Game of the Year
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Game of the Year
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is evocative, exhilarating, and a masterclass in open-world design, and a watershed game that reinvents a 30-year-old franchise. It presents a wonderful sandbox full of mystery, dangling dozens upon dozens of tantalizing things in front of you that just beg to be explored.
Best Playstation 4 Game
Horizon: Zero Dawn
Across a vast and beautiful open world, Horizon Zero Dawn juggles many moving parts with polish and finesse. Its main activity – combat – is extremely satisfying thanks to the varied design and behaviors of machine-creatures that roam its lands, each of which needs to be taken down with careful consideration. Though side questing could have been more imaginative, its missions are compelling thanks to a central mystery that led me down a deep rabbit hole to a genuinely surprising – and moving – conclusion.
Best XBox One Game
Cuphead
As tough as it is beautiful, Cuphead won’t be to everyone’s tastes, but there’s absolutely no doubting its quality. Rather than simply offering the player what they want, Cuphead makes them earn that right – the rewards, if you can hack the tests, are absolutely worth it. Cuphead is incredible for more than just its looks. But before you dive in, make sure you actually want a game that plays like this, and not just a game that looks like this.
Best PC Game
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds has taken the genre popularized by games like DayZ and boiled it down to only its best parts, making for quick and accessible rounds of pure, hassle-free survival-based action.
Other winners:
Best Shooter
Best Action Game
Best Adventure Game
Best Action-Adventure Game
Best Fighting Game
Best Platformer
Best Strategy Game
Best RPG
Best Racing Game
Best VR Experience
Best Puzzle Game