WorstUsernameEver
But best title ever!
As January has passed, the RPG-centric GameBanshee and RPGWatch have whipped out their own "Game of the Year 2010" awards.
GameBanshee chooses Fallout: New Vegas as their RPG of the Year, with these motivations:<blockquote> Following the RPG Hybrid of the Year win by a shooter with RPG elements comes an RPG with shooter combat for our RPG of the Year. Ignoring its shooter combat for a moment, it is clear throughout this title that Obsidian was striving to bring back as much of Fallout's core PnP sensibilities as they reasonably could.
Some of these additions are rather tepid, such as the addition of a “hardcore mode” (a strong idea that fell short in execution), but the title goes well beyond that by offering a solid character system and presenting us with many opportunities to use various skills to resolve missions.
More than any Fallout before it, New Vegas is a faction-driven game, and it does this exceedingly well. While perhaps lacking in moral ambiguity, it does seek to avoid clearly offering right and wrong choices, and offers four major faction paths to make sure the player can find an option he is comfortable with. The factions, major or minor, are generally believable and well-written, and are at the core of what makes this game tick.
And we’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Vault 11 is really awesome. </blockquote> The game is also runner-up for the "Best Story/Writing" and "Best Sound/Music" categories.
Fallout: New Vegas is also RPGWatch's Editor's Choice and Gamer's choice for RPG of the Year category. Here's the motivation from RPGWatch's editors:<blockquote>There's no doubt Fallout 3 offered a compelling vision of post-apocalyptic suburbia, the senses almost overwhelmed with jumbled, broken concrete and the distance framed with the twisted ribbons of old freeways. Fallout: New Vegas takes that sense of spatial immersion but connects back to the original games to create a truly satisfying RPG. Obsidian has coupled the freedom to explore an open world with deeper quests, interesting characters, a shades-of-grey storyline and competing factions capable of pleasing both fans of Fallout and those attracted to Bethsoft's open worlds.
The gameplay has been incrementally improved with tighter combat and (slightly) better balancing but the real pleasure comes from the greater range of choices and a better sense of continuity. From the "Novac" sign to Fallout character and location references to the almost-camp humour, Fallout: New Vegas understands the Fallout universe. There are some great set pieces, surprisingly complex quests with different resolutions and different character builds get to feel useful with a wide range of different dialogue skill checks from Doctor to Explosives. All up, Fallout: New Vegas is a deserving winner.</blockquote>
GameBanshee chooses Fallout: New Vegas as their RPG of the Year, with these motivations:<blockquote> Following the RPG Hybrid of the Year win by a shooter with RPG elements comes an RPG with shooter combat for our RPG of the Year. Ignoring its shooter combat for a moment, it is clear throughout this title that Obsidian was striving to bring back as much of Fallout's core PnP sensibilities as they reasonably could.
Some of these additions are rather tepid, such as the addition of a “hardcore mode” (a strong idea that fell short in execution), but the title goes well beyond that by offering a solid character system and presenting us with many opportunities to use various skills to resolve missions.
More than any Fallout before it, New Vegas is a faction-driven game, and it does this exceedingly well. While perhaps lacking in moral ambiguity, it does seek to avoid clearly offering right and wrong choices, and offers four major faction paths to make sure the player can find an option he is comfortable with. The factions, major or minor, are generally believable and well-written, and are at the core of what makes this game tick.
And we’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Vault 11 is really awesome. </blockquote> The game is also runner-up for the "Best Story/Writing" and "Best Sound/Music" categories.
Fallout: New Vegas is also RPGWatch's Editor's Choice and Gamer's choice for RPG of the Year category. Here's the motivation from RPGWatch's editors:<blockquote>There's no doubt Fallout 3 offered a compelling vision of post-apocalyptic suburbia, the senses almost overwhelmed with jumbled, broken concrete and the distance framed with the twisted ribbons of old freeways. Fallout: New Vegas takes that sense of spatial immersion but connects back to the original games to create a truly satisfying RPG. Obsidian has coupled the freedom to explore an open world with deeper quests, interesting characters, a shades-of-grey storyline and competing factions capable of pleasing both fans of Fallout and those attracted to Bethsoft's open worlds.
The gameplay has been incrementally improved with tighter combat and (slightly) better balancing but the real pleasure comes from the greater range of choices and a better sense of continuity. From the "Novac" sign to Fallout character and location references to the almost-camp humour, Fallout: New Vegas understands the Fallout universe. There are some great set pieces, surprisingly complex quests with different resolutions and different character builds get to feel useful with a wide range of different dialogue skill checks from Doctor to Explosives. All up, Fallout: New Vegas is a deserving winner.</blockquote>
