BAFTA Game Awards 2015 Nominees Revealed, Alien in the Lead

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has released its nominees for its 2015 game awards, with Alien: Isolation earning the most nods.

For the 2015 BAFTA Game Awards, Alien: Isolation, Far Cry 4 and Monument Valley are leading in their number of nominations. In particular, Alien: Isolation was nominated for having the best music, best design, audio achievement, game innovation, game design, best British game and best game. Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U, our number one game of 2014, had zero nominations, as did our number two game of 2014, Infamous: Second Son.

We do have a few gripes with the nominations -- in particular, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor being nominated for the game innovation award. Though Shadow of Mordor was a great experience, we wouldn't exactly call it innovative, since many of its mechanics were obviously inspired by the Batman: Arkham and Assassin's Creed series. We have a feeling some of you may look at Alien: Isolation's number of nominations compared to the likes of Dragon Age: Inquisition (one nomination) and frown. Some are speculating that the British Academy of Film and Television Arts are playing favoritism as Alien: Isolation was developed by Creative Assembly, a British studio. Nevertheless, we think it's deserving in its nominations, but having Destiny up for Best Game and not Super Smash Bros., Infamous: Second Son or Shovel Knight, is a bit questionable.

Here are some of the categories and their nominees:

Best Game

• Alien: Isolation
• Destiny
• Dragon Age: Inquisition
• Mario Kart 8
• Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor
• Monument Valley

Artistic Achievement

• Assassin’s Creed Unity
• Far Cry 4
• Hohokum
• Lumino City
• Monument Valley
• Valiant Hearts

Audio Achievement

• Alien: Isolation
• The Banner Saga
• Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
• Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved
• Mario Kart 8
• The Sailor’s Dream

Family Game

• The LEGO Movie Videogame
• LittleBigPlanet 3
• Minecraft: Console Editions
• Mario Kart 8
• Skylanders Trap Team
• Twelve a Dozen

Game Design

• Alien: Isolation
• Destiny
• Far Cry 4
• Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
• Middle Earth: Shadows of Mordor
• Threes

Mobile/Handheld

• 80 Days
• Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
• Hitman Go
• Monument Valley
• Threes
• The Walking Dead: Season 2

Multiplayer

• Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
• Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft
• Destiny
• Mario Kart 8
• Minecraft: Console Editions
• Titanfall

Music

• Alien: Isolation
• The Banner Saga
• Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved
• Far Cry 4
• Middle Earth: Shadows of Mordor
• The Sailor’s Dream

Original Property

• Kalimba
• Monument Valley
• Sunset Overdrive
• Titanfall
• Valiant Hearts
• The Vanishing of Ethan Carter

Voice Acting Performer

• Adam Harrington (Bigby Wolf in The Wolf Among Us)
• Ashley Johnson (Ellie in The Last of Us: Left Behind)
• Kevin Spacey (Jonathan Irons in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare)
• Logan Cunningham (Transistor in Transistor)
• Melissa Hutchison (Clementine in The Walking Dead: Season 2)
• Troy Baker (Pagan Min in Far Cry 4)

Sport

• FIFA 15
• Football Manager 2015
• Forza Horizon 2
• OlliOlli
• Madden NFL 2015
• Trials Fusion