An evolutionary leap not just in RTS, but for video games in general.

Civilization IV has a ridiculous amount of strategic elements packed into it.

This is a phenomenal achievement on virtually every level.

The game comes together so well and with so much polish and fun, that Wii owners should not let Super Mario Galaxy slip them by.

Otherwise, it’s the absolute pinnacle of the Smash Bros. series and a fun game to boot.

While playing offline or split-screen isn't as fun as playing with a two or three friends online -- Left 4 Dead thrives on camaraderie -- so that's probably your only consideration when purchasing the game, because everything else is too awesome to miss.

Succulent and juicy sweet gaming goodness – The Orange Box is waiting to be unpeeled.

Portal can be bought separately or as part of the Orange Box package – Half-Life 2, Episodes 1 and 2, and Team Fortress 2 – but either way you get one of the best gaming experiences of the year.

I can’t recommend Arkam Asylum enough.

This isn't just the best game released this year, or even the best Playstation 3 game yet, it's one of the best games released during this generation of consoles.

When the storms kick up on Hard Rain making it really easy to startle a wandering Witch, escaping the mall in Dead Center, running around a rollercoaster track in Dark Carnival, running a gauntlet of abandoned vehicles across the bridge in The Parish, reviving a dead Survivor in Swamp Fever as a Tank could be heard somewhere behind me and managing to down the Tank with the guy I just saved. Even just writing about it makes me want to jump in and play some more.

In the end, Super Mario Galaxy 2 has done an excellent job of bringing back what players loved about the first Galaxy game, while steadily building upon the experience.

NBA Jam is good for you. Find it, play it, love it.

Undead Nightmare, as a single-player upgrade, is an exceptional bargain for the amount of new gameplay that it provides. But including the highly entertaining Undead Overrun multiplayer mayhem makes this a cannot-miss DLC purchase for Red Dead Redemption gamers.

Adding to the story is some of the best voice acting to ever come to a videogame. The entire cast did an absolutely top-notch performance.

If you haven't already, go out and buy it now! It's an instantly classic redefinition of an already classic title from the Golden Age of gaming.

After "finishing" Morrowind, I'm left wordless to describe the experience...This game is about as linear as a bowl of spaghetti.

The depth of Morrowind's gameplay and overall design is matched by the audio-visual presentation. Hands down, Morrowind's soundtrack should be released on CD – once you've heard the opening chords you'll be humming it for hours after first booting it up.

Perfect: from the Latin "perfectus"; entirely without fault or defect (flawless); satisfying all requirements; corresponding to an ideal standard or abstract concept; lacking in no essential detail... Add Metroid Prime to that definition.

Pile on the "Oh, yes!" moments of solving some really great puzzles, and there's every reason to start thinking about Game of the Year accolades. It's that good.

L.A. Noire is on my personal Game of the Year list. The game appeals to me on so many levels and delivers on the same that overlooking the occasional graphical glitch and annoyance with some of the chases is easy. I'm really looking forward to what Team Bondi comes up with next to fill-out this already fantastic world.

Yes, the actual game has never looked or played better and the game stands tall more than dozen years after its release.

Batman: Arkham City is one of those games that rightly garnered much attention with the end of 2011 Game of the Year lists. Maybe it didn't get as much attention from PC gamers, but it should. If you want to have the definitive Arkham City experience, I'd say PC is the way to go.

Overall, this is the best experience I've had playing a Zelda game since Ocarina of Time and I'd have to say they are pretty equal in my opinion. Either way, you won't be disappointed getting this game, it's a masterpiece.

Skyrim is definitely one of the best games of 2011, but if the DLC holds out, it might just be one of the best games of 2012 as well.

Dishonored is put together so well and executes its ideas in such an expert way that it would be difficult to not recommend the game to the highest degree possible.

Walking Dead isn't just Game of the Year material, it's one of those touchstone games that will continue to be referenced years from now.

Batman: Arkham City is one of the best games ever created, no matter the platform. It’s engaging from beginning to end, the production values are first rate, and on Wii U there’s an extra level of depth to the experience. You can't go wrong with an outright purchase.

The Hawk series soars to its highest echelon in its Xbox incarnation by besting the other earlier releases on the PS2 and GameCube, especially in the graphics department and giving meaning to the old saying "saving the best for last."

A stunning, involving experience that, though not for everyone, will appeal to both the gamer looking for a long, structured action/adventure game and the one looking for loosely organized chaos.

A spectacular game.

I simply know that as a total package there is no game on the planet that can captivate me more than THPS3 and for many hours on end no less.

I already can‘t wait to see what the series has in store next.

The best survivor horror game ever made. It's also one of the best action games I've played in a very long time.

Taken together, with its hundreds of moves per fighter and addictive modes and polished graphics, Virtual Fighter 4: Evolution is a marvelous game.

It’s a fairly simple concept but its complexity and the way it draws you in is amazing. And the replay value is through the roof!

Only the graphical bugs, slow-down and other nit picks associated with the fact that the game is pushing the aging PS2 to its limits keeps this from being the first perfect entry into the series.

With around 10-15 hours of play, outstanding music, the best gameplay system ever conceived, and the two original Prince of Persia's included…you will certainly get your money's worth with the Prince.

Everything about it is done right. Control is easy to grasp, the audio, graphic, and level designs are top shelf, the storytelling is head and shoulders above most other games, and the Insanity Meter ads a sick twist – it gets the adrenaline pumping.

An absolute must have for any serious hockey fanatic.

Better physics, smarter opponents, and a huge leap in its visual presentation make GT3 a racer well worth playing.

The sound effects are even more disturbing than previous games with crunching bone sounds that will leave most people cringing the first few times.

It combines a balance of tense action, puzzle solving, story, and fun that has yet to be equaled on in the FPS arena.

The one factor of the game that can be deemed perfect, revolutionizing, unique, fun, addictive, and challenging, has to be the gameplay system. Bioware has created a different type of RPG, for the non-RPG types.

The stats engine of All-Star Baseball 2004 is top of the line.

The most impressive feature this time around isn't Pandora Tomorrow's lighting and shading effects or it's near perfect gameplay. It's the playability over Xbox Live

The combination of style, wit, creativity, spycraft, cool locations, great gadgets and the overall sense of fun make this one a must have for FPS fans and a recommended game for casual gamers.

As a lifelong fan of both text-based and table-top baseball games, I can honestly say that OOTP4 is the best baseball game I have ever played. The recent releases of its two biggest competitors, "Baseball Mogu"l and "PureSim Baseball," are both top-notch, but, in the end, OOTP4 out options them and certainly provides a smoother, more compelling re-creation of America’s pastime.

Whether you’re a fighting aficionado or a green rookie, there’s plenty to enjoy about this game.

With all of the play modes, excellent multi-player setup, great graphics, and absolutely amazing level design, this game stands high as a shining example of what a first person shooter should be.

Every convention of the FPS genre is done to perfection, tweaked, and then turned on its ear. Only the multi-player options of the game disappoint. Still, if the game featured no multiplayer options at all, it does so many things right that it would still be in the running for Game of the Year.

A perfect introduction to the game.

The new setting is far more appealing than the modern Liberty City of the original. And it seems more dynamic and interactive also, since players can explore inside buildings and rob businesses, which could not be done in the original.

A brilliant and highly polished RPG masterpiece.

Without peer in Flight Simulators. If you only have one flight sim, this is the one!

With the engrossing single-player missions, stellar multiplayer, and the incredibly detailed world editor, WC3 is my early choice for PC Game of the Year.

Great quests, solid story, very good voice acting, challenging battles, and engaging dialogue and characters make this an RPG that stands head and shoulders above the competition.

As much fun as the original game and its family of expansion packs were, Sims 2’s gameplay is an incredible leap forward that veteran Sims players and newcomers alike will thoroughly enjoy.

A highly polished gore-fest that is easily the best game that I have played on the Playstation 2 this last year.

After I beat the game I almost cried. Not from disappointment however, because the ending was great and it gave a great conclusion to the epic trilogy.

Graphically, Tekken 5 is one of the smoothest games I have ever played. Almost every movement looks believable and the stages, the lighting, the character models, it all looks amazing.

BioShock has more cool elements than any ten other FPSs combined. I would say there is more variation in two play-throughs of BioShock than there is between most FPSs and their sequels.

Swish it from way downtown or slam it home with a physics-defying, high-flying double or even triple dunk. Whatever way you score it, NBA Street Homecourt is the best streetball game around, bringing a whole new level of energy and exciting gameplay to the NBA Street franchise.

Each game and each expansion is always just better than their last mind-blowing accomplishment, and here, the camera work and scene integration is the new star.

Simply put, God of War: Chains of Olympus is an amazing title.

Rock Band is an incredible evolution of what Harmonix has been doing for years.

All in all, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was one of the best FPS games that I’ve played in the last 5 years and hope that the designers can be enticed into additional single player campaigns or a quick release of the next game if not.

Episode 2 is an awesome example of packing various kinds of gameplay into a compressed time span without the whole thing descending into a discombobulated mess.

The Sims 3 is pure simulation gaming fun, and the ultimate God game today.

In the end what I was left with after my first play-through was the longest lasting RPG experience I've had in years, and possibly the most emotionally involving computer RPG I've ever played.

Basically the games are just like you remember them – in many cases, just as simple and just as difficult as you remember them – and anyone wanting to round out their video game knowledge and experience with one big package, this one is perfect.

The only unequivocal improvement that can be found comes through the game's morality system. What makes up for the shortcomings in the individual aspects of the gameplay is the rich plot and the interactions between your alter ego and the members of your new crew.

The Wii may be more focused in hooking in a new generation of easy-going players, but for Nintendo fans from the early days, this game was made for you.

Certainly not without a few imperfections, Red Dead Redemption is almost unquestionably the best Western-themed game ever, with a great Old West story, an amazingly detailed and expansive landscape that most Rockstar sandbox games are famous for and overall engrossing gameplay that will keep gamers riding off into the sunset for dozens of hours.

As a fan of the Western, Red Dead Redemption hits its target squarely. Perfection may be impossible, but this game gets closer than most, and it sets a new standard for the Western game genre.

FT is also a perfect example of how music can make half the experience. The Gone Jackals, a biker band, provided much of the music and it’s situated so perfectly that it’s almost as if it was written especially for FT. Add to that a very good cast of voice actors, some very funny lines, and you’ve got a nearly flawless game.

Did I thoroughly enjoy Halo: Reach? Yes, very much so. Will I ever watch a cut scene from this game ever again? No. Will this game continue to remain in high play rotation on my Xbox? Very yes.

Between the story, the beautiful graphics, music score, and the insanely enthralling card game mini-game, Final Fantasy VIII does the series proud.

A complete package.

Like everything and nothing you've ever played.

It's chock-a-block full of action, strategy, humor, mini-games, it'll take many hours to finish, and Luigi finally gets some props.

Definitely for the over 18 crowd, GTAIII delivers a great gaming experience, and at a 2-for-1 price... well, it's a stupendous dollars-to-gaming ratio.

It has tons of replayability and lots of fun, even if it might take a while to grasp the control and get used to the speed issue.

Splinter Cell oozes cool and sophistication from it’s lead character through it’s many and varied levels, and very slick control scheme.

The core gameplay is still here, just as good as ever, and it still has that absurdly addicting quality that makes it impossible to leave it alone. The end result is unquestionably one of the best games you'll find on the Xbox.

Mixes in arcade style gameplay with never before seen realism, topped off with the best graphics and detail in any sport game.

The visual and storytelling satisfaction in gaming today across any platform doesn't get much better than OSW.

Online play, new features, and completely perfect gameplay once again show everybody why NCAA Football 07 is always considered one of the best sports video games year in and year out.

Not only is this the greatest THPS yet, but as always is one of the year’s best games. Period.

It's an example of a game that doesn't skimp on deep gameplay in favor of style – instead, it has both and it's already a GameCube classic.

Double-Dash doesn't stray far from what gamers have come to love about the series -- if it aint' broke, don't fix it -- but the added refinements make it a must-play title, particularly with friends.

From the tip of the shiny helmets to the grass-wedged cleats, NCAA Football 2003 is a marvel to behold.

It's not dramatically different from the original but, man, is it fun. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes is a title every GameCube owning shooter fan should have.

If you love shoot'em ups, or even just love great games, go out and buy Ikaruga now.

It took nearly a decade, as well as the death-knell of the company that spawned it, but at last Mortal Kombat can competently stand toe-to-toe with the other fighting greats due to its gameplay, rather than its gore.

For a series known for addictive nail-biting shootouts as well as breathtaking visuals, this third and possibly final act to the Xbox 360's first mega blockbuster is a fitting end to one of the most definitive multiplayer experiences in our current console generation.

Kirby's Return to Dream Land features a little bit of everything Nintendo does right on the Wii all in one pleasurable package: the return of a classic Nintendo character, classic old-school platforming gameplay and excellent family-focused multiplayer.

Others have come close before (and Batman Arkham City is as close as it gets), but as one of the two or three best games of 2011, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception defines what an interactive movie gaming adventure truly is and solidifies its place as the best PS3 franchise ever produced.