2017 Action Game Of The Year Awards

The best action games get our hearts beating, inspire us to see what’s over the next hill, and thrill us with intense moments of traversal, combat, and discovery. Check out our selections for the greatest that 2017 had to offer in the action genre. 

Best Story: Horizon Zero Dawn

For hours, Horizon keeps the story focus small and contained, focusing on interpersonal dramas and the coming-of-age tale of its central hero. When the big beats finally hit in the latter half of the game, they reignite excitement in the player with tales of a long-forgotten fall of humanity, and the strange machines that rose up to occupy the world. Horizon’s fascinating slow-drip of new storytelling eventually turns into a deluge, and the depth and tragedy of the tale is magnificent.

Best Setting: Assassin’s Creed Origins

Assassin’s Creed has always looked to history to inspire its game worlds, but the developers have never cast the net so far back as they did with Origins. Ancient Egypt is redrawn with a historian’s acumen and an artist’s eye, bringing the Nile Delta to life and firing up the imagination. Through a focus on actual historical culture and religion, the lands of Assassin’s Creed Origins feel genuine and vast in scope, letting us get lost in the fantasy of living thousands of years in the past.  

Best Character: Aloy (Horizon Zero Dawn)

Horizon is a game of unbelievable sites, like giant robotic dinosaurs and the famous landmarks of Colorado and Utah as they will appear hundreds years after falling into ruin. The story’s lead character grounds that over-the-top world-building. Aloy is down-to-earth, heroic, and wise beyond her years, and simultaneously fights and hunts with skill and tenacity. In both small personal conversations and world-shaping moments, she proves her worth, and earns her spot as one of 2017’s most compelling video game heroes. 

Next Page: Which action game had the best combat? And what about handheld action games?

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