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Star Wars: Battlefront, Horizon: Zero Dawn, and Fallout 4 lead Game Critics Awards nominations

@deantak

Hoth. Sure is white.

Image Credit: EA

Game publishers covet any nods they can get from the prestigious Game Critics Awards for the best games of the Electronic Entertainment Expo industry tradeshow. I participated again this year and voted for my favorites at the show.

This year, the big winners included Electronic Arts’ Star Wars: Battlefront, with five nominations. That was followed by four nominations each for Guerrilla Games’ Horizon: Zero Dawn and Bethesda Softworks’ Fallout 4.

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Here’s the nominees below. My own votes matched up pretty well with the winners. I’ll be voting in the final tally as well. (Note: I didn’t vote in categories where I couldn’t come up with three nominees).

GAME CRITICS AWARDS: BEST OF E3 2015 NOMINEES

Best of Show

  • Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda)
  • Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games/SCE)
  • Oculus Touch (Oculus VR)
  • Star Wars Battlefront (DICE/EA)
  • Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog/SCE)

Best Original Game

  • Abzu (Giant Squid/505 Games)
  • Cuphead (Studio MDHR)
  • Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games/SCE)
  • The Last Guardian (GenDesign/SCE Japan/SCE)
  • Unravel (Coldwood Interactive/EA)

Best Console Game

  • Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda)
  • Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games/SCE)
  • Star Wars Battlefront (DICE/EA)
  • Super Mario Maker (Nintendo)
  • Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog/SCE)

Best Handheld Game

  • Fallout Shelter (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda)
  • Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam (AlphaDream/Nintendo)
  • Persona 4 Dancing All Night (Atlus)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes (Nintendo)

Best PC Game

  • Doom (id Software/Bethesda)
  • Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda)
  • Just Cause 3 (Avalanche Studios/Square-Enix)
  • Star Wars Battlefront (DICE/EA)
  • Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)

Best Hardware

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  • Microsoft HoloLens (Microsoft)
  • Oculus Rift (Oculus VR)
  • Oculus Touch (Oculus VR)
  • Project Morpheus (Sony Computer Entertainment)
  • Xbox Elite Wireless Controller (Microsoft)

Best Action Game

  • Doom (id Software/Bethesda)
  • Halo 5: Guardians (343/Microsoft Studios)
  • Just Cause 3 (Avalanche Studios/Square-Enix)
  • Star Wars Battlefront (DICE/EA)
  • Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)

Best Action/Adventure Game

  • Horizon Zero Dawn (Guerrilla Games/SCE)
  • Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (Kojima Productions/Konami)
  • Rise of the Tomb Raider (Crystal Dynamics/Microsoft Studios)
  • The Last Guardian (GenDesign/SCE Japan/SCE)
  • Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Naughty Dog/SCE)

Best RPG

  • Dark Souls 3 (From Software/Bandai-Namco Games)
  • Fallout 4 (Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda)
  • Fire Emblem Fates (Intelligent Systems/Nintendo)
  • Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam (AlphaDream/Nintendo)
  • Sword Coast Legends (N-Space/Digital Extremes/Wizards of the Coast)

Best Racing Game

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  • Forza Motorsport 6 (Turn 10/Microsoft Studios)
  • Need for Speed (Ghost Games/EA)
  • Trackmania Turbo (Nadeo/Ubisoft)

Best Sports Game

  • FIFA 16 (EA Canada/EA)
  • NHL 16 (EA Canada/EA)
  • Madden NFL 16 (EA Tiburon/EA)
  • Pro Evolution Soccer 2016 (Konami)
  • Rory McIlroy PGA Tour (EA Tiburon/EA)

Best Family/Social Game

  • Disney Infinity 3.0 (Avalanche Software/Disney Interactive)
  • Guitar Hero Live (FreeStyleGames/Activision)
  • Lego Dimensions (TT Games/WBIE)
  • Rock Band 4 (Harmonix)
  • Super Mario Maker (Nintendo)

Best Online Multiplayer

  • Call of Duty: Black Ops III (TreyArch/Activision)
  • Halo 5: Guardians (343/Microsoft Studios)
  • Star Wars Battlefront (DICE/EA)
  • Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
  • Tom Clancy’s The Division (Massive/Ubisoft)

Best Independent Game

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  • Abzu (Giant Squid/505)
  • Below (Capy Games)
  • Cuphead (Studio MDHR)
  • No Man’s Sky (Hello Games/SCE)
  • Wattam (Funomena)

And here’s my own votes below:

Best of Show:

  1. Abzu
  2. Uncharted 4
  3. Doom
  4. Horizon: Zero Dawn
  5. Fallout 4

Best Original Game:

  1. Abzu
  2. Horizon: Zero Dawn
  3. Wattam
  4. Until Dawn
  5. Unravel

Best Game, Console:

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  1. Abzu
  2. Uncharted 4
  3. Doom
  4. Call of Duty: Black Ops III
  5. Star Wars: Battlefront

Best Game, Mobile/Handheld:

  1. Fallout Shelter
  2. Mighty No. 9
  3. Hitman: Sniper
  4. Lara Croft: Relic Run
  5. Minions Paradise

Best Game, PC

  1. Doom
  2. Esper for Oculus Rift
  3. Beyond Eyes
  4. Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare 2
  5. Gigantic

Best Hardware/Peripheral:

  1. Oculus Rift/Oculus Touch
  2. Sony Morpheus
  3. Xbox One Elite Wireless Controller

Best Action Game:

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  1. Doom
  2. Call of Duty: Black Ops III
  3. Star Wars: Battlefront
  4. Rise of the Tomb Raider
  5. Just Cause III

Best Action/Adventure Game:

  1. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End
  2. Adr1ft
  3. Mad Max
  4. ReCore
  5. No Man’s Sky

Best RPG:

  1. Fallout 4
  2. Dark Souls III
  3. King’s Quest

Best Fighting Game:

N/A

Best Racing Game:

N/A

Best Sports Game:

  1. FIFA 16
  2. VR Sports Challenge for Oculus Rift (Sanzaru)
  3. EA Sports Rory McIlroy PGA
  4. PES 2016
  5. Madden NFL 16

Best Strategy Game:

  1. StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void
  2. Master of Orion
  3. Total War: Warhammer

Best Family/Social Game:

  1. Lego Dimensions
  2. Skylanders: SuperChargers
  3. Unravel
  4. Esper for Oculus Rift
  5. Guitar Hero Live

Best Online Multiplayer:

  1. Call of Duty: Black Ops III
  2. Star Wars: Battlefront
  3. Rainbow Six: Siege
  4. Halo 5: Guardians
  5. The Division

Best Independent Game:

  1. Abzu
  2. Wattam
  3. Hellblade
  4. The Flame in the Flood
  5. Ashen

Special Commendation for Graphics (Non-Playable Games Eligible in this category)

  • Eve: Valkyrie
  • Until Dawn
  • Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End

Special Commendation for Sound (Nonplayable Games Eligible in this category):

  1. Guitar Hero Live
  2. Rock Band 4
  3. Abzu

Special Commendation for Innovation (Nonplayable Games Eligible in this category):

  1. Oculus Touch
  2. Microsoft Xbox 360 backward compatibility
  3. No Man’s Sky

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