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Techtite.com's 3rd Annual
Golden Otto Awards!
(2002 edition)
A Techtite
Feature Article
The Golden Ottos for Multimedia
Go To...
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| Game
Of The Year: Prince
of Persia: The Sands of Time. This was a tough call this year,
but not tough enough to name this as the Game of the Year, period,
for both PC computers and consoles(!). Not that this was an easy
choice; 2003 would offer many top-notch games, from the
under-appreciated Beyond
Good & Evil to the flawless Star Wars RPG, Knights of the Old Republic.
However, Sands of Time gets a leg up on its competition for three reasons.
One would have to be the cool ability to rewind time at will. Second would
be the romance subplot, which is enhanced even more by a very vivid hero and
heroine in the lead roles. Third is the ending, which spoilers intact is
perhaps the most emotion-stirring game ending I've seen since the golden
years of adventure games. Sure, it's a little tough to get to that ending
without some level of difficulty, but what game isn't without a fair
challenge? |
Worst Game of the Year:
Contract J.A.C.K.
In all prior Otto awards we were kind and called such games merely the
"most disappointing," but...not this time. J.A.C.K. was not only
disappointing; it was a total waste of time, and a total slap in the face
for people who expected a coherent spin-off to No One Lives Forever.
Even the ending to the single-player mission sucked. This game was a cheap
sales stunt to make more money all around.
 Best RPG:
Star Wars: Knights
of the Old Republic. From the very first moment you assemble
your own light saber, this game shows how much it was made by diehard fans,
for diehard fans. Better still is its multiple endings, its multiple
solutions to various problems ("light side" and "dark
side"), and even its sexy love interests (the female Jedi padawan
Bastila if your character is male; the space flyboy Carth if your character
is female). There have been many attempts at sci-fi RPG's in the past. This
was one of the best.
 Best FPS:
Tron 2.0.
Overall, I really wanted to give Tron 2.0 a better award than "just
Best First-Person Shooter. Then I remembered how the finale of the
single-player missions seemed basically abandoned. You don't even get to
defeat the Big Bad of the game, nor do you really learn who that Big Bad
even is, really, aside from an "I'll get you!" comment from an
intercom. This makes Tron 3.0 inevitable, but much like how the Lord of the Rings
trilogy was given few awards until its conclusion, I will wait until the
conclusion of this story, before I offer any "Game of the Year"
honors to this game. That's a shame, because aside from the finale, it came
close.
 Best
action-adventure: Beyond
Good & Evil. I think what struck me with this game was in
how far it goes to not be a mere cliche of any typical action adventure out
there. You aren't searching for a bunch of inventory items, you aren't
jumping like a gymnast a la Lara Croft, and you aren't fighting hair-pulling
battles against any Big Bad that isn't defeated with simple good strategy.
Best of all is the story, with an amusing plot twist and a really cute
(albeit short) grand finale. The after credits quick shot also leaves the
door open for a sequel. Count me in when it's released.
 Best Adventure Game:
Uru: Ages Beyond Myst.
If you've been rather standoffish about the Myst series, this is the
one to change your mind. For many years now I'll always remember the
"fireflies" puzzle (or whatever they're called in this game).
True, this game's dream of being the first online adventure community
via "Uru Live" was called off due to not enough people signing on;
that's still no reason to not reward the actual game for being the best
adventure this year.
Honorable Mentions:
Splinter Cel, if just because
we love stealth games that help us to wait for Thief 3;
Halo, even if it should've
been on the PC 2 years ago;
and Star Trek Elite Force 2,
for being the sort of game that would've been a shoo-in for an awards column
like this, if not for such a banner year in PC games.
The Best Game You
(Probably) Didn't Play: Beyond
Good & Evil. Of all the games you may not have played this
year, this is the one worth reminding you to play in this entire list. 'nuf
said there.
Coolest "Easter Egg":
Hidden Level, Prince
of Persia The Sands of Time. When starting a new game, you are
on a balcony. Instead of entering the curtains of the room and starting the
level, press (some retries may be necessary) X, space,
left mouse button, E, C, E, Space, Left Mouse Button, C. This jumps you to a
level based on the 2-D world of the original game, with a picture of the
design team at the end. Neat.
Best Villain:
Darth Malak, Knights
of the Old Republic.. I think what makes this villain so cool is
that steel mask he wears in the lower half of his face. You even get to see
him without his mask, and it's not pretty...but it's still pretty cool. This
guy's the best villain of the year without contest. He's fun to defeat no
matter what side of the force you may choose. The only regret is he's not
coming back for any sequels.
Game
Couple of the Year:
The Prince and Farah, Prince
of Persia: The Sands of Time. Ask not why the makers of Knights
of the Old Republic didn't allow "you" and Bastila to be
together in the end (didn't ancient Jedi know better than modern movie script
writers?). Sands of Time knew better: The prince always gets the princess. Such is a
game design rule of thumb for everyone to follow. It enhanced the
whole game.
Game's Man of the Year:
The Prince, Prince
of Persia: The Sands of Time. Although just slightly edging out
"your character" in Knights of the Old Republic, that character
wasn't really a character per se, because every sound byte was chosen by
you, within the game. Not so for the Prince, who was totally cool to play
as, with every cinematic making him look even cooler....and gamers feeling
cooler playing him as well!
Game's
Woman of the Year:
Bastila, Knights
of the Old Republic. To be honest, Bastila and Farah (Prince of
Persia: SoT) were neck-and-neck, until we remembered all the times Farah
tried to "help" us in battle, only to shoot an arrow in the poor
prince's back. D'oh! However, these were both impressive love interests for
their respective title character heroes, in these two games. Bastila also
gets some sympathy points because, let's be honest: how many game heroines
had to sneak into a Sand People camp, only to have them strip you down to
your undies when you leave? Any heroine that must face that sort of
humiliation in a video game deserves our support...
| All text, Title
graphics, and pix not of reviewed product, are created by Techtite,
copyright 1999-2004; all rights reserved. Yes, we know Golden Otto
looks cute; don't even THINK of using his graphic without
permission! As for other graphics: Screen captures of
products
reviewed are discrete thumbnails, used only for the purpose of
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& disclaimers, click here... |
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