Los Angeles (Reuters) - As much as Hollywood critics tend to spurn movies involving exploding zombies, video game critics appear to love them.
A game centered on the adventures of a scientist who blasts an invading army of zombies has bested a field of rival offerings -- including a driving adventure and a game first developed as a U.S. Army training tool -- to win a coveted award from game commentators in results released on Tuesday.
"Half-Life 2," the sequel to one of the best-selling PC games of all time, won top honors in the "Game Critics Awards: Best of E3 2003," voted on by 35 judges from both mainstream and industry newspapers, magazines, and Web sites following the industry"s biggest trade show in mid-May.
The game, a graphically intense first-person shooter, has been hotly anticipated by gamers who still play 1998"s original and the various modifications, or "mods," that it spawned in the years since.
Developed by privately held Valve and set to be published by Vivendi Universal Games, a unit of Vivendi Universal
V.N EAUG.PA , "Half-Life 2" is slated to come out later this year. Game companies often preview new offerings at the show and then prominently promote any awards they win on the front of their game boxes.