Last night, BAFTA hosted the yearly British Academy Games Awards (BAGA?). Dara O'Briain – as reluctant token game-playing celebrity – hosted the event, and many big names attended. Notably, Gabe Newell was there to be accepted into the academy fellowship. With the addition of “Best British Game”, the evening awarded games across eighteen categories. Here are the winners:
Action: Far Cry 3. While the narrative of the game is said by some to be lacking, it certainly has plenty of action that contributed towards its critical acclaim. Far Cry 3 beat out games like Halo 4 and Borderlands 2 to win this title.
Artistic Achievement: Journey. Sure, Halo 4 and Dear Esther are pretty games in their own way, but Journey really is something incredible.
Audio Achievement: Journey. Another award to add to Journey's large collection.
BAFTA Ones To Watch Award in association with Dare to be Digital: Starcrossed. This one from Kind of a Big Deal.
Best Game: Dishonored. Dishonored is a very good game. It has to be to have beaten out the award-laden Journey for this top spot.
British Game: The Room. Apple knew what it was doing when it picked this game for Game of the Year.
Debut Game: The Unfinished Swan. Giant Sparrow clearly deserves this one.
Family: LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes. LEGO manages to topple the almighty Skylanders Giants.
Game Design: Journey. Well-deserved for the huge amount of thought that went into the game.
Game Innovation: The Unfinished Swan. Whatever your thoughts on how well-execute The Unfinished Swan is or how enjoyable it is to play, you can't deny it's innovative. Especially when compared to Call of Duty: Black Ops II, which somehow managed to get a nomination alongside the likes of Fez and Journey.
Mobile & Handheld: The Walking Dead. Telltale Games has done a pretty good job of bringing the popular game to mobile devices.
Online – Browser: SongPop. SongPop lost out to SimCity Social at DICE, but gets the win here.
Online – Multiplayer: Journey. Most of the other games nominated have primarily competitive multiplayer (apart from Borderlands 2) so it's interesting to see a game with such a unique multiplayer aspect win.
Original Music: Journey. Games like The Walking Dead and Assassin's Creed III didn't really stand a chance against the Grammy-nominated music from Austin Wintory.
Performer: Danny Wallace for Thomas Was Alone. You probably first heard Danny Wallace as the voice of that sarcastic British guy in Assassin's Creed, but he also narrates the charming story for Thomas Was Alone.
Sports/Fitness: New Star Soccer. Incredibly, New Star Soccer managed to beat out the omnipresent FIFA 13 for this one.
Story: The Walking Dead. A game that stomps all over players' emotions again and again.
Strategy: XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Our reviewer thought this game was awesome.
So, Journey yet again wipes the floor with everyone else, though doesn't manage to beat Dishonored to Best Game. Which of your favourite games didn't get a look-in?
