Star Wars: Battlefront, Horizon: Zero Dawn, and Fallout 4 lead Game Critics Awards nominations
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Game publishers covet any nods they can get from the prestigious Game Critics Awards for the best games of the Electronic Entertainment Expo industry tradeshow. I participated again this year and voted for my favorites at the show.
This year, the big winners included Electronic Arts’ Star Wars: Battlefront, with five nominations. That was followed by four nominations each for Guerrilla Games’ Horizon: Zero Dawn and Bethesda Softworks’ Fallout 4.
Here’s the nominees below. My own votes matched up pretty well with the winners. I’ll be voting in the final tally as well. (Note: I didn’t vote in categories where I couldn’t come up with three nominees).
GAME CRITICS AWARDS: BEST OF E3 2015 NOMINEES
Best of Show
Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda)
Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games/SCE)
Oculus Touch (Oculus VR)
Star Wars Battlefront (DICE/EA)
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog/SCE)
Best Original Game
Abzu (Giant Squid/505 Games)
Cuphead (Studio MDHR)
Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games/SCE)
The Last Guardian (GenDesign/SCE Japan/SCE)
Unravel (Coldwood Interactive/EA)
Best Console Game
Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda)
Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games/SCE)
Star Wars Battlefront (DICE/EA)
Super Mario Maker (Nintendo)
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog/SCE)
Best Handheld Game
Fallout Shelter (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda)
Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam (AlphaDream/Nintendo)
Persona 4 Dancing All Night (Atlus)
The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes (Nintendo)
Best PC Game
Doom (id Software/Bethesda)
Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda)
Just Cause 3 (Avalanche Studios/Square-Enix)
Star Wars Battlefront (DICE/EA)
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
Best Hardware
Microsoft HoloLens (Microsoft)
Oculus Rift (Oculus VR)
Oculus Touch (Oculus VR)
Project Morpheus (Sony Computer Entertainment)
Xbox Elite Wireless Controller (Microsoft)
Best Action Game
Doom (id Software/Bethesda)
Halo 5: Guardians (343/Microsoft Studios)
Just Cause 3 (Avalanche Studios/Square-Enix)
Star Wars Battlefront (DICE/EA)
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
Best Action/Adventure Game
Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games/SCE)
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (Kojima Productions/Konami)
Rise of the Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics/Microsoft Studios)
The Last Guardian (GenDesign/SCE Japan/SCE)
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog/SCE)
Best RPG
Dark Souls 3 (From Software/Bandai-Namco Games)
Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda)
Fire Emblem Fates (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo)
Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam (AlphaDream/Nintendo)
Sword Coast Legends (N-Space/Digital Extremes/Wizards of the Coast)
Best Racing Game
Forza Motorsport 6 (Turn 10/Microsoft Studios)
Need for Speed (Ghost Games/EA)
Trackmania Turbo (Nadeo/Ubisoft)
Best Sports Game
FIFA 16 (EA Canada/EA)
NHL 16 (EA Canada/EA)
Madden NFL 16 (EA Tiburon/EA)
Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 (Konami)
Rory McIlroy PGA Tour (EA Tiburon/EA)
Best Family/Social Game
Disney Infinity 3.0 (Avalanche Software/Disney Interactive)
Guitar Hero Live (FreeStyleGames/Activision)
Lego Dimensions (TT Games/WBIE)
Rock Band 4 (Harmonix)
Super Mario Maker (Nintendo)
Best Online Multiplayer
Call of Duty: Black Ops III (TreyArch/Activision)
Halo 5: Guardians (343/Microsoft Studios)
Star Wars Battlefront (DICE/EA)
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
Tom Clancy’s The Division (Massive/Ubisoft)
Best Independent Game
Abzu (Giant Squid/505)
Below (Capy Games)
Cuphead (Studio MDHR)
No Man’s Sky (Hello Games/SCE)
Wattam (Funomena)
And here’s my own votes below:
Best of Show:
Abzu
Uncharted 4
Doom
Horizon: Zero Dawn
Fallout 4
Best Original Game:
Abzu
Horizon: Zero Dawn
Wattam
Until Dawn
Unravel
Best Game, Console:
Abzu
Uncharted 4
Doom
Call of Duty: Black Ops III
Star Wars: Battlefront
Best Game, Mobile/Handheld:
Fallout Shelter
Mighty No. 9
Hitman: Sniper
Lara Croft: Relic Run
Minions Paradise
Best Game, PC
Doom
Esper for Oculus Rift
Beyond Eyes
Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2
Gigantic
Best Hardware/Peripheral:
Oculus Rift/Oculus Touch
Sony Morpheus
Xbox One Elite Wireless Controller
Best Action Game:
Doom
Call of Duty: Black Ops III
Star Wars: Battlefront
Rise of the Tomb Raider
Just Cause III
Best Action/Adventure Game:
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
Adr1ft
Mad Max
ReCore
No Man’s Sky
Best RPG:
Fallout 4
Dark Souls III
King’s Quest
Best Fighting Game:
N/A
Best Racing Game:
N/A
Best Sports Game:
FIFA 16
VR Sports Challenge for Oculus Rift (Sanzaru)
EA Sports Rory McIlroy PGA
PES 2016
Madden NFL 16
Best Strategy Game:
StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void
Master of Orion
Total War: Warhammer
Best Family/Social Game:
Lego Dimensions
Skylanders: SuperChargers
Unravel
Esper for Oculus Rift
Guitar Hero Live
Best Online Multiplayer:
Call of Duty: Black Ops III
Star Wars: Battlefront
Rainbow Six: Siege
Halo 5: Guardians
The Division
Best Independent Game:
Abzu
Wattam
Hellblade
The Flame in the Flood
Ashen
Special Commendation for Graphics (Non-Playable Games Eligible in this category)
Eve: Valkyrie
Until Dawn
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
Special Commendation for Sound (Nonplayable Games Eligible in this category):
Guitar Hero Live
Rock Band 4
Abzu
Special Commendation for Innovation (Nonplayable Games Eligible in this category):
Oculus Touch
Microsoft Xbox 360 backward compatibility
No Man’s Sky