The Game Awards 2020: All games announced and winners
Natural consequence of this derives is the fact that, even before celebrating the best video games of the year, the attention was attracted by potential new announcements, the real stars of the evening. After months of speculation, exacerbated by the absence of the classic big events in the sector, the time had finally come to close the 2020 amaro with a slightly sweeter note, but unfortunately this year's edition proved not to be very rhythmic, anything but inspired and at times soporific. Here's all the little that happened during The Game Awards 2020.
Watch on YouTube. Perhaps it would be better to call them The Last of Us Part 2 Awards, since the exclusive PlayStation from Naughty Dog has taken home virtually all of the heaviest awards. In addition to earning Game of the Year, a milestone that even Red Dead Redemption 2 missed, Neil Druckmann's masterpiece won the statuettes for best action-adventure game, best storytelling, best audio, best accessibility and best game direction. , not to mention that Laura Bailey earned the award for best performance thanks to the extraordinary interpretation of Abby Anderson.
Before jumping into the game competition, it's worth shifting the spotlight to all the new announcements which warmed up the evening, including more than one high-sounding name. The biggest shock, the one capable of dividing communities and sparking immense discussions following a single, short teaser, was brought by the return of Mass Effect. A return that will not go through a parallel episode, something similar to the road traveled with Andromeda, but which will start from a new chapter of the original saga; in a matter of seconds of cinematic we saw Liara T'Soni recover Commander Shepard's unmistakable N7 plate from the snowy surface of an unknown planet: “Mass Effect will continue”.
Watch on YouTube. Alongside the most unexpected return of the evening, there is a debut that millions of Xbox fans have been waiting for for over two years: we are talking about that of The Initiative, the AAAA super studio meticulously assembled by Matt Booty, fishing one piece at a time among the best software houses of the planet. The modus operandi chosen for the entrance on the scene, however, did not convince us to the end: instead of focusing on a breath of freshness, the spearhead of the Xbox Studios has revealed to the world its new vision of Perfect Dark, an imagined universe from Rare in the now distant 2000 and apparently reinterpreted according to a more next-gen reading key than ever.
There are many rumors surrounding this project: for some time there has been talk of a possible release in episodes, from even more than a title determined to make the most of the granite architecture of Xbox Series X. Although the trailer did not show off the gameplay, which should follow that of the classic FPS, the attention to detail seems to be the focal stone of the project ; that said, it must be considered that Perfect Dark is now nothing more than the relic of a past world, a title that will hardly be able to assert the weight of its name in the eyes of new generations of gamers, while depriving Microsoft of an effect novelty that could have been devastating. In short, we will be happy to be proved wrong, but from The Initiative we expected much, much more.
The fact that the heavyweights are embodied by Perfect Dark, Mass Effect and the new episode of Dragon Age, the whose presence was now well known, makes you think: to take center stage was a trio of titles that have not simply vanished from the radar, but which have been practically set aside by the same industry that today is forced to recover them, in order to to plug the creative void that is characterizing large productions. Of course, we have also seen new IPs, but Sony's studios have not responded to the call, and it is extremely eloquent that the most impactful announcement behind these "big ones" concerned Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which is preparing to add Sephiroth di Final Fantasy VII to the roster of fighters.
Watch on YouTube. Needless to say, the task of carrying the torch of innovation ended once again in the hands of the AA undergrowth and in the meanders of the independent market, which as always presented themselves to the appointment in great shape. Among the most interesting projects, in fact, we saw the new creature of Josef Fares, the father of A Way Out, who managed to get another madness from Electronic Arts: it is It Takes Two, coincidentally a ' adventure to be faced entirely in cooperative, set in a "pixarian" world and enriched by a narrative component far from the apparent playfulness of the protagonists.
Many have been bewitched by the fantasy of The Callisto Protocol, a new survival horror with sci-fi hues developed by Striking Distance, a studio led by none other than former Dead Space director Glen Schofield; the fil rouge that binds the two works is evident from the first glance, and the short teaser was enough to make many fans jump in their chairs. The palm of the style points, however, has fallen into the hands of Season, a project by Scavengers Studios that seems to have all the credentials to bring an artistic pearl of rare beauty to the PlayStation, although it still remains wrapped in a thick cloud of mystery.
Followed by Open Roads by Annapurna Interactive, an on-the-road journey in the Midwest of the United States that finds its soul in the mother-daughter relationship, and Road 96 by DigixArt, the authors of Valiant Hearts, which they aim for a more light-hearted style while sharing a basic inspiration if not similar at least similar. Even in the case of the artistic and semi-hidden face of The Game Awards, however, the meat in the fire ran out rather quickly, soon giving way to a flood of productions already glimpsed, seen and sometimes overdone.
Watch on Youtube. On the Xbox front, for example, the console version of Microsoft Flight Simulator has finally re-emerged, ready to land directly on Game Pass in the course of next summer. Too bad not to come across the second coming of Hellblade 2, the great protagonist of the last edition, on the other hand, what was a great communication partner of the Redmond house during the summer, that is Scarlet Nexus by Bandai Namco, has returned to show itself; while not exclusive, this action-rpg has always shown itself in tandem with Series X, and promises to bring a pinch of the Japanese atmosphere even on the most American console in the world.
Worth an analysis in-depth are two productions in particular. The first will make the happiness of all Left 4 Dead fanatics, people who in the extreme cooperative of Valve have built friendships of steel while escaping thousands and thousands of deaths: it is Back 4 Blood, Turtle Rock zombie meat grinder, next evolution- gen of the spiritual predecessor, a formula refined and perfected from all points of view. The second title is Crimson Desert, an action-adventure set in an immense open world and packaged by Pearl Abyss, a Korean developer known for being the birthplace of the MMO Black Desert, who if he were to keep a tenth of the promises made in the very long trailer d announcement could exceed the expectations of millions of fans of the genre.
Other titles announced:
Ghost n Goblins: Resurrection Evil West FIST Shady Part of Me Century: Age of Ashes Hood Warhammer: Darktide Endless Dungeon Evil Dead by Keighley, a title that now seems strong with a definitive release date in April 2021. Even more interesting is the situation on the shores of Disco Elysium: the award-winning Za / UM cRPG will reach the world of consoles in a "Final Cut ”, Ready to debut on PlayStation in March and then reach all the other consoles during the summer; Returnal by Housemarque is also a welcome return, the latest sci-fi effort from the studio behind Resogun, which prepares to reach a new home on PS5. Each of these titles carries with it a very clear message: the flame of the imagination seems to continue to burn more ardently than ever outside the orbit of the most famous productions.Watch on YouTube. We close the filotto of the announcements with a series of special mentions, among which Elite: Dangerous Odyssey, which promises to deliver in the hands of the fans what the supporters of Star Citizen have been waiting for several years now; usually we would gloss over Ark's survival experience, but how could we ignore Vin Diesel's cumbersome presence in the announcement trailer? Alongside the grotesque reveal of the sequel, Wildcard has put on the plate an animated series that includes in the credits interpreters of the caliber of David Tennant, Karl Urban and Elliot Page.
As for the actual Awards, the excessive power has run out demonstrated by The Last of Us Part 2, the winners were Hades and Among Us, both awarded a pair of statuettes; in the case of roguelike it is best action and best indie video game, while streamer favorite title just-chatting has established itself as best mobile game and best multiplayer. The other candidates for the GOTY have also obtained small revenge: Final Fantasy VII Remake (although not an RPG) has been elected the best RPG of the event, Ghost of Tsushima will be able to boast of being the strong work of the best artistic direction, finally Animal Crossing : New Horizons beat the competition in the best family game category.
Watch on YouTube. Mortal Kombat 11, almost unrivaled, easily collected an "angel" as the best fighting game, while the controversial sports / racing category saw the triumph of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2. No Man's Sky, thanks to the definitive consecration that came with its slow rebirth, has established itself as the best ongoing-game, Microsoft Flight Simulator has instead passed as a steamroller in the midst of the other simulative / strategic, and Half-Life: Alyx has put in safe with equal ease the prize for the best work in virtual reality. Phasmophobia won the title of best debut project, Fall Guys the one for the best community support, and League of Legends confirmed itself as the best export on the market thanks to its incredible 2020 Worlds.
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In terms of games for impact, that is, those products that find their raison d'etre in a social battle or have proven beneficial effects, the jury chose Dontnod's Tell Me Why; it is a statuette destined to be discussed, because the traditional adventure of the French studio has often been criticized for the superficiality with which it has explored its main theme. There could not have been a more ironic conclusion to the festival than seeing the palm for the most anticipated title of the year awarded to From Software's Elden Ring, the very video game that hundreds of thousands of fans hoped to find when watching Keighley's show. br>
Scrolling quickly through this analysis, one could think of a 2020 edition of The Game Awards capable of bringing a show up to the very high standard imposed in the course of the latest instances, but the reality is quite different. We are talking about the communicative side of the event, not of the awards themselves, but of the entire show, which for some years now constitutes a rich framework ready to eclipse the main course. We have seen few productions of weight, even less that were inspired, and once again the most impactful creative impulse came from the rear of the market. In short, if on the one hand The Last of Us Part 2 puts a wonderful full stop at the bottom of a generation that lasted seven years, on the other it is still very difficult to speculate about its possible heir in 2021.
