Avian Gamers Network

Best Game of the Year Award - GameSpot
"The thing about World of Warcraft is it offers so much of what we fundamentally love about games, all in a single experience. Just exploring the world of Azeroth can be fun and exciting. The game is conducive to cooperative gameplay, competitive player vs. player action, or solo play. It lets you have a great time regardless of whether you play for one hour or 10 hours at once..."



Best PC Game of the Year - GameSpot
"World of Warcraft brings together virtually all our favorite aspects of PC gaming: For those of us who love the spirit of competition, there's the player vs. player combat to look forward to. For those of us who enjoy strategy, there are complex group dynamics, deep character-advancement systems, and fast-paced combat. For those of us yearning for another great computer role-playing game, there are tons and tons of quests, and plenty of interesting backstory. It's not often that a game comes around that deserves an unqualified recommendation, but we feel this is one of them..."




Best Massively Multiplayer Online Game - GameSpot
"From the moment you first set foot in the diverse lands of Azeroth, World of Warcraft captivates with its vast, seamless, and visually cohesive world. Players are placed in charge of their own destinies virtually immediately--there's no tutorial introduction to the game, whose elegantly designed interface is easy to decipher and simple to use. And, while other games in the genre punish players for testing their limits and running risks, World of Warcraft encourages this kind of activity by not forcing players to lose experience when they fail. That sort of can-do design ethic pervades all aspects of the game, allowing characters to make significant progress by playing solo or in groups, giving characters an experience bonus for time they haven't spent online with the game, and so on. It's that welcoming approach that makes this game truly special."




Editor's Choice Award - GameSpot
"Though massively multiplayer online role-playing games have been around for years, it has taken this long for the genre's breakthrough hit to finally emerge. Here is the online role-playing game you should play, no matter who you are. This is because World of Warcraft brings out all the best aspects of this style of gaming, if not many of the best aspects of gaming in general. It also features many of the specific characteristics that have made Blizzard Entertainment's previous games so entertaining, memorable, long-lasting, and successful. Of course, the company's past track record did not guarantee that World of Warcraft could have turned out this well. Such high quality simply cannot be expected, nor should it be missed."




PC Game of the Year - (Second Place) - GameSpy
"...it usually takes MMOs years to be as well-balanced and as fun as World of Warcraft was on day one. World of Warcraft is the MMO done right, and with this game, the genre finally has its first true breakout hit -- the MMO for the rest of us."




Best Role-Playing (RPG or MMORPG) - GameSpy
"In that Blizzard-esque fashion, World of Warcraft takes everything we love about these sorts of role-playing games, distills it down to the elements that makes them fun, and removes anything that gets in the way. What emerges is a fast, fun, and streamlined massively multiplayer online RPG that actually feels like a game. The worlds are beautiful and resplendent (while not being overly taxing of your hardware), and the whole deal is rendered with a level of character very rare in these sorts of games..."




Top 10 Games of the Year - (Fifth Place) - GameSpy
"What makes World of Warcraft so special is the insane level of polish every feature of the game has. Everything that's fun about an MMO -- questing, grouping, killing monsters, crafting, exploring, searching for new equipment -- has all been streamlined to the point where there's always something fun to do with very little downtime. In other words, there's virtually no "grinding." The game doesn't punish you for having a real life. I can log in for a half-hour and actually get something accomplished."




PC RPG / MMORPG Gamers' Choice Awards - GameSpy
"World of Warcraft. Flat out. It brings a fun, action-driven MMO onto the scene. Gorgeous lands and characters are perfect. Quest system is superb, and the balance between classes is great. My pick for this year."


Special Achievement in Art Direction - GameSpy
"World of Warcraft's brilliance is in eschewing realism and building a whole world in a storybook/cartoonish style, so playing World of Warcraft is like strolling through a fairy-tale picture book with eye candy around every corner. The animations are smooth and weighty. Subtle lighting effects set the tone and mood for each area. And the little details -- like seeing your breath in the snow-covered peaks -- make this unreal place feel real."




Editor's Choice Award - GameSpy
"If you're a fan of MMOs, you'll want to play this game. If you're not a fan of MMOs, but are a fan of great games, you will want to play this game. Hell, if you're a gamer who's ever wanted to pull another person into the hobby, you'll want to play this game and share it with a non-gamer friend. Blizzard has once again lived up to and surpassed its reputation as one of the finest game developers on the planet. World of Warcraft is a stunning achievement destined to be become a classic. "




Best Persistent World Game - IGN
"Blizzard is one of those developers whose talent and success snowballed to the point where they could test and re-test a game to blinding polish, and WoW took this course for over a year before it retail shelves. The effort shows in every aspect of the game, and their fun-oriented MMO debut puts to shame many other experienced designers in the genre..."




Editor's Choice Award - IGN
"If you're new to massively multiplayer online games, or PC gaming, and want to see what the fuss is about, WoW is an excellent place to start. If you're a hardcore grognard who takes masochistic pleasure in grinding away on the same monsters in the same camp for hours at a time, you'll be better served elsewhere. If you're in between, I think World of Warcraft is the MMO we've all been waiting for..."




Best PC RPG - FileFront
"Warcraft fans got a treat when picking up this game. Taking a well loved series in an entirely new direction can be risky, but Blizzard definitely pulled it off with this one..."


Best Massively Multiplayer Game - Voodoo Extreme
"World of WarCraft merges its rich real-time-strategy tradition with the demands of a massively-multiplayer world perfectly. Addictive gameplay, lovely bump mapped graphics, wonderful sound and music, plus fast paced, no downtime oriented gameplay made World of WarCraft our champion."


Best Audio - Voodoo Extreme
"Score another for Blizzard, as World of WarCraft takes home the best audio award as well as massively multiplayer game. All the sound you loved in the WarCraft games are back, plus the soundtracks and ambient background tunes are music to my ears. Zug Zug!"


Overall Top 5 PC Games of the Year - (Second Place) - Voodoo Extreme
"Considering we're a mostly action oriented site, World of WarCraft at number 2 is a shocker. It just goes to show how good the game is by drawing in our usually crusty FPS biased audience. Blizzard titles do have a unique universal appeal to our readers, so we shouldn't really be too surprised; should we?"


Game of the Year - ActionTrip
"World of Warcraft wins the game of the year award on ActionTrip because Blizzard has succeeded in creating the most seamless and immersive fantasy world that we've visited this year..."


MMORPG of the Year - ActionTrip
"Just a question: is it normal to spend upwards of five freaking days at a time in a videogame? I mean, that's not abnormal, is it?"




Editor's Choice Award - ActionTrip
"...there are a choice few studios who set the standard by consistently producing not just good games, but great games. Blizzard Studios is one such developer."


Best Role Playing Game - Punch Jump Games
"Blizzard's World of Warcraft is addictive as crack and has players clamoring to adventure into unknown lands and gain experience 'till the cows come home. At 14 bucks a month, it should deliver, and does."


Best Time Sucker Game - Punch Jump Games
"Countless hours on 80 servers can't be wrong for a band of brothers who love to adventure in a virtual land on their PC. World of Warcraft is Blizzard's stunning achievement..."