Strategy Game of the Year
Sid Meier's Civilization V
Developer: Firaxis Games
Publisher: 2K Games
Platform: PC
In the latest installment of celebrated designer Sid Meier's turn-based strategy magnum opus, accessibility is the name of the game. Civilization V turned GameSpy's editorial staff (some of whom rarely touch PC games) into world-conquering junkies, oblivious to the concerns of real life, in the pursuit of stomping that son of a bitch Ramkhamhaeng into the ground after he breaks a years-long peace treaty and turns into a total turncoat, even though he used to be cool and share research agreements, and now he's trying to walk all over your impending cultural victory with his stupid giant army, and if you'd just known he was going to turn out to be a stupid warmonger, and-- well, you get the idea. If you've ever been curious about Civ but intimidated by its complexity, this is the one you absolutely need to check out.
Honorable Mentions: StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II -- Chaos Rising
MMO Game of the Year
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
Publisher: Activision Blizzard
Platform: PC
In a year where absolutely nothing else of note hit the massively multiplayer online landscape, it should come as no great surprise that Blizzard's big World of Warcraft expansion/reboot project is the MMO. Hell, we can't think of a single other game in this category that's even nomination-worthy! Six years on, WoW is still going strong, and Cataclysm paints an even brighter future for it: The shattered world of Azeroth basically constitutes a full-on relaunch of the game, incorporating all the technologies and mechanics that made each of the previous two expansions that much better than the original game. Nothing like a chaotic firestorm of destruction to make the world a better place!
Honorable Mentions: None!
Stealth-Action Game of the Year
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft Annecy
Publisher: Ubisoft
Platform: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
While Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood doesn't bring anything particularly new to the series in terms of gameplay, it reaches what could be called the apotheosis of the stealth-action genre. Combining the talents of many different kinds of assassins, along with a huge variety of historical settings and mission types (and, of course, the trademark twisty-turny Assassin's Creed plotline), Brotherhood takes the rooftop-running, bad-guy shanking motif to its logical maximum. But what really sets this one apart is its seamless integration of multiplayer into a game type that seemed impervious to it -- Templars vs. Assassins is among the most interesting multiplayer of 2010, an impressive achievement for the traditionally single-player series.
Honorable Mentions: Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, Splinter Cell: Conviction
