Best of E3 2006 Awards

May 26, 2006

The publishers showcase their very best for E3, and now it's time for us to highlight which games represent the most exciting concepts and are likely to evolve into the standouts this holiday season (and beyond). Of course, this doesn't guarantee the final game's quality, but this is what we're most anticipating after getting a glimpse at the video game industry's entire triple-A catalog.

Best Shooter

Run 'n' gun, pop 'n' stop... must... kill. These are the best of the fast-paced action games.

Best Shooter: Crysis (EA)

Winner: Crysis

Few games at this year's E3 could match Crysis's visual quality, but fewer still could touch its innovative take on traditional first-person shooter gameplay. Seeing the open-ended stealth-action concepts Crytek pioneered in Far Cry taken to their logical extremes proved impressive. In fact, on careful reflection, Crysis was the most impressive single-player shooter we saw all week -- and boy, it had a lot of competition.

But what impressed us the most was the game's level of environmental detail. Not only can you cut a swathe through jungle vegetation with your weapons, you can even watch as the bellowing of the game's spider boss causes smoke to billow. Crysis features visual effects that have never before been possible in video games, and it shows.

Although Crysis will run on Windows XP, to see the game in its full DirectX 10 glory you're going to have to upgrade to Microsoft's upcoming Windows Vista operating system. >>>More info

Runner-ups

Gears of War: The real next generation has arrived. This gorgeous, visceral splatterfest is Microsoft's big hitter for the holidays, and it looks like it's going to deliver. >>>More info

Rainbow Six: Vegas: Who could wish for a more lively setting? Brilliantly modeled on the real Vegas strip, and adding in faster paced tactical combat, Rainbow Six looks to be back on track. >>>More info

Army of Two: EA is really onto something good with this unique shooter's cooperative gameplay. >>>More info

Stranglehold: John Woo and Chow Yun Fat in the same game? It can't possibly be bad -- with fluid, wall running, table sliding, slow-time action, this may be everything The Matrix games should have been. >>>More info

Best Role-Playing Game

For games focused on character development, stat-based combat, dungeon crawling, and dialogue.

Winner: Mass Effect

Best Role-Playing Game: Mass Effect (Microsoft Game Studios)

After seeing Mass Effect's facial animation technology, we knew we'd found the best RPG at E3. Watching the game's main character, Commander Shepard, threaten a bartender really brought home the game's sophistication. Every emotion was clearly visible on his face, and the conversation's direction could be influenced with just a flick of the controller's analog stick.

Not enough for you? How about KOTOR-meets-Star-Control space exploration, complete with stars, planets, space stations, and derelict ships to investigate? Bioware is even promising to expand the game with downloadable additions after it's on sale.

The combat marks it also something special, blending action elements with role-playing-like character development. The tactical squad combat plays out more like a Rainbow Six shooter than a staid, uninvolving turn-based RPG, and it even uses real-world physics simulation to spice up its environments. >>>More info

Runner-ups

Hellgate: London: Although Diablo 3 wasn't on show after all, Hellgate London looked so good it hardly mattered. >>>More info

Titan Quest: Hack and slash your way around ancient Egypt, Greece, and Asia in this fine-looking action-RPG from Iron Lore. >>>More info

D&D Tactics: The PSP is the perfect platform for this very promising turn-based RPG, based on the D&D 3.5 edition rule-set. >>>More info

Best Online Multiplayer Game

For the best multiplayer experience in a non-persistent game world.

Winner: Enemy Territory - Quake Wars

Best Online Multiplayer Game: Enemy Territory - Quake Wars (Activision)

It's Enemy Territory with vehicles! What's not to love? This multiplayer shooter is turning out even better than we were expecting. Quake Wars' booth at this year's E3 played host to a 24-player setup, and some of the most absorbing and entertaining multiplayer action we saw all week.

What's so good about it? For one thing, we loved the way the two forces (Human and Strogg, the alien race from the Quake series) actually feel distinct and individual: a world away from Battlefield 2's cookie-cutter sides. The map on hand boasted a complex structure of objectives for each side, and forced players to make use of all the classes on offer.

Meanwhile, the vehicles handle beautifully, the maps are just the right size, and the Quake 4-engined graphics are excellent. In short, there wasn't another multiplayer game we played at the show that impressed us quite like this. Enemy Territory shows every sign of being the next big thing in online shooters, and we can't wait for it to be released. >>>More info

Runner-ups

Gears of War: Fast, intuitive cover-to-cover controls, gratuitous chainsaw melee, and unparalleled visuals make this a fantastic slaughterfest multiplayer action game. >>>More info

Battlefield 2142: Unoriginal it might be, but polished and entertaining it most certainly is too. It's also got a few new tricks to please with, including escape pods and mechs. >>>More info

Company of Heroes: High definition visuals, deformable terrain, and a unique control point multiplayer mode make this an online real-time strategy player's treat.>>>More info

Best Racing Game

If the game's primary focus is competing for the fastest time, it belongs in here.

Winner: Excite Truck

Best Racing Game: Excite Truck (Nintendo)

Excite Truck epitomizes Nintendo's software strategy for the next generation: melding familiar franchises with shockingly innovative control systems to superb effect. Moving the Wii's unique controller around tilts and steers your vehicle: landing on all four wheels after a jump rewards you with a speed boost, so there are real gameplay consequences for mastering this novel system.

But there's more to Excite Truck than a funky control system and a proud heritage. Although the graphics aren't stunning -- a quality which none of the Wii games on show really demonstrated -- its exotic tracks and slick special effects mean nobody could call it an ugly game.

Nevertheless, it was still the control system that fascinated us about Excite Truck. Innovation isn't exactly a word that's often associated with racing games, but the Wii's controller becomes part of the game in a way other racing games just can't match. >>>More info

Runner-ups

Test Drive Unlimited: The latest in this long-running series combines cars, motorbikes, and around 1000 miles of realistic Hawaiian roads.>>>More info

Formula One 06: Using your PSP as a wing mirror sounds gimmicky, but it might just work. We're looking forward to seeing more. >>>More info

Best Massively Multiplayer Game

Compete with tens of thousands in persistent, virtual game worlds.

Winner: Age of Conan

Best Massively Multiplayer Game: Age of Conan (Funcom)

Coming from the company behind Anarchy Online, we've always had high hopes for Age of Conan, and this year's E3 demonstrated they're not misplaced. Based on the 1982 cult fantasy movie Conan the Barbarian, it's in with a great shot at breaking the MMORPG world's disappointing run of movie-licensed games.

Unique for an MMORPG, Age of Conan starts with a lengthy single-player section. Your first new character lives his first 20 levels offline before venturing into the game's massively multiplayer realm (and yes, you can skip this with subsequent characters).

But what stood out most from Funcom's demo was the game's combat system. Most MMORPGs shy away from real fighting, making do with a staid, pseudo-turn-based system that neither challenges your reflexes nor arouses your excitement. Conan uses a six-directional system that gives you real control over your sword, however, and the team has made much of the Conan movie's fast-paced and balletic combat. >>>More info

Runner-ups

Huxley: Part MMO, part FPS, Huxley's fast, attractive action could well make it the successor to Planetside's legacy. >>>More info

Burning Crusade: New race looking good? Check. Flying mounts? Check. Great big new continent? Check. A solid showing from Blizzard this year. >>>More info

Gods and Heroes: Ancient Rome is an inspired setting for an MMO, and Gods and Heroes great animation system and AI squad combat is going to make the most of it. >>>More info

Best Strategy Game

Command armies or cultivate civilizations; this category covers all strategic warfare and management games.

Winner: Supreme Commander

Best Strategy Game: Supreme Commander (THQ)

Chris Taylor's spiritual heir to the Total Annihilation series is just plain stunning. It's vast in scope: You can zoom seamlessly from a view of the whole planet to a close-up view of the fighting. The interface is just as ingenious as Total Annihilation's -- still a benchmark for real-time strategy games nearly a decade after its release. And you can custom-design your own units.

Better than all of this, though, is the way Supreme Commander transcends the limitations of traditional RTS by giving you the tools you need to manage a war, not just an individual battle. The game's interface is built to remove the micromanagement of units that takes up the majority of the player's attention in most other strategy games. Here, you're free to kick back and concentrate on the large-scale strategic decisions -- you know, the ones that really matter.

In fact, the only thing we're not looking forward to about Supreme Commander is having to wait until 2007 for its release. While most of this year's awards took considerable deliberation, this one was a no-brainer. >>>More info

Runner-ups

Spore: Why didn't Spore win? Because Supreme Commander just blew us away - and who knows how far away Spore is? It'll be in the frame for a big win next E3, no doubt. >>>More info

Medieval 2: The Total War series continues to impress, and this revisit to the medieval period could well be the best yet. >>>More info

Company of Heroes: Fresh from finishing the marvelous Dawn of War, Relic is turning their experience onto World War II strategy, and the results are looking stunning. >>>More info

World in Conflict: Massive Entertainment's unique class-based twist on real-time strategy conventions.>>>More info

Sid Meier's Railroads: Railroad building strategy games have fallen out of style recently, but this Sid Meier beauty looks like it has what it takes to bring them back in style. >>>More info

Best Action/Adventure Game

These often story-driven games usually contain a little of everything: Exploration, combat, and puzzle-solving.

Winner: Bioshock

Best Action/Adventure Game: Bioshock (Take-Two)

Any game claiming the legacy of sci-fi shooter-RPG System Shock 2 had better be up to the task. Few games have this sort of following, and fewer still have the kind of name that can make seasoned gamers blanch after all this time. System Shock 2's sense of atmosphere, eerie solitude, and powerful psychological horror is still unmatched.

Good thing, then, that Bioshock is looking so good. It's from the same developer and takes place in an underwater city called Rapture, home to a failed, Ayn Rand-esque social experiment. Rapture is done up in a 1920s, art-deco style that's about as different from System Shock's clean sci-fi look as it's possible to be.

Irrational has created a kind of ecosystem within Rapture, where many different types of creatures cooperate to perform different roles without any intervention from the player. You can exploit these non-scripted interactions to your benefit; some creatures will fight with each other, while others exhibit symbiotic or even parental roles towards others.

Claustrophobia is not a normal emotional response to a video game. But in Bioshock, the water outside is always leaking in, and imminent destruction is always on your mind. No other game at this year's E3 offered anything like the weird, original atmosphere of Bioshock, and to be honest, no other game has us quite as fired up. >>>More info

Runner-ups

God of War II: Picks up where God of War left off. That should be all you need to know to have you on the edge of your seat waiting for this one. >>>More info

Alone in the Dark: Taking bold steps into episodic content, this respected franchise has the artistic and technological chops to back it up. >>>More info

Super Mario Galaxy: One of the most innovative and enjoyable Wii games on show, Galaxy put the Wiimote to outstanding use. Walking on the underside of a planet will never get old. >>>More info

Assassin's Creed: This free-roaming, Thief-like action-adventure from the team behind Prince of Persia: Sands of Time proved extremely impressive. >>>More info

Best Original Game

Awarded for originality and innovation. Show us something we've never seen before!

Winner: Spore

Best Original Game: Spore (EA)

Will Wright's life simulation, Spore, made a splash at last year's E3 and confidently held onto its title of most original game this time around. Literally, there is nothing out there like Spore. It's ambitious, massive in scope, and a little crazy all in one.

Last year, EA showcased the player's life-creating journey from amoeba to space-faring civilization. This year, there was focus on the sandbox creature creator and interactions with other lifeforms. We also got more of a taste of the game's mind-blowing multiplayer component, which isn't any kind of direct competitive gameplay mode, but rather a means for every Spore owners' creations to populate the larger universe.

There were plenty of contenders this year that did one or two clever things to boost the originality of a tried-and-true formula, but only Spore is concocting a formula from scratch. >>>More info

Runner-ups

Mass Effect: Just when you thought there was nothing new to see in action-RPGs, along comes Bioware's latest. Not only does it break ground in its design, its innovative conversation system impressed us too. >>>More info

Assassin's Creed: Another ground-breaking combination of genres. Factor in sophisticated wall-climbing acrobatics and dynamically reactive crowd to shove your way through, and this was unlike any other action game at the show. >>>More info

Loco Roco: Bizarre and colorful, this puzzler has players tilting the world to maneuver a smiling, gelatinous, blob-thing that diffuses into many parts (and reforms back together again). Definitely one for Katamari lovers. >>>More info

Special Mentions

Anything and everything we haven't covered in the other categories, but deserves to be called out.

Winner: Nintendo Wii

Special Mentions: Wii (Nintendo)

How could it be anything else? Nintendo's press conference had jaws flapping all week, and their huge stand had lines longer than anything we've seen for years. The Wii's control system fascinated and intrigued all comers and if the range of games on show at E3 is anything to go by, the Wii will enable developers to indulge their creative sides in ways we've never imagined.

Although it's clearly the least powerful of the three next-generation systems, neither the Xbox 360 nor the PlayStation3 came anywhere close to arousing the kind of interest and buzz of the Wii. Some of this certainly has to do with the keen marketing acumen of Nintendo, but most of it comes down to the simple fact that the Wii showed more innovation and creativity than anything else at the show.

Although the real test for Nintendo will come over the next few months, as it works to maintain the momentum it's already generated, there's no doubt the Wii is off to a flying start. Nothing else made anywhere near this much impact in LA this year. >>>More info

Runner-ups

Microsoft Live Anywhere: Unifying Xbox 360 games with PC and cellphone content has enormous potential, and Microsoft is uniquely placed to make it a reality. It'll be fascinating to see where they go with it.

Dead Rising: This gets the all-important Yahoo! Games award for Most Zombies. Seriously, guys, that's a lot of zombies. >>>More info

WarioWare Smooth Moves: The Wii version of this endlessly addictive franchise is taking full advantage of Nintendo's new controller. This is one anyone can pick up and play. >>>More info

Guitar Hero 2: Guitar Hero -- with more tracks and a much-improved two-player mode? Sold. >>>More info

Elite Beat Agents: Think Dance Dance Revolution on the Nintendo DS. Tap the screen with precision and rhythm while a comic book-style story plays out in the background. >>>More info