2005 Extreme PS2 Game Awards

2005 has been a good year for video gaming, with alot of great games on all platforms. This year, I'll limit my awards to just the PS2 since I don't have any other next gen system and I didn't play anything my PC as I generally just use it for downloading stuff now. On to the awards!

Game of the Year: Shadow of the Colossus
- I honestly enjoyed Shadow of the Colossus more than any other game I’ve played in 2005 because it was something different and a unique gaming experience to haunt down these massive creatures. This game had everything you want in a video game: Great graphics and sound, a great storyline, easy to get into controls, and as I mentioned, just a unique gaming experience that no gamer should miss.
Runners Up:
- God of War
- Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy
- Resident Evil 4

Action/Adventure Game of the Year: Shadow of the Colossus
- See above.
Runners Up:
- God of War
- Destroy All Humans
- Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy
- Resident Evil 4

Best Fighting Game: ESPN Fight Night: Round 2
- There were a lot of fighting games to come out in 2005, but if you wanted something that was downright realistic and challenging, this was it! No special moves or combos that required endless hours of training to perfect, just strap on your boxing gloves and pummel your opponent into a bloody mess!
Runners Up:
- Garou: Mark of the Wolves
- Tekken 5
- King of Fighters: Neowave
- The Rumble Fish

Best Survival Horror Game: Resident Evil 4
- This was actually more of an action adventure game than survival horror, but it does maintain some of the original elements of the classic series and revamped the gameplay system to make it stand out on its own.
Runners Up:
- Resident Evil Outbreak: File #2
- Kuon

Best RPG/Strategy Game: Super Robot Wars Alpha 3
This is probably my own bias as I would give it to this series every year. We’re talking about the game series that got me into next generation gaming, people! And they just keep making things better and better with each game!
Runners Up:
- Magna Carta: Tears of Blood
- X-Men Legends 2

Best Sports Game: Outlaw Golf 2
- FORE! I found myself returning to this one time and time again when I needed to relax. If you like the Tiger Woods games, than you need to check this one out cause this is where Tiger’s games stole all it’s ideas from.
Runners Up:
- ESPN Fight Night: Round 2

Best Wrestling Game: WWE Smackdown! VS RAW 2006
- I’m a big Japanese wrestling nut, so why did I pick this over Fire Pro Returns? Simple; While Fire Pro is a great game for simulating dream matches between the various Japanese companies, SVR2K6 was a game I would actually play and not just watch on screen. Despite a less than spectacular roster, the many game modes more than make up for it, and it had a career/story mode, something FPR was severely missing.
Runner Up:
- Fire Pro Wrestling Returns

Best Game Story/Plot: Fahrenheit / Indigo Prophecy
- Probably because I played this most recently, but this game had a GREAT storyline. Like I mentioned in my review, it’s like watching an actual movie, and this easily could have been a movie with the great script and story they gave it. It starts as a who done it murder mystery, but ends up something like the Matrix as the main hero discovers he’s a “chosen one” with abilities far superior than normal people. Might be a bit short, but you’ll still want to play through to the end and play it over to see all the possible scenarios in the game.
Runner Up:
- Shadow of Colossus
- God of War

Game Babe of the Year: Carla Valenti (Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy)

- We had all kinds of larger than life female leads in games this year, but Carla Valenti would easily be the most realistic as her character has a personality to go with her looks. Of course it also helps that she was featured in the 2005 Playboy Cybergirls of Gaming pictorial.
Runners Up:
- Fiona (Haunting Ground)
- Danielle (Haunting Ground)
- Nina Williams (Death By Degrees/Tekken 5)

Most Overated Game of the Year: Soul Calibur 3
- What can I say about this game? Much like the Tekken series of games, there’s nothing really new about it. The main storyline of finding the Soul Edge/Calibur is rehashed with a few new faces and random CPU generated enemies to fight, but it also still plays like Soul Calibur 2. You can make your own warrior, but so what? I didn’t find it all that engaging and it didn’t keep my interest to even unlock all the hidden stuff in the game like the last one cause it felt overly redundant.
Runners Up:
- Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie
- Devil May Cry 3

Most Anticipated For 2006: Kingdom Hearts 2
- Japanese version is out, so I just need to wait patiently for the US version. I never played the first one, but was easily impressed enough by it to want to check this out.
Runners Up:
- King of Fighters XI
- Fatal Frame 3: The Tormented
- X-Box 360