Below are the winners of the 2^nd Annual Geek News Network Gaming Awards! We had a lot of fun picking out winners, which you can hear for yourself in today’s new episode of Constantly Calibrating. For a refresher on our nominees, click here; otherwise if you would rather see a quick overview of our winners, and why we chose them, well you can find that here:

 

BEST DOWNLOADABLE GAME

Winner:

Fables: The Wolf Among Us: Episode 1 – Faith

“Telltale Games does it again; this time with the difficult task of adding voice to preexisting characters. In Episode 1 they crafted a compelling story, one that I had to replay immediately after completion just to see how different things could be.” –Joshua Silverman

Runner-up:

Resogun

BEST SOUNDTRACK

Winner:

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

“The music suits each location you reach and captures the essence of the theme: PIRATES.” –Nichole Nance
“I still have sea shanties stuck in my head.” –Justin Stanley

Runner-up:

DmC

“This soundtrack was hand-tailored by Combichrist, which fit perfectly in with the new aesthetics of the game. A wicked, fast-paced, grungy album with an almost dirty sound? PERFECTION!” –Christen Bejar

FAVORITE CHARACTER

Winner:

Elizabeth in BioShock Infinite

“She is the exact image of what I would imagine someone who has been cooped up in a tower all her life with little-to-no human contact: unstable, wary, intelligent, able to care for herself. Plus her abilities to open tears are freaking awesome.” –Nichole Nance

Runners-up:

Bill in The Last of Us

“Bill was the best because he played out what people are SUPPOSED to do in an apocalypse, but at the cost of being lonely. Not at all enamored with these grandiose ideas of a cure or reuniting with others.” –Christen Bejar

Blackbeard in Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

“Many of us are likely unfamiliar with the faces of the golden age of piracy portrayed in ACIV, yet there is one name that all of us have heard at one point in our lives: Black Beard. Edward Thatch is one of the most lovable, yet terrifying characters ever seen in the series, giving off an air of malevolence rarely seen from the villains of the series; let alone a character made out to be a strong anti-hero.” –Joshua Silverman

BEST VOICE ACTING

Winners:

Courtnee Draper as Elizabeth in BioShock Infinite

“Courtnee Draper is the voice of Elizabeth; not more needs to be said. She captures and conveys the range of emotions Elizabeth experiences in amazing ways, giving us a character that most of us fell in love with from her first appearance. Her chemistry with Troy Baker in the game carries us through this brilliant story, giving us a look into a world most of us want to experience time and time again.” –Joshua Silverman

Troy Baker as Joker in Batman: Arkham Origins

“Following Mark Hamill’s footsteps as Joker’s voice is undoubtedly a challenge and I think Baker pulled it off well.” –Nichole Nance
“Honestly, Troy Baker has shown how much range he has as a voice actor. I also never thought anyone could follow Hamill’s footsteps as the Clown Prince of Crime.” –Justin Stanley

Runners-up:

Matt Ryan as Edward Kenway in Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

“Even though I didn’t like Kenway much, I have to admit that Ryan really fit him well. He was brash, cocky, and sounded great shouting orders from the helm.” –Christen Bejar

GAMING FAIL OF THE YEAR

Winner:

SimCity

“Clusterfuck. That word is the only way to describe the hype, followed by launch of SimCity. At launch the game was a nightmare to play, and months later it is still not the game that was promised.” –Joshua Silverman

Best Indie

Winner:

Surgeon Simulator 2013

“A wildly addicting game that was easy to jump into and just have fun with. Tons of extras; bonus Heavy level surgery was a fun little nod too.” –Christen Bejar

BEST DLC or EXPANSION

Winners:

XCOM: Enemy Within

“XCOM: Enemy Unknown was my personal game of the year for last year, from it’s beautiful mechanics to ability to make you truly feel for your squad, you were left with a phenomenal gaming experience. Enemy Within grows this experience by leaps and bounds, giving us fun and entertaining new features, plus new decisions to debate; while keeping the balance of the original game. A true expansion pack in an age when expansions packs rarely exist.” –Joshua Silverman

Mass Effect 3: Citadel

“ME3: Citadel may be the best DLC I have ever played; taking our crew on a whirlwind trip through drama, comedy, camp, and adding in heaps of nostalgia and gameplay.” –Joshua Silverman

Saints Row IV: Enter the Dominatrix

“This DLC delivers on its namesake with more satire than you would think. It also contains not only dominatrixes, but RAPTORS. Guys, RAPTORS!” –Christen Bejar

BEST HANDHELD

Winner:

Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

“A beautiful sequel to the A Link to the Past SNES classic. There is something to be said when a handheld title holds my attention over my consoles at home.” –Justin Stanley

Runners-up:

Animal Crossing: New Leaf

BEST PC

Winner:

StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm

“Heart of the Swarm expands on the formula reintroduced with Wings of Liberty, while introducing a new way to play as we take Kerrigan through a Zerg-filled campaign. The changes to multiplayer switched things up nicely as well, giving a well-rounded experience for fans of StarCraft II” –Joshua Silverman

Runners-up:

Rome II: Total War

“Civilization + Risk + Awesome massive units. RTS = Rome II: Total War.” –Justin Stanley

BEST NINTENDO

Winner:

Super Mario 3D World

“A rebirth of the Super Mario franchise that is making even Nintendo naysayers want to jump back in and buy a Wii U.” –Joshua Silverman

BEST PLAYSTATION 4 LAUNCH TITLE

Winner:

Resogun

“The ease of which you can jump into Resogun is perfect for a launch title. Captures the feel of the coin-op days, while showing off the graphics and responsive abilities of the PS4.” –Christen Bejar
“If voxels where crack, it would be Resogun!” –Justin Stanley

Runners-up:

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

BEST PLAYSTATION

Winner:

The Last of Us

“The Last of Us crafted a brilliant story, one that few other than Naughty Dog would be capable of. The world of Joel & Ellie is one of torment that few games have ever been capable of depicting.” –Joshua Silverman
“Hands down, the most intense game I’ve played this year. Enjoyable from start to finish.” –Justin Stanley

Runners-up:

Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD ReMIX

BEST XBOX ONE LAUNCH TITLE

Winners:

Dead Rising 3

“If I were to buy an XBox One, this would be the reason. Thousands of individually rendered zombies against a myriad of weapons and even airstrikes? Worth it.” –Christen Bejar

Forza Motorsports 5

“Despite being a few cars and maps short of its predecessors, I feel that this is the most complete launch title for Xbox One. The uniqueness of the drivatar system is something to be experienced for anyone who enjoys or has enjoyed a racing game.” –Justin Stanley

BEST XBOX

Winner:

Batman: Arkham Origins

“The storyline is compelling and introduces well known Batman villains. The voice acting is amazing and the game itself is well done, despite its glitches.” –Justin Stanley

Runners-up:

Gears of War: Judgement

BEST WRITING

Winners:

Deadpool

“Drama is easy but comedy is difficult to pull off right. Deadpool managed to satirize video games and comics without becoming stale and that’s a real accomplishment with that character.” –Christen Bejar

Bioshock Infinite

“The story is compelling, disturbing, emotional, and thought-provoking that leaves you in awe when the credits start rolling. The twists and turns are jaw-dropping and it’s one hell of a roller coaster ride the entire way.” –Nichole Nance

BEST SHOOTER

Winner:

Battlefield 4

“I know it isn’t complete without a season pass at the cost of a full game, but the amount of entertainment I had from playing online with friends is unmatched.” –Justin Stanley

Runners-up:

Killzone Shadow Fall

“While it’s not the best in the KZ series, Shadow Fall had responsive controls, fun multiplayer, and a main character with a personality better than a deflated balloon.” –Christen Bejar

BEST ACTION/ADVENTURE

Winner:

Assassins Creed IV: Black Flag

“Despite the story, AC4 really captured the sense of discovery, freedom, and attitude of a battle-hardened pirate aboard the Jackdaw.” –Christen Bejar

BEST RPG

Winners:

Fire Emblem: Awakening

“Between a well thought out story, a job system that evolves via parentage, and who marries whom, FE:A creates a wonderful realm to explore.” –Joshua Silverman

Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

MOST ANTICIPATED (2014)

Winner:

Destiny

“It’s like Halo and Borderlands had a baby, and that baby looks AWESOME! Really excited for something new (FINALLY!) from Bungie devs.” –Christen Bejar
“While Watch Dogs is an extremely close second, Bungie has given its massive amount of fans something brand new to drool over and yearn for.” –Nichole Nance

GAME OF THE YEAR

Winner:

BioShock Infinite

“The combat engine, storyline, characters, and voice acting are phenomenal and the game leaves you with an indescribable feeling at the end. The DLCs are also huge among the Bioshock fan base. All-in-all, an emotional and powerful game.” –Nichole Nance
“Bioshock was memorable front to back. With its set pieces that guide you along like a Disney ride. What do I mean by that, you say? They point out what they want you to see, but there are nice little details if you pay attention, and the occasional crazy animatronic malfunctioning in the background. Every bit of this title had an amazing amount of care to it from the gameplay, overall visual, sounds, and oooooh the music.” –Joshua Silverman

Runners-up:

The Last of Us

“Last of Us had a compelling story that stayed with you well after the finish. Also created one of the scariest VG enemies of 2013: clickers…” –Christen Bejar
“Clickers are hands down one of the scariest enemies of all time.” –Joshua Silverman

___________________________________________________________________Overall, a great year in gaming and one that may be hard to top next year. That being said, there are a lot of games on the horizon, ones we cannot wait to play! Thank you to you all for participating in this year’s GNN Gaming Awards Spectacular!

 

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