Game Of The Year Awards 2013

Oh yes, it's that time of the year again - the time when we assemble our slightly late Game of the Year awards! Tom H, Russell, Ben (and Joe) put their heads together to decide which games they thought were the best in each category:

Best Visual Design:

Tom: BioShock Infinite
For all the things you can moan about in BioShock Infinite, one thing it nailed was the presentation. From the opening moment the visual fidelity and realisation of the world is cranked up to eleven in a massive assault on your senses. Irrational have proudly continued the tradition of having the deepest and most insanely detailed environments in gaming.

'The deepest and most insanely detailed environments in gaming'

Russell: The Wolf Among Us

While being your typical Telltale Games sort of game, the simple graphics and the cell-shading really help to  make this match the vibe of the Fables comics. Normally that’d be quite a challenge to do, but the straightforward way everything is constructed lends itself well to the game, helping to keep things minimal without detracting from elsewhere in the game. In true Telltale fashion, The Wolf Among Us really is captivating, and the art style is a large part of that.

Ben: Shadowrun Returns

Shadowrun Returns is a cyberpunk RPG which is very reminiscent of old tabletop RPG’s in play-style, with turn based combat, team-building  and exploration of the local area. The true beauty of this game is in its visual design, however. Borrowing heavily from Blade Runner's neon-lit industrial look, it really feels like you’re in a futuristic downtown Seattle. The muted tones of the industrial setting illuminated by the neon lights of businesses is something rarely seen in games, and it does a brilliant job of defining different areas through visual clues. The art in this game is not only excellently-drawn, with great lighting, but it also serves to tell you about the area you’re in - its affluence, crime rates or customs can all be inferred from your surroundings, giving the game realistic depth.

'The muted tones of the industrial setting are illuminated by neon lights'

Best Sound Design:

Tom: Rising Storm
BioShock was a serious contender for this, but Rising Storm, the expansion for Red Orchestra 2, absolutely nailed the tone it was going for. It's loud, brutal and scary, exactly what you want from a World War Two game.

Best Soundtrack:

Tom: BioShock Infinite
Genius, in a word. Taking modern songs and retrofitting them into BioShock's world, changing their tone and style along the way, was a stroke of pure inspiration. Just listen to this and tell me you disagree. Their songs fit perfectly within the world they've created, which is rare in modern games.

Russell: Saints Row IV

While the soundtrack for Saints Row does feel a little like your typical sandbox collection of radio stations, it’s worth noting that there is a distinct tone to each of the stations that is well-judged, and is pretty consistent from song-to-song. The music is also used in key moments in the game to really give you a 'This is just awesome' kind of feeling, as long as you try to appreciate the game for the ridiculous antics it’s become known for.

'The music gives you a 'This is just awesome' kind of feeling'

Ben: Assassin's Creed IV: Pirates of the Caribbean

My iPod consists of approximately 25% game and film music, but there is only one game from this year that I’ve purchased the soundtrack for - Black flag. Yes, the main theme for Black Flag sounds very reminiscent of Hans Zimmer’s Pirates of the Caribbean theme, but this is no bad thing. Perfectly capturing the feeling of piracy on the high seas, the main theme uses authentic-sounding instruments to create a classic theme that makes combat come alive, truly making you feel like a captain as you manoeuvre between the larger warships of the ruling empires. The ambient music is also great - a gentle rhythm which stayed with me long after putting the game down. It really makes exploring the islands and towns feel that much more mysterious and uncharted. Of course the real reason this game gets my vote for soundtrack of 2013 is the sea shanties sung by the crew, which persuaded me to sail everywhere in the open world as opposed to fast travelling. They were a great addition to a great game.  

Best Written:

Tom: Gone Home
A moving, interesting story throughout. It hooked me for the duration of the game, and provided a satisfying and emotional ending. You don't see story-writing like this in a lot of films, let alone games.

Best DLC/Expansion:

Tom: Rising Storm
It takes Red Orchestra 2 and significantly changes it, as a proper expansion should do. It adds the Pacific conflict to the game, and in doing so makes a surprisingly balanced, exciting, intense experience. One of my favourite games of the year, let alone expansions.

'An exciting, intense experience'

Best Indie Game:

Tom: Spelunky (PC)
Jeez, this game is so good. Every time you play it's a different experience, and every time you play you learn more about the systems, and you improve. In the tradition of all good Roguelikes you die quickly and often, but each death teaches you something about how to survive for longer next time. Spelunky is the perfection of this idea, and the Daily Challenge feature is just the icing on the cake.

Best Strategy Game:

Tom: Europa Universalis IV
Big, slow, complex and difficult, EU IV doesn't scream brilliance to your normal bystander, but underneath its insane user interface it's something of a masterpiece - if you put effort into it, you get incredible results. It also nails the tone of its period, and the technological and political shifts of the time.

Best 'Action-Adventure' Game:

Russell: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag

The thing about Black Flag that really puts it to the top of this category is how they really nailed the feeling of being a pirate. Flying that black flag and just sailing wherever you please, taking what plunder you will. This is a game where it’s easy to get lost doing your own thing, finding your own adventure, yet there’s still a plot to drive you forward should you desire. All this alongside the traditional Assassin's Creed free-running mechanics, which allow you to take a break from the high seas and hop around the roof tops for a while instead.

'Flying that black flag and sailing wherever you please'

Best Roguelike:

Tom: Spelunky (PC)
Really good fun, very quick start-to-play ratio, and a compulsion curve which is off the charts. It's reasonably cheap as well, and the Daily Challenge gives a brilliant extra edge to the standard Roguelike formula.

'A compulsion curve which is off the charts'

Best First Person Shooter:

Tom: BioShock Infinite
The conflicts are weighty, quick and exciting, and never feel like a chore. A few rough boss battles aside, the combat flows nicely and is genuinely entertaining. The level and sound design also fit very well with the combat, and the interesting, complex story elevates it above the contenders.

Ben: Bioshock Infinite

While Infinite has been praised for its incredible story and its creation of an NPC who is a genuinely useful and compelling companion (a rare thing indeed), its game play is often overlooked. This is a real shame, as in this age of corridor shooters, Infinite really opens up the FPS world. Swinging from skyhooks while shooting rocket launchers, hand cannons and ravenous crows (because who didn’t use the “murder of crows” vigor?) is refreshingly fun, especially when other games (looking at you Battlefield 4 singleplayer) force you down linear grey corridors and rush you through cinematic yet completely uninvolving set-pieces. Infinite lets you make your own set pieces in the gung-ho fight for Colombia with the fluid first-person combat really adding to the sense that you're fighting in a city in the clouds.

Best 'Story-game':

Tom H: The Stanley Parable
A game which explores ideas of player agency, told in a very interesting way. It feels especially interesting in the current Triple-A climate, full of games which lead players around on a leash. There's a great script, it's frequently funny, and it rewards the player with extra dialogue throughout.

'A game which explores ideas of player agency, told in a very interesting way'

Best Story Generator:

Tom: Victoria II: Heart of Darkness
By the same studio as Europa Universalis, only this is set in the 19th and early 20th century, focusing on colonialism and great wars. When you look back at history there aren't many more interesting time periods than that, and Victoria II perfectly enables you to generate your own stories.

Best Time-Waster:

Tom: Pool Nation
On the one hand, it's pool... On the other hand, it has a myriad of different modes to play, including Killer, an endurance mode, a simple one point per-shot game, two types of proper pool and many many more. It's easy and fun to spend a few minutes of spare time in this game, an essential for a good time-waster.

'Easy and fun to spend a few minutes of spare time in'

Russell: Rogue Legacy

Roguelikes are always the best way to waste your time. Rogue Legacy takes that idea and adds in a little extra feature that makes you feel more invested in the game: every time your character dies, their heirs become your next character. You have control of a whole bloodline. This persistent element between playthroughs really does make you want to keep coming back for more, while each individual run can be cut exceedingly short, making it great for those quick gaming sessions.

Ben: Eldritch

Released on Steam in October, this indie game is a Lovecraftian rouguelike first-person adventure game, with its visual style effectively copy and pasted from Minecraft. While it has all the standard rouguelike tropes such as perma-death, loot collection and random level design, its real strength is in the swing from moments of heroic triumph to running for your life screaming at the monstrous un-killable blob that was waiting behind the door you just opened. It's these moments of Lovecraft-inspired terror that really kept me coming back, especially when combined with the random level generator making every new attempt feel different from the last.

'Swings from moments of heroic triumph to running for your life screaming'

Best Multiplayer Game:

Tom: Rising Storm
A game that rewards teamwork over individual skill, and as such a very rare multiplayer game indeed. Every match is exciting and generates unique moments of teamwork and heroism. A good community helps as well, where new players aren't immediately flamed when they make mistakes. It certainly helps that there are 31 other players on the team to blame when things go wrong.

Joe: FIFA 14
Ultimate Team, Ultimate Team, Ultimate Team... Ultimate Team. This mode has been in the game for years but I never got into it until FIFA 14. Rarely has a game mode consumed me to such an extent. The formula - play games, win coins, buy new players - is simple but incredibly moreish. At the time of writing I'm in recovery, but two or three weeks ago I was in the midst of a full-blown addiction. I played every night until my eyes drooped, and during the day all I could think of was playing again that evening. I was checking the Ultimate Team section of Reddit every chance I got, just for my fix. If you own FIFA and enjoy playing it with friends, occasionally against the computer when you're bored (ah, this used to be me!), please don't make the mistake I did. There's no 'fun' there for me any more, no real 'enjoyment'. Do not start playing Ultimate Team. There's no way back.

'Play games, win coins, buy players - simple but incredibly moreish'

Russell: Grand Theft Auto V

GTA:V really does something impressive with the massive game world that Rockstar made. You can jump in with up to 16 friends at a moment’s notice and have access to the whole game world to do whatever the hell you want. You can go skydiving, racing, golfing, play some tennis, just hang out, or even complete some classic GTA-style missions. There’s a plethora of pre-made missions and activities for you to take part in and have fun with, or you can just set up some of your own. We’re also anxiously waiting to see how these upcoming heist missions play out. 

Ben: Hawken (Beta)

The only multiplayer game that stands out as being enjoyable, and has routinely kept me coming back for more, is Hawken. It's a free-to-play game that pits two teams of players against each other, piloting different classes of mechs (I started playing this just after Pacific Rim, when I was on mech hype). While it does have in-game currency that you can purchase, I never found myself wanting to buy, it or finding that not buying it was slowing my progress. Spending real money does unlock new mechs faster than unlocking them through acquiring experience, but in practice this makes very little difference, as the mechs are well-balanced (the very first mech you acquire is a very useful all-rounder). A fast-paced multiplayer game with jump-jet equipped mechs, Hawken is well worth a trial run.

'A fast-paced multiplayer game with jump-jet equipped mechs'

And The Winner Is... Bioshock Infinite 

Beautiful, exciting, engaging, thought-provoking, brilliant. It's not a perfect game by any stretch of the imagination, but in an industry dominated by safe, boring sequels it's a well-needed breath of fresh air. The combat is exciting, the visuals are incredible, the sound is fantastic and the story is challenging to the player. A truly fantastic experience - exactly what a game should be.

Game of the Year 2013