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Primotech Game of the Year Awards 2007: Day Five

By The Primotech Staff on Friday, December 21, 2007 at 3:00 PM EST  

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.

Primotech 2007 Game of the Year

BioShock

There’s really not much else that I can say that hasn’t already been said about BioShock. Steampunk meets sci-fi in this shattered, underwater utopia, and the vast world of Rapture delivers the kind of rare experience that come along once in a great while. The deceptively deep FPS surface that the player is drawn under reveals a philosophical story wrapped within the dying face of a lost city crushed by the pressure of its own dreams. Tragic characters line the corridors, clattering away at whatever dares to come into view, as what is left of their humanity degenerates into murderous hunger, while the mad princes of this paradise continue to wage their own war with the bones of who is left.

Oh yeah, there’s lots of shooting, too.

There are plenty of bullets to go around and what you don’t have, you can invent. Genetic powers round off your arsenal of social engineering as you hack your way through enemy devices, become invisible, or set your foes on fire with a little help from the plasmid soup that you inject into your blood. But the whole FPS approach is merely a means to an end as it’s overshadowed by the atmospheric story that fills every moment of action, hunting you down in the bloodstained opulence of the 1950’s. It’s far from the stainless steel corridors of System Shock, but it’s hard not to avoid feeling surrounded by that familiar thrill that waits just around the next corner.

BioShock raises the bar on our expectations of how stories can be expressed through our relatively young medium. Much like a good book can take us to the far ends of the universe or into the life of a young boy turned magician, games have come a long way in allowing us to experience horror, laughter, and the chance to dance on the wild side without risking more than the time we spend with them. BioShock is also a two way street, challenging you to play with the options that it reveals, asking if you would kindly do more than simply coast through the action by treating it as little more than a fancy shooter. As Andrew Ryan’s ominous greeting meets you on your trip down into the abyss, Rapture is what you would make of it.

-Reggie Carolipio (Senior Reviews Editor)

To truly express the admiration I have for BioShock, I need to begin by talking about a completely different game that I feel strongly about.

I can say without question that Thief: The Dark Project is not only my favorite game of all time, but the reason I started writing about games four years ago. I may have played and thoroughly enjoyed many titles before its release in 1998, but Thief brought about emotions for me that I had never experienced with any game before. It showed me everything that gaming could be: engaging and provocative, and I decided then and there that I wanted to be part of an industry that could create such an experience.

Besides sharing the same conceptualist, Ken Levine, Thief and BioShock enjoy many other commonalities, like remarkably powerful storytelling and engaging characters.

But what BioShock does that surpasses Thief should be incredibly evident to whoever has emerged from Rapture victorious. The game comes remarkably close to perfecting the action genre with its unique hybrid of traditional shooter mechanics and RPG elements, making for an unrivaled experience unlike anything the gaming world has ever seen.

I’ve critiqued over 30 games in the last four years, but BioShock was the only one I ever felt honored to review.

More so, I feel privileged to name it the Game of the Year.

-Alex Petraglia (Editor-in-Chief)

Conclusion

That does it for the 2007 Primotech Game of the Year Awards. We hoped you enjoyed them!

To recap, the following games won multiple awards and are undoubtedly worth your consideration this holiday:

If you’re interested in seeing how the Primotech editors voted, you can download this Word doc.

Here are the previous four days of awards:

Remember, there’s still time to get your contest entries in.

Finally, the entire Primotech editorial team wishes you and yours a very happy holiday!

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Comments

3 Responses to “Primotech Game of the Year Awards 2007: Day Five”

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    […] The most recent 2K title running on the engine was last year’s BioShock, which we kinda liked. […]

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    […] readers will remember that Thief is my single-favorite game of all time, so even the possibility that a new entry in the […]

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