Editorials

Published on June 21st, 2012 | by CoreySA

MGP E3 2012 Awards

Recently, Shopmaster and myself attended E3 2012 in Los Angeles, California. After having multiple hands-on and behind closed doors meetings, we have decided to give out some post-E3 awards. Consider this the first annual MGP Awards Ceremony!

(HM = Honorable Mention)

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Best Overall Game –

(CoreySA/Shopmaster) Tomb Raider

(Shopmaster) – I know there wasn’t a playable demo for me to play, but from what I saw when Ubisoft put me in a closed room with others was something that I think will be the game of the year when it is released. I don’t take trailers too seriously because I know that those things can be made like movie productions, but the gameplay that Ubisoft showed off from the latest Tomb Raider game at E3 was amazing. The level of detail with the sound including the distinction in Ms. Croft’s breathing was enough for me to take notice.

HM = Need for Speed Most Wanted

(CoreySA) — While I agree with Shop’s nomination, the newest racing title from Criterion has me pumped. Need for Speed Most Wanted is like a mix of Burnout and the classic Most Wanted title. They’ve gone all out, and from what I’ve played it’s utterly amazing. I can’t wait to get my hands on this in late October.

Best Xbox 360 Exclusive Game –

(CoreySA) Forza Horzion
(Shopmaster) Halo 4

(Shopmaster) – There is no question that Halo 4 was one of the must see exhibits at E3. The fact that the line was 3 hours long and people had actually went more than once speaks for itself. Not only did the 343 Studio hand out T-shirts, posters and other goodies while you waited, but after they showed you an exclusive look at the campaign, they allowed you to play a round in multiplayer mode afterwards. With new weapons and a new approach to online multiplayer where each week 343 will put out 3 episodic events this is shaping up to be the best Halo yet.

Best Playstation 3 Exclusive Game –

(CoreySA/Shopmaster) Last of Us

(CoreySA) — There was no hands-on demo, but what we saw was incredible. Naughty Dog is known for their amazing work on the PS3 platform, but Last of Us is upping the detail ten-fold. They showed us a more mature look to violence – gritty, disturbing and outright nasty. They look to put you in situations that will make you think about every choice you make.

HM = Beyond: Two Souls

Best PC Game –

(CoreySA) Watch_Dogs
(Shopmaster) Star Wars 1313

(CoreySA) — Both titles looked tremendous, and while both are slated to be console releases, both were shown on high-end PC’s therefore making them beautiful PC games. I anticipate that both will be titles we see on next-gen consoles due to the pure power that they were running on at E3. Both look like outstanding titles to keep your eyes on.

Best Vita Game –

(CoreySA) Assassin’s Creed: Liberation

(CoreySA) — A full-fledged Assassin’s Creed on a portable. Need I say more? This one is bringing a female assassin into the mix and will take place in New Orleans around the same time as Assassin’s Creed 3. This game is its own story and also will bring the PS3 engine to its portable Vita counterpart.

HM = Zen Pinball 2

Best Action Game –

(CoreySA) Splinter Cell: Blacklist
(Shopmaster) Hitman: Absolution

(CoreySA) — While I agree that Hitman looked sharp, I’d have to give the edge to Splinter Cell in this category. After seeing it behind closed doors, Ubi Toronto has a lot in store for Sam Fisher fans. They’re blending some old mechanics with the SC: Conviction engine with some Assassin’s Creed movement and climbing. Sam looks faster and the graphics were unreal.

Best Shooter Game –

(CoreySA/Shopmaster) Medal of Honor: Warfighter

(CoreySA) – After getting my hands on the latest in the Medal of Honor series, I must say that this was my surprise of the show. Using an upgraded Frostbite 2 engine, the game looked fantastic and has a very solid and fresh look at mulitplayer. Set up in teams of 8, each person is then assigned a ‘teammate’ who is visible from anywhere on the map. The thought is that it keeps teammates together and it really felt as if it worked. Each team has different abilities and each of them were vastly different. I wasn’t fully impressed with the first Medal of Honor from Danger Close, but its follow-up is definitely one to keep your eyes on.

HM = Crysis 3

Best New IP –

(CoreySA/Shopmaster) Watch_Dogs

HM = Dishonored, Sleeping Dogs

Best Adventure Game –

(CoreySA/Shopmaster) Assassin’s Creed 3

(CoreySA) – I’m a big fan of the Assassin’s Creed series but over the past two year I’ve felt like they’ve sort of rushed the series. ACIII has been under development by a different team however – the same team that built the amazing Assassin’s Creed II – and has been under development since the first sequel. ACIII pretty much floored everyone that got a look at it. They showed the frontier and the city of Boston and from the animations, to the combat – everything looked spectacular. This game has a very definitive feel to it – one that is much different than other games in the series. Connor really moved with purpose and agility and the hunting? SO much fun.

HM = Rayman: Legends, Sleeping Dogs

Most Innovative –

(CoreySA/Shopmaster) Madden NFL 13

(CoreySA) — There is no doubt that Madden has taken some hits in recent years. Going into this season however, there seems to be a huge push from the development team at Tiburon to turn all of those hits into successes. From Connected Careers, to the brand new Infinity engine which brings physics into play – Madden 13 is bringing innovation in almost every category. The dev team nearly doubled for Madden 13 and it shows. The game looked great at E3 and I can’t wait to get my hands on it more come late August.

HM = Dishonored

Most Improved Series –

(CoreySA/Shopmaster) Madden NFL 13

HM = NHL 13

Biggest Surprise –

(CoreySA/Shopmaster) EA UFC Announcement

HM = Watch_Dogs Announcement

Best Fighting Game –

(CoreySA/Shopmaster) Injustice

(CoreySA) – The team behind Mortal Kombat has decided to take on the DC universe in what seems to be a fantastic follow-up to the great Mortal Kombat released last year. Although it’s very early in development, Injustice showed incredible promise – especially in how they are using the environments. Pretty much everything in this 2D fighter can be used. See a car in the background? Superman can pick it up and throw it at an opponent. Using Batman however – a gadget heavy and not so strong character – can’t pick up the can and throw it, but can use bat-a-rangs and blow up the car’s gas tank. There are multiple levels to each environment and there are a ton of usable objects in each area that can be used in different ways depending on the character. This is one to definitely keep your eyes on. An early favorite for fighter of the year next year.

HM = Playstation Battle Royale All-Stars

Best Sports Game –

(CoreySA/Shopmaster) NHL 13

(CoreySA) – NHL 13 is bringing a huge improvement to gameplay. New authentic skating has made its way to the series and it feels fresh, smooth and absolutely incredible. Every player on the ice felt different and speed matters in ways it never has before. I was floored at how different the game felt as a result. The team has done an amazing job at bringing real team strategies over to NHL 13 as well. Teams will play as they do in real life and will react accordingly to the teams they are playing. For me personally, the NHL series has felt sort of stale over the past few seasons, but NHL 13 feels fresh and authentic. This is an early favorite for sports game of the year. It’s that good.

HM = FIFA 13

Best Racing Game –

(CoreySA/Shopmaster) Need for Speed Most Wanted

HM = Forza Horizon

Best Company –

(CoreySA/Shopmaster) UbiSoft

(Shopmaster) – Ubisoft really showed off at E3 with an impressive lineup including Assassin’s Creed, Splinter Cell Blacklist, Far Cry 3, Just Dance 4, and Raynman Legends. I really want to give a special award out to Square Enix’s Sleeping Dogs which I think will be the surprise game of the year. The game was very fluid and I loved the action, including some awesome car shooting scenes that has you shooting at the rival family while going 100 MPH.

HM = EA

Best Console –

(CoreySA) PS3

(CoreySA) — From Last of Us, to Playstation All-Stars, Beyond: Two Souls, Gears of War Ascension and a ton of third-party support, the PS3 not only showed off a great overall line-up, but had an outright dominate exclusive showing. Although they’re missing a top game such as Halo 4, they showed that they can handle multiple genres and new IP’s while bringing us popular sequels. This is going to be a great year to be a Playstation owner.

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I hope you enjoyed our coverage of E3 2012. This is just a small slice of the fantastic games headed our way this holiday and into 2013.

Please stay tuned to MyGamerPad as we will have much more on these titles and coverage on the rest of this year’s games in the coming months.

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Tags: awards, E3, fifa 13, last of us, madden 13, Need for Speed Most Wanted, nhl 13, Tomb Raider

About the Author

CoreySA CoreySA is an EA SPORTS Game Changer and a lifelong gamer. He is the content lead and editor-in-chief of MyNBALivePad.com and a contributing review writer for MyGamerPad.com. CoreySA is also a hardcore sports freak and family man.