2012 turned out to be a big year for video games ending in the number 3.
Need proof? Well, the top four titles garnering the most nominations from the National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers for its upcoming award show had 3 after the franchise name (well, one ended in III, if you want to get technical about it).
Leading the pack was Ubisoft’s Far Cry 3, which picked up 12 nominations, followed by 10 apiece for Mass Effect 3 and Max Payne 3. Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed III bookended the group with nine nominations.
Ubisoft Montreal’s Far Cry 3 leads the field with 12 nominations for the upcoming NAVGTR awards.
However, only one of the four – Far Cry 3 – earned a nod in the biggest category, Game of the Year. The other nominees for the top prize are Borderlands 2, Journey, Spec Ops: The Line, Torchlight II and The Walking Dead.
Developed at Ubisoft’s world-renowned Montreal studio, Far Cry 3 is first-person shooter that incorporated role-playing game elements into its story-driven, action-packed plot. Published for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, the story involves a group of young thrill-seekers who are kidnapped on a remote island by pirates. The open-world sandbox setting is about 10 times larger than the game environments featured in previous Far Cry titles, according to the game’s narrative director, Jason Vandenberghe, in an interview he did with PlayStation Universe (psu.com).
Meanwhile, Assassin’s Creed III was also developed at Ubisoft Montreal. The game follows the actions of Connor, a half-English, half-Mohawk assassin who is tasked with killing Templars in the run-up to, during and in the aftermath of the American Revolution.
Further cementing Canada’s role as one of the top video game producing nations, Mass Effect 3’s 10 nominations, for Edmonton-based BioWare, can only be viewed as a soothing salve after the final installment of the role-playing/shooter trilogy met with a mixture of fanboy outrage and widespread discontent. Many were upset by what they viewed as a poorly executed ending that didn’t really match players’ expectations based on BioWare’s assertions during the series’ run that the consequences of choices made by gamers during the trilogy would impact the ultimate outcome of the game.
Fans went so far as to post videos on YouTube showing all the ending variations, which amounted to a mere handful.
BioWare responded by releasing a free downloadable content pack called the extended cut that sought to clarify the ending (going so far as to add a fourth possible outcome to the original three) and leave open the possibility of future Mass Effect titles.
For my money, the title that was most deserving of recognition wound up tied for fifth with eight nominations … the brilliant, episodic downloadable title The Walking Dead.
Developed by Telltale Games, The Walking Dead is a point-and-click adventure based on the popular TV show. It follows fictional character Lee Everett through five installments as he tries to survive a zombie apocalypse among other survivors.
The game – available on PC, Mac, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and iOs – was also nominated in two acting categories: Best voice-over performance by Dave Fennoy as Lee Everett and best-supporting performance by Melissa Hutchison as Clementine.
In total, there are 53 categories, including: Innovation in game technology, animation, art direction, in-game cinema direction, control precision, design, graphics, dramatic score, use of sound and writing.
The awards, voted on by more than 900 reviewers, aim to recognize achievements in art, technology and production. The winners will be announced March 24 in Boston at the PAX East game show.
To see a complete list of nominees, visit http://navgtr.org/nominees.