These Are The Game Of The Year Winners For The Past Thirty Years – Part 2

There have been many magazines and websites run a game of the year award but this article focuses on one of the longest-running awards, The Electronic Gaming Monthly award. Specifically between 2003 and the current day. For previous games of the year, winner see here.

2003 Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time

When the original Prince Of Persia came out it was breathtaking, adding 3d elements to its platform/puzzle adventure. The more recent incarnation took the premise and made it 3d. It was a good decision as it won game of the year.

2004 Halo 2

Halo 2 took everything that made the original brilliant and added it to a new game engine and then added multiplayer. The result was one of the greatest video game sequels of all time. It ranked number one on X-box live for almost two years before being usurped by Gears of War.

2005 Resident Evil 4

Big changes were made to the series in Resident Evil 4. Gone was the first person view, replaced with the third person. The game focused more on action than horror and to great effect as it saw them win game of the year.

2006 The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Following on from the Ocarina of time, the Twilight Princess has a lot in common with its predecessor. Using a similar control method the game benefits from having updated visuals and having had a long development cycle.

2007 Bioshock

Great Storyline and a great twist on the first person shooter. Bioshock had so much loot that exploration became almost as much fun as shooting baddies.

2008 Grand Theft Auto 4

Nobody does open world games quite like Rockstar. GTA4 was a massive accomplishment and undeniably one of the greatest games of all time. It is also one of the highest selling.

2009 Uncharted 2

Following in the footsteps of games like Tomb Raider, the Uncharted series is a third-person action/adventure game. Uncharted 2 is considered by many to be one of the best games ever made.

2010 Red Dead Redemption

Rockstar only went and did it again. The laid-back, Western-themed cousin of GTA. Red Dead has an amazing story and is graphically beautiful. As with all of Rockstar’s games, there is almost infinite replayability thanks to its online mode and metagames.

2011 Skyrim

The Elder Scrolls series had seen a lot of top quality RPG’s produced. Skyrim was the best of the lot. The massive world filled with elves, knights and dragons made for a game that will always be remembered as one of the best…until it takes an arrow to the knee.

2012 Far Cry 3

Set on a luscious tropical Island, Far Cry three boasted delicious visuals. The first person shooter with its open gameplay became an instant classic upon its release and a worthy winner of game of the year.

2013 Bioshock Infinite

Bioshock infinite took storytelling to dizzying new heights. The story really did require some thinking to get your head around but it was worth completing just to see how everything tied together. And the companion character, Elizabeth is one of the greatest video game characters of all time.

2014 Dragon Age: Inquisition

This was Bioware at their best. The role-playing game boasted stunning visuals, fantastic voice acting and a stellar storyline. I want this Bioware back!

2015 The Witcher 3

The Witcher series was great for taking RPG elements and action elements and crafting them together. It is worth playing for the emotional rollercoaster of the storyline alone.

2016 Overwatch

Overwatch became so popular that it became an E-sport. The clever shooter has you play as one of 30 “heroes” who all have different gameplay mechanics. Heroes must work together to aid their team.

2017 The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

This game took Zelda to new heights introducing non-linear story progression and voice acting to their already fantastic series. It was the first Zelda game on the Nintendo Switch and has been hailed as one of the greatest games ever made.

2018 Red Dead Redemption 2

Rockstar delivered massively on their sequel to Red Dead Redemption. Although it may be more accurate to call it a prequel. It gets everything right. The attention to detail is such that your horse’s scrotum gets smaller when they are in the cold. I’m not joking.