Table of Contents
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
Click to reveal winner
Readers' Choice Voting
- Winner
- Results
And the winner is…
Batman: Arkham Asylum
- Publisher: Eidos Interactive
- Developer: Rocksteady Studios
Batman: Arkham Asylum exposes players to a unique, dark and atmospheric adventure that takes them to the depths of Arkham Asylum - Gotham's psychiatric hospital for the criminally insane. Gamers will move in the shadows, instigate fear amongst their enemies and confront The Joker and Gotham City's most notorious villains who have taken over the asylum. Using a wide range of Batman's gadgets and abilities, players will become the invisible predator and attempt to foil The Joker's demented scheme.
| Info | Title | Vote Result Graph | % of Votes | # of Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Killzone 2 |
16% | 3,768 | |
|
Batman: Arkham Asylum |
54% | 12,617 | |
|
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories |
7% | 1,661 | |
|
Flower |
5% | 1,075 | |
|
Velvet Assassin |
2% | 364 | |
|
The House of the Dead: Overkill |
0.5% | 116 | |
|
Afro Samurai |
1% | 178 | |
|
Demon's Souls |
6% | 1,413 | |
|
Cryostasis: The Sleep of Reason |
2% | 511 | |
|
Left 4 Dead 2 |
7% | 1,669 |
213 comments
Although Shattered Memories was ok, the Silent Hill franchise usually has wonderful atmospheres.
Batman AA is epic. Can't wait for the sequel. Haven't played silent hill but its on the to do list
Killzone and Batman: Arkham Asylum were great! But Batman: Arkham Asylum gave me The Dark Knight feeling.
This is a really important category for me (I have no idea why), and the winner really matters to me. Killzone 2 had a good atmosphere, but I'm glad Arkham Asylum won out of the finalists. Has anyone actually played Silent Hill?
I would've chosen Demon's Souls, but AA deserved it also. A lot of great atmospheres this year, as opposed to the clear winner last year.
Killzone or Batman but since Batman has that atmosphere even though it is a superhero game I will go with it.
Was goinna say demons souls had best atmosphere, but then i remember batmans scarecrow scenes, and the fact he's stuck on an island with hundreds of people that want to kill him. He might not be scared to walk around a corner, but you sure will be lol.
Loved Arkham Asylum atmosphere. But Shattered Memories did some mind blowing things, and Killzone 2 is the visual representation of my idea of war better than any game that was set in the real world. Demon souls looked so oppressive and depressing while Cryostasis was so immersive it took me there. Also, why does Velvet Assasin keep getting good nominations? Game was terrible.
Arkham for me, the story isn't the best but I really felt I was really there doing those things and Batman was a strong character in that he talked and thought, the art style was awesome and so was the music and re-meeting his old heroes and nemesis' all where they should be was superb. Just Detective Visions blue kinda ruined it.
Batman Arkham ASylum has by far the coolest atmosphere and deserves to win this category: I maen walking all alone in the middle of madhouse..... that's creepy but also exciting!!!!
@LordAndrew i have played and completed both batman and KZ2 and in my opinion KZ2 is just plain better. with AA the atmosphere was kinda subtle with u having to look around to really get the full experience of the atmosphere. but in KZ2 as soon as u land the sh** hits the fan! u got lightning exploding in the sky gunfire booming all around u, and ur comrades going down left and right. also in KZ2 u were more apart of the atmosphere yourself. i knw this had to be a split decision for GS but KZ2's atmosphere is just better.
batman easily wins cause everything it did was amazing. its the only superhero game where you feel like the freakin superhero at all times. as far as dead space goes it was cool and something a little different than the other survival horror games but i dont think it was really all that
This year Batman won this award but compared to previous year Dead Space who won this award I need to say it's miles behind, sorry :)
Demon's Souls should have won this category without contest, followed by runner-up Flower. Flower: Always the bridesmaid, never the bride...*sigh*
@Rockleelives: And they're not saying that Killzone 2 _doesn't_ have incredible atmosphere. What they _are_ saying is that Batman won "by a very, very narrow margin". Maybe Killzone 2 was actually their runner-up. Who knows?
GS really messed up on this one. anyone who has played KZ2 knws that its atmosphere is freakin incredible.
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