Some do charts, some do categories to give credit to as many games that deserve it as possible. We held our race for that. And, just as with every race, there is only one winner.
We had countless drafts of what awards format we were going to do to mark this festive occasion. For example, a gargantuan ceremony scripted, much like the Oscars. We even had the year’s gaming garbage (hello, Dishonored 2!) lined up to be put under a, highly radioactive preferably, spotlight. But that wouldn’t properly celebrate our game of the year, it’d just put it on a list.
Make no mistake, each entrant in our race stands ways above the 2016’s flatline. Be it for haunting beauty, immersion verging on escapism, build upon blast from awesome past, or confident push towards perfection in their respective genres, they’re all very very special. But one, one is all. And, seldom true as it may be, one is more.
You know how sometimes when you watch Flea play bass, McRae drive a car, Jackson do the moonwalk, or Corliss fly a bit of clothing, you tend to think how easy it looks. Effortless, almost, yet infinitely spectacular, utterly extraordinary. Well, id Software have done exactly that, I think, with Doom.
There’s a lot of math in video games. But, as all the booming procedural stuff of late has taught us, just brains aren’t going to cut it. What it takes on top is passion. And a little bit of that fuck-it attitude.
But let’s not overstay the welcome, shall we. Doom‘s single player campaign is the best damn bit of first-person shooter I have played. Ever. As much as it is in hindsight logical, it’s a no-holds-barred true-to-heritage evolution to what still is the most influential video game of all time. There can be absolutely no doubt that id Software do get ‘it’. And with just as much doubt, Doom is our game of the year.
Happy 2017 y’all!
