Gaming Globes 2001 : The Winners Are...

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(Originally posted by Darien)

The winners of the second annual Gaming Globe Awards have been announced by Eurogamer. You had your chance to vote for your favorites, now see the full results here.

For the last few weeks EuroGamer has been running its second annual Gaming Globe Awards, recognising excellence across the entire spectrum of game design, from storylines and soundtracks to visual effects and artwork. Having invited our readers to nominate their own favourite games, developers and characters for the fifteen categories that make up the Gaming Globes, our team of experts here at EuroGamer put together a final short list of five nominees for each category.

Public voting on which of those five nominees would win each award ended last week, and now we are happy to announce the final results of the 2001 Gaming Globe Awards!

Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn - Best Game

Once again the big winner in the Gaming Globe awards is a role-playing game from Interplay's Black Isle Studios division. Last year it was their own Planescape Torment which picked up several awards, while this year Bioware's Baldur's Gate II has collected the all-important Best Game trophy. The Baldur's Gate series and its various spin-offs have helped to pump new life into the twisted corpse of the role-playing genre, and with more Baldur's Gate on the way (this time on console), as well as Bioware's innovative online game Neverwinter Nights, it looks like the companies might just be on a roll...

Minsc - Male Supporting Character

Having proved to be one of the most popular characters in the original Baldur's Gate, it was perhaps inevitable that the mad ranger Minsc would return for the sequel with his friend Boo, a miniature giant space hamster. Unfortunately we were unable to track down Minsc to present him with the award in person and get a comment from him, but we have a feeling that his acceptance speech would have gone something along the lines of "less talk, more fight" anyway...

Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn - Art Direction

Baldur's Gate II picks up its second award of the night for its beautiful backdrops, giving a colourful fantasy feel to the world with settings ranging from the traditional caves and dungeons to vast cities, forests and temples, featuring towering pillars, fanciful houses and enormous statues. Building on the work done in the original game and taking advantage of the increased graphics resolution supported by the updated engine powering the sequel, Baldur's Gate II featured some of the most gorgeous scenery seen in an isometric role-playing game to date.

Icewind Dale - Original Music

Described by our reviewer as "a truly epic musical score that greatly enhances the atmosphere of the game", Icewind Dale's soundtrack was clearly a hit with our readers as well, romping home with the Best Original Music gong and picking up yet another Gaming Globe award for Interplay's Black Isle Studios role-playing division, who swept the board with Planescape Torment last year.

Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn - Adapted Storyline

Based in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting which is so familiar to role-players around the world, Baldur's Gate II picked up where the first game left off, with your character having just discovered that he / she is in fact the child of Bhaal, the God of Murder. Now in the southern kingdom of Amn, you find yourself first imprisoned by a mad mage and then hunted by an evil mastermind, with a plethora of sub-plots and side-quests to keep you busy and add some colour to proceedings. Another epic masterpiece from Bioware and friends then.