Year Ends Early: Bioshock GotY

Our friends over at Eat Sleep Game have posted a short summary of why Bioshock looks like it will be Game of the Year.  Since that’s been written, even more reviews have started to come out such as 1up’s 10/10, Gamespy’s 5/5, and IGN’s 9.7/10.

As our namesake implies that we’ll do some predicting of the future, I’ll go ahead and agree with Aegies’ prediction.  Just take a look at Gamerankings so far.  I don’t think I’ve ever seen a game garner so many 100%’s so early before.  Yes, it will go down as there will be some inevitable “backlash” and differences of opinion, but my guess is that this game will find itself sitting somewhere in the top 10 games ever made (as ranked by Gamerankings, at least) and I don’t doubt that it could even make it into the top 3.

I’m going to quote my comment over at Eat Sleep Game to further explain why I agree with them that Bioshock will probably be Game of the Year:

All indications point towards this game as a “benchmark” or “redefining” title. There is an onslaught of awesome games coming out this year for which I’m very excited, but just based on the demo, Bioshock looks like it will represent something beyond special.

I have a feeling Halo 3 will be nearly shut out of “GotY” awards this year. It’s not that it won’t be a great game (I have my copy pre-ordered), but simply that it will basically just be a “meet expectations” game. People think that it has really high expectations, but to be honest.. it doesn’t. Everyone already knows what to expect from it and I’m sure it will deliver. Bioshock looks like it turns expectations sideways and then tramples all over them.

And dear old Mario, probably my favorite series of all time. Galaxy looks like it will be an absolute blast and in any other year would probably be a shoe-in for Game of the Year (or at least a very serious contender). I don’t see it happening this time for really the same exact reasons specified above. It’s kind of like comparing “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” to “The Godfather.” Sure, we all love FBDO and can have fun every time we watch it, but its not exactly at the same level as “The Godfather”.

I think, really, Penny Arcade’s “Tycho” put it best. “It is my intention to secure two copies of the game, entire - one Collectors’ edition, and one exclusively to shove up Roger Ebert’s ass. If Bioshock isn’t “art,” then art is the poorer for it.”

And there you have it. You’ll have all of these exceedingly well made, fun games like Stranglehold, Halo, Metroid, Mario, Assassin’s Creed, Uncharted (hopefully), Mass Effect, and maybe a couple more, and then Bioshock, making them look positively juvenile in comparison.

And just to add one more prediction… Bioshock may end up as more than just Game of the Year.  In line with Tycho’s comments, it may potentially be considered one of the most important games of all time.  Yeah, most people haven’t gotten their hands on the game yet, but the buzz coming out so far seems to indicate something along these lines.  We only have a few more days to wait before we find out.