Biggest Dissapointment RPG
Second Runner Up: Vampire - Bloodlines
Ah, the annual conundrum when a game is similarly represented in the Best, Biggest Surprise and Most Disappointing categories. In the case of Vampire: Bloodlines, however, the reason is abundantly clear: for all of those players drawn in by the brilliant writing and immersive atmosphere, others were mired in bugs, poor performance that reduced some areas to slide-shows, linear structure and depressing combat sequences at the end. For those whom these issues became overwhelming, it’s likely some relatively minor issues started to grow in proportion, such as some poor textures, repeated models and empty locations – apart from that ubiquitous dentist chair, of course.​

Biggest Surprise RPG[/b]
The winner: Vampire - Bloodlines
It's hard to know exactly why our readers thought Vampire: Bloodlines was the biggest surprise of the year. Perhaps it was because the game was just so good or perhaps because doubts lingered over Troika's ability to deliver a compelling first-person action-RPG with a quality story – or even that a first-person action-RPG would offer the depth of roleplaying players were looking for. No doubt the Vampire license itself conjured images of tortured Goth teenagers for many and the superbly written mature themes may have caught players by surprise.​