Fallout 4 wins Game of the Year at Bafta awards, but indie titles dominate the night

[midian182]

Even though last year brought us a ton of great games, the fight to walk away with the ‘Best of 2015’ award at industry events is usually a battle between four nominations: The Witcher 3, Fallout 4, Metal Gear Solid V, and Bloodborne.

Last night the British Acadamy Game Awards took place, and, repeating its success at February’s DICE Awards, Fallout 4 took the top honors. In the 'Best Game' category, Bethesda’s post-apocalyptic RPG beat both The Witcher and MSGV, as well as Rocket League and Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture. Unlike a lot of previous award ceremonies, Bloodborne wasn’t nominated for Game of the Year at the Bafta event.

While the mega-budget Fallout 4 may have won GOTY, it was the indie games that dominated the proceedings. First-person adventure/exploration game Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture picked up three wins from its ten nominations; Her Story, the interactive crime tale developed almost entirely by Sam Barlow, won three categories from seven nominations; and Psyonix’s sci-fi/sports/RC car multiplayer title Rocket League won three of its five nominations.

PlayStation 4-exclusive Bloodborne didn’t walk away from the night empty handed; it did manage to win the Game Design category, beating the likes of The Witcher 3 and Her Story.

As this was a bafta (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) ceremony, one of the categories was Best British Game, which was won by Batman: Arkham Knight. The PC version of Rocksteady’s title was an absolute disaster, but on the consoles it received mostly positive reviews.

It was a big night for Id Software co-founder John Carmack, who was given a Bafta Fellowship, the academy’s highest honor. The Doom, Wolfenstein 3D and Quake creator, who is now CTO at Oculus, said there was a “very good chance” that next year’s ceremony would be dominated by VR titles.

“I don’t like to romanticize the past. I’m more excited about the opportunities available now than anything there’s ever been before. Thanks for this award, but I’m just getting started,” he told attendees.

It was surprising to see The Witcher 3 – my favorite game from last year - not win any of its seven nominated categories. CD Projekt Red’s title was awarded both Game of the Year and Best RPG at The Game Awards in December.

Here is the full list of categories, nominations, and winners.

ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT

ASSASSIN'S CREED SYNDICATE Development Team – Ubisoft/Ubisoft
BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT Development Team – Rocksteady Studios/WB Games
EVERYBODY'S GONE TO THE RAPTURE Development Team – The Chinese Room/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN Development Team – Kojima Productions/Konami
WINNER: ORI AND THE BLIND FOREST Development Team – Moon Studios/Microsoft Studios
THE WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT Development Team – CD Projekt Red/Bandai Namco Entertainment

AUDIO ACHIEVEMENT

ASSASSIN'S CREED SYNDICATE Development Team – Ubisoft/Ubisoft
BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT Development Team – Rocksteady Studios/WB Games
WINNER: EVERYBODY’S GONE TO THE RAPTURE Development Team – The Chinese Room/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN Development Team – Kojima Productions/Konami
STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT Development Team – EA Dice/Electronic Arts
THE WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT Development Team – CD Projekt Red/Bandai Namco Entertainment

BEST GAME

EVERYBODY'S GONE TO THE RAPTURE Development Team – The Chinese Room/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
WINNER: FALLOUT 4 Development Team- Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Game Studios
LIFE IS STRANGE Development Team – Dontnod Entertainment/Square Enix
METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN Development Team – Kojima Productions/Konami
ROCKET LEAGUE Development Team – Psyonix/Psyonix
THE WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT Development Team – CD Projeckt Red/Bandai Namco Entertainment

BRITISH GAME

WINNER: BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT Development Team – Rocksteady Studios/WB Games
EVERYBODY'S GONE TO THE RAPTURE Development Team – The Chinese Room/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
HER STORY Sam Barlow - Sam Barlow/ Sam Barlow
PRISON ARCHITECT Development Team - Introversion Software/Introversion Software
TEARAWAY UNFOLDED Development Team - Media Molecule/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
UNTIL DAWN Development Team - Supermassive Games/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe

DEBUT GAME

WINNER: HER STORY Sam Barlow - Sam Barlow/ Sam Barlow
KEEP TALKING AND NOBODY EXPLODES Ben Kane, Brian Fetter, Allen Pestaluky – Steel Crate Games/Steel Crate Games
LOVERS IN A DANGEROUS SPACETIME Matt Hammill, Jamie Tucker, Adam Winkels – Asteroid Base/Asteroid Base
MINI METRO Development Team – Dinosaur Polo Club/AGM Playism
ORI AND THE BLIND FOREST Development Team – Moon Studios/Microsoft Studios
PRUNE Joel McDonald – Joel McDonald, Kyle Preston/Joel McDonald

FAMILY

DISNEY INFINITY 3.0: PLAY WITHOUT LIMITS John Blackburn, John Vignocchi, Bob Lowe - Avalanche Studios, Disney Interactive Studios/Disney Interactive Studios
FIFA 16 Development Team – EA Canada/EA Sports
GUITAR HERO: LIVE Development Team - Freestyle Games/Activision
LEGO DIMENSIONS Jon Burton, James McLoughlin, Nick Ricks – TT Games/WB Games
SUPER MARIO MAKER Development Team – Nintendo/Nintendo
WINNER: ROCKET LEAGUE Development Team – Psyonix/Psyonix

GAME DESIGN

WINNER: BLOODBORNE Development Team – FromSoftware/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
GROW HOME Development Team – Ubisoft/Ubisoft
HER STORY Sam Barlow - Sam Barlow/ Sam Barlow
LOVERS IN A DANGEROUS SPACETIME Matt Hammill, Jamie Tucker, Adam Winkels – Asteroid Base/Asteroid Base
ROCKET LEAGUE Development Team – Psyonix/Psyonix
THE WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT Development Team - CD Projeckt Red/Bandai Namco Entertainment

GAME INNOVATION

EVERYBODY'S GONE TO THE RAPTURE Development Team – The Chinese Room/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
WINNER: HER STORY Sam Barlow - Sam Barlow/Sam Barlow
LIFE IS STRANGE Development Team – Dontnod Entertainment/Square Enix
METAL GEAR SOLID V: THE PHANTOM PAIN Development Team – Kojima Productions/Konami
SPLATOON Development Team – Nintendo/Nintendo
UNTIL DAWN Development Team - Supermassive Games/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe

MOBILE & HANDHELD

ALPHABEAR Development Team - Spry Fox/Spry Fox
FALLOUT SHELTER Development Team – Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks
WINNER: HER STORY Sam Barlow - Sam Barlow/Sam Barlow
LARA CROFT GO Development Team – Square Enix Montreal/Square Enix
PRUNE Joel McDonald - Joel McDonald, Kyle Preston/Joel McDonald
THE ROOM THREE Development Team – Fireproof Games/Fireproof Games

MULTIPLAYER

DESTINY: THE TAKEN KING Development Team – Bungie/Activision
LOVERS IN A DANGEROUS SPACETIME Matt Hammill, Jamie Tucker, Adam Winkels – Asteroid Base/Asteroid Base
WINNER: ROCKET LEAGUE Development Team – Psyonix/Psyonix
SPLATOON Development Team – Nintendo/Nintendo
TOM CLANCY'S RAINBOW SIX SIEGE Development Team – Ubisoft/Ubisoft
WORLD OF WARSHIPS Development Team - Wargaming.net/Wargaming.net

MUSIC

ASSASSIN'S CREED SYNDICATE Development Team– Ubisoft/Ubisoft
BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT Development Team – Rocksteady Studios/WB Games
WINNER: EVERYBODY’S GONE TO THE RAPTURE Jessica Curry - The Chinese Room/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
FALLOUT 4 Development Team - Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softoworks
HALO 5: GUARDIANS Kazuma Jinnouchi, Nobuko Toda, Peter Cobbin – 343 Industries/Microsoft Studios
ORI AND THE BLIND FOREST Gareth Coker – Moon Studios/ Microsoft Studios

ORIGINAL PROPERTY

EVERYBODY'S GONE TO THE RAPTURE Development Team – The Chinese Room/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
HER STORY Sam Barlow - Sam Barlow/Sam Barlow
LIFE IS STRANGE Development Team – Dontnod Entertainment/Square Enix
ORI AND THE BLIND FOREST Development Team – Moon Studios/Microsoft Studios
SPLATOON Development Team – Nintendo/Nintendo
WINNER: UNTIL DAWN Development Team - Supermassive Games/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe

PERFORMER

ASHLY BURCH as Chloe Price in Life is Strange
DOUG COCKLE as Geralt of Rivia, Witcher in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
WINNER: MERLE DANDRIDGE as Kate Collins in Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture
OLIVER DIMSDALE as Stephen Appleton in Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture
MARK HAMILL as The Joker in Batman: Arkham Knight
MASASA MOYO as Vella in Broken Age: Act 2

PERSISTENT GAME

DESTINY: THE TAKEN KING Development Team – Bungie/Activision
FINAL FANTASY XIV ONLINE Development Team – Square Enix/Square Enix
GUITAR HERO: LIVE Development Team - Freestyle Games/Activision
LEGO DIMENSIONS Jon Burton, James McLoughlin, Dave Dootson – TT Games/WB Games
WINNER: PRISON ARCHITECT Development Team - Introversion Software/Introversion Software
THE WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT Development Team - CD Projekt Red/Bandai Namco Entertainment

SPORT:

DIRT RALLY Development Team – Codemasters/Codemasters
FIFA 16 Development Team – EA Canada/EA Sports
FOOTBALL MANAGER Development Team - Sports Interactive/SEGA
FORZA MOTORSPORT 6 Development Team – Turn10/Microsoft
PES 2016 Development Team - Konami Digital Entertainment/Konami Digital Entertainment B.V.
WINNER: ROCKET LEAGUE Development Team – Psyonix/Psyonix

STORY

EVERYBODY'S GONE TO THE RAPTURE Development Team – The Chinese Room/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
HER STORY Sam Barlow - Sam Barlow/ Sam Barlow
WINNER: LIFE IS STRANGE Development Team – Dontnod Entertainment/Square Enix
UNDERTALE Development Team – tobyfox/tobyfox
UNTIL DAWN Development Team - Supermassive Games/Sony Computer Entertainment Europe
THE WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT Development Team - CD Projekt Red/Bandai Namco Entertainment

BAFTA ONES TO WATCH AWARD IN ASSOCIATION WITH DARE TO BE DIGITAL

SELFIENATION Cheri Skivington, Daniel Prihodko, Ricardo Barros, Zoltán Tompa, Hajnalka Szanto Irina Kovalova - Pictrail
WINNER: SUNDOWN Steven Li, Aaron Hong, McLean Goldwhite, Theodore Park, Kenny Regan, Cynthia Cantrell, Gracie May, Jade Kim – Mild Beast Games
THE WALL SHALL STAND Edward Burton, Edward Grimes, Cameron Richards, Steven Sparkes - Pixel Tailors

AMD eSPORTS AUDIENCE AWARD

CALL OF DUTY:BLACK OPS 3 Treyarch/ Activision
COUNTER-STRIKE: GLOBAL OFFENSIVE Hidden Path Entertainment/Valve
DOTA 2 Valve/Valve
HEARTHSTONE: HEROES OF WARCRAFT Blizzard Entertainment/Blizzard Entertainment
LEAGUE OF LEGENDS Riot Games/Riot Games
WINNER: SMITE Hi-Rez Studios/Hi-Rez Studios

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/64388-fallout-4-wins-game-year-bafta-awards-but.html

 

[Uncle Al]

Looks like a good game, but after seeing so many negative reviews on here I hesitated. I'm still hesitating since it's been a year and the price point hasn't dropped at all. I suppose some would say that is proof of how good it is, but frankly, I wait for them to drop to the $30 range since the software companies are making a killing .....

 

[jonny888]

Still no idea how this game received/is still receiving such accolades. It had game-breaking bugs, decent but nothing-special graphics, and more than a few dull dungeons/side-quests.

Don't get me wrong, it clearly isn't a bad game. But when I compare it to how much of a polished, smooth, engaging and beautiful an experience I had when playing TW3, I just can't fathom how this managed to beat it out.

 

[toxicfiend]

Don't get me wrong, it clearly isn't a bad game. But when I compare it to how much of a polished, smooth, engaging and beautiful an experience I had when playing TW3, I just can't fathom how this managed to beat it out.[/QUOTE] Fallout4 deserves all the accolades as I see it as a fun fun game with many things to do ingame from making news settlements crafting of many things the wording was just great to listen to and who doesn't love Mutants.I love how there were different ways to get things done and as someone who has played video games from pong onwards it for me anyway gave me that wow feeling line pong did in 1975 and this is why at 59 I still love playing some games not all of course but I just love seeing how they look now.Currently I am playing the division by myself and that is just incredible how good it looks and I find myself just wandering the streets looking at things randomly.But the thing I get the most out of games is the fact I am looking after my sick wife who had advanced Alzheimer's disease it is a get way for me to wind down and relax.

 

[Blue Arrow]

Witcher didn't win a single award? are you kidding me? nothing for story, audio, visuals, etc. Witcher 3 is game of the year hands down, it never had any of the short comings that Fallout 3 had. plus acting, story, visuals and audio far surpassed Fallout 3.

 

[TheBigFatClown]

Looks like a good game, but after seeing so many negative reviews on here I hesitated. I'm still hesitating since it's been a year and the price point hasn't dropped at all. I suppose some would say that is proof of how good it is, but frankly, I wait for them to drop to the $30 range since the software companies are making a killing .....

There was a time I waited for games to drop to $10 and thought that was a good deal, then $10 became $5. Now, I just wait until they're giving them away for free. And then, sometimes, I don't even play them. I got Witcher 2 for free by visitng a website daily. Downloaded it, never installed it, never played it yet. Not sure I ever will. I got another game free in a giveaway recently and it is one of the coolest games I've never paid for. Kinda makes me feel bad but it was all legit so, I dunno. Some of the games I get free or cheap I don't even play, I just collect.. I spent a $1 on a multi-game bundle a few days ago just because I might want to play one in the bundle some day. It's crazy how cheap game software is these days (if you are patient, that is).

I believe it's due to the ubiquity of the internet and the constant growth of the available supply. The supply keeps growing which gives gamers more leverage when making their choices.

 

[Capaill]

Fallout 4 was a very good game but the number of mods available has been limited because Bethesda has delayed in releasing its Creation Kit. Once that is released, the serious modders can get to work and then we might see a good reason to buy or reinstall the game. I got about 100 hours out of the vanilla game and put a few minor mods on so it was worth the 40 euro to me.
I agree that the graphics are poor when compared to MGSV or Witcher 3 but the exploration and gameplay are standard Fallout so are a lot of fun. Also I presume the graphics are hampered by the fact that every object in the game is mod-able so extra effort is needed to ensure they can be placed right and their physics behaves. If the game developers knew that the side of a house would never be moved, they could spend more time in making it look pretty. Likewise for character textures.