Original Posting

Game of the Year:

1. Mass Effect
2. Halo 3
3. Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation
4. Team Fortress 2
5. Portal
6. Call of Duty 4 (360)

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With it's "Mass"ive storyline and even more intriguing discussions on technology and even cultures, this is the game that has captured my attention and enjoyment more than anything else this year. Others came close, but the combination of stunning visuals, and that great storytelling as well as absolutely superb voice acting gives this title what it has worked so hard to get. The fact that Bethesda did their best to place in as many explanations as they could in terms of Mass Effect's technology and universe was very interesting, providing and even sparking discussion and debate on how feasible a system is, was, or will be. Let alone ideas on how to improve them found their way tunnelling into my head. The pure amount of politics involved with every decision, as well as finding a way for decisions you expect to be good to turn out to not be as great, giving teaching you each time that sometimes it's better to not exactly do the good thing right away and think of the whole picture. There's a lot to say for Mass Effect, and it's really hard to put it down in any major area despite it's quirks. Mass Effect deserves it's slot, and it's win.



Best Story:

1. Mass Effect
2. Halo 3
3. Bioshock
4. Assassin's Creed (360)
5. Call of Duty 4 (360)

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While Mass Effect may have an expansive and very interesting universe, no other game has come as close in terms of emotionally scarring as Call of Duty 4. Scarring might be a harsh way of putting it, but the types of situations you are put in, the constant strain of trying to do what is good, and the fact that Murphy continues to follow at your heels to give you a nice good kick in the sensitive place right when things are going right makes Call of Duty's story one of the most memorable, and rollercoaster-y of the year.



Best Visuals:

1. Mass Effect
2. Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation
3. Team Fortress 2
4. Call of Duty 4 (360)
5. Halo 3
6. World in Conflict

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Halo 3 has managed to do something I thought would never be possible. Make light more appealing. As the first title with it's over-bloom and HDR appeal it certainly has scorched itself into my retinas with every plasma grenade and sword impact. The high-detail models, along with the animations only serve to back up the excellent lighting giving each level it's own atmosphere and effectively conveying what each setting should.



Best Original Soundtrack:

1. Oblivion (360)
2. Mass Effect
3. Call of Duty 4 (360)
4. Assassin's Creed (360)

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The soundtrack for Assassin's Creed may be hard to pick up at first over the sound of the guards chasing you, but the high-energy tracks that force themselves upon you as you leap from building to building, rooftop to rooftop after having finally taken out another target will keep you racing to get out of there, regardless of what other guards do in response. You can hear the influences of each city as well, giving it an even more authentic and believable tone before dodging just narrowly into that bench, carefully hiding yourself.

Best Licenced Soundtrack:

1. NO ENTRIES

No One-

I hate licensed soundtracks, period. I find them to be such a cop-out.



Best Ending:

1. Mass Effect
2. Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation
3. Call of Duty 4

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Call of Duty 4's ending, well... is one you wouldn't expect. Keeping true to Murphy's proverbial footsteps, it doesn't turn out as what you would expect it to. I don't want to ruin it of course, suffice to say, when you see it, you will know.


Best Voice Acting:

1. Mass Effect
2. Call of Duty 4

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All of the cast and crew did a very good job at portraying what exactly each character was feeling at the time. From the alien sounding Turians to the environmentally sealed Quarians. Each character has done it's part to craft that believable universe that has earned it so much praise. Let alone the voice acting is top notch and believable, there is even hidden dialogue between your party members that makes you chuckle quietly.

Best FPS:

1. Team Fortress 2
2. Call of Duty 4
3. Halo 3
4. Portal
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Portal manages to give you absolutely no idea what is going on until the very end. With the premise of exciting and reaction-based portal based puzzles with multiple ways of solving them, you end up getting lost in trying to solve each one in a different way. The humor itself, along with the obsession with cake makes it just as much as a horror title, as it is a comedy actually managing to mix these genres into a perfect meld of insanity.

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Worst Ending:

1. Assassin's Creed
2. Mass Effect
3. Half-Life 2: Episode 2

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Assassin's Creed tends to take the easy way out of it's ending by after having had a climactic battle at the end, requiring all your skills, giving you absolutely nothing in return. You get absolutely nothing that you can think about, nor any sense of closure. You end up just feeling as if Assassin's Creed was chopped off right at the end.


Worst Voice Acting:

1. Call of Duty 4
2. Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation
3. World in Conflict
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"Go Dance With The Angels" was a decent plug at the start, inspiring an emboldened feeling of esprit de corps, however after the 60-someodd time you tend to start feeling the camaraderie falling apart. You feel like switching your radio to some other channel, in hopes that maybe, just maybe AWACS had another channel dedicated to serious pilots that didn't like the same kind of chatter. With that said, all of the voice acting isn't bad, the way the information about the battlefield is sent to you makes up a lot of slack, but after saving each group's butts, you end up with that over-used "It's time to dance with the angels!" from the ground crews. Beh.