood thriller. We're thankful that such a great story could be brought so effectively to the gaming medium.
Best Sound Effects
Condemned: Criminal Origins
The bone-crushing sound effects of Condemned are as thrilling as they are haunting. While this year offered many fantastic-sounding games, Condemned took sound effects in gaming to a whole new level by featuring some sickeningly real noises to go with all its savage weapons, ranging from two-by-fours to sledgehammers. Even the simple sound of glass breaking is enough to make you flinch here. We had to wonder how exactly the makers of this game managed to make the sound of guys getting hit in the face with pipes sound so real, but regardless, we'll long remember Condemned as the best-sounding game of 2005.
Best Graphics
F.E.A.R.
Aside from this unusual shooter's fantastic artificial intelligence and its distinctive, horror-themed premise, F.E.A.R. offers plenty of visual fireworks. The game features a "slow motion" ability that lets your character slow time, and in this mode, you can see exploding grenades warp the air around them while the bullets and sparks fly. In fact, even though the game has good character models and animation, F.E.A.R.'s particle effects for its explosions and gunfire add a special kind of intensity to the game that you'd normally expect to see in a Hollywood action movie. When bullets start flying, sparks erupt from gun barrels and clouds of dust and shards of glass get kicked up from the environments. Perhaps no other shooter has had such spectacular firefights, which is why F.E.A.R. takes this highly coveted award.
Best Voice Acting
Psychonauts
Although you wouldn't recognize the names of any of the main voice actors in Psychonauts, save perhaps Armin Shimerman in a late-game role, they do a uniformly great job of bringing the weird world of the game to life. Whether you're talking about psychic kids, paranoid government agents, or the mighty Kochamara, the actors in Psychonauts managed to bring together a wide variety of characters and make them all believable, not to mention laugh-out-loud funny. (Stealing children's brains is good.)
Best A.I.
F.E.A.R.
Your typical opponent in a typical first-person shooter will kind of stand there and shoot at you. If you're lucky, your opponent might duck behind some cover. In F.E.A.R., the bad guys will knock tables and bookshelves over for cover and pin you down while a buddy runs up and tosses a grenade at you. Or they'll leap down from a ledge and flank you. Or they'll sneak behind you and shoot you in the back while you're busy fighting other soldiers. These guys are smart, tough, and ruthless, and they're the best AI soldiers we've ever battled, which is why F.E.A.R. features the best artificial intelligence of the year.
Best Budget Game
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved
The other games in this category all hover around the $20 mark--exactly what you'd expect to pay for a "budget" game. But don't think that Geometry Wars won by default just because it will scarcely set you back $5. The game offers a frenetic and infinitely replayable action experience that's equal parts Asteroids and Robotron, and it does it with eye-searing high-definition graphics that take advantage of the Xbox 360's graphical muscle in colorfully impressive fashion. If that weren't enough, Geometry Wars has more gameplay depth hidden below the surface than you'd expect on first glance. Throw in a worldwide Xbox Live leaderboard that lets you track your best performance against everybody else's, and you've got a game that will remain enjoyable a long, long time after you've gotten your money's worth.
Best New Character
Harman Smith, Killer 7
Words can't properly describe the experience of playing all the way through Killer7, a game that's purposely incoherent at times, because at the center of the game is an assassin with multiple personalities--basically, he's crazy. But he sure is a compelling character. He's witty and confident, and yet he defies virtually all conventions of what constitutes a typical hero, between being wheelchair-bound and, well, being a killer. When you finally reach the mind-blowing conclusion of the game, many questions about Harman Smith are answered, but many more are raised, cementing this uniquely unusual protagonist as one of the most memorable video game characters we've ever met.
Biggest News
San Andreas Turns AO
With two platform launches (PSP, Xbox 360) and two next-gen console unveiling (PlayStation 3, Revolution), 2005 was a HUGE year for game news. However, the one story which had the biggest impact on games regardless of platform was the massive fallout from the Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas sex-mini-game scandal.
When the "Hot Coffee" sex mini-game was first found inside the PC version of San Andreas, released in June, Rockstar Games' parent company Take-Two dismissed it modders' unauthorized tinkering of code. However when the offending minigames were found inside an unalterable, first edition of the original PlayStation 2 game, the Entertainment Software Ratings Board found itself backed into a corner. Unable to dodge the oncoming avalanche of media invective and public outrage, it slapped San Andreas with a retroactive AO for Adults only rating, the kiss of death at retail.
While Take-Two paid a hefty price in the form of the top-selling San Andreas being pulled from most store shelves, the scandal had serious implications for the industry as a whole. It made games a convenient political whipping boy, as evidenced by a series of state laws restricting game sales. It also prompted federal action in the form of the Family Entertainment Protection Act, co-sponsored by Democratic U.S. Senators Hillary Clinton and Joe Liebermann.
If passed, the Family Entertainment Protection will make it a federal crime to sell M-rated titles to minors, regulating game sales along the same lines as cigarettes, alcohol, and pornography. If that comes to pass, the effects of Hot Coffee will be felt not just in 2005 and 2006, but five, 10, or 20 years down the road.