Day 3 of MonsterVine’s Game of the Awards concludes with our choices for Best Sequel/Entry in Series, Best Soundtrack, and 2018’s Dumpster Fire Moment. Tune in for our Game of the Year reveal tomorrow!
Worst Game – Fallout 76
Spencer: The only thing Fallout 76 is reclaiming is the series’ reputation after Brotherhood of Steel. Yowch.
Diego: Fallout 76 is what happens when you decide to ignore why the fans of your game series like your game so much, and instead make something that is almost the antithesis of that series.
Shannon: I’m not quite a No Mutants Allowed fan but I am a pretty old school fan of the series so Fallout 76 is basically the opposite of everything it stands for. The upside is Fallout and Fallout 2 are cheap.
Austin: The Fallout Series hasn’t been good in a while. Fallout 4 is a bad game. Fallout Shelter is an awful cash grab, lacking depth or engagement wrapped in a pretty style, drenched in the stink of a free-to-play experience. Fallout 76 continues the trend of bad Fallout games, and takes it to a whole new level. It’s not a good survival game. It’s not a good shooter. It’s not a good multiplayer experience. Fallout 76 is a bad game.
Runner-Up: Agony
Best Sequel/Entry in Series – Red Dead Redemption 2
Diego: There were a lot of games that came out this year that had a “2” at the end of their title, but Red Dead Redemption 2 is the one that did the “2” the best.
Shannon: Sift to Tijuana
I want to roam
Find Motown telephones and come back home
Start an escort service for all the right reasons
And set up shop at the top of four seasons
Kid Rock, and I’m the Real Mccoy
And I’m headed out west, sucker ’cause I want to be a
Austin: There aren’t enough western games. Red Dead Redemption 2 brings all of the style, story and attention to detail from the previous game and amplifies everything exponentially. It’s more of everything, and boy is there a lot of it.
Runner-Up: Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age
Best Soundtrack – “Country Roads” from Fallout 76
Spencer: It says a lot when such an amazing song isn’t held back by its origin, coming from one of the worst games of the entire year. The original “Take Me Home, Country Roads” is a classic, but there’s something about the Fallout 76 version that feels, fittingly, more welcoming and homely. I’ve listened to this cover quite a lot in the last few months, and I don’t see myself stopping anytime soon.
Diego: When I nominated this for “Best Soundtrack” I mostly did it as a joke thinking it’d be funny if a single song won for what should be an award to a soundtrack and expected it to be cut from the nominations. I haven’t even listened to the actual soundtrack for this game, but I’m gonna guess it probably rates somewhere on a subjective scale. I will say this version is leagues better than the original and has replaced it in my mind. I don’t really have much else to add, my joke nomination won despite being the least qualified candidate, which is a pretty good metaphor for the 2016 presidential election.
Shannon: Fallout soundtracks do wonders for old country music but BIG IROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON BIG IROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON
Austin: I was never a big fan of the original version of “Country Roads” and I am not a big fan of folk-country-western… but the ever present nature of this song across conventions, events, and my social life. I actually look forward to encountering “Country Roads” when shopping at the grocery store or flipping through the radio stations on my drive Thanks Fallout 76, you did one thing that isn’t total trash.
Runner-Up: Red Dead Redemption 2, DUSK, The Messenger, Dragon Quest XI, Life is Strange 2, Where the Water Tastes Like Wine, GRIS
2017’s Dumpster Fire Moment – Fallout 76
Spencer: Oof.
Diego: Oof
Shannon: Oof.
Austin: Oof. (But for some context: Game is bad. Game launches broken and empty. Game is easily hacked on PC by manipulating .ini file. Patches fix some things, and break more things. Special edition promised canvas bags, they shipped nylon. They fumbled the apology, but gave some in game currency. Fans discovered influencers got a canvas bag. Bethesda took information to give out the bags they actually promised. Then they accidently gave out that information to other people through their support system. Something else probably happened in the time it took you to read this. Enjoy the train-wreck with your favorite snack.
Runner-Up: Telltale Games Closing, Plagiarism in Games Journalism
