Special Achievement
Best Atmosphere
Some games are about more than just beating the bad guy and rescuing the princess/hostages/foodstuffs. Some games are about building up a memorable atmosphere with distinctive-looking environments and great storytelling and, in the best cases, building toward an intangible feeling that immerses you into a game's world, whether that be a tense and frightening horror adventure, a historically authentic re-creation, or a comic book come to life. Here are the 2009 finalists for Best Atmosphere.
Editorial Nominees
Editors' Choice Winner
Zeroing in on something as intangible and hard to quantify as "atmosphere" may not be easy. But it was even harder to zero in on an actual winner for this category, since there were several excellent contenders this year, each with its own unique atmosphere to offer by way of sound effects, music, voice acting, and environmental design.
In the end, our winner by a very, very narrow margin was Batman: Arkham Asylum, a game that at first glance seems to be about a muscle-bound superhero repeatedly using a grapnel to land on gargoyles but that on closer inspection is all about atmosphere. Like the game's title suggests, it takes place at Arkham Asylum, a mental institution built to rehabilitate the criminals (and super-criminals) of Gotham City--a place that, thanks to the Caped Crusader, has become a second home to Batman's infamous rogues' gallery of archvillains.
Aside from the fact that Batman's grapnel, detective vision, and formidable fighting skills make you feel like a superhero, Arkham truly feels like a dark, frightening prison for the crazy and dangerous--and a perilous place to be a superhero. From the menacing-looking villains played beautifully by skilled voice actors, to the way cowardly and suspicious thugs panic when you first strike fear into their hearts, to the dark and filthy corridors of the asylum (and the even darker corridors of Batman's memories and imagination), Arkham Asylum offers an incredibly atmospheric experience that we will remember for a long, long time.
Readers' Choice Voting
Table of Contents
Winner Reveal Schedule
- Dec 21Special Achievement
- Dec 22Dubious Honors
- Dec 23Genre Awards
- Dec 24Platform Awards
- Dec 25Game of the Year
Readers' Choice winners are announced Jan. 27, 2010
15 Comments