Podcast Links: iTunes, Hipcast, Direct Download
Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the first annual Golden Whistle Awards! We hope you enjoyed the holiday, because the podcasts are going to have Christmas music! I really wanted to do that and we didn’t do a Christmas episode so now you’re stuck with that.
Anyway, here’s the deal. The three of us hopped on Skype and hashed out winners for our Game of the Year Awards. (Because we are store-brand Giant Bomb, as you all know) We’ll have actual write-ups here, but we’ll also attach the podcasts so you can understand how we came to these conclusions!
If you want to listen to the episodes first, the podcast link is right there, at the top of the page. Today, we have some fun categories in addition to Steven Epps’ personal Top 10 for 2013 and Friend of the Chooch Andrew Clare’s personal top 10 for 2013! Enjoy!
Best Soundtrack: Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance (Runner-up: DuckTales Remastered)
Best New Character: The Baz from Divekick (Runner-up: Pavel from Metro: Last Light)
A storm is coming. Can you feel it? The inclusion of an almost-fan character almost-hilarious reference to old Street Fighter lore in a game may seem like the dumbestin-joke ever. And you’re right. But The Baz in Divekick made us laugh, with his lightning attacks, references to the cheapness of Zero in MvC3, and his disgraceful fall from the Divekick tournament. The storm may be coming, but it’s really a drizzle, and that’s why we love The Baz.
Best Returning Character: Both Shaundis from Saints Row IV (Runner-up: Shaun from Assassin’s Creed IV)
It’s hard to pick exactly which returning character from Saints Row IV is the best; the Saints Row supporting cast got really good in The Third, and it’s always nice to hang out with those characters some more. But Shaundi was the winner here…both of her. It was nice to see Fun Shaundi again, and Regular Shaundi gets some pretty great moments of her own.
Best Writing: The Stanley Parable (Runner-up: Gunpoint)
White Room Ending aside, The Stanley Parable manages to successfully juggle both completely different tones and styles of humor. Some endings definitely hit better than others, but when The Stanley Parable is at the top of its game, it’s really damn funny.
Most Writing: Animal Crossing: New Leaf (Runner-up: Ace Attorney 5)
Most Writing is a category to recognize the games that talked the most in 2013, and we came to the conclusion that Animal Crossing: New Leaf definitely had the most to say. There are a lot of villagers. They all have a lot of words. There’s custom writing for holidays, events, and a whole lot of other triggers. It should also say a lot that New Leaf won over a visual novel.
Best Art Direction: BioShock Infinite (Runner-up: Antichamber)
For our first awards, we decided to go with Best Art Direction as opposed to any award that focuses on graphics. We aren’t the best judges when it comes to awarding a ‘Best Graphics’ award, but a game with fantastic art direction can look good no matter what. Mike played BioShock Infinite on Xbox 360, Steven played it on PC, and they both really liked the way this game looks. Columbia is a fantastically realized world, and it looks great on any platform.
Best Boss Fight: Senator Armstrong from Metal Gear Rising (Runner-up: Bob Bardas from DmC Devil May Cry)
UNCLE SAM NEEDS YOU TO DIE, JACK
And that’s Part One of our Game of the Year awards in the can! Hope you disagreed with us, because we have a comments section open to all who like to respectfully debate videogames! Come back tomorrow for Part Two, as we discuss Best Use of 4, Best Multiplayer, Best New Mechanic, Best Moment, Scene, or Level (WE CAME UP WITH THIS BEFORE WE SAW THE GIANT BOMB WORDING), Most Disappointing Game, Best Game Not Released in 2013 We Played in 2013, and Best Episodic Thing That Will Be Eligible For 2014 GOTY!
