Shooter of the Year nominations revealed

Okay, this may seem completely arrogant of me, but I feel I must say this... as arrogant as I may sound in making this statement, keep in mind that I've played most of these games. Really, as far as the term "shooter" is concerned, there is absolutely no contest... Max Payne 3 is the best. Max Payne 3 is the best (3rd-person) shooter of this generation, alongside Vanquish, and all the other shooters on show here simply pale in comparison to its pure shooty glory. Do you see that tagline at the top of the page, underneath "Shooter of the Year Nominees?" It says, "An Education in the Art of Digital Face Perforation." Well, Max Payne 3 is the absolute, the uppermost echelon, the zenith of Digital Face Perforation. It does the Art of Digital Face Perforation so boldly, so majestically, so unabashedly awesome and with such panache and finesse that any other nominee in this contest has simply to bow its head before its greatness, in acknowledgement of its inferiority in the esteemed field of facial tissue removal via high-speed ballistic projectiles. In this field, I'd say Max Payne 3 may very well be THE winner in this console generation, since Vanquish never really featured faces to shoot so much as lots of impractically humanoid robots that technically can't be said to have faces, just glowy parts on what would be analogous to a human head. But if you want to argue, I concede... you're really not in much of a position to argue with me, since, technically, objectively, etc. Max Payne 3 does SHOOTING STUFF (stuff=faces) better than any of these. If you've played Max Payne 3 you know what I mean, and if you haven't played Max Payne 3 what are you doing? Everyone else is starting to feel awkward feeling so sorry for you. So let's say the other contenders weren't competing against this level of shooting game excellency. Then we'd have a debate. Of which I think Borderlands 2 or Halo 4 would be the winner. I haven't played enough of Far Cry 3 to say much about it. I missed Spec Ops (heard it wasn't really doing anything interesting in the shooting department anyway, but kudos for the thought-provoking story elements and stuff like that), and Planetside 2, while a technical marvel of networking and wide-scale gameplay... I don't think it could win such a contest on its unique MMOFPS distinction alone. And I absolutely cannot speak for Blops 2. Then again, it's CoD. Then again again, it actually could be especially awesome with its newfangled doodads and Zombie modes and Pick 10 system and stuff, I don't know. Like, heck, you guys, like... maybe, Blops 2 is like, the best game... like ever. Maybe all I have to do is go to the store this week to get it and play it to be enlightened by its gaming greatness and then realize, "Like OMG, you guys, this is seriously like... the best game ever." Maybe it's like the best game, you guys. Like really ever. Or unicorns exist and pigs took to the sky earlier today and as I type this someone is leaking Half-Life 3 onto the internet. You never know, you guys.

So I read all that. And Im convinced your a stealth troll.

"Stealth troll?" Like a sneaky troll? Like, the kind of troll that... you cross over its bridge, and then... it falls down from above to assassinate you? Or maybe this kind of troll is hiding in the bushes next to the bridge with a machete or a rifle, and as soon as you step on his bridge you'll find something in your skull that shouldn't be there. How sneaky is this "stealth troll" in question, exactly? Does it have 1337 stealth camo? Are we talking Solid Snake camo or Captain Price camo?

You write a huge post, but to me the entire first part about shooting faces off reeks of sarcasm. Its very well written. It just comes off like your tolling but being stealthy about it. Not as obvious.

LOL at Spec Ops...the gameplay and shooting mechanics in that game WERE COMPLETE GARBAGE...like Kane and Lynch garbage. Was taking the video seriously up to that point.

Spec ops ain't on the list for its gameplay, the story was the most praised part about it. A good story always trumps gameplay.

Not always

What no mass effect 3? Since there's no mass effect 3 and I'm yet to play borderlands 2, farcry 3 and spec ops I'll go with max payne 3. I loved the gritty story, bullet time and it was home to the funniest gaming moment of the year for me, when max needs to be stealthy he sticks a plastic drink bottle on the end of his gun and instant silencer.

Out of the 7, I've played COD, Halo, Borderlands, and Far Cry. I've had Far Cry for a day and so far, it's earned it's place as, not only, my #1 shooter of the year, but also my #1 title of the year. I have to say Dishonored is a close second. Surprisingly enough, The Walking Dead game managed to break into my top 5. They all brought a lot of great things to the table and improved upon their respective genres. Also, it's always great to see a new IP gain enough success to earn itself a franchise. All in all, I think it's been a great year for gaming. There's been a lot of unexpected innovation to multiple genres and the industry as a whole. As of now, it's looking like 2013 is only going to continue this trend. Here's hoping for another great year of gaming.

If I see COD as the winner, I will scream. There are a lot more deserving titles. Far Cry and Spec Ops are the shooters with the best story thus far.

Kinda disappointed to not see CS:GO on the list. I thought it genuinely improved over the predecessor in a number of ways and was a great multi-player experience, especially for $15. I guess not many others did, though.

Me too, I love the hell out of that game.

I have yet to try Far Cry 3 (just received it in the mail), so I can't comment yet, but here's betting it'll be very close to the top when all is said and done. Other than that, the obvious winner is Borderlands 2.

Borderlands 2 for me as well, but like everyone else i haven't got around to Farcry 3 so we'll see, also on a side-note, can i get a name to the song in the background.

This year was filled with some great shooters. As impressed as i was with Black Ops 2, i have to go with Borderlands 2, the original was just fantastic and this game was a kick in the nuts with improvement, The different terrain, the more variety of characters and the personality they had, all those side missions, each characters unique abilites that far surpass the originals, the fact that they original 4 characters are here and have meaning, the amount of jokes, i just love this game in so many levels and thats allot because i personally aint a shooter a person but Borderlands and its sequel's charm was just awesome enough to pull me in and make me enjoy it. Handsome jack's role as a villain was just awesome. With that said, i still got Far Cry 3 to get tommorow and with what i heard so far about it, its definitly gonna go be great and head to head with Borderlands 2 for my best shooter.

Pretty much my thoughts exactly. Borderlands 2 my current pick, but I still have to to get to Far Cry 3...right now.

All great nominees although i can't speak for Planetside... haven't tried that one. Spec-Ops had the best story and i'd like to see it get some awards this year but Far Cry 3 is probably my choice for "best" overall.