Tag Archive: Shadow of Mordor


Outer Wilds and Shadow of Mordor come out on top at 17th Annual Indie Games Festival and 15th Annual GDC Awards

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March 22, 2015

Outer Wilds won the 2015 Independent Games Festival’s grand prize and Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor took home Game of the Year at the 2015 GDC Awards.

Outer Wilds was also the most prolific winner of the Indie Games Festival, pulling home a second award for Excellence in Design in what was a field of wide-ranging games in all categories.

Shadow of Mordor, meanwhile, only took home one award, but it was the biggest one of the night for the GDC Awards, which immediately followed the IGF. Monument Valley actually walked away with the most trophies, though, with three. Other notables include Alien: Isolation for Best Sound and Destiny for Best Technology.

Aside from the nine awards given out in specific categories, the GDC Awards also recognized Brenda Romero with the Ambassador Award for her over 30 years of service in the games industry. David Braben was also honored with the Pioneer Award for his work in the game Elite from the early 1980s. And finally, Hironobu Sakaguchi was recognized with the Lifetime Achievement Award for creating the Final Fantasy series.

At the IGFs, This War of Mine received the Audience Award as voted on by the fans.

For all of the nominees in each category, you can check out the list below. Winners of the various categories in the Independent Games Festival also received cash prizes for their victories. Winners from both events have been bolded.

Independent Games Festival: 

Excellence in Audio
Ephemerid: A Musical Adventure
Phonopath
The Sailor’s Dream
Shovel Knight
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Thumper

Excellence in Design
80 Days
Framed
Invisible, Inc.
Killer Queen
Outer Wilds
The Talos Principle

Excellence in Visual Art
Donut County
else Heart.Break()
Lumino City
Memory of a Broken Dimension
Metamorphabet
Oquonie

Excellence in Narrative
80 Days
Coming Out Simulator 2014
Ice-Bound: A Novel of Reconfiguration
PRY
This War of Mine
Three Fourths Home

Nuovo Award
BECOME A GREAT ARTIST IN 10 SECONDS
Bounden
Desert Golfing
Elegy for a Dead World
how do you Do it?
Plug & Play
Rooftop Cop
Tetrageddon Games

Student Showcase
a-part-ment
Close Your
Downwell
Even the Stars
Gemini
Interloper
Rooftop Cop
Stellar Smooch

Seumas McNally Grand Prize
80 Days
Invisible, Inc.
Metamorphabet
Outer Wilds
The Talos Principle
This War of Mine

Game Developers Choice Awards:

Best Debut
The Astronauts
Respawn Entertainment
Stoic Studio
Upper One Games
Yacht Club Games

Innovation Award
Bounden
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
Monument Valley
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
This War of Mine

Best Technology
Destiny
Elite: Dangerous
Far Cry 4
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
Wolfenstein: The New Order

Best Audio
Alien: Isolation
Destiny
Hohokum
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Transistor

Best Visual Art
Alien: Isolation
Bayonetta 2
Child of Light
Hohokum
Monument Valley

Best Narrative
80 Days
Kentucky Route Zero: Act III
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
This War of Mine

Best Design
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker
Dragon Age: Inquisition
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
Shovel Knight

Best Handheld/Mobile Game
80 Days
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
Monument Valley
Super Smash Bros. 3DS
Threes!

Game of the Year
Alien: Isolation
Bayonetta 2
Destiny
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor

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Dragon Age Inquisition prevents clean sweep by Shadow of Mordor, wins Game of the Year at D.I.C.E. Awards

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February 10, 2015

Dragon Age Inquisition pulled off an arguable upset to win Game of the Year at the 18th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards in Las Vegas last night.

With eight wins already in their pocket, some felt it was a foregone conclusion that Shadow of Mordor would pull off a Last of Us-like sweep. But Dragon Age Inquisition, which had won RPG of the Year earlier in the evening, was the title in the final envelope of the night, even to the astonishment of Inquisition’s executive producer Mark Darrah and Bioware Edmonton general manager Aaryn Flynn, who were clearly flabbergasted as they accepted the award.

Aside from the 23 awards given out in specific categories, the D.I.C.E. Awards also recognized Apple with the first ever Technical Impact Award for the creation of the App Store, and Ralph H. Baer and Al Alcorn were the seventh and eighth respective recipients of the Pioneer Award. Ralph Baer is of course considered the father of video games, and Al Alcorn created Pong.

For all of the nominees in each category, you can check out the list below. Winners have been bolded.

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition
Destiny
Far Cry 4
Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
Transistor

Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design
Assassin’s Creed Unity
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
Destiny
Far Cry 4
Valiant Hearts: The Great War

Outstanding Achievement in Story
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
South Park: The Stick of Truth
This War of Mine
Valiant Hearts: The Great War
The Wolf Among Us

Outstanding Technical Achievement
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
Far Cry 4
inFAMOUS: Second Son
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Sunset Overdrive

Outstanding Character
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare — Jonathan Irons
Far Cry 4— Pagan Min
inFAMOUS: First Light — Abigail “Fetch” Walker
inFAMOUS: Second Son — Delsin Rowe
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor — Talion

D.I.C.E. Sprite Award
The Banner Saga
Hohokum
Monument Valley
Threes!
Transistor

Outstanding Innovation in Gaming
Destiny
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Monument Valley
Project Spark

Outstanding Achievement in Online Gaming
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
Destiny
Elite: Dangerous
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
World of Tanks: Xbox 360 Edition

Mobile Game of the Year
80 Days
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
Kingdom Rush Origins
Monument Valley
Threes!

Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year
The Banner Saga
Bravely Default
Divinity: Original Sin
Dragon Age: Inquisition
World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor

Sports Game of the Year
FIFA 15
Madden NFL 15
MLB 14 The Show
NBA 2K15

Racing Game of the Year
Forza Horizon 2
Mario Kart 8
The Crew

Fighting Game of the Year
Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-
Nidhogg
Ultra Street Fighter IV
Super Smash Bros. Wii U

Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year
Boom Beach
Dungeon of the Endless
Endless Legend
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
Sid Meier’s Civilization: Beyond Earth

Family Game of the Year
Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes (2.0 Edition)
LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham
LittleBigPlanet 3
Project Spark
Skylanders Trap Team

Handheld Game of the Year
Bravely Default
Child of Light
Shovel Knight
Super Smash Bros. 3DS
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call

Adventure Game of the Year
inFAMOUS: Second Son
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Valiant Hearts: The Great War
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
The Wolf Among Us

Action Game of the Year
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
Destiny
Far Cry 4
Titanfall
Wolfenstein: The New Order

Outstanding Achievement in Animation
Assassin’s Creed Unity
inFAMOUS: Second Son
Middle-Eart: Shadow of Mordor
Sunset Overdrive
Titanfall

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
Assassin’s Creed Unity
Monument Valley
Sunset Overdrive
Valiant Hearts: The Great War
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

Outstanding Achievement in Game Design
Dungeon of the Endless
Far Cry 4
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Titanfall

Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction
Lumino City
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Monument Valley
Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna)
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

Game of the Year
Destiny
Dragon Age: Inquisition
Far Cry 4
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

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We Give Thanks: Ray Carsillo

Filed under: EGM (Electronic Gaming Monthly), Written — Leave a comment
December 4, 2014

In honor of the day we here in America eat copious amounts of turkey, watch giant balloons float down major New York thoroughfares, and decide we’d rather be saving $20 on a new TV instead of spending time with our loved ones, we here at EGM decided to push aside the negativity and ambivalence that can sometimes befall the game industry and look back upon those things that we were thankful for this year.

Pure West, Baby
01

It made sense that Stan Lee, the king of hamming it up, would make an appearance in Lego: Marvel Super Heroes last year as a playable character as well as replacing the series’ standard “citizen in distress.” But I was genuinely surprised that instead of just going back to a normal citizen for the role, TT Games brought in Adam West, one of the most celebrated men to wear the cape and cowl, to do the same this year in Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham. It was, without a doubt, a guilty pleasure gone amazingly right.

I’m someone who can point to West’s portrayal of the Caped Crusader from the ‘60s (I watched in syndication, like many folks my age, and now I’m rewatching with the long-awaited release of the entire Batman series of DVD/Blu-Ray) as what helped spur a lifelong obsession with not just Batman but comic books in general, and it thrilled me to see him still embracing the character and hamming it up for his fans—even serving as narrator in a special level dedicated entirely to the show!

It’s Not Just a Car
02

Yeah, I know—two Batman posts on the same list. But the honest truth is that, outside of specific games, there wasn’t a ton for me to be thankful for this year, and you’ll have to wait for our “Best of” lists in a couple of weeks to see what stoked my fire in 2014.

Anyway, back at the beginning of the year, we got what many Batman fans have been waiting for: the announcement of Batman: Arkham Knight. And this time, it’s headed up by true Arkham series developer Rocksteady (even they ignore Warner Bros. Montreal’s Origins effort). Looking to cap off what they’ve said time and again will only be a trilogy, they’ve opened up Gotham like never before and given us what we’ve asked for all the way back when we first saw Arkham Asylum: the ability to drive the Batmobile.

I actually got to go hands-on with this multi-use behemoth at E3 this year, and in the small snippet of gameplay I got to try, it blew me away. Not only was it great for combat against other cars, but it helped with crowd control when Batman got into a hairy situation at Ace Chemicals. What’s more, I could even solve puzzles with the vehicle’s winch. The only thing I’m not thankful for is that the game’s been delayed several times, and now I have to wait until June 2015 to go hands-on with it again. Considering all the recent launch disasters, however, maybe it’s a good thing Rocksteady admitted they needed another nine months with the game.

Flip Side of the Coin
03

I’m completing a couple of trifectas here. This marks my third Warner Bros.–related property, and I’m now the third person to mention something from Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor.

Normally, I’m not the biggest Lord of the Rings fan, but Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor really surprised a lot of us here in the office. While Josh may appreciate the new patch that lets you play as the female leader of the resistance and Andrew loves protagonist Talion, for me, it was all about the Nemesis system.

This feature offers incredible systemic gameplay, with each victory or defeat changing dialogue, power levels, and how you need to approach your target—and it’s a potential game-changer for the action-adventure genre. It offered me immense replayability well after the completion of the main story as I began to develop my own narrative within the game. Now, here’s the only question: Who will be the first to try to ape this gameplay revolution?
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