\n
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\nThe Award for Worst New Trend of 2015<\/strong>
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![\"Last_of_Us_repayment_is_a_bitch\"](\"http:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Last_of_Us_repayment_is_a_bitch.jpg\")
<\/a>\nThe trend of remastering, rereleasing, and reprofiting has been underway for a while. But it really got going this year with Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition, Darksiders Deathinitive Edition, The Crew: Wild Run, State of Decay: Year One, God of War III Remastered, Binding of Isaac: Rebirth, Homeworld Remastered Collection, Tearaway Unfolded, Zombie Army Trilogy, The Last of Us Remastered, and even Pathologic Classic HD. If people like your game enough, they’ll gladly buy it again. It’s like having to buy a Blu-ray of a favorite movie you only have on DVD.
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\nThe Award for Best New Trend of 2015<\/strong>
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<\/a>\nRemastering, rereleasing, and reprofiting. You do want Blu-rays of the movies you have on DVD, don’t you?
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\nThe What the Marketplace Will Bear Award<\/strong> for fools and their money being parted
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<\/a>\nWinner:<\/strong> Star Citizen
\nIf people want to buy stuff in a game that prioritizes its business model over its game design, that’s their business. But when people are bamboozled into buying stuff in a game that doesn’t even exist yet and they therefore have no idea whether it’s a game they even want to play, that’s borderline predatory. Or ingenious. It depends on your perspective.<\/p>\n
Runner up:<\/strong> Call of Duty Black Ops III and Star Wars: Battlefront Runner up:<\/strong> Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns Runner up:<\/strong> Warhammer: Vermintide Second runner up:<\/strong> Star Wars: Battlefront Runner up:<\/strong> Homeworld Remastered Runner up:<\/strong> Atom Zombie Smasher Runner up:<\/strong> Payday 2 Runner up:<\/strong> Grand Theft Auto V Runner up:<\/strong> Rainbow Six Siege Runner up:<\/strong> anything exclusive to the Xbox One Runner up:<\/strong> Darkest Dungeon Runner up:<\/strong> Need for Speed Runner up:<\/strong> Bloodborne. Second runner up:<\/strong> Infinifactory. Runner up:<\/strong> Nom Nom Galaxy Runner up: <\/strong>Sid Meier’s Starships Runner up:<\/strong> A Fistful of Gun Second runner up:<\/strong> Nuclear Throne Runner up:<\/strong> Anno 2207 Runner up:<\/strong> Kerbal Space Program Runner up:<\/strong> Prison Architect Second runner up:<\/strong> Nom Nom Galaxy Runners up:<\/strong> Armikrog, Mushihimesama, Funk of Titans<\/p>\n Welcome to the sometime annual awards ceremony for the 2015 Quarterlies! Our panel of judge (not pictured, left) has carefully considered all the nominations and Steve Harvey is about to reveal the lucky winners (not pictured, right), each of whom will receive (not really) a trophy (not pictured). Please take your seats. After the jump, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37614,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features"],"yoast_head":"\n
\nFor all intents and purposes, a season pass that costs as much as the actual game over again is just a game that costs twice as much. I have determined that using math.
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\nThe Deja Vu Award<\/strong> for games I’m pretty sure I’ve already played
\n<\/a>
\nWinner:<\/strong> Just Cause 3
\nBack in 2010, Just Cause 2 was great. In 2015, it’s merely good.<\/p>\n
\nWhat makes Heart of Thorns good is exactly what already made Guild Wars good.
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\nThe Deja Vu Done Right Award<\/strong> for games I’m pretty sure I’ve already played, but not like this
\n<\/a>
\nWinner:<\/strong> Rebel Galaxy
\nRebel Galaxy is to space fly\/fight\/trade games what Force Awakens is to Star Wars. It knows exactly how much familiarity stops short of breeding contempt and it know exactly how much fat to trim to keep things moving at a snappy pace.<\/p>\n
\nLeft 4 Dead in the Warhammer universe, with Skaven rat people instead of zombies? Brilliant! Willard for a new generation!<\/p>\n
\nIt doesn’t matter whether you call it dumbed down or more accessible. However you describe it, it’s a DICE shooter for people who aren’t inclined to grind their way through a DICE shooter.
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\nThe I Was More Excited About This Before It Actually Came Out Award<\/strong> for games upstaged by their pre-release anticipation
\n<\/a>
\nWinner:<\/strong> Helldivers
\nPunishingly difficult, mandatory multiplayer, and repetitive grinding to unlock gear. I didn’t sign up for this.<\/p>\n
\nIt sure does look good, but it’s also a reminder that RTSs shouldn’t bother with a Z-axis.
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\nThe Energizer Bunny Award<\/strong> for games that just keep going
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\nWinner:<\/strong> Diablo III, Guild Wars 2, Grand Theft Auto V
\nAmong “old” games that easily hold their own against the games of 2015, Diablo III, Guild Wars 2, and Grand Theft Auto V are still going strong. I could have just played these all year. And probably next year, too.<\/p>\n
\nYou ever boot up a “really old” game and rediscover that it’s so good it could have come out yesterday? Almost exactly five years ago, Atom Zombie Smasher was the first game reviewed on this site<\/a>. It’s as good today as it was five years ago. Heck, better!
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\nThe Hey Where Did Everybody Go? Award <\/strong> for multiplayer-only done wrong
\n<\/a>
\nWinner:<\/strong> Evolve
\nYou can’t sell a game this unique at full price, especially without some sort of licensing tie-in to help sell it. And you certainly can’t build a player base by sowing confusion about the post-release content. Evolve deserved better.<\/p>\n
\nIf there’s one thing worse than a bait-and-switch, it’s a bait-and-switch drawn out over several years. After masquerading as a self-contained game for months, Payday 2 clumsily introduced micropayments that affect gameplay.
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\nThe I’m Not Sure What Year This Came Out Award<\/strong> for confusing release schedules
\n<\/a>
\nWinner:<\/strong> Broken Age
\nBroken Age was released in two parts over two years. Welcome to the brave new worlds of crowdfunding, early access, playable betas, episodic content, DLC, and expectation management.<\/p>\n
\nThis year finally saw the definitive version of Rockstar’s 2013 masterpiece<\/a>. The PC version.
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\nThe This Came Out Already? Award<\/strong> for releases no one noticed
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\nWinner:<\/strong> The Order: 1886
\nLook what Sony left on the doorstep. Nah, you can leave it out there.<\/p>\n
\nI have a sneaking suspicion this might be the year’s best shooter. Why would Ubisoft sneak it out so quietly after the holiday rush? They should have thrown out a flashbang instead.
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\nThe Splat Award<\/strong> for the most spectacular faceplant
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\nWinner:<\/strong> Tony Hawk Pro Skater 5<\/p>\n
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\nThe For Pete’s Sake, You Can Stop Buffing the Finish Award<\/strong> for early access games that don’t feel like early access games
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\nWinner:<\/strong> Offworld Trading Company
\nI blame this release-quality unreleased game for tricking me into trying other early access games. If early access is as fully formed as Offworld Trading Company, why wait for the full release? Unfortunately, it turns out most early access is indeed early.<\/p>\n
\nIt’s in early access even though it’s mostly feature-complete, fully playable, and easily mistaken for an actual release. Which technically won’t happen for another 29 days. Can you tell I’ve got January 19 marked on the calendar?
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\nThe Rise from the Grave Award<\/strong> for use of full motion video at a time other than the 90s
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\nWinner:<\/strong> Contradiction
\nA hilariously awful actor playing a detective investigates a mysterious suicide in an English village by grimacing and mugging his way through FMV interviews with people who aren’t grimacing and mugging. Move over, Columbo! Wonderfully cheesy in a way that’s only possible with actual human actors who aren’t wearing leotards with little dots glued to them.<\/p>\n
\nThe first-person perspective cutscenes play out like found footage in which you’re held captive by a bunch of stereotypically hipster and terrifyingly douchey twentysomethings. So painfully awkward that it’s got to be a joke. Or a horror movie.
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\nThe Never Open with a Showstopper Award<\/strong> for games that are probably good but I can’t get past the first level
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\nWinner:<\/strong> Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number
\nIf you thought Hotline Miami was too easy, Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number is for you.<\/p>\n
\nTrue to the Dark Souls tradition, I made it to the first boss, Father Gascoigne. I got no farther.<\/p>\n
\nMy friend had to show me the solution to the first puzzle after I insisted it was literally impossible. I’m still not convinced he didn’t briefly bend the laws of time and space just to trick me.
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\nThe “You Guys Go On Without Me, I’m Good” Award<\/strong>
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\nWinner:<\/strong> A three-way tie between Guitar Hero Live, Rock Band 4, and Just Dance 2016
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\nThe “What the Hell Is…Ooooh!” Award<\/strong> for creating new genres
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\nWinner:<\/strong> Crypt of the Necrodancer
\nA rhythm-based rogue-like. That is now officially a thing.<\/p>\n
\nSoup tycoon meets one of those ubiquitous survival\/crafting games, but done by the irresistibly charming folks at Pixeljunk.
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\nThe Less Is More Award<\/strong> for elegance and simplicity in game design
\n<\/a>
\nWinner:<\/strong> Chaos Reborn
\nIf you think you’ve seen everything in Chaos Reborn, you haven’t played it enough.<\/p>\n
\nFiraxis goes beyond Earth for easy-peasy tactical spaceship combat within a meaningful strategic framework.
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\nThe Nice Legs Shame About the Face Award<\/strong> for games that are really really great despite the annoying retro pixel graphics
\n<\/a>
\nWinner:<\/strong> Broforce
\nBroforce! BROFORCE!<\/p>\n
\nA nifty Western with a different control scheme for each character and an infinitely replayable rogue-like campaign.<\/p>\n
\nBroforce! Oops. I mean, Nuclear Throne!
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\nThe Steal This Idea Award<\/strong> for stuff more games should do
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\nWinner:<\/strong> Rebel Galaxy
\nRebel Galaxy lets you put your own music into context-specific folders that will play the music ingame. From now on, every space game should have the Interstellar soundtrack playing during non-combat and the Fury Road soundtrack playing during combat.<\/p>\n
\nThanks for letting me move any building at any time! Urban renewal was never so painless.
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\nThe Missing the Point Award<\/strong> for missing the point
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\nWinner:<\/strong> Zombi
\nZombiU without the U is no ZombiU. Minus the awesome local multiplayer — WiiU gamepad required — Zombi is just another undead me-too.<\/p>\n
\nPlaying Kerbal Space Program is an awesome way to learn about orbital flight physics. But Kerbal Space Program doesn’t include any way to learn how to play Kerbal Space Program.
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\nThe Truth In Advertising Award<\/strong> for aptly named games
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\nWinner:<\/strong> Wolfenstein: Old Blood
\nFrom the publisher that brought us horse armor, here’s some B-side Wolfenstein stuff dumped into a standalone release.<\/p>\n
\nBecause the word “tycoon” never really felt right for these kinds of games.<\/p>\n
\nExactly as precious as you’d think.
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\nThe Varginha Incident Award<\/strong> for games sure to give autocorrect fits
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\nWinner:<\/strong> Darksiders Deathinitive Edition<\/p>\n
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\nThe most disappointing games of 2015<\/a>
\nThe most surprising games of 2015<\/a>
\nThe most overrated games of 2015<\/a>
\nThe top ten games of 2015<\/a>
\nThe most overlooked games of 2015<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"