Uncharted 2 worthy of the WGA award?

I feel certain most of you have been eagerly anticipating the announcement of the WGA (Writer’s Guild of America) VWA (Videogame Writing Award) winner.  Okay, maybe I’m the only one to get excited over this but still, you’re going to read about it, and like it (hopefully). Those considered for the award were Assassin’s Creed II, Modern Warfare 2, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Wet, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I nearly queefed when I saw that Modern Warfare 2 was up for such an award (Yea, I was that shocked, and yes I am aware that is a girlie symptom but it sufficiently conveys just how flabbergasted I was). Before all you MW2 fans decide to blast me for that comment, you should remember that the VWA is supposed to be strictly based on the story and script of the games, and anyone who has played the campaign cannot deny its many shortcomings. IMO, whoever nominated MW2 for such an award must have been smoking some primo ganja.

As you can infer from the title, Uncharted 2 won the award, but should it have? From a literary standpoint, the only real contenders should have been Assassin’s Creed 2 and Uncharted 2.  Even between those two, the literary gap is huge, with AC2 far and away being the story more deeply rooted in themes and motifs regarding cultural, historical, religious, political and even geographical implications.  AC2 also had far superior character growth and development, while Nathan Drake was mostly a static character. One would think all of these factors would play into such an award, especially since story and script are supposed to be the main criteria.  And yet the seemingly more cinematic, or “entertaining” story of the two walked away with the prize.  The WGA’s standards for the VWA must not be so high as to take into consideration themes, motifs and a greater cultural awareness and relevance, but rather award the most gratifying story. But then again, when a game like MW2 is in the running for such an award, I suppose anything is possible.

So how bout it MMOMFGers, who was your favorite to win the VWA? Did you have a game in mind that wasn’t nominated? We would love to hear from you.

Just FYI, I am a huge fan of the Uncharted series and I don’t mean to take anything away from their award, I just think from a literary standpoint AC2 had the much stronger story. Congratulations to Amy Hennig, author of Uncharted 2, though.

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