Fallout and Uncharted win big in Game Critics Awards

Just a week ago, we told you what games a panel of nearly 40 pre-eminent industry critics thought were the very best games of E3. The list included, for the most part, the sort of games you’d expect: all of the AAA hits that you’ll soon be playing on your PCs and consoles. And now? Now it’s time to reveal the winners.

It’s not too surprising either. The big winners were games with numbers on the end of them: Fallout 4 and Uncharted 4. Grabbing the best brand new game award thing was Guerrilla’s intriguing game about robot dinosaurs, Horizon Zero Dawn.

Sony won the most awards overall with 5 completely meaningless accolades, while publisher Electronics Arts nabbed 4. As for platform breakdowns, Sony came out tops again. Games hitting multiple platforms were counted in each.

PlayStation 4: 12 (Same as 2014)
PC: 9 (Same as 2014)
Xbox One: 7 (-2 from 2014)
Wii U: 1 (-1 from 2014)
3DS: 1 (Same as 2014)

Anyway, on to the winners (bolded):

Best of Show

• Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda)
• Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games/SCE)
• Oculus Touch (Oculus VR)
• Star Wars Battlefront (DICE/EA)
• Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog/SCE)

Best Original Game

• Abzu (Giant Squid/505 Games)
• Cuphead (Studio MDHR)
• Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games/SCE)
• The Last Guardian (GenDesign/SCE Japan/SCE)
• Unravel (Coldwood Interactive/EA)

Best Console Game

• Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda)
• Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games/SCE)
• Star Wars Battlefront (DICE/EA)
• Super Mario Maker (Nintendo)
• Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog/SCE)

Best Handheld Game

• Fallout Shelter (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda)
• Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam (AlphaDream/Nintendo)
• Persona 4 Dancing All Night (Atlus)
• The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes (Nintendo)

Best PC Game

• DOOM (id Software/Bethesda)
• Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda)
• Just Cause 3 (Avalanche Studios/Square-Enix)
• Star Wars Battlefront (DICE/EA)
• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)

Best Hardware

• Microsoft HoloLens (Microsoft)
• Oculus Rift (Oculus VR)
• Oculus Touch (Oculus VR)
• Project Morpheus (Sony Computer Entertainment)
• Xbox Elite Wireless Controller (Microsoft)

Best Action Game

• DOOM (id Software/Bethesda)
• Halo 5: Guardians (343/Microsoft Studios)
• Just Cause 3 (Avalanche Studios/Square-Enix)
• Star Wars Battlefront (DICE/EA)
• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)

Best Action/Adventure Game

• Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games/SCE)
• Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (Kojima Productions/Konami)
• Rise of the Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics/Microsoft Studios)
• The Last Guardian (GenDesign/SCE Japan/SCE)
• Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog/SCE)

Best RPG

• Dark Souls 3 (From Software/Bandai-Namco Games)
• Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda)
• Fire Emblem Fates (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo)
• Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam (AlphaDream/Nintendo)
• Sword Coast Legends (n-Space/Digital Extremes/Wizards of the Coast)

Best Racing Game

• Forza Motorsport 6 (Turn 10/Microsoft Studios)
• Need for Speed (Ghost Games/EA)
• Trackmania Turbo (Nadeo/Ubisoft)

Best Sports Game

• FIFA 16 (EA Canada/EA)
• NHL 16 (EA Canada/EA)
• Madden NFL 16 (EA Tiburon/EA)
• Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 (Konami)
• Rory McIlroy PGA Tour (EA Tiburon/EA)

Best Family/Social Game

• Disney Infinity 3.0 (Avalanche Software/Disney Interactive)
• Guitar Hero Live (FreeStyleGames/Activision)
• LEGO Dimensions (TT Games/WBIE)
• Rock Band 4 (Harmonix)
• Super Mario Maker (Nintendo)

Best Online Multiplayer

• Call of Duty: Black Ops III (TreyArch/Activision)
• Halo 5: Guardians (343/Microsoft Studios)
• Star Wars Battlefront (DICE/EA)
• Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
• Tom Clancy’s The Division (Massive/Ubisoft)

Best Independent Game

• Abzu (Giant Squid/505)
• Below (Capy Games)
• Cuphead (Studio MDHR)
• No Man’s Sky (Hello Games/SCE)
• Wattam (Funomena)

Uncharted 4 also won a special commendation for graphics. Not too surprising, seeing as it was up against itself in a category that wasn’t there before the awards were handed out. And though there was no category, or indeed nomination, had there been a “best fighting game” one, it would have gone to Street Fighter V. Obviously. Because it was the best thing at E3 and should have won all of the awards. All of them.

Tell us what you think? Deserving winners, or should the Game Critics involved expand their horizons a little, and go beyond the big blockbuster games with the most cultural impact?

Last Updated: July 8, 2015