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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

180 Comments

  • Darthkaiser

    Posted Jan 1, 2010 11:22 am PT

    Yep Arkham Asylum was the one that made me travel there and it was not a pleasent trip

  • Onafets87

    Posted Dec 29, 2009 12:45 pm PT

    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!!!!

  • tmaclabi

    Posted Dec 28, 2009 7:23 pm PT

    Velvet assassin!

  • neosunny

    Posted Dec 28, 2009 4:09 pm PT

    Where the heck is Uncharted 2????

  • Rockleelives

    Posted Dec 28, 2009 10:47 am PT

    @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.

  • guyxeno

    Posted Dec 26, 2009 6:54 pm PT

    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

  • advocacy

    Posted Dec 26, 2009 8:43 am PT

    Batman is awesome.

  • AnelZukic

    Posted Dec 26, 2009 8:34 am PT

    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

  • Peng33

    Posted Dec 25, 2009 9:46 pm PT

    Demon's Souls should have won this category without contest, followed by runner-up Flower. Flower: Always the bridesmaid, never the bride...*sigh*

  • LordAndrew

    Posted Dec 25, 2009 8:40 pm PT

    @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?

  • Geo1676

    Posted Dec 24, 2009 5:19 pm PT

    Another weird category

  • DrEvilKoala

    Posted Dec 24, 2009 8:39 am PT

    Although I voted on Cryostasis, Arkham deserves the award as well.

  • Rockleelives

    Posted Dec 24, 2009 8:04 am PT

    GS really messed up on this one. anyone who has played KZ2 knws that its atmosphere is freakin incredible.

  • SoulPsychadelic

    Posted Dec 24, 2009 5:22 am PT

    Cryostasis hands down.

  • Darth_Pietrus

    Posted Dec 24, 2009 1:08 am PT

    Indeed Batman ftw.

  • suomalainen_66

    Posted Dec 23, 2009 8:39 pm PT

    Batman or killzone 2. Both were phenomenal looking games with great environments.

  • DamageIncM

    Posted Dec 23, 2009 4:17 pm PT

    Tss. XD Batman... I like that game but it's definitely not the best in atmosphere.

  • Freeman_O2

    Posted Dec 23, 2009 12:56 pm PT

    And Demons´s Souls?.... I mean Batman was great, BUT DS Was vastly superior

  • Sonicplys

    Posted Dec 23, 2009 12:54 pm PT

    I Knew it was Batman all along

  • VXLbeast

    Posted Dec 23, 2009 10:14 am PT

    Can't argue there, although I voted for Killzone 2, both were awesome.

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Table of Contents

Winner Reveal Schedule

  • Dec 21
    Special Achievement
  • Dec 22
    Dubious Honors
  • Dec 23
    Genre Awards
  • Dec 24
    Platform Awards
  • Dec 25
    Game of the Year

Readers' Choice winners are announced Jan. 27, 2010