BAFTA 2014 Nominees Include Last Of Us, GTA 5

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has announced nominations for the 2014 British Academy Games Awards, a list including some of the most critically praised games from last year. Surprising no one, The Last of Us leads the pack with the most nominations to its name, garnering 10 total.

Hot on the heels of last week's D.I.C.E. Awards, where The Last of Us brought home as many awards as it has BAFTA nominations, the folks across the pond are primed to dish out their own set of accolades across a wide variety of categories. According to the official announcement, The Last of Us's 10 nominations is followed by crime-a-thon Grand Theft Auto V with nine nods, and the imaginative and whimsical Vita game, Tearaway, with eight nominations. Games like Papers, Please, Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, BioShock Infinit, Super Mario 3D World and The Stanley Parable each received four nominations.

In total, 43 games received nominations across 17 categories, all releasing between Jan. 1 and Dec. 31 of 2013 in the UK. In case you're curious about what, exactly, some of those games got nominated for, here's a bit of a rundown for some of the leaders.

As for The Last of Us, its nominations include Action/Adventure Game, Artistic Achievement, Audio Achievement, Best Game, Game Design, Multiplayer, Music, Story and a nomination for each of the lead performers. This is the second time The Last of Us has been nominated for its multiplayer offerings, something that received a lot of raised eyebrows when D.I.C.E. did it just a few days back. To those people I say, maybe go try the mode out? It's actually a rather unique, tensely paced tug-of-war that rewards careful planning, working as a team and falling back on the game's core gameplay principals to survive. No run and gun affair, it's completely unlike anything else on the market.

Moving right along, GTA V also received a boatload of nominations, including those for Action/Adventure, Audio Achievement, Best Game, British Game, Game Design, Game Innovation, Multiplayer, Performer and Story. Okay, now you can raise your eyebrows a bit for the multiplayer nod because, let's face it, the mode is kind of poop in GTA.

As for the lighthearted and wonderful Tearaway, the portable gem received nominations for Artistic Achievement (which it should probably win), Best Game, British Game, Family Game Design, Game Innovation, Mobile/Handheld, and Music.

That is, of course, just a fraction of the nominations, and the majority of the remaining categories can be found within the official announcement. There are a lot of them, including games like Ni No Kuni, Gone Home, Forza Motorsport 5, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons and even Beyond: Two Souls.

Final word will be delivered on March 12 in London, at an event hosted by comedian and self-proclaimed gamer Dara O Brian. The show will also be streamed live via Twitch, for those of you who want to tune in.