Spike TV VGA’s 2011 – Recap, Screenshots & World Premiere Trailers
By Patrick Newman
The Spike TV Video Game Awards is not only a ceremony meant for honoring the finest achievements in that field, but for industry titans to announce upcoming projects. Just as quality games like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Batman: Arkham City swept up the top prizes, highly anticipated titles such as Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance and Diablo 3 premiered exclusive trailers. It’s been a fine year for this burgeoning art form, a fact that the VGAs have made abundantly clear.
Ellen Page fans that also enjoy the occasional video game now have reason to rejoice. A survival-horror game called The Last Of Us, published by Sony, premiered a new trailer starring a character voiced by (and modeled after) Ellen Page at the VGAs. Few details were spared, but the game will involve a zombie virus, and will be PS3-exclusive.
Irrational Games’ BioShock: Infinite, the latest in the brilliant steampunk franchise, unveiled a new trailer that showcased every facet of the floating city of Columbia. The visuals in the trailer bested every other project on display, and for the first time, Infinite’s weapon system mechanics were given ample screen time.
The trailer for Diablo 3 introduced a narrative element that has so far been absent from the first two Diablos, in which a young girl and her uncle predict the demon onslaught that we’re all so familiar with. It is unclear at this point whether the trailer’s story will extend to the game itself, or if it was meant to be self-contained, created purely for the purposes of advertising.
Diablo 3 – 2011 VGA’s Opening Cinematic Trailer:
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Rainbow 6: Patriots, which has been developed by Ubisoft Montreal and promises to be a reinvention of the dormant franchise (the last console entry being Rainbow Six: Vegas 2), debuted its trailer to plenty of fanfare at the show. Over a monologue, footage of a bomb-strapped hostage being thrown into the street from a New York skyscraper implied that the game’s action will be set at least partially in New York, and that it should be devastating.
Epic Games’ new title, called “Fortnite,” follows in the massive footsteps of Gears of War by marrying cartoon-like art design with rotting zombies, making for a truly unique blend. As illustrated by the trailer, the game revolves around a group of adventurers banding together to build a fort, which is then besieged by zombies.
Mass Effect 3, which is easily one of the most anticipated titles of the coming year, had one of the night’s best showings with an action sequence of Shepard dodging first a Reaper, then a Thresher Maw creature in the desert. While light on new developments, the trailer gave the audience a heaping helping of the same delicious dish – and left them begging for more.
Mass Effect 3 – 2011 VGA’s Gameplay Trailer:
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Metal Gear Solid: Revengeance, which has been revealed as a joint effort between publisher Kojima Productions and developer Platinum Games, had hands-down the best trailer on display. Emphasizing the game’s central, sword-swinging mechanics, the short clip showed protagonist Raiden slicing through all manner of foe, from mechanized beings to human obstacles, with his super-powered katana. The graphics of Kojima’s latest brainchild were immaculate in both the futuristic urban environments, and the highly detailed characters.
By the end of the night, the ceremony’s coveted Game of the Year award went to the fantasy RPG Skyrim, with the top game awards for PS3, Wii and PC going to Uncharted 3, Zelda: Skyward Sword and Portal 2, respectively. Surprising to few was the award for Best Shooter going to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Batman: Arkham City picked up additional awards wherever they landed, netting the Best Adapted Videogame award, Best Action Adventure Game, Best Xbox 360 Game, and Character of the Year (for Mark Hamill’s excellent final performance as The Joker).
Alan Wake’s American Nightmare – 2011 VGA’s Trailer:
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2011 VGA’s Screenshot Gallery:
