GameSpot's Game of the Year is....

Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor!

If you go to the front page of the site, they just revealed it. And I can't be mad at their choice, as Shadow of Mordor is one of my top 3 games of the year.

Haven't had a chance to play it, yet, but it seems like a solid time. Heard some complaints about repetitiveness, but the setting and gameplay sound good

@xantufrog: it's fantastic. It's only repetitive if you stick to one play style, and this game greatly encourages experimentation. The Nemesis system is th best part of the game

I have yet to play this but it does look and sound like a very good game. My GotY choice is Dragon Age: Inquisition, such a fantastic game.

Wouldn't be my pick for game of the year because it gets progressively worse after the excellent first half, but good choice nonetheless

I just don't get how a game that's highly repetitive (experiment all you want, you're still doing the exact same crap), has a novelty Nemesis system that gets old half way through the game, and an anticlimatic boss fight gets the GotY nod. I just do not agree. I mean, I'm not the one to think that game sites get paid off, but I'm in such disagreement with this choice that if someone were to suggest they were paid off, I wouldn't automatically discount them.

The lame choice reeks of desperation.

Unexpected choice but I guess they were blown away by the nemesis system.

Aside from that the game doesn't really do much to stand out. It all pretty much revolves around killing orcs with little else going for it.

I personally thought it was all around great. Excellent combat, a great side content system, and numerous ways to fight in challenging situations. Only thing I didn't care for was the lackluster main campaign mode.

Definitely not my choice but OK.

This GOTY is the safe choice, its not controversial in any way.

Not my choice but its a decent game if you like the repetitiveness.

That was suprising, i really thought it was gonna be either Bayonetta2 or DA3, havn't played any of them but im playing Shadow Of Mordor right now and i can tell that it is a very solid game overall and it brings something new to the table with the nemesis system. The graphics and animations are really amazing as well and the gameplay works really smooth. Can't say anything about the story though, only 30% on my way through the game but so far it's been okey.

After buying shadow of mordor I took a sick day just to stay home and play it, I have not done that in about 10 years, so I think the game of the year award was well deserved.

I don't mind Shadow of Mordor winning it (because it's fun game) but the way Gamespot chose it is very strange. They clearly don't have any rules or a vision to choose their GOTY. First mistake made by these guys was that, they included multiplats in Platform GOTY (except Wii U and 3 games on PC).

These Nominations also included Destiny, a game that got 6 on Gamespot. Kevin himself said that lot of people in the studio didn't even play MMOs before and for them it is something very special, that's why they asked others to put it there and due to the reason that Kevin had been playing MMOs since the beginning, he saw all the faults immediately and that's why he gave the game 6. How about, you let those participate in the discussion who have experience in video games instead of newbies?

Then Divinity Original Sin beats best version of Shadow of Mordor in PC Game of the Year and then Shadow of Mordor beats it and every other game in overall Game of the Year Award. Strange indeed but the story doesn't end there. According to Kevin, Dragon Age Inquisition was the second game that could've gotten GOTY if it wasn't for SOM. How? That game didn't even win a single platform GOTY Award. They said Divinity was at number 3. A game that beats both SOM and DA:I in PC GOTY is at number 3 and DA:I, as mentioned above didn't even win single award, yet it was number 2 candidate for GOTY? Come on.

i'm still on the fence with it. i'm not very far in, so far it's been good but i'm not hooked, yet.

combat seems strong and as accomplished as advertised, the only things i've been disappointed with up to now is the story and game world. so far it's pretty much just one big field. after hearing people make comparisons with batman i was hoping for that style of artistic direction and strong narrative in the lord of the rings universe but up to now the story has been a bit wishy washy.

i'm encouraged by the goty award though, hopefully it really picks up once you delve a bit deeper

its not a bad game but i got bored of it about after 3 hrs. Enough that i'll probably skip any future sequels of this game.

@Macutchi: the best part is making up your own stories chasing after the orcs that kill you. The main story was decent, but then again I wasn't expecting much. And there's actually 2 open field areas in the game. You unlock the second about halfway through, and you can fast travel between them as often as you want. And believe me, the second area is beautiful.

I agree with this choice! SoM is just brilliant ...the best part is the Nemesis System which brings a new dimension to the saturated action-adventure genre.....

@mastermetal777: ok, well that sounds promising. i don't want to sound like a graphics whore but i was expecting something a bit more stylish that captured the whole lotr lore in the same way the batman games did with the dc universe. early days yet though, i'm going to try and plough a few hours into it tonight. hopefully will get some momentum going and make a bit of a dent in it

I still haven't played it because it looks like a repetitive mess. I'll pick up the game when I can get it for $5 or so. I'd pick it up now if I thought Gamespot were right, but I've learned better.

@Macutchi: remember to get as many epic runes as you can from the stronger orcs. Also, the cooler mechanics come in the second half. You wait and see

@mastermetal777: cheers dude

It's a choice that I can neither agree nor disagree with.

I can't say whether or not Shadow of Mordor is deserving as I missed out on a lot of games this year, but I am eager to play it with all the recognition it has garnered.

Shadow of Mordor is just a tech demo.

It kept me occupied for around 15 hours. Boss fights were completely horrible, story was a joke and the end game is too power-tripping in your favor.

...They didn't pick Dragon Age? What? Shadow of Mordor has cool combat and the Nemesis system, but the quests are awful. They are like tons of Assassin's Creed side quests put together. No reason to pick this over Dragon Age. It's just not a complete experience.

I'm just surprised- they picked an action/adventure medieval game... but the wrong one.

It's not even the best game in it's genre this year...

@Senor_Kami: You forgot to say "From my point of view"

Even though 40% voted for Dragon Age, what was the point of voting?

@The_Last_Ride: this was the editor's choice, not player

Then why the **** did they let us vote?

@The_Last_Ride: the player's choice usually comes soon after the editor's. They always do that

Dragon age was definitely more deserving of GOTY but middle earth was great. The nemesis feature was awesome

so why even bother with votes?

@The_Last_Ride: because the votes are for the player's choice game. They have to count them all

@ojmstr: From my point of view... and user scores... and critical reception.

Smash got robbed 100%.

have they even shown them on the page then?

Not a bad choice. I would have picked DA: Inquisition over it, but Middle Earth would have been my second choice.

Still to play it even though its in my steam library but with many others to play at lol. Strange enough im playing a lot of Euro Truck Simulator 2 lately. nice and relaxing listening to some tunes while playing.

Yeah Agreed.. Even lazy gamer's best game of the year is also for "Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor" ..

yeah its not my choice either

Shadow of Mordor is fantastic IMO great choice.I haven't played much into the story but it's alright so far, the Nemesis System,the landscape,the gameplay and etc. have sucked me in.I was playing that game hours on end just killing Captains and Random Orcs.Dragon Age Inquisition would've also been a solid choice.I haven't played Bayonetta 2 though.