Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

Evolve leads E3 2014’s award nominations, Destiny and Rainbow Six trail close behind

By
evolve release delayed hunt now begins february 2015 2k e3 newhunters2 bmp
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Turtle Rock Studios brought a standout offering to E3 2014 with its asymmetrical multiplayer game, Evolve, and it was an impressive enough showing to land the studio a total of six nominations in the annual Game Critics Awards, the most of any contender. The GCA is the “official” awards mouthpiece of E3, with just over two dozen media outlets — including Digital Trends, as of this year — voting on the best games in a range of categories. Evolve is up for the top Best of Show award, along with Best Original Game, Best Console Game, Best PC Game, Best Action Game, and Best Online Multiplayer.

Trailing behind Evolve are Destiny and Rainbow Six: Siege, each of which nabbed four nominations apiece. Oddly, Destiny didn’t make the cut in the Best of Show category; it was bested by Alien: Isolation, Batman: Arkham Knight, Middle-earth: Shadows of Mordor, and No Man’s Sky (along with Rainbow Six and Evolve). 2K Games, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, and Ubisoft are the most celebrated publishers, with eight nominations apiece for their assorted games. 

Recommended Videos

This year’s nominee lineup features a couple of quirks. The Best Sports Game category, for example, may as well be the Best EA Sports category, as the mega-publisher continues to dominate in the realm of gaming’s sports sims (exclusive licensing deals may play a role in that as well). And the poor, forgotten strategy genre makes a light showing this year, with just two games nominated in the category: Petroglyph’s Grey Goo and Firaxis’ Civilization: Beyond Earth. 

Related

Now all that remains is for the judges to cast their votes, and for those votes to be counted. Here’s a full down of all of this year’s nominees, by category.

Best of Show

  • Alien: Isolation (Creative Assembly/Sega)
  • Batman: Arkham Knight (Rocksteady/WBIE)
  • Evolve (Turtle Rock/2K Games)
  • Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (Monolith/WBIE)
  • No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
  • Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)

Best Original Game

  • Destiny (Bungie/Activision)
  • Evolve (Turtle Rock/2K Games)
  • No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
  • Splatoon (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo)
  • Sunset Overdrive (Insomniac/Microsoft Studios)

Best Console Game

  • Alien: Isolation (Creative Assembly/Sega)
  • Batman: Arkham Knight (Rocksteady/WBIE)
  • Destiny (Bungie/Activision)
  • Evolve (Turtle Rock/2K Games)
  • Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (Monolith/WBIE)

Best Handheld Game

  • Murasaki Baby (Ovosonico/Sony Computer Entertainment)
  • Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth (Atlus/Atlus)
  • Super Smash Bros. for 3DS (Sora/Namco-Bandai/Nintendo)
  • Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call (Square-Enix/Square-Enix)

Best PC Game

  • Civilization: Beyond Earth (Firaxis/2K Games)
  • Dragon Age: Inquisition (Bioware/EA)
  • Evolve (Turtle Rock/2K Games)
  • Far Cry 4 (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
  • Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)

Best Hardware

  • Alienware Alpha (Alienware)
  • Oculus Rift (Oculus VR)
  • PlayStation TV (Sony Computer Entertainment)
  • Project Morpheus (Sony Computer Entertainment)

Best Action Game

  • Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Sledgehammer Games/Activision)
  • Destiny (Bungie/Activision)
  • Evolve (Turtle Rock/2K Games)
  • Far Cry 4 (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
  • Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)

Best Action/Adventure Game

  • Alien: Isolation (Creative Assembly/Sega)
  • Assassin’s Creed Unity (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)
  • Batman: Arkham Knight (Rocksteady/WBIE)
  • Sunset Overdrive (Insomniac/Microsoft Studios)
  • The Order: 1886 (Ready at Dawn/Sony Computer Entertainment)

Best RPG

  • Bloodborne (From Software/Sony Computer Entertainment)
  • Dragon Age: Inquisition (Bioware/EA)
  • Fable Legends (Lionhead/Microsoft Studios)
  • Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (Monolith/WBIE)
  • Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth (Atlus/Atlus)

Best Fighting Game

  • Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN(Arc System Works/Aksys Games)
  • Killer Instinct Season 2 (Iron Galaxy Studios/Microsoft Studios)
  • Mortal Kombat X (NetherRealm Studios/WBIE)
  • Persona 4 Arena Ultimax (Arc System Works/Atlus)
  • Super Smash Bros Wii-U (Sora/Namco-Bandai/Nintendo)

Best Racing Game

  • Driveclub (Evolution/Sony Computer Entertainment)
  • Forza Horizon 2 (Playground Games/Microsoft Studios)
  • The Crew (Ivory Tower/Reflections/Ubisoft)

Best Sports Game

  • FIFA 15 (EA Canada/EA Sports)
  • NHL 15 (EA Canada/EA Sports)
  • Madden NFL 15 (Tiburon/EA Sports)

Best Strategy Game

  • Civilization: Beyond Earth (Firaxis/2K Games)
  • Grey Goo (Petroglyph/Grey Box)

Best Social/Casual

  • Disney Infinity 2.0: Marvel Super Heroes (Avalanche/Disney Interactive)
  • Fantasia: Music Evolved (Harmonix/Disney Interactive)
  • LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham (TT Games/WBIE)
  • Mario Maker (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo)
  • Yoshi’s Woolly World (Good-Feel/Nintendo)

Best Online Multiplayer

  • Battlefield: Hardline (Visceral/EA)
  • Destiny (Bungie/Activision)
  • Evolve (Turtle Rock/2K Games)
  • Splatoon (Nintendo EAD/Nintendo)
  • Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege (Ubisoft Montreal/Ubisoft)

Best Indie

  • Axiom Verge (Tom Happ)
  • CounterSpy (Dynamighty)
  • Below (Capy Games)
  • No Man’s Sky (Hello Games)
  • Ori and the Blind Forrest (Moon Game Studio)

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Adam Rosenberg
Adam Rosenberg
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Previously, Adam worked in the games press as a freelance writer and critic for a range of outlets, including Digital Trends…
3 Xbox Game Pass games you need to play this weekend (May 3-5)
Senua in Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice.

Another weekend is upon us, and you're probably looking for some games to kill time with over the course of it. We're in a bit of a lull right now ahead of a flurry of releases starting next week, so it's a great time to dip back into the Xbox Game Pass catalog and check out some games that you may have missed. There are three games in particular that I think you should check out this weekend if you're looking for something to play.

One is an unsettling adventure that's getting an Xbox-exclusive sequel later this month. The next is a finely animated roguelike indie that recently made its way to Microsoft's gaming subscription service. Finally, there's a relaxing adventure that gives players a lot of freedom, yet is short enough to beat in a weekend. If you're having trouble deciding what to play this weekend, give one of these games a shot.
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice

Read more
3 underrated PS Plus games you should play this weekend (May 3-5)
The main character of Tales of Kenzera: Zau stands with two elemental items.

PlayStation Plus Premium and Extra have been around for almost two years, and during that time the subscription service has established itself as an ample competitor to Xbox Game Pass. That means there is a wealth of great games for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 owners to check out if they're looking for something to play this weekend. I think PS Plus subscribers should be looking toward some of the more underrated games in the subscription service this weekend too.

I have three particular picks in mind. The first is an enjoyable Metroidvania that came to PS Plus' game catalog when it launched just a couple of weeks ago and deserves a lot more attention than it's getting. After that, there's an action-platformer that pays homage to series like Ninja Gaiden that you should check out before it leaves the catalog. Finally, there's a PS2-era Star Wars game that fills the niche a recently canceled game would have.
Tales of Kenzera: Zau

Read more
If you’re not using PlayStation Stars, you’re missing out
Three phone screens with the PlayStation Stars app.

I wouldn't blame you if you forgot PlayStation Stars existed. In fact, I would guess the majority of people out there have no idea what that even is, but PlayStation's reward program deserves more attention than it's getting.

Launched in the summer of 2022, PlayStation Stars is a program meant to reward players for engaging with the PlayStation ecosystem. You can take on challenges to earn digital collectibles and, more importantly, coins that can be redeemed for games, store credit, and some premium in-game currencies.

Read more