14 DAY TRIAL // The Game Critics Awards is a group of journalists part of 36 North American media outlets. They are game columnists in charge of scouring the floor of E3 to see which releases are the best of the show. Of course, once their deliberations are complete, they are ready to share their knowledge with the masses. The awards for 2008 show an interesting mix of games.
Fallout 3 from Bethesda was designated to be the Best of Show game, while also taking home the Best Role Playing Game award. The post apocalyptic themed adventure is set to arrive in October worldwide and, despite the fact that there's a vocal opposition to the title from the fans of the first two releases in the series, it seems set to be an interesting game.
Spore, which was the other big favorite for Best of Show, has been chosen as the Best PC Game. Even before launch, the title is incredibly successful, with the Spore Creature Creator having gotten more than 2 million downloads and with the creatures in Sporepedia surpassing the number of species on Earth.
LittleBigPlanet for the PlayStation 3 took home Best Console Game and Best Social/Casual/Puzzle, with its incredible open design which allows the player to create his own adventures within the game world.
Mirror's Edge is Best Original Game, impressing with its free running mechanics, while Resistance: Retribution for the PlayStation Portable is Best Handheld Game. Best Action Game went to Gears of War 2 from Epic Games while Best Action/Adventure Games was awarded to Dead Space from Electronic Arts. End War from Ubisoft is the Best Strategy Game while Best Racing Game went to Pure. In an unsurprising move, Madden NFL 09 received the Best Sports Game and Left 4 Dead got the Best Online Multiplayer.