It may be 2018, but my heart still belongs to 2017. Sure, Nazis may have returned and the results of El Nino (Which is Spanish for The Nino) may have resulted in our local rainfall being utterly clobbered, but at least we got some fine games out of the year. Ubisoft’s partnership with Nintendo resulted in the delightfully absurd Mario + Rabbids, Uncharted returned for one more round with its leading ladies and PUBG took the world by storm.
Moments in video game history, that’ll soon be honoured by The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences when they host the 2018 DICE Awards. Is it an award show which is almost as popular as my annual Games Which Are Almost As Good As Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance event that happens to be attended by dozens of voices in my head? Fortunately, it isn’t.
The nominees for this year are in, and Sony’s Horizon: Zero Dawn leads the way with a staggering ten votes of awesomeness. It’s got some solid competition however: The latest Legend Of Zelda has six nods, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice earned five nominations and PUBG has four awards that it’s a contender for.
Here’s the full list of nominees, below:
Game of the Year
- Cuphead
- Horizon Zero Dawn
- PUBG
- Super Mario Odyssey
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Outstanding Achievement in Animation
- Cuphead
- For Honor
- Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
- Horizon Zero Dawn
- Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
- Cuphead
- Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
- Horizon Zero Dawn
- Little Nightmares
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Outstanding Achievement in Character
- Assassin’s Creed Origins – Bayek
- Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice – Senua
- Horizon Zero Dawn – Aloy
- Star Wars Battlefront II – Iden Versio
- Uncharted: The Lost Legacy – Chloe Fraiser
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition
- Call of Duty: WWII
- Cuphead
- Horizon Zero Dawn
- RiME
- Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design
- Destiny 2
- Injustice 2
- Star Wars Battlefront II
- Super Mario Odyssey
- Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
Outstanding Achievement in Story
- Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
- Horizon Zero Dawn
- Night in the Woods
- What Remains of Edith Finch
- Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
Outstanding Technical Achievement
- Assassin’s Creed Origins
- Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
- Horizon Zero Dawn
- Lone Echo/Echo Arena
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Action Game of the Year
- Call of Duty: WWII
- Cuphead
- Destiny 2
- PUBG
- Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
Adventure Game of the Year
- Assassin’s Creed Origins
- Horizon Zero Dawn
- Super Mario Odyssey
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
Family Game of the Year
- DropMix
- GNOG
- Just Dance 2018
- SingStar Celebration
- Snipperclips
Fighting Game of the Year
- Arms
- Injustice 2
- Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite
- Nidhogg 2
- Tekken 7
Racing Game of the Year
- Dirt 4
- Forza Motorsport 7
- Gran Turismo Sport
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
- Project Cars 2
Role-Playing Game of the Year
- Divinity: Original Sin 2
- Middle-earth: Shadow of War
- NieR:Automata
- Persona 5
- Torment: Tides of Numenera
Sports Game of the Year
- Everybody’s Golf
- FIFA 18
- Golf Clash
- Madden NFL 18
- MLB The Show 17
Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year
- Endless Space 2
- Halo Wars 2
- Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
- Total War: Warhammer II
- XCOM 2: War of the Chosen
Immersive Reality Technical Achievement
- Lone Echo/Echo Arena
- Robo Recall
- Star Trek Bridge Crew
- The Invisible Hours
- Wilson’s Heart
Immersive Reality Game of the Year
- Lone Echo/Echo Arena
- Psychonauts in the Rhombus of Ruin
- Robo Recall
- Space Pirate Trainer
- Wilson’s Heart
D.I.C.E. Sprite Award
- Everything
- Gorogoa
- Night in the Woods
- Pyre
- Snipperclips
Handheld Game of the Year
- Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King
- Etrian Odyssey V: Beyond the Myth
- Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
- Metroid: Samus Returns
- Monster Hunter Stories
Mobile Game of the Year
- Cat Quest
- Fire Emblem Heroes
- Gorogoa
- Monument Valley 2
- Splitter Critters
Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay
- Call of Duty: WWII
- Destiny 2
- Fortnite
- PUBG
- Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands
Outstanding Achievement in Game Design
- Gorogoa
- Horizon Zero Dawn
- PUBG
- Super Mario Odyssey
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction
- Gorogoa
- Horizon Zero Dawn
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
- What Remains of Edith Finch
Weird. I’d thought for certain that Cuphead would have earned a new category in which it was the winner by default: The Outstanding Achievement in Chucking Your Controller In A Fit of Rage award. The actual event will be held next month in Las Vegas, on February 22.
Last Updated: January 15, 2018
