I’m not sure I agree 100% with your police work there, Lou.
I’m going to go out on a limb and say that NWN 2 and Burning Crusade will pretty much push Titan Quest and Oblivion aside. Although I don’t honestly believe TQ deserves GOTY from anyone because it’s just plain too derivative. Great game? Ehhh it’s OK, but it ain’t GREAT. In the same way, Oblivion is good but filled with annoyances and the developers have pretty much shut out the modding community and slopped out some really awful (as in a rip-off) official mods.
Titan Quest can easily be pushed aside…
Burning Crusade will be a lot of more of the same, if indications are to be believed.
NWN2 MIGHT be that super RPG I’m hoping for, but it’s still got Atari to mis manage it and this only Obsidian’s second game as a studio, no matter how much previous experience they have. And their last one aborted about 10 quests and 2 hour from the end…
Know what else I love about CoH though? The sound… It’s so rich and full and helpful. The units voices are pretty distinct (between types, of course), so I always know who’s being attacked and with a click, where. Sure, this isn’t new and Starcraft was the last one to do it as well, but it’s such a helpful thing it’s not even funny.
Oblivion is buggy and missing a bunch of quests too, so I guess if NWN2 comes out without as many bugs and without cut content then it has a leg-up already. Add in the “last thing out” factor and I’m declaring an early winner.
I was just thinking the same thing playing CoH while noting to myself that the new DoW expansion is out this week. They still kind of wallow in shovelware on the consoles, but THQ has become a serious force in the PC gaming market. Capcom’s been hitting almost everything out of the park over the last two years or so, too.
I should also add Dark Messiah to my list of contenders. Pretty excited about that one.
Actually, I take it back what I said about EA. Their Battle for Middle Earth II is definitely a GOTY contender for me.
C’mere, EA. I didn’t mean what I said. Hug?
-Tom
You think it’s strange from the outside…it’s even more shocking here!! ;)
It would be a huge upset if any game other than one from Blizzard wins GotY in the year of a Blizzard release.
Honestly, the more I played Oblivion, the less enthralled I was with it. Other games came out in the same time frame that looked as nice but performed much better, framerate-wise. The open world is impressive, but the homicidal wildlife, ugly human character models, repetitive voice acting (plus the hobo dialog bug), and easily created uber-spells put a damper on it. Bethesda is great at making ambitiously huge and complex worlds that are peppered with disappointments and annoyances. (Cliff racers, anyone?)
It makes me worry about Fallout 3, but if they least get someone with talent to design people’s faces, I can live with the rest. I wouldn’t be so harsh if they hadn’t developed a track record where everyone looks retarded, sleepy, or misshapen.
The game is great but the multiplayer bugs keep it from getting my GOTY vote. 'Tis a shame…
Oblivion is a pretty dress over rather poor game design.
Sadly you don’t see often a so big effort and production value around a similar “sandbox”, immersive game.
Imho GOTY goes to Dwarf Fortress.
Oblivion actually has a very good shot at being my letdown of the year.
My favorite games of 2006 so far include: Okami, Yakuza, Ultimate Ghosts N’ Goblins, and Under Defeat. I haven’t played Disgaea 2 as much as I want but I still got time. I don’t have a 360 and won’t be getting it, or a Wii, or a PS3, but there’s still plenty to like out there without 'em.
By itself, shouldn’t Burning Crusade come close to outselling every single GOTY contender combined?
Also pretty amazing that an expansion pack is being considered as a GOTY contender even if it is from Blizzard.
“I’m so full of holes, I feel like a hunk of Edam!”
So, Warhammer 40,000 + Lucas Arts’ Force Commander= Game of the Year?
'scuse me while I laugh uncontrollably.
Uhhh… have you bloody played the game? The reason people are giving it such high praise is the mechanics are so bloody well done. For the first time, cover is not some abstract benefit of being in a ditch, cover is a wall or crater your men scramble and lie prone to gain its benefit. Units function incredibly intuitively- no more is a spearmen good against horsemen because of some +5 damage bonus, instead a unit is good because it looks that way on the field. Machine Guns stop infantry in their tracks, while tanks can plow on ingoring all bullets. Units no longer serve singular functions of adding firepower or being a specific counter, but have several tactical options to help overcome a variety of obstacles. Meanwhile, Relic is going out of there way to turn Relic online into a user friendly, stable, and competitive environment (hence the ladder games). This is the sort of thing you expect from Blizzard, but its not like Blizzard is the only company capable of supporting their products.
So, CoH is not Another RTS™, but a bloody good one with tremendous production values that stands head and shoulders above a very crowded and competitive genre.
You know, Hrose, I might agree with you if I could ever understand how to play it :(.
Lorini
What multiplayer bugs are you experiencing?