The coveted Golden Joystick awards were held on Friday, Nov. 16. “God of War,” “Red Dead Redemption 2” and “Spiderman” are all games that dropped this year with tidal waves of hype and momentum.
Each game so different though they each had one thing in common, they were all candidates for the prominent game of the year award. The game genres varied from super-hero genres, mythology and even westerns. Some of these games were gritty and dark while others had a light family-oriented feeling to them. Astonishingly, these games would have one more thing in common; they would all lose out to “Fortnite.”
The cartoon-style, third-person shooter would go on to win the Ultimate Game of the Year award to many gamers’ disappointment. While many hardened gamers may feel cheated, this game does deserve this award. According to Forbes, “Fortnite” has made the biggest splash of the year making $126 million in the month of February alone.
The game makes $2 million a day. The website, Metrogaming, is estimating that “Fortnite” will make $2 billion by the end of the year. While “God of War” and “Red Dead” dominate “Fortnite” in terms of storyline, graphics and gameplay, they just can not pull in this kind of capital. There is no other game that had this kind of following this year.
“God of War” was released in late April of this year. This was a solid game. The game was gorgeous, and the style and gameplay were so fluid. There were no major bugs or glitches that slowed the game down. Straying slightly from his roots, Kratos took a more paternal route instead of his usual murderous rampages. This installment saw the Spartan as more of a father figure than a war-god. While the story was decent, the game itself was just okay.
Sony Interactive Entertainment cranked out a great game, but there was not enough promotion done to lure in people that were not already fans. While “God of War” is a great product, it ended up falling flat to some degree especially compared to the other games that were much more anticipated.
This “Spiderman” is the best Spiderman game in the franchise’s history. Insomniacs put in a lot of man-hours and cranked out one of the most realistic superhero games to ever be played. The gameplay was phenomenal. It was fun and refreshing and the transportation was so enjoyable no one even wanted to fast travel.
This was easily one of the most enjoyable light-hearted games to play. The games “Spiderman” competed against for game of the year were so dark and grim, it was nice to have a pleasant game. This was the game that was the easiest to digest. There were not a lot of problems with this game. There were no bugs; the storyline was fun, and the pacing was at a nice tempo. The problem with the game was that it was so short. Clocking in at 20 hours of gameplay, the game left you wanting more but unable to quench that thirst.
“Red Dead Redemption 2” is the gritty western version of “Grand Theft Auto.” This is a game like no other game. This game throws every curveball at the player that an 1899 outlaw could expect. There were money hungry bounty hunters, treacherous gang members and the wildlife had it in for the protagonist. While the overall tone of the game can shift from family driven and light, it can shift to dark and pessimistic at neck breaking speeds.
This game is so realistic. It is a beautiful game to play but the controls take some getting used to if you are unfamiliar with Rockstar Style games. The time and effort Rockstar put into this game is evident when you see the glass fracture and then shatter after you throw a man through the window of a saloon. This game was released without multiplayer and that is a slight negative. Other than that, the only negative to this game is that it will end on such a sad note. One factor in ‘Red Dead’ not winning the game of the year like so many thought would be the release date. The award was won in mid-November and “Red Dead Redemption” released Oct. 26.
The game just simply did not have enough time to compete. The players did not have enough time to really enjoy the game let alone finish it before the award was given out.
“Fortnite” is a solid game. A lot of the people who do not like “Fortnite” just do not like the fanbase. It is understandable to be slightly perturbed to see anyone flossing or emoting in public. However, that does not mean the game is bad just because the fanbase is. Furthermore, this game has a lot of influence. It may have ripped off “Players Unknown Battlegrounds,”but regardless this game is way more popular, and it is way more influential.
It really is no surprise it won it has made one of the biggest splashes in game history. It is understandable that the graphics may not have been as good as the other games. The game is cartoon-style, but that is part of the charm.
The lack of graphics and detail gives it a lighthearted feel. This game reminds us that simplicity can be enjoyable. While the storyline is virtually nonexistent, the game is a lot of fun and at the end of the day, that is all a game is supposed to be.
