Primotech Game of the Year Awards 2007: Day Three
Welcome to the 2007 Primotech Game of the Year Awards!
It’s been a monumental year for gaming. Now that developers have had time to familiarize themselves with all three new consoles, some incredibly well-crafted games are emerging. Additionally, titles like World in Conflict, Crysis, and The Orange Box continue to prove that the PC is an incredibly relevant gaming platform.
But it doesn’t matter if you only own a Wii, are a Sony fanboy, or a PC-exclusive kind of gamer: there are a plethora of exemplary options for every kind of player this holiday.
In 2007, gamers everywhere were drawn into virtual worlds unlike any they’ve experienced before. They’ve defeated every kind of evil imaginable. They’ve saved planets, entire populations, and sometimes only themselves. But, above all else, they’ve enjoyed some of the greatest games the industry has ever offered.
And we’re here to recognize the achievements of those very titles.
How We Decided
No single individual decided what games won each of our thirty coveted awards. All eight of the Primotech editors were allowed three choices for each category: a first pick was awarded 3 points, the second was awarded 2 points, and the final choice was awarded 1 point. Then, each game got a total tally for each award and the one with the most points won. This ensured a democratic and balanced selection of games from a group of game reviewers with differing preferences.
Game of the Year Contest
Finally, we’re holding an associated Game of the Year giveaway contest. If you can name every one of the thirty games pictured in the header image above, you’ll be entered in a drawing to win a $100 Gamestop giftcard. Simply email your answers along with your name and mailing address to “primotech AT primotechnology DOT com.”
All the games pictured were released in 2007. There are no duplicates.
Submissions will stop being accepted after 11:30 PM EST on Sunday, December 23. This contest is open to North Americans only, aged 18 or older.
Best Developer
Valve Software
Valve had one hell of a good year. If releasing one of the most well-rounded and perfectly priced videogame packages of all time wasn’t enough, co-founder Gabe Newell boldly vowed that someday “every game that’s ever been available will be on [STEAM] 24/7.” Besides being the leading platform for videogame digital distribution, STEAM has shaken the traditional industry sales model at its very core.
Seasoned critics and development veterans alike have long considered the pedigree of Valve’s games to be a cut above the rest. But in 2007, the Boys of Bellevue have proven themselves to be a driving force in the industry that will continue to dictate how games are made, played, and sold.
- Runners-Up: Bungie, Infinity Ward, Ubisoft Montreal
Best Publisher
Activision
Activision has ended the year with a bang, merging with Blizzard as an early Christmas gift to its investors. The new partnership with Vivendi created an entertainment juggernaut that has put EA on notice.
But aside from the money hats currently making the rounds, Activision’s lineup for the end of the year has managed to push it to the top of the heap, with Call of Duty 4’s action-packed debut alongside the third game in the Guitar Hero franchise, not to mention the tie-ins with Hasbro’s Transformers franchise along with movies such as Spider Man.
Next year promises even more, thanks to the rumored Bond sequel, Call of Duty 5 and Guitar Hero 4 already in development. Not bad for a developer turned publisher from the 80s.
- Runners-Up: EA, Microsoft Games Studios, 2K Games
Best Trailer
Assassin’s Creed “Ubidays 07”
Every major trailer Ubisoft released for Assassin’s Creed, from the initial teaser featuring a mere three seconds of in-game footage, to the richly computer-generated Templar assassination video, only served to get us salivating over the game even more.
It’s hard to pinpoint what makes this trailer stand shoulders above others. Is it the jaw-dropping fight sequences, replete with eye-popping blood splatters? Perhaps the slow-motion, gravity defying free-running sequences? Or maybe even the subtle visual hints of a sci-fi subplot.
Or is it maybe just the music….
- Runners-Up: Halo 3 “Diorama,” Fallout 3 Teaser, Starcraft 2 Cinematic
Best Trailer Music
Assassin’s Creed “Ubidays 07” unkle- Lonely Soul
The video footage in a trailer may tell the player what the game is about, but the audio tells him how he’ll feel. Recorded by British trip-hop troupe UNKLE on its debut album Psyence Fiction (1998), ‘Lonely Soul’ is an incredible powerful track that sets the mood for Assassin’s Creed perfectly.
The game itself may not have lived up to our expectations, but even watching the trailer now, we still get chills whenever Richard Ashcroft’s voice crescendos as Altair takes his leap of faith.
- Runners-Up: BioShock “Launch Trailer” Bobby Darin- Beyond the Sea, Grand Theft Auto IV “Trailer #2” The Boggs- Arm in Arm, Fallout 3 Teaser The Inkspots- I Don’t Want to Set the World on Fire
Biggest Positive Suprise
Crackdown
Crackdown was one of the most anticipated games of the year for exactly one reason: the Halo 3 multiplayer beta that came with it.
But for a title that many expected to be rather sub-par, Crackdown turned out to be a surprisingly entertaining game. Featuring a completely open world with a free-form mission structure, a large roaming city for exploring both horizontally as well as vertically, insane power-ups, and an excellent co-operative play mode, the game was a surprise hit, and while copies were still traded back to game stores as soon as the Halo 3 beta ended, those that held on to theirs found additional downloadable content rewarding and was more than enough to keep the game alive for months.
Crackdown may not be as great as some of the other Games of the Year or even a top contender for other categories, but certainly was one of the most surprising and enjoyable titles in a rather full year.
- Released for the Xbox 360 on February 20
- Developed by Realtime Worlds
- Published by Microsoft Game Studios
- Runners-Up: The Witcher, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2
Biggest Disappointment
Hellgate London
Hellgate London is not a bad game, but it is the biggest disappointment of the year.
The title showed so much promise: it was to be the first major project from Flagship Studios, the newly created team staffed by high level ex-Blizzard employees. With a game this similar to Diablo created by the people who actually made Diablo, we can’t help but make comparisons, and unfortunately, that’s where Hellgate falls well short.
The game lacks the same addictive quality that made Diablo what it was. To top it all off, the fee structure is unusual, to say the least. Not only do players have to shell out full price for the game, but also need to pay a monthly fee if they don’t want to be at a disadvantage when playing online.
And, if you were one of the unfortunate souls to have paid for all of that, your online character may have been suddenly wiped clean shortly after the game’s release.
You’ll notice that we haven’t posted a review of the game. It’s because none of us have been able to bring ourselves to play long enough to actually write one. Here’s hoping that 2008 brings a better offering from Flagship.
- Released for the PC on October 31
- Developed by Flagship Studios
- Published by Namco/EA
- Runners-Up: Lair, John Woo Presents Stranglehold
Best Game We’re Still Waiting For
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
This category by far required the least amount of thought. Super Smash Brothers Brawl is a game that we have eagerly been waiting for since before it was even announced. Not to mention the fact that Masahiro Sakurai, creator of SSB series, is the game designer on Brawl, Nintendo has already announced 11 brand new characters, including Metal Gear Solid’s Snake and Sonic the Hedgehog!
If you had asked us 10 years ago if it would be possible that Nintendo and SEGA characters would one day be in a game together, we would have laughed in your face. Few ever thought they’d be be so excited to find out who would win in a fight between an Italian plumber from Brooklyn and a spiked rodent with attitude.
If the game was released when it was originally intended to be, we would probably be talking about it in the Game of the Year section instead of the Best Game We’re Still Waiting For section. Super Smash Brothers Melee is not only one of our favorite games on a Nintendo console, but it’s also one of our favorite games ever. It is one of the few games that gamers can still pick up and be just as excited and entertained as the first day they bought it. Here’s hoping that Brawl lives up to its predecessor.
- To be released for the Wii on February 10
- Developed by Nintendo
- Published by Nintendo
- Runners-Up: Grand Theft Auto IV, StarCraft 2, Condemned 2
If You Can Buy Only One
The Orange Box
Now, it is hard to say exactly which game from the Box of Orange Awesomeness we’re still playing. It might be the cartoony fast-paced shooter Team Fortress 2. Or it might be the classic FPS with a great story, Half-Life 2.
It could be the mind-bendingly awesome Portal as we still search for that elusive cake. Perhaps it is Episode 1 or Episode 2 that episodically hold our interest. Or it could even be Peggle Extreme!
Well, actually, we know it isn’t Peggle, but we’re quire sure there are people out there who enjoy watching the rainbows and unicorns.
Valve gave us a great gift this year by wrapping up five games and offering them to us in one affordable box. And so we do them honor by playing it.
And fragging people.
- Released for the Xbox 360 and PC on October 10
- Developed by Valve Software
- Distributed by EA Games
- Read Our Review
- Runners-Up: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Halo 3, BioShock
Coming Soon
We have awards planned for each day this week, so be sure to keep checking back until Friday for the latest winners!
Join us again tomorrow, when we unveil the year’s best games on each individual platform. Don’t touch that dial!
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16 Responses to “Primotech Game of the Year Awards 2007: Day Three”
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[...] Primotech <b>Game</b> of the Year Awards 2007: Day Three [...]
[...] has published their game of the year awards for 2007, and they list Hellgate London as their most disappointing [...]
Hellgate London is an AMAZING GAME!! People got confused because it was buggy upon released, but they have now fixed the bugs.
They have NOT fixed the bugs. It still has alot of problems but i would rate other games as bigger disappointments. THe real disappointment is how they rushed it and released an early alpha and are hanging the dedicated single player gamers out to dry by not giving them the same support.
Spanky is straight out lying.. they JUST released a single-player patch that addresses most of the outstanding bugs.. the new multiplayer patch is awesome.. almost no bugs there
hellgate rocks… sadly these primo people appear to be too lazy to bother trying it out… I have noticed that hellgate is very popular among the 25+ set.. while the whining kid set doesn’t like it as much
“Hellgate London is an AMAZING GAME!! People got confused because it was buggy upon released, but they have now fixed the bugs.”
LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL, you act as if hellgate’s only problem is bugs that make it unplayable. Get a clue newb. Hellgate is trash.
Hellgate is a fantastic game. I liked it (and the upcoming “Stonehenge patch”) enough to shell out for a lifetime sub. Those who “[aren't] able to bring [themselves] to play long enough to actually write [a review]” are the same soft skulled wuss-asses that need a linear spoon fed 7 hour start to finish cinematically rich story driven game that has no value after 1 play. And for the record there is NO disadvantage to those who don’t subscribe. You can play for free online and it’s JUST as easy, so do your homework boobs…
Hellgate is some of the worst crap ever. Don’t waste money on it.
Biggest Disappointment: HG:L is a biased, crapload of untruthful text. HG:L has its flaws, but the lousy text and reasoning put behind for giving it Biggest Disappointment does pull off. Anyway, it only proves these awards are nothing but a whim out of clueless people.
“HG:L has its flaws”
Damn right it does. I wish I never bought it. Bill Roper is a lying sack of #%@&
The Hellgate review is fairly accurate.
I killed Sydonai (the last boss), and was bored for most of the journey there.
And when i found out that the longevity of the game hinged simply on a higher difficulty level, i was severely let down. I stopped playing after seeing Nightmare Mode was more of the same. You get next to nothing for subscription fees as well.
HGL is great.
the only people who dont enjoy it are
1) people who are too stupid to update their drivers, but clearly that’s Flagships fault.
2) people who wanted Diablo2. in 3d. upon finding it was not that (duh, you fucking idiots) they cried like little girls.
How can you say hellgate is great? You’ve gotta be bill “the liar” roper in disguise.
Hellgate is BY FAR the worst purchase I’ve made. There are LOTS of problems with hellgate, beyond any graphical ones.
“Not being Diablo 2″ isn’t the problem. The problem is that hellgate fucking sucks.
I hope nobody else buys this waste of time. Like another person said, hellgate is TRASH. Oh, and fuck you bill roper, you scamming, fraudulent asshole.
dude yeah hellgate is crap. tried playing with my friends but we would get bored so fast…wasted my money on hellgate. damn ittt
So when is starcraft 2 coming out anyway. Any mention of starcraft ruffles my feathers, I hate late games…Sweet blog though, keep it up!