Essentials
Top Picks
Best Writing - Drama: Overclocked: A History of Violence
With a title like Overclocked: A History of Violence, there's little question that you're in for a dramatic experience. The main character, David McNamara, is a military psychiatrist called to New York City to investigate the circumstances that led five teenagers to carry out uncharacteristic acts of violence in the city streets. As the story unfolds, we learn that McNamara is also tortured in his personal life, with his wife on the verge of leaving him, his best friend in on an unspeakable betrayal, and his own anger management issues threatening to bubble to the surface at any moment.
Adding to the dramatic impact is the backwards chronology with which the story of the troubled teens is revealed. David specializes in repressed memories, and he must gradually pull out the truth, one patient at a time, by asking the right questions. The stories that emerge, told from end to beginning and ultimately weaving together to expose the link between them, showcase a complex structure and storytelling style that set Overclocked apart from less ambitious games. In the end, the explanation for the violent acts is fairly straightforward; it's the process of discovering why the patients acted as they did, all the while witnessing the parallels in David's faltering personal life, that makes this drama intriguing.
At its heart, Overclocked is a story about ordinary people and the extraordinary circumstances that can drive them over the edge. At times, the writing does border on melodrama, but it always stays true to the serious story being told and delivers exactly what the title advertises: a fascinating look into the minds and hearts of people who have been pushed far beyond their limits, to perform violence they never would have imagined themselves capable of. It makes you anxious, it makes you scared, and it makes you think -- just like a good drama should.
Runners-Up: Dracula 3: The Path of the Dragon, The Immortals of Terra: A Perry Rhodan Adventure
Readers’ Choice: Overclocked: A History of Violence
The ambitious narrative structure of Overclocked could have easily come unwound without suitable supporting dialogue, but readers agree that the smart writing behind this "journey into character" was up to the challenge of its troubling, even controversial themes of violence and repressed memories. The many who voted for The Lost Crown and A Vampyre Story just think we're all crazy.
Next up: Best Gameplay... the envelope, please.
Yay!!! At least “The Lost Crown” got honorble mentions.
It HAS to win “Best Sound”, though!!! 
Tragic.
That last one of day one will not do anything to stem the tide of mind-numbing inanity taking over as a “concept” appreciated by adventure gamers.
It’s not true, developers! Please, disregard! Heed not the death knell!
Jonathan Boakes! Matthew Clark! Arberth! Save Us!
Heh… apparently I’m a “traditionalist” because I share your sentiment.
I take back everything I said about being able to predict the Award results. It now seems to me (and of course I may be way off) that the people who voted are not the same crowd populating the forums… for instance, Overclocked was severely criticised on the adventure forum.
Actually, Overclocked is the only game I’m happy about that it won.
Funny. My votes and all the awards are a perfect match so far. The jury has a good taste.
Fienepien. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that people who voted are not the same crowd populating the forums. By that crowd you probably meant the active members of the forums. But then again there are a lot of “lurkers” like me, who read the forum very often but participate rarely. And yet I feel that I’m part of the AG community and part of the forum population. One more thing.
Overclocked was criticized but that’s no surprise. People give negative feedback much more often than positive one. IMO a game has to be of a superb quality before you start to see a lot of positive feedback.
Ascovel, I’m also happy Overclocked got an Award, I thought it was a great game. Correct me if I’m wrong, I still feel that the game was received much better in Germany.
Askobar, yes, I meant the active members. Btw, I do remember your nickname from the forums.
Of course silent lurkers are also part of the AG community, so did we just hear them vote for the Awards in large numbers or did the active forum members change their minds?
Bear in mind this wasn’t simply a forum poll. Whether silent or active, forum members represent only a small part of AG’s overall reader-base, so these poll results include plenty of other people out there we don’t generally hear from. Not everyone who casts a ballot attends the rallies.
Critised by some, praised by others. Yey Overclocked!
Way to go! 
*screams O-V-E-R-C-L-O-C-K-E-D with the funny stuff cheerleaders have in their hands*
I was surprised “The Lost Crown” didn’t win the Best Sound design, which Jonathan Boakes’ is known for. But Iw as so ecstatic that “The Lost Crown” won the best setting!! I thought it had it and it did!!!
The most obvious question presents itself: how many PC adventure gamers own DS-es?
I´ve got to say I´m quite satisfied with the results. Not all the games I voted for got to the list, some aren´t even runner-ups, but all in all, I believe the results are fair, from the overall point of view.
Hey, AG staff and readers,
now that the the final results are in, I’d like to take the opportunity and say ‘Thank You’ to the staffers and readers who voted for (and awarded) Overclocked. The team here at the HoT WHQ is happy that the game was amongst the nominees in four categories, and recieved recognition.
Personally, I’d like to thank you all for the ‘Best Writing - Drama’ Award. It’s a meaningful thing to a writer to see work recognised and appreciated (by both staff and readers). I’m pleased that some of what I’ve tried to put into this difficult project has found its way to you, our audience.
Congratulations to all winners!
MG - I thank you and whole production team for the opportunity to play a game I thoroughly enjoyed, despite some minor drawbacks. For me, Overclocked was one of the most enjoyable experiences (in AGs) in 2008.
Ok - you’ve done it Adventure Gamers! Aside from waiting for Momento Mori and Sill Life 2, I’m going to buy Overclocked tonight (Oh god, thank you, a download from your site, no blasted DVD to find and install) and Time Hollow. I can play Time Hollow on the plane when I go visit my parents. I can play Overclocked at my parents.
I like the whole award thing - clever and informative. Nicely done. It gives me ideas.
Great feature!
I missed though:
1) The best puzzle
2) The coolest easter egg
Enjoy both Time Hollow and Overclocked mszv, they are truly little adventure gems
Best puzzle would be awesome!!! And best easter egg, except I would be thinking a game from the past.
Best puzzle was in the original set of awards, but the nominators didn’t come to a consensus on those to put up for a vote after all the nominations were tallied, so it got scrapped. We thought of it, though!
Some fantastic games. Wonderful write-ups, too. Games I hadn’t heard of before sounded utterly brilliant. It gives a guy some small hope that things aren’t as bad as they’ve seemed lately.
Thanks to the AG Staff for all of the time and work that went into this presentation. And I like the clever use of the name ‘Aggie’ for the award. Fantastic picture, too.
And today we see a bunch of ungrateful gamers rejoicing the bankruptcy of Telltale.