Save for the reveal of The Phantom Pain – a game that may or may not be Metal Gear Solid 5 – gamers knew exactly what they were going to get out of the show. Yes, it was nice to see some of BioShock Infinite’s sandbox-esque gameplay and to better understand when Gears of War: Judgment resides in the timeline, but this show is usually the winter E3, and it really wasn’t this year.
That could be due to a lack of content – a byproduct of the generational transition from PS3 to PS4, Xbox 360 to 720, and so on and so forth – or it could just be that the mystery titles are not yet ready for public criticism. A similar sentiment was felt after E3, with most coming away with the impression that if developers showed their in-development projects they would, at the same time, be forced to discuss Sony and Microsoft’s new consoles.
Nevertheless, this is an awards show we are talking about after all, and on that front we were pleasantly surprised to see some of the year’s standout titles receive some recognition. Even more surprising is the fact that new IPs or smaller franchises were able to come away with hardware in some pretty high profile categories. Games like Journey and Dishonored were able to beat out the likes of Assassin’s Creed 3 and Borderlands 2 – something we could never imagine happening even one year ago.
But most impressive of all is the fact that The Walking Dead – a downloadable title that is arguably more an emotionally moving experience than a game – was able to come away with Game of The Year. Granted, the competition might not have been as stiff (where was Halo 4?), but giving The Walking Dead the highest honor of the night makes a bold statement.
See what else came away with the coveted monkey award below:
Game of the Year
Assassin’s Creed 3 Dishonored Journey Mass Effect 3 The Walking Dead
Studio of the Year
Gearbox Software 343 Industries Arkane Studios Telltale Games
Best Xbox 360 Game
Assassin’s Creed 3 Dishonored Borderlands 2 Halo 4
Best PS3 Game
Assassin’s Creed 3 Borderlands 2 Journey Dishonored
Best Wii/Wii U Game
New Super Mario Bros. U The Last Story Xenoblade Chronicles ZombiU
Best PC Game
Diablo 3 Guild Wars 2 Torchlight 2 XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Best Shooter
Borderlands 2 Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Halo 4 Max Payne 3
Best Action Adventure Game
Assassin’s Creed 3 Dishonored Darksiders 2 Sleeping Dogs
Best RPG
Diablo 3 Mass Effect 3 Torchlight 2 Xenoblade Chronicles
Best Multi-Player Game
Borderlands 2 Guild Wars 2 Halo 4 Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
Best Individual Sports Game
Hot Shots Golf World Invitational SSX Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 WWE ‘13
Best Team Sports Game
FIFA Soccer 13 Madden NFL 13 NBA 2K13 NHL 13
Best Driving Game
Dirt: Showdown F1 2012 Forza Horizon Need for Speed: Most Wanted
Best Song in a Game
“Castle of Glass” by Linkin Park - Medal of Honor: Warfighter “Cities” by Beck - Sound Shapes “I Was Born for This” by Austin Wintory - Journey “Tears” by Health - Max Payne 3
Best Original Score
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 Halo 4 Journey Max Payne 3
Best Graphics
Assassin’s Creed 3 Dishonored Halo 4 Journey
Best Independent Game
Dust: An Elysian Tail Fez Journey Mark of the Ninja
Best Fighting Game
Dead or Alive 5 Persona 4 Arena Street Fighter X Tekken Tekken Tag Tournament 2
Best Handheld/Mobile Game
Gravity Rush LittleBigPlanet (Vita) New Super Mario Bros. 2 Sound Shapes
Best Performance By a Human Female
Emma Stone as Amanda Cartwright - Sleeping Dogs Jen Taylor as Cortana - Halo 4 Jennifer Hale as Commander Shepard - Mass Effect 3 Melissa Hutchison as Clementine - The Walking Dead
Best Performance By a Human Male
Dameon Clarke as Handsome Jack - Borderlands 2 Dave Fennoy as Lee Everret - The Walking Dead James McCafferey as Max Payne - Max Payne 3 Nolan North as Captain Martin Walker - Spec Ops: The Line
Best Adapted Video Game
Disney Epic Mickey 2 LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes The Walking Dead Transformers: Fall of Cybertron
Best DLC
Dawnguard - The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim Leviathan - Mass Effect 3 Mechromancer Pack - Borderlands 2 Perpetual Testing Initiative - Portal 2
Best Downloadable Game
Fez Journey Sound Shapes The Walking Dead
Best Social Game
Draw Something Marvel: Avengers Alliance Sim City Social You Don’t Know Jack
Game of the Decade
Batman: Arkham City BioShock Half-Life 2 The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker Mass Effect 3 Portal Red Dead Redemption Shadow of the Colossus Wii Sports World of Warcraft
Most Anticipated Game
BioShock Infinite Grand Theft Auto V South Park: The Stick of Truth The Last of Us Tomb Raider
Character of the Year
Connor Kenway - Assassin’s Creed III Commander Shepard - Mass Effect 3 Clap Trap - Borderlands 2 Master Chief - Halo 4 Raul Menendez - Call of Duty: Black Ops II
What do you think of Spike’s choices for winners? Are you surprised to see that The Walking Dead won Game of the Year? What did you think of the show in general?
Make sure to check out all of our coverage of the 2012 Spike Video Game Awards including all of the new trailers here.
