Round 16 – Modern Warfare 3 vs Sea of Stars vs Baldur’s Gate 3
Our final match up of the first round sees the rather controversial, but undeniably popular Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 taking on smash-hit indie RPG Sea of Stars.
Modern Warfare 3’s campaign was a very brief affair, but the multiplayer and zombies modes are as popular as ever. Meanwhile Sea of Stars offers a throwback to the visual styling of RPGs of old like Final Fantasy 6. But don’t let the gorgeous retro-visuals fool you, this is a modern game with an excellent story and engaging combat system. Our money is definitely on… wait a minute? What’s that noise?
Bah gawd, that’s Baldur’s Gate 3’s entrance music. It can’t be! Oh my, it is! After its surprise launch on Xbox during the Game Awards, Baldur’s Gate 3 has met the cut-off date we set, so we’re turning this final battle of the first round into a triple-threat match.
Despite the late Xbox launch, Baldur’s Gate 3 is in every GOTY and it felt only fair to let it join our fight, but it has to beat two other contenders to make it out of the first round. Will Xbox gamers have sunk enough time into it to fall in love? We’ll see.
Some other bookkeeping — in an attempt to offer a fair tournament, our first stage saw AAA games make up the top bracket while smaller indie games occupied the second tier. With that now completed, this second stage of the tourney will see the winning games battle it out for a position in stage three.
This is just for a bit of fun to encourage conversation around 2023’s best Xbox games, and we’ll be hosting a more traditional TrueAchievements GOTY vote later this month.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
In the direct sequel to the record-breaking Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Captain Price and Task Force 141 face off against the ultimate threat. Alongside this, Modern Warfare III celebrates the 20th anniversary of Call of Duty with one of the greatest collections of Multiplayer maps ever assembled.
Sea of Stars
Sea of Stars aims to modernize the classic RPG in terms of turn-based combat, storytelling, exploration and interactions with the environment, while still offering a hearty slice of nostalgia and good old, simple fun.
Baldur’s Gate 3
Gather your party, and return to the Forgotten Realms in a tale of fellowship and betrayal, sacrifice and survival, and the lure of absolute power. Mysterious abilities are awakening inside you, drawn from a Mind Flayer parasite planted in your brain. Resist, and turn darkness against itself. Or embrace corruption, and become ultimate evil. From the creators of Divinity: Original Sin 2 comes a next-generation RPG, set in the world of Dungeons and Dragons.
GOTY 2023 – Results so far
