The Game Awards 2017 took place on December 7th at the Microsoft Theatre in Los Angeles and hosted as usual by Geoff Keighley who presided over both the pre-show and the actual ceremony.
Of course the Video Game Awards have become as renowned for their world premieres as the awards themselves and this year was certainly no different. However, we take a look at the wealth of trailers and previews, here is a list of the winners of The Game Awards 2017:
- Game of the Year: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Best Role-Playing Game: Persona 5
- Best Sports/Racing Game: Forza Motorsport 7
- Best Performance: Melina Juergens (Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice)
- Best Esports Game: Overwatch
- Best Score/Soundtrack: Nier: Automata
- Best Action/Adventure: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Best Game Direction: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Best Family Game: Super Mario Odyssey
- Best VR Game: Resident Evil 7: Biohazard
- Best Fighting Game: Injustice 2
- Best Indie Game: Cuphead
- Best Action Game: Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
- Best Art Direction: Cuphead
- Best Strategy Game: Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
- Best Debut Indie Game: Cuphead
- Best Ongoing Game: Overwatch
- Best Mobile Game: Monument Valley 2
- Best Audio Design: Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
- Games For Impact Award: Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
- Best Handheld Game: Metroid: Samus Returns
- Best Student Game: Level Squared
- Industry Icon Award: Carol Shaw
- The Game Award for Most Anticipated Game: The Last of Us Part II
- Best ESports Player: Faker
- Best ESports Team: Cloud9
- Trending Gamer Award: Mr. Disrespect
PREMIERES
World War Z
The first world premiere to kick off the night is World War Z, the game. Fast running mobs of zombies in a post-apocalyptic world looking very familiar to the 2013 movie, World War Z which was loosely based on the novel. This trailer gave more of a cinematic first look with different narratives of the world. With various zombie games coming up in 2018, its up with some tough competition. However, it will have the upcoming World War Z sequel to pair up with to give it an extra boost in publicity and hype.
Shadows Die Twice
A tease in every sense of the word as certainly we got nothing bar a lot of cringing from what we got to see along with what almost felt like an apology of sorts from host Geoff Keighley who like us didn’t seem to know how to respond to what we got to see from From Software.
In the Valley of Gods
From Campo Santo the makers of Firewatch who this time trade out the lust greens of the National Park for the orange and browns of the Egyptian deserts and tombs along with a 1920’s setting. At the same time retains the graphical style of their award winning debut. Sadly with a 2019 release scheduled it looks like we will have to wait a little longer than perhaps we would like to go on another adventure.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
The Champions’ Ballad Expansion DLC Pack 2
With a somewhat odd light show and Zelda presentation, The Champions’ Ballad Expansion DLC Pack 2 was launched which focuses on the story of Princess Zelda before Link’s slumber.
At the same time we also got to see some interesting costume packs and certainly most unexpectedly the Master Cycle Zero for anyone whose wanted to cruise around Hyrule on a motorcycle which is available to players on completion of the game.
GTA Online: The Doomsday Heist
Thanks to Rockstar’s continual updates GTA online really has continued to remain strong despite complaints from many players that Rockstar’s additions have been more focused on getting players to spend real money on Shark Cards. Now those who have been crying out for a new heist can consider their prayers answered with this new heist which not only promises a bunch of new additions to the toybox including the much rumoured jetpacks.
Fortnite – Battle Royale
Fortnite released its game in mid 2017 and so far has gotten a decent outpour of love for this co-op sandbox survival game. The Game Awards presented their trailer for their new PvP mode Battle Royale where you can play 50 versus 50 in deathmatch. At the same time, it also revealed the best news for its fans: that it is available to play for free now.
Rocket League / Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Nintendo Switch
Finally Nintendo Switch get to add these two much requested titles both of which we saw being announced at E3. Rocket League in particular will no doubt work perfectly with the Switch, especially as its fast become the party game of choice for many gamers. Skyrim on meanwhile has shown surprising longevity especially for a 7th gen title but with the game being adjusted to maximise the motion sensors of the Switch it remains to be seen if this conversion will retain the charm which has kept it such a popular fantasy title.
Soul Calibur VI
Despite making the fans wait since 2012 for the franchise to make its debut on the 8th gen consoles we finally got our first look at the game which was essentially just a fight demo to highlight the use of the Unreal Engine 4 which we saw most recently used for Tekken 7 with Motohiro Okubo serving as the producer for the game.
Fittingly the game’s release in 2018 will tie into the 20th anniversary for the franchise and while its previous installment wasn’t a bad game, instead suffering from not being able to better the high bar set by the fantastic Soul Calibur 4. Needless to say from what we saw including the tease of a new character with a double bladed sword, let alone the possibilities provided by a more powerful platform this certainly has us excited to return to the franchise next year.
Fade to Silence
Fade to Silence is an endless winter survival game where you are faced against the weather and monsters in a unique spin on the post apocalyptic environment which PC gamers will be able to play it first when its early access is available on Steam from December 14th while the finished game will be available to consoles as well when its released next year.
The first look at this game looks somewhat brutal and unforgiving as the environment it takes place in and it’s interesting to see developers basing more games in winter environments such as The Long Dark and the Frozen Wilds DLC for Horizon Zero Dawn while this game only looks set to continue the trend and looks unquestionably stunning with all the footage in the trailer being actual gameplay!
Bayonetta 3
It might be a diversive move to make Bayonetta a Nintendo exclusive but here we saw that Nintendo are far from ready to share her with their rivals as we saw with the announcement that Bayonetta 1 & 2 will be bundled together in an upcoming re-release on Nintendo Switch in February 2018. The big surprise though being the announcement of Bayonetta 3 which might be another title which tempts some gamers into picking up the Switch
Death Stranding
Hideo Kojima has certainly been having fun popping up at conferences and teasing us with a pair of trailers which teased arguably his most ambitious vision to date. While many expected to see a reveal at this years E3, here he more than made up for his absence as alongside Guillermo del Toro and Norman Reedus both who will be playing roles in the game he revealed the longest trailer to date.
Yes we might still have no idea what the game or the story are going to be about but judging by the standing ovations and overwhelming excitement it was greeted with its safe to say that anticipation is still at a all time high especially with this cinematic trailergiving hints to the general story, Norman Reedus’ character and certainly giving us a slice of the world that Death Stranding is set in. Here we have a game that is visually stunning with a truly sinister atmosphere that only reinforces the opinion that Kojima is still one of the all time creative greats.
Witchfire
After the success of The Vanishing of Ethan Carter which went on to be ported to all platforms and a VR experience since its release, The Astronauts put together another atmospheric game called Witchfire. This game isn’t a combat free game from the trailer shows and should have some combat. In this first look, it definitely shows a stunning location and unique creature designs wrapped up in a first person shooter. Afterall who doesn’t like the prospect of shooting skeleton knights with a shotgun??
A Way Out
Upcoming EA Originals game, A Way Out came onto the show with Josef Fares from Hazelight who shows incredible confidence on this couch and online coop experience. His passionate response not limited to his game but to the future of gaming, his thoughts on publishes and The Game Awards. After being reeled in from his brief (yet fantastic) tangent he did give some insight about its lead characters Vincent and Leo presented through a linear story that will give its players a cinematic experience. True this presentation might not have given us anything new in terms of details but we did get to see some exciting new footage including the ability to have a jam session!
Set for a release date of March 23, 2018 were we will no doubt soon find out if the Game Warp team can pull off their own prison break.
Dreams
Media Molecule brings their next project, an upcoming sandbox game with a charming art style called Dreams that reminds everyone of why they love Little Big Planet and Tearaway Unfolded. At this point, they are defined by their quirky and fun games and Dreams seem to be no exception to that equation with simply their character designs and the tone. The trailer offered a fairly obscure first look at this 2018 release however, with the surprising way of showing gamers with their previous titles of things they never knew they’d fall in love with, Dreams will hopefully have that same effect too.
PlayerUnknown’s BattleGrounds
PlayerUnknown’s BattleGrounds has certainly been one of the most talked about multiplayer games released in Early Access this year with Its love stemming from it being a game being created by gamers for gamers.
Boasting a huge map with 100 players duking it out in a Battle Royale style contest. Here we got the first look at the new desert map with Xbox players certainly having plenty to be excited about this Xbox exclusive title.
Sea of Thieves
Talking about Xbox exclusives, Sea of Thieves also shows up with a quick trailer for this upcoming multiplayer game about pirates and treasure hunting. Created with a similar graphical style to Overwatch it remains to be seen if this will be as popular especially when its pitted against rival Pirate sim Skull & Bones but in the meantime Xbox gamers have something to look forward to when the game finally gets a release on March 20th, 2018.
GTFO
From the makers of Payday the small team at Chambers Collective really look set to deliver something different this time, while no doubt forfilling the fantasies of anyone who wanted to be a colonel marine in Aliens.
Surprisingly citing Grand Theft Auto as a major influence this 4 player co-op first person shooter comes with the fantastic tagline of “Work Together or Die Together” and even more impressive gameplay and graphics, making this possibly one of the more under the radar titles to look out for.
Metro Exodus
While the Metro series has perhaps not always received the love it deserved, the two trailers we have seen no doubt will have the established fans excited to return to this atmospheric post apocalyptic vision of Russia which only looks all the more impressive when given the power of the 8th gen consoles. The downside of course being that we have to wait until Fall 2018 to play it!
Awards Ceremony recap
A high energy conference which was as focused on the premiers as it was with the awards themselves as certainly highlighted by the generous timeslot given for the awards. However despite this it never seemed to drag or outstayed its welcome which is never an easy feat to achieve.
When it comes to the winners it was often easy to predict the outcome of most of the categories while the exclusion of Little Nightmares still has us confused especially when it was certainly one of the more original titles of the year. Still here’s how it went down.
Best Score: NieR: Automata (Platinum Games)
This year’s nominees for Best Score was a challenging crowd to come up against. Nier: Automata’s win was well-deserved. During the acceptance speech, Platinum Games talks about the first game’s praise for the score as well and that they are happy that they were able to create the same love in this sequel.
Best Narrative: What Remains of Edith Finch (Giant Sparrow)
A worthy winner in a tough group, but considering that this is a game based around the concept of telling the player a story more than the more traditional route of building a game around the story. It’s a brave concept and certainly this win rewards developer Giant Sparrow for trying to push the idea of what a game is.
Best Action Game: Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus (Machine Games/Bethesda)
Presented with an amusing dig at microtransactions, a worthy winner in a tough category while giving Bethesda a much needed win, especially after their disappointing showcase at E3 2017.
Best Art Direction: Cuphead (Studio MDHR)
Introduced by Guillermo del toro and Hideo Kojima who unquestionably get one of the best receptions of the night as they were greeted with a standing ovation. Cuphead’s unique 30’s style animation wins the best art direction. Despite the game spending several years in development hell to the point it seemed unlikely it would ever be released, both the critics and fans have certainly embraced the game since its release especially with its hand drawn style and Jazz soundtrack unquestionably making it one of the more original titles of the year.
Industry Icon Award – Carol Shaw
It’s strange to think that it’s taken the games industry till now to recognise Shaw’s contributions to video game history but as one of the first female game designers at Atari creating polo and most key working on the classic River Raid. Shaw came across extremely humble by the award and standing ovation she rightfully received clearly keen to try and encourage more people to enter into the industry as she praised the numerous avenues now open for game developers.
Best Debut Indie Game: Cuphead (Studio MDHR)
Presented by Aisha Tyler who was sadly missed as the of Ubisoft’s E3 2017 conference, so was welcome as always to see her. Voted for by the fans an outside pick would have been for Hollow Knight though considering the amount of press that Cuphead has got since its release it wasn’t surprising to see it pick up a win here.
Best Ongoing Game: Overwatch (Blizzard)
A win no doubt linked to the strong fan community alongside its current position as one of the top esports titles. While Overwatch has certainly provided some fun seasonal and themed events since its release the game really hasn’t changed much from its PVP core game compared to the likes of GTA Online whose world has constantly felt like its evolving despite the microtransaction quibbles and which has certainly seen with the fan community continually finding ever more inventive ways to creatively use the game.
Games For Impact: Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (Ninja Theory)
After a tribute to Andrew House for his work with Playstation and Sony Interactive as he prepares to step down after 27 years with the company and unquestionably helping to make video games hip again so it makes sense that he would be chosen to present the award for Games For Impact.
Winning the award for Best Audio Design as well Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice absolutely squashed the competition. Afterall, you can’t compete with a game that puts so much effort in highlighting the truth of how mental illness truly is. It builds a game with the help of both professionals and those suffering from it to create this authentic and immersive experience.
Best Performance : Melina Juergens – Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
The nominees in Best Performance this year were incredible however, the debut performance for Melina Juergens in Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice wins this award. She starts off her acceptance speech humbly talking about not being an actress but was only a video editor before taking on this new challenge.
Best Game Direction: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo)
Mortal Kombat creator Ed Boon presented the award after a shall we say interesting opening. Still fighting off some stiff competition The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild which earlier also nabbed the award for Best Action/Adventure Game.
Game of the Year: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Nintendo)
The final award of the night presents in the unique way of The Game Awards Orchestra doing a medley of the scores for the the nominated games for The Game of the Year. Walking right back onto the stage is The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild who, with this award, takes home three awards. Their acceptance speech thanks the staff responsible for making this game happen and promises to give the Zelda fans more great adventures in Hyrule while also being incredibly happy that they chose to make games for a living. Considering that this was the game which launched the Nintendo Switch and no doubt contributed to its success, its hard to fault it cleaning up at the awards this year certainly making it a worthy winner.