The No DLC Required Awards for 2016
- Robert Chaplin Dewey
- Dec 17, 2016
- 4 min read
2016 hasn’t been the best of years in Video games (or anything else for that matter) but, nevertheless, awards need to be handed out and so it is time for the first ever and soon-to-be prestigious No DLC Required Video Game Awards.
Most Anticipated Game of 2017
Nominees: Red Dead Redemption 2, Horizon Zero Dawn
Winner: Mass Effect Andromeda
There is huge anticipation for this title in the No DLC team. The original trilogy is, rightly, held up as a champion of the quality of storytelling possible in Video Games whilst also having great gameplay. The return of the series to current generation consoles, allowing Bioware to add in the tantalising prospect of huge open worlds for Ryder and his/her crew to explore makes for a mouth watering prospect.
Biggest Flop of 2016
Nominees: No Man’s Sky, Battleborn, Tom Clancy’s the Division
Winner: Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
There were a worrying number of candidates for this, all for varying reasons. No Man’s Sky and The Division both met a backlash as they disappointed huge swathes of their customers but both had much to commend. Battleborn and Infinite Warfare both suffered from seriously disappointing sales. Forgivable in Battleborn’s case as it happened to loose out to a better new IP in Overwatch. For Call of Duty to perform so badly despite offering the prospect of Zero G combat suggests major surgery or a hiatus is needed in this increasingly fatigued franchise.
Most Innovative Game of 2016
Nominees: Playstation VR, Quantum Break, Fifa 17
Winner: Pokemon Go
Fifa is not the first sports game to introduce a story mode, neither has it done it the best. Playstation are not the first to sell VR but simply thought it might be a good idea to actually sell it at a price people can afford. And, unfortunately, Quantum Break’s attempt to fuse Video Games with television fell as flat as their monotonous gameplay. Pokemon Go actually did something new and managed to get us gamers leaving the house. So kudos to them for that.
Best New IP of 2016
Nominees:
Winner: Overwatch
Literally no competition here. It could only be Overwatch. A fantastic new twist on an established genre that bought energy and colour to our screens alongside competitive gameplay which was simple yet with depth for those who seemed it. As more established franchises falter, this ones future looks bright.
Best Couch Co-Op of 2016
Nominees:
Winner: Overcooked
Another category with no competition. When couch co-ops are done properly they are brilliant. Overcooked is an absolute blast. You and up to three friends could spend hours learning and mastering your way around the chaotic kitchens that are put in front of you via a lot of confusion, shouting and rethinking. It was certainly the most fun I had on a game all year and was my personal pick for game of the year.
Best Indie Game of 2016
Nominees: Unravel, Firewatch
Winner: Inside
Unsurprisingly, one of the more difficult awards to decide this year. All three are great games with fantastically unique visuals and concepts behind them. In the end that we decided that there are certain weaknesses in the story and conclusion of Firewatch that let it down and that Inside better epitomised better what is great about the genre.
Best Online Multiplayer of 2016
Nominees: Overwatch, Uncharted 4
Winner: Battlefield 1
Whilst Uncharted 4s multiplayer felt a bit less tacked on and a bit more fleshed out than one would initially suspect it stood no real chance against the either of the other two. Battlefield 1 just takes this award for sheer scale, depth and impressiveness.
Best Soundtrack of 2016
Nominees: Dark Souls 3, Doom, Overcooked, Abzu
Winner: Firewatch
A beautiful score accompanied you as you trekked through the gorgeous environment of Firewatch. It went from wonder to lonely contemplation to sudden isolation-enduced panic in the blink of an eye in such wonderful subtlety. It’s the range of tones that it covered which really set it above the competition.
Best Video Game Character of the Year
Nominees: Yarny (Unravel),
Frederick Bishop (Battlefield 1),
The Ever-Peckish (Overcooked)
Winner: Drake (Uncharted 4)
Drake came into the fourth instalment as a swash-buckling, wise-quipping Indiana Jones type. He came out of it a much deeper, successfully developed and explored character. For that, he also came out a much more loved character, performed wonderfully, of course, by Nolan North.
Best Graphics of 2016
Nominees: Firewatch, Uncharted 4, Abzu, Unravel, Doom
Winner: Mirrors Edge
Disappointed with most other aspects of the game, we were very taken aback by the unique style and impressive visuals that this game had on offer with its sleek, futuristic aesthetics.
Funnest Gameplay of 2016
Nominees: Watch Dogs 2, Dark Souls 3, Overcooked
Winner: Doom
This respectful revival of a beloved classic genre-definer captured the incredible fun of the original through a mixture of silky smoothness of controls aided by an astonishingly high frame rate. The momentum never falls, it just increasingly builds and builds and you’re swept up along with the sheer pace of this pulsating ride.
The Best Narrative of 2016
Nominees: Uncharted 4, dark Souls 3
Winner: Unravel
Unravel sees a late elderly woman’s whole life explored as her knitted companion, a best video game character of the year nominee, Yarny moves through the old photographs which decorate her house. It’s an elegant idea executed with such subtle beauty. You are shown everything from a lost childhood friendship to the tragic death of her partner and grow to really care for both her and Yarny.
The Best Game of 2016
Nominees: Firewatch, Dark Souls 3, Overcooked
Winner: Uncharted 4
An all around great game. A solid multiplayer mode, fantastic visuals, thrilling and varied gameplay, wonderful characters in a gripping yet personal storyline. It is fully deserving of all the praise that was heaped upon it.
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