At the 17th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards members of the games industry gathered in glitzy Las Vegas to recognize the achievements of their own. The awards show was not without its fair share of unexpected winners, but ultimately the big award winner(s) came as no surprise.
As expected, The Last of Us dominated the D.I.C.E. Awards, snagging 10 trophies in total. Considering the game was nominated for 13 categories (out of a possible 24), most expected Naughty Dog’s latest to be well represented, but few saw it winning this many awards.
Other titles that took home awards included The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds for ‘Handheld Game of the Year,’ Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons for ‘Downloadable Game of the Year,’ and Grand Theft Auto 5 for ‘Outstanding Achievement in Gameplay Engineering.’ Although the night truly belonged to The Last of Us, there were plenty of other stellar 2014 releases honored throughout the ceremony.
Check out the full list of winners below:
Game of the Year
-Assassin’s Creed: IV Black Flag
-Bioshock Infinite
-Grand Theft Auto V
-The Last of Us
-The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction
-Brothers — A Tale of Two Sons
-Papers, Please
-Tearaway
Outstanding Innovation in Gaming
-The Stanley Parable
Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition
-Beyond: Two Souls
-BioShock Infinite
-Puppeteer
-rain
-Rayman Legends
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design
-Battlefield 4
-God of War: Ascension
-Grand Theft Auto 5
Outstanding Achievement in Story
-The Novelist
-Tomb Raider
Outstanding Character Performance
-Grand Theft Auto 5 – Trevor
-Ryse – Marius Titus
-The Last of Us – Ellie
-The Last of Us – Joel
-The Stanley Parable – Narrator
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering
-Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag
-Ryse
Outstanding Achievement in Gameplay Engineering
-Forza Motorsport 5
-Super Mario 3D World
Outstanding Achievement in Animation
The Last of Us
Adventure Game of the Year
Action Game of the Year
-Dead Rising 3
-DmC: Devil May Cry
-Resogun
Downloadable Game of the Year
-Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon
-Gone Home
Online Game of the Year
-Borderlands 2
-Diablo 3
-World of Tanks
Mobile Game of the Year
-Fetch
-Flick Kick Football Legends
-Plants vs Zombies 2: It’s About Time
-Ridiculous Fishing: A Tale of Redemption
-The Wolf Among Us: Episode 1 — Faith
Handheld Game of the Year
-Fire Emblem: Awakening
-Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon
-Pokémon X and Y
Sports Game of the Year
-FIFA 14
-Madden NFL 25
-MLB 13 The Show
-NBA 2K14
-NHL 14
Racing Game of the Year
-Forza Motorsport 5
-Gran Turismo 6
-Grid 2
-Need for Speed Rivals
-Real Racing 3
Fighting Game of the Year
-Divekick
-Injustice: Gods Among Us
-Killer Instinct
Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year
-Europa Universalis 4
-Sid Meier’s Civilization 5: Brave New World
-StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm
-XCOM: Enemy Within
Family Game of the Year
-Disney Infinity
-LEGO Marvel Super Heroes
-Skylanders Swap Force
Casual Game of the Year
-Candy Box
-Peggle 2
-Plants vs Zombies 2
-Rayman Fiesta Run
-Ridiculous Fishing — A Tale of Redemption
Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year
-Dota 2
-Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen
-Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Two of the more peculiar winners out of the bunch were Diablo 3 for ‘Role-Playing/MMO Game of the Year’ and World of Tanks for ‘Online Game of the Year.’ In Diablo 3’s case, the competition wasn’t exactly stiff, but it’s hard to consider a game one of the best if it was impossible to play it at launch.
For World of Tanks, the win isn’t so much a question of did it deserve it — all of Wargaming’s titles have large and devoted communities — but whether or not it should have been nominated for this year’s awards. World of Tanks has been available to the public since 2011 here in North America, and its Xbox 360 Edition doesn’t hit until next year. Still, it is the most original online experience out of the nominees, but it may not necessarily be the best. Had Battlefield 4’s launch not been a total mess, it likely would have won.
Like last year’s awards, which honored titles like Journey and The Walking Dead, this year’s D.I.C.E. Awards favored the games that did something for the video game industry as a whole. Many of these titles have pushed the industry forward in at least one respect, and all are certainly deserved of the recognition.
Are you surprised by any of the award winners? Which game do you think deserved Game of the Year?
