BC Magazine 2006 Game of the Year - Page 10

The art design and music are a delight to behold, and the idea of manipulating the environment instead of the characters proved to be a particularly innovative twist. Some may feel that the LocoRoco is too cute and simple for its own good, but I think this kind of game, easy to pick up and enjoyable in short bursts, is precisely what handheld systems were made for.

Runner Up: Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops

Xbox Game of the Year
Winner: Dream fall: The Longest Journey
Synopses: Jason "Njiska" Westhaver

2006 was a rather crap year for the original big black box. The 360 had already arrived when '06 started and its rise in popularity caused many potential titles to simply disappear or make the leap into the next generation. Luckily for Xbox owners Dreamfall: The longest Journey was one of the titles that stuck around.

As the sequel to popular adventure title The Longest Journey, Dreamfall not only did an outstanding job of continuing an already exciting story, it also added a fresh perspective by following the path of a new character rather then just continuing the events of the original. The game is notable for its solid controls, beautiful presentation and enjoyable game play and therefore has earned our award for the best Xbox game of 2006.

Runner Up: Splinter Cell: Double Agent

Xbox 360 Game of the Year
Winner: Gears of War
Synopses: Andrew Ogier

Gears of War is the icing on the cake of Xbox 360's success this year. Not only is the game a fantastic third person shooter, it's also the realisation of what we define as "Next Gen".

There's no denying that the game is the best looking title ever released, and that the sound immerses you like no other... but those aren't the only reasons why this game is what Next Gen is about. It's Next Gen because of how Gears takes a relatively staid genre and redefines it into something fresh and new.

By adding innovative features such as the "Roadie Run", Active Reloads, Grenade trajectory calculation, and changing the rules of engagement to focus on tight close quarter battles, Gears of War puts the player into the centre of the intense, immersive, and rather gory (thanks to the Chainsaw Bayonet) action for what is undoubtedly an unforgettable and enjoyable experience - online or offline, especially thanks to the excellent choice of characters and dialog in the single player story - who doesn't think the Cole Train is awesome fun to go to war with?.

Article Author: Ken Edwards

Ken Edwards is the Gaming Editor at Blogcritics, and calls Breaking Windows home. Ken works part time for Student Publications at BGSU as the Webmaster and System Administrator. He is also a freelance web developer.

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