BAFTA Game Awards - what should have won

So what did we learn from the BAFTA Video Game Awards a few nights ago? Dara O'Briain is a closet gamer, Ralf Little feels the Pro Evolution Soccer developers have "dropped the ball" and let FIFA regain its football crown, Dom Joly is a big fan of Modern Warfare 2 and Shigeru Miyamoto is a genius having brought us the likes of Mario, Zelda and Donkey Kong!

No real revelations there, eh? For me, it showed me that awards ceremonies so often neglect to acknowledge the developers of some fantastic games, and tend to send a plethora of shiny golden trophies solely in the direction of the firm favourites. Yes, Uncharted 2, I'm looking at you (bet you weren't expecting Batman to win Best Game though!)

I was fairly happy with the shortlisted nominations, there was some decent variety in each category and representatives from each of the major platforms. They genuinely did showcase some of the top titles from the past year - and it was nice that innovative games such as Flower on the PS3 got acknowledgment.

But I can't help but feel that some of the praise was misplaced. Here are a few of my suggestions for what should have emerged victorious on the night...

My biggest gripe is that Assassin's Creed II received little kudos. I've been playing it relentlessly over the past few weeks and am yet to tire of the free-running japery. What's not to love? It looks great, sounds authentic - and you get the chance to run along the rooftops before pouncing on some unsuspecting guard and stabbing him in a very cool Assassin-like way (this blog in no way condones this behaviour, by the way - but in Renaissance Italy, people were a little more tolerant to this kind of thing).

Although it was nominated in no fewer than six categories, it failed to make its presence felt in any of them. In my humble opinion, it could easily have claimed a few of the lovely golden mask accolades dished out at the ceremony, particularly for Artistic Achievement (gorgeous, detailed level design), Original Score (atmospheric and appropriate to each city visited) and Gameplay.

It was, in every way, a massive improvement on its predecessor but those poor fellas that locked themselves away in a room to program the thing didn't so much get a pat on the back by BAFTA. Shame on them.

Left 4 Dead 2 could and should have claimed the Action category too. Stuck in a burning building, ammo running low and hordes of salivating beasties running in your direction... now that's action! It was a worthy winner of the Multiplayer award, however, although an honorable mention must go to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2?

Its solo campaign was, in my eyes, a bit of a disappointment - redeemed only by its fantastic Special Ops missions. But for multiplayer, it's still top of its game. Not in the eyes of BAFTA, obviously. Perhaps it's all those glitches we so often hear about - 10th prestige, anyone?

While Empire:Total War is undoubtedly superb and a worthy winner of best in the Strategy genre, I feel a nod should also be given to Football Manager 2010 - the latest incarnation of the best-selling management sim. I've invested many hours in this so far this season and am confident when I say that it is the best and most involving so far.

Saying that, I think Football Manager could have also been in with a chance for best Sports game, along with Wii Sports Resort. FIFA 10 won it in the end. Following from Ralf Little's comments in my intro... Pro Evolution was again absent from the shortlist. How the mighty have fallen, eh?

FIFA also swiped the Use of Online award despite its laggy nature, sometimes irritating matchmaking and the problem with your opponents dropping out of games when things aren't going their way! My tip was Modern Warfare 2.

Finally, I'd like to raise a glass to the young programmers in the Ones To Watch award. None of the games would have looked out of place on any of the consoles that sit beneath your television. I send my congratulations to the Shrunk team... but personally, I think Quick as Thieves looked like a cracking title and I'd love to get my hands on it.

If any of you weren't lucky enough to go to the event or missed the live streaming, here's another opportunity to see the great and the good of the industry schmoozing...

Part one

Part two

Part three