Working Title 01.20.11: The Third Annual Working Title Awards Winners

Posted by Jordan Williams on 01.20.2011

Better late than never! The Third Annual Working Title Awards were just so awesome that they decided to skip 2010 altogether and show up three weeks late in 2011! Booyah!

Welcome to the #1 column to root for THE THUNDER GOD, Clay Matthews and the Tampa Bay Green Bay Packers, WORKING TITLE.

And that's about all you'll get for an intro this week because it's AWARD TIME! Last week I put up the nominations for the Working Title Awards 2010 and now it's time to count up all of the votes.

All three of them.

Yep. Three votes. But you know what? Not even mad. This just means I get to pick the winners I wanted to see and you all can't do a thing about it. You hear that Bayonets fans? This is your entire fault.

Working Title Halftime Awards 2010

This is pretty much the OFFICIAL Awards of Working Title. I create the nomination ballot and the winners based on your input, but this year I was admittedly really late with the column and that affected the votes negatively so instead I have to pick my own winners. Which really isn't a bad thing in the long run seeing as most of the things I voted for in the official 411mania GOTY voting didn't even make the cut. So I'll just use this as my personal Awards.

And that's what I'd call turning a frown upside down.

The Kratos Award for Manliness

The Mantle of Manliness will be passed down today. Kratos has held it for half a year but now it is time to decide whether he keeps it or does he pass it on to one of the other worthy opponents in this category.


Gabriel Belmont (Castlevania: Lords of Shadow)

Say what you want about the game not being true to the Castlevania style, but Gabriel was definitely a Belmont through and though. He had a whip. He killed Vampires. What else do you want?

Grunt (Mass Effect 2)

The Perfect Krogan might win the award based on the fact that he was simply built for war. He has a built in desire to kill everything. Well, not EVERYTHING. Just what he doesn't like.

John Marston (Red Dead Redemption)

John Marston is probably the most realistic character of the bunch which might just make him the manliest of the bunch. He doesn't have to take down vampires or zombies (not counting the DLC) but other outlaws and corrupt officials. Maybe it's time for a realistic person to hold the mantle.

Chuck Greene (Dead Rising 2)

But what isn't great about a great dad? You must REALLY love your kid if you are willing to go through all of the shit that Chuck goes through just to make sure his daughter doesn't become a brain eating mongrel.

Limbo Kid (Limbo)

The entire game might not make a lick of goddamn sense, but to deny that Limbo Kid isn't manly for doing what he has to do in this game is just goddamn silly.

Kratos (God of War III) ***HALFTIME WINNER***

The current holder of the mantle deserves it. Not only has it taken him three games to get his revenge but he did it in SPECTACULAR fashion. He might be one dimensional and PAINFULLY unforgiving...but to say he is not manly is just a fucking lie.

2009 Year End Winner - Batman






2010 Winner of Manliness
KRATOS

And with that Kratos becomes the first ever person to hold the Manliness Award for an entire year. When you look at the list this year and compare it to the achievements Kratos has amassed and there is really just no contest. A cowboy and a giant frog alien might be badass...but neither of them brought Olympus to its knees.

The Dormroom Dominator Award

I still hate the name of this award, but it doesn't change the fact that we had some pretty great multiplayer games this year. So which one was THE one? What ate up most of your time and kept you coming back for more? Which one was the most FUN?

Halo: Reach

You know, for this being the last Halo game from Bungie, I feel that Reach really hasn't been getting a lot of talk this year. I really didn't spend that much time with it because Halo really isn't my type of game but from everyone else I have heard it was better than 3 but not great. Either way it's still one of those games that is still being played a

Call of Duty: Black Ops

What the hell do you expect me to say? It's Call of Duty. If a Call of Duty game came out on this list that I DIDN'T add you would all be up in arms (again, all three of you) that I didn't add the biggest selling game of the year. The multiplayer changed ever so slightly to change up the old Pwn and Perks system, but I doubt anyone cares. It's fucking CALL OF DUTY. People will play it no matter what.

Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood

Probably the biggest surprise on this list was a game that wasn't supposed to have Multiplayer but ended up getting multiplayer...and the multiplayer actually ended up being better than the game itself. In early 2010 we ALL laughed at the Ubisoft when they said they were making an AC multiplayer game, but now we ain't laughing...we are playing. We are also hating those dicksacks who spam smoke grenades. Fuck you guys.

Battlefield Bad Company 2

This one came out earlier in the year and got mostly overlooked since the fall is the shooter season. But the people on the PC and the people who don't care about Call of Duty much got SUPER behind BC2...and loved it. Where Call of Duty is mostly about lone wolf kills and skills, BC2 is about playing as a team and you HAVE to do it. HAVE TO. Yeah, you could be a dirty ass fucking Bush Wookie and sit around and snipe, but you aren't contributing anything to the team when you do that. BC2 is TEAMWORK...WITH GUNS...AND...AND...GUNS...AND...IT'S FUCKING GOOD.

Super Street Fighter IV ***HALFTIME WINNER***

As much as people bitch about this being and overpriced DLC package, it doesn't change the fact that Super Street Fighter IV is a great package and is better that Street Fighter IV in every way. It's ushered in a new wave of fighters and brought them back into the forefront. But can it hold off all of the other games on this list that require you to put bullets into people?

2009 Year End Winner - Modern Warfare 2






2010 Dormroom Dominator
BATTLEFIELD: BAD COMPANY 2


This is what happens when you don't vote! Sure, the populace vote is that Call of Duty was the best multiplayer game of the year but out of all of the games I have played in 2010, the one I played THE MOST was Bad Company 2. Every night I spend at LEAST three hours on it and the community is great, not too many glitches...and it's just fucking FUN. I like my multiplayer experiences like this. Where single person skill can make the game easier but teamwork is what you really need to do to win. That is what Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is my Dormroom Dominator.

Not a Bang, but a Whimper Award

This can't be on the internet without its share of disappointments. Every year we get games that we EXPECT to do really good (or we are flat out TOLD) that just end up failing either critically or commercially. There can be tons of reasons why a game doesn't live up to the hype but the end result is the same...you end up with a nomination in these awards.


Fable III

I wrote a whole column about how disappointed I was with Fable III. The Fable Series has never been exactly a bastion of RPG gaming or anything, but Fable II for all intents and purposes was amazing. So what the hell went wrong between Fable II and III? No one fucking knows. They changed what didn't need to be changed and fixed what didn't need to be fixed and in the end it resulted in game that was not only lackluster but disappointing as well.

Epic Mickey

I don't know if it was just the hype behind it or the people who really just wanted to see the mind behind Deus X do something new, but people were really hoping that Epic Mickey would live up to its name. Of course during all of this hype we ended up forgetting that this was a platformer for the Wii not made by Nintendo. Which means it was destined to suck...and suck it did.

Medal of Honor

I give EA props for trying to so blatantly go after the current big dog by dusting off Medal of Honor, but if anyone wants to stick to the old argument that Call of Duty games are bland and generic and all the same they can look at Medal of Honor was proof that that argument is bullshit. This game had all of the tropes and trappings of a Call of Duty game but was missing the fun and more importantly the smooth multiplayer. But who cares? It sold a fuckload.

Force Unleashed 2

While I am not the biggest Star Wars fan in the world even I can see why some of the more hardcore fans reject Force Unleashed 1 (namely the ending and the CANON BREAKING way they portray it). But as someone who enjoys GAMES? I can see why everyone else took a steaming shit on Force Unleashed 2. Boring and stale game play with a CRAZY ass story (even by Star Wars standards) coupled with a cripplingly short length add up to a game that undelivers AND underperforms.

BioShock 2 ***HALFTIME "WINNER"***

Honestly, I can fully understand WHY this won early in the year but when you compare it to the other games on the list it really doesn't stack up to them. I still think it's a sequel that didn't need to be made but it wasn't exactly HORRIBLE. Which means our new winner is?

2009 Year End Winner - Tony Hawk Ride






2010 Whimper Winner
Fable III


Again. This game was so disappointing that I wrote an entire column about it. What the hell else can I say about it?

The Die in a Fire Award

Let's just keep the hate train going and toss another bitch on the Barbie. We've had our disappointments (like the massive one listed above) but what did we just HATE? What deserves the MOST scorn? What do we want to die in a fire?


On Shelves Now, Patch it Later

It's lazy. It's rushed. It's fucking annoying and it needs to stop. If I am dropping fucking 60 bones on a game that shit needs to work OUT OF THE BOX. A Day 1 patch if you MUST is okay, but having to wait a month or LONGER for shit to get fixed that would've been easily remedied with a beta or...a QA department? Fuck that shit kindly.

Bush Wookiees (Recons) - Bad Company 2

This might not be totally accurate anymore because of Vietnam removing the gillysuits...but you wastes of space or what makes me HATE playing Battlefield most of the time. I hate you.

Second Generation Motion Controls (Move/Kinect)

I have no real problem with them, but you guys totally do.

Mexico (Red Dead Redemption)

RDR is a great game, in fact it is 411mania's Game of the Year. But that doesn't change that Mexico was definitely the low point of the game from a game play and story perspective. The entire storyline reason of why John needed to be in Mexico honestly came down to 2 missions. But instead you spend upwards of 10-15 missions and hours there doing shit that doesn't even INVOLVE you. And for what? A weak ass payoff that just puts you BACK into the main area of the game and doesn't even openly acknowledge the stuff you DID in Mexico. It honestly felt like DLC thrown into the game.

Activision vs. Infinity Ward Drama ***HALFTIME WINNER***

2009 Year End Winner - Boycotters






2010 Winner who needs to Die in a Fire
On Shelves Now, Patch it Later


What else can I really say about this? It's just a lazy ass tactic that NEEDS to be remedied but unfortunately it doesn't seem like it's going to change anytime soon. Developers need to get games out on time and publishers don't want to push games back anymore than they already are. But...something is going to have to give eventually.

Bayonetta Baddest Bitch Award for Womanhood

You know what's almost great about you guys not voting this year? That means there is no way in hell I will let Bayonets win this category. You know what's even better? Of the votes I DID get Bayonets still would not have won this category! It's like watching an Elimination match where the champ is the first one out!


Lightning (Final Fantasy XIII)

Final Fantasy XIII was weak, but you can't deny that Lightning was a badass bitch. She might just be Cloud with a dick (Haaaa...) but she can still kick some ass. And she fucks like a tiger.

Liara (Mass Effect 2: Lair of the Shadow Broker)

She might've been only around for the DLC but Liara did grow a lot from the first game. There she was a mildly annoying nerdy teenager. Here she is a WO-MAAAAAAHN. She is tossing bitches through windows, shooting fuckers in the face and threatening to end the life of anyone who gets in her way on her quest for revenge. And she fucks like a tiger.


Samus Aran (Metroid: Other M)

Quit your bitching. Other M did not ruin Samus. As much as you whining dickshits say she was this strong female character BEFORE Other M you are just projecting what you THOUGHT she was onto it. There were some questionable choices going on there, sure, but she still got the job done by the end of the day...and kicked the shit out of an entire planet. Again. And she fucks like a tiger.

Sarah Kerrigan (Starcraft II)

I've been waiting 10 years to nominate this woman for an award (that I created just this year) because she fucking deserves it. She was left for fucking dead and not only survived, but managed to grow strong enough to give the galaxy a giant FUCK YOU. And she fucks like a tiger.

Bayonetta (Bayonetta) ***HALFTIME WINNER***

FUCK. YOU. BAYONETTA.

2009 Year End Winner - N/A






2010 Winner of Womanhood
SARAH KERRIGAN


I could gush for a paragraph about how Sarah Kerrigan is a great character that really is awesome and a female. I could beat the fucks like a tiger joke into the ground a little bit more. Or I could be completely honest and say THAT I AM SO HAPPY THAT THIS IS NOT BAYONETTA. Honestly though if you have played Starcraft EVER you know what type of badass bitch Kerrigan is and you know why she is here AND you know why she won.

The Left Field Hit Award

So what was the game that came out of nowhere to win us over? Was it the re-imagining of one of the oldest games around? How about a sequel to a game that was mediocre as all fuck? Or maybe...JUUUUUUST maybe Kirby managed to win an award for something besides being so goddamn cute?



Game Dev Story (iPhone)

Every category has one of those games that just does not have a chance of winning, but I still nominate it anyway because people should play them. This is one of those nominations. You should play Game Dev Story.

Pac-Man Championship Edition DX

Transformers: War for Cybertron

I enjoy the Transformers movies even though they are pretty bad, but the franchise has never had a decent video game EVER. So I (along with others) were more than surprised when it turned out that WfC was actually a pretty decent...almost GREAT shooter based on the Transformers license. The single player campaign was good and the multiplayer was AMAZING. It's good enough that it's getting a sequel, too!

Kirby's Epic Yarn

Kirby is back! And he is IMMORTAL! Cuteness and difficulty aside Kirby's Epic Yarn was still a Left Field Hit because we expected this game to be nothing but graphics over substance...and it had substance. A lot of substance. It's one of the few games where you can just sit back and relax while playing it...you don't have to worry about your skill or the sniper or the puzzle...you just play. And isn't that what games are all about?

Just Cause 2 - ***HALFTIME WINNER***

Just Cause 1 was a mediocre and boring game that flew so far under the radar that it was under the ground. Meanwhile Just Cause 2 was a game that while flawed in a TON of ways, it was such a marked improvement over the first game that it just BEGGED to be played. The fact that the game became nothing more than a "HOLY SHIT DID YOU SEE WHAT I JUST DID!?" This was enough for it to win early in the year.

2009 Year End Winner - inFamous






2010 Left Field Hit Winner
Pac-Man Championship Edition

BUT IT WASN'T ENOUGH FOR JUST CAUSE 2 TO WIN AT THE END OF THE YEAR! No one thought that in 2010 we would be talking about a PAC-MAN game that somehow changed the fucking world overnight. What's crazy is that these changes took nearly 30 YEARS to make. Let's just add more ghosts that chase you and make the game faster. THAT'S ALL THEY DID. God DAMMIT why couldn't I think of that and be rich-ish by now?

Crowning Achievement in Awesome

Note: Due to the fact that these are pretty much self explanatory, there will be no blurb. Nothing I can say about any of these moments will sell you on them unless you played through them. I suppose I could link to a whole bunch of YouTube videos...but...this Working Title. I'm not exactly known for being un-lazy. Just how un-lazy am I? This is the exact same blurb from last issue



The Car Chase (Mass Effect 2: Lair of The Shadow Broker)

Riding into Mexico (Red Dead Redemption)

Eating a Ghost Chain (Pac-Man Championship Edition DX)

Dying (Limbo)

Rain of Arrows (Assassins Creed: Brotherhood)

Best. Flashlight. Ever. (God of War 3) ***HALFTIME WINNER***

2009 Year End Winner - N/A






2010 Moment of the Year
Riding into Mexico

This is probably the one thing about Mexico in RDR that I genuinely liked. Riding into Mexico for the first time and seeing the sights and hearing the song that played were not only great to set up the mood of the second act, but it was also great storytelling and framing as well. I know some people figured I should add the ending to the game to the nominations as well, but I didn't feel like having to talk around the spoilery nature of it so instead I went with what (in my mind) was the more powerful of the scenes.

Workaholic's Choice Game of the Year

Who is the only site badass enough to hold off their Game of the Year stuff until the second week of the New Year? 411mania.com. Who is even more badass to put up his OWN Game of the Year stuff on the same week as 411mnia.com? I am, bitches. Yeah, being a wrestler, actor, and other shit (tootin' mah horn again) has taken a lot of time from doing Working Title..but that will change soon!

Soon!

But right now we get GAME OF THE YEAR. There is no amount of tired ass blurbs and words I can put into this to make it more grandiose...so I'll just say...IT'S TIIIIIIIME.


Limbo

This game wasn't so much a great game more than it was a great experience. The bleak darkness of the world coupled with the complete lack of narrative make Limbo stand out above other games three times its length and price. The lack of a narrative might jar some, but for most it allowed you to use your imagination to fill in the blanks that purposely left out by the designers. You see just the shadows and an outline of what is there...the other horrible details are left to your imagination.

God of War III

Kratos has already claimed one award for 2010, he might be able to take a second one with his bloody finale. Fixing something that is not broken is a good way to get yourself in the same boat as Fable III, but improving on stuff that is already there while still delivering the mindless action that has always been a staple of the series is a great way to make sure that your trilogy goes down in history.

StarCraft II: The Wings of Liberty

It FINALLY came out! They promised it was coming and they made good on it with not only an upgrade to the Starcraft that everyone loved to play, but a great single player campaign on top of a hosts of new content and balance for the multiplayer. Say what you want about it being split into three parts and all of that other noise...the fact that technically 1/3 of a game was great enough to be considered game of the year. Imagine what the other 2/3 would be like?

Red Dead Redemption

Obviously this is considered one of the best games not only of the year, but in all of gaming HISTORY. It took storytelling in games to an all new level with a setting that seems like it would be so easy to get right but so many games have tried it already to just middling results. RDR showed us a character that doesn't have to be an asshole to be considered cool. It showed us that you don't HAVE to play an open world game like a sociopathic gangster for it to be considered great. It showed us that maybe one day in our lifetime's games could be considered art.

Super Mario Galaxy 2

But until that time, games are still meant to be fun little distractions from everyday life and Mario Galaxy 2 proves that in spades. Yes, it's kiddy, cute and colorful. It has Mario, the video games version of Mickey Mouse...a GIANT kid symbol. But you know what? If you can't just sit down and enjoy a great game like Super Mario Galaxy 2 just because it's cartoony then I feels sorry for you. Well...I don't really feel sorry for you. I just think you're a dumbass.

Dumbass.

Mass Effect 2 ***HALFTIME WINNER***

After the blowjob I just gave Red Dead I don't think I have another one left in me to give to Mass Effect 2. I don't think I'd be able to tell you how awesome it is that the game fully realized the idea of a true sequel. The game made good on the idea of YOUR character's story through this ordeal and it made every moment and choice more impactful. Things we took for granted or brushed aside in ME1 for simply being black and white choices gained more shades of gray. It's easy to play the entire game going Paragon or Renegade the entire time, but if you actually stop and think of what choices you make, no matter how small, might change the outcome (or even the beginning) of Mass Effect 3...and what choices you made in Mass Effect 1 that didn't even pan out completely in 2 might come back to either bite you in the ass or save you...you begin to realize that while Red Dead Redemption might be the case study for games as art, Mass Effect 2 might be the first game to truly take the mantle of Interactive Entertainment.

2009 Year End Winner - Uncharted 2: Among Thieves






2010 Game of the Year
MASS EFFECT 2


Damn it! My jaw is sore! Can't I just copy and paste what I just said? How about I just talk about the fact that this is the first game to win Game of the Year at Halftime and on the End Year?

Is that good enough? Well, too fucking bad! Its 2011 already! You know how great the game is...and for the PS3 Owners this week...GO PLAY IT.

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Working Question

Alright. Without any prior knowledge or game play footage. I want you to call it now. Game of the Year 2011.

Me? I'm saying it's two in a row for Mass Effect. Mass Effect 3 might just win out as GOTY 2011. The only other game I can currently see giving it a run for its money will be the sequel to another GOTY winner...Uncharted 3.

What say you?

Until next time, I'm Jordan Williams...and although I am a Bucs fan for life...GO PACK GO.