2020 Awards

Avant-garde Award:

Disco Elysium is a fusion of table-top RPG mechanics and narrative driven murder mystery all wrapped in a dialogue bramble thicket (rather than trees).  Skill stats and traits are largely mental rather than physical and the setting has the vibe of 1970s America, but with a wholly alternate history and world.  Needless to say, it's a weird game that redefines what the genre can be.

Backlash Award:

Normally, I skip Electronics Arts sports games because they are low hanging fruit when it comes to this category.  That said, Madden NFL 21 has the lowest user score in Metacritic history with logos and labels left over from the previous year.  It also marks four years of this franchise with the same graphics and glitches, but somehow features have been removed.  Also, the loot box mechanics are such that the rewards don't roll over to the next entry.

Brutality Award:

To call SnowRunner a difficult game would be somewhat of a misrepresentation.  There is no "game over" screen, nor any true failed state.  Even so driving through mud, snow and floodwaters can be nearly Sisyphean tasks; a form of torture overcome only by planning, improvisation and a whole lot of patience.  You can't lose, but success can be so elusive at times it feels impossible. 

Canvas Award:

Hardspace: Shipbreaker is made by the same folks who worked on the Homeworld series.  There are lots of bright starships, painted in bold colors and patterns.  The origin of this futuristic look is from paintings by last century artists like Stewart Cowley and Chris Foss. I guess in that way, one could consider this game a feast for the eyes in terms of classic space sci-fi visuals.  

Ecology Award:

Another sports game by Electronic Arts...this time it's a soccer instead of football (that probably doesn't make much sense if you're outside of the USA...anyway...). FIFA 21 Legacy Edition for the Nintendo Switch is a copy/paste job of the 2016 engine just with a roster update.  IGN reviewed the game by simply (and deliberately) copying their review from last year which called it a "macro-transaction", just with a lower score.

"Engrish" Award:

As far as rogue-like shooters go, Gunfire Reborn is one of the better ones out there.  I'm not sure what the title of this game is trying to imply though...is there a lot of bullet recycling going on?  In-game text prompts like "cannot reload by hand, but reserve ammos auto-reload when you stop shooting" don't really clear the waters so to speak either.  Hopefully, the dev team made enough money to give the English localization a second pass.

Esoteric Award:

In this tower defense game gemstones are weapons.  They come in ten varieties, each with it's own upgrade path.  They can also be combined to create hybrids.  Add to this, enemy variety (both in terms of type and numbers) and battlefield topography.  The result is a bewildering labyrinth of strategies with many ways to reach victory in the center. 

Lemon Award:

Despite a long development cycle, Microsoft's latest addition to their Flight Simulator franchise has a few issues; houses in football fields, or on railroad tracks, plane-shaped buildings and most humors of all a narrow tower in Melbourne, Australia that (due to a data entry error) is thousands of feet tall.  Normally this sort of thing wouldn't be particularly noteworthy, but because the emphasis on realism such mistakes standout like a sore thumb. 

Testosterone Award:

I get the impression that a certain subset of bodybuilders really just want to be a big blob of muscle.  Well, in Carrion you get to be just that; eat, sleep and exercise by cutting a path of blood and carnage through passageways and rooms filled with metal machines.  It really is like experiencing a feverish nightmare of someone who's whole life revolves around going to the gym. 

Underdog Award:

The latest entry in the long running Bridge Constructor series teams up with the equally long running AMC mini-series "The Walking Dead" to create something new.  Unlike most cash-ins of popular films and television, this title actually has some interesting mechanics.  The closest thing I can think of to it is that classic puzzle game - Lemmings.  Sadly, I think of potential players have had their fill of both franchises.