BioShock, the moody, elegant adventure from Take-Two, continued its romp through the year-end video game awards season on Monday as it took the top prize in the awards presented by “X-Play,” the G4 television channel’s video game program.
BioShock emerged in August with relatively little advance publicity to captivate players with its tense yet melancholy mood, rich voice acting and exciting action. The title, which is available for PCs and the Xbox 360 console, won the top prize at the Spike network’s annual awards earlier this month.
The “X-Play Best of 2007” awards broadcast was scheduled to have its premiere on Monday with the program’s regular hosts, Adam Sessler and Morgan Webb. The network plans to unveil a new format for “X-Play” next month, adding more news and demonstrations to its range of reviews.
In addition to the top prize, BioShock also won the award for best art direction, writing and original soundtrack. The other nominees for best game were Assassin’s Creed, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Halo 3, Mass Effect and Super Mario Galaxy.
Each of those games was released after BioShock, perhaps overwhelming gamers. The industry is usually focused on the holiday season, but by coming out in the summer, BioShock appeared to generate momentum among fans before the autumn deluge.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the G4 awards, which are chosen by staff members of “X-Play,” was that the much-ballyhooed Halo 3 was shut out after being nominated in six categories. Thousands camped outside of stores in September to buy that game when it was first released, and it has sold millions of copies as the flagship title for Microsoft’s Xbox 360.
Yet despite its enhanced graphics, Halo 3 has come to generate a “more of the same” feeling for many players. While Halo focuses on high-octane futuristic combat, BioShock is a more intimate, psychologically engaging experience built around a provocative, intellectually mature story.
In addition to BioShock, two other titles won multiple awards. Activision’s Call of Duty 4 won for best shooter and sound design. The puzzle game Portal (from Valve) won for most original and for best new character.
Source: New York Times