The new venues are astoundingly rendered, and the crowds are more than cardboard cut outs that react uniformly. To speak plainly, I have never seen a sports game look so realistic in my life.

Without a doubt the best boxing game ever made for any platform. A few touches here and there will no doubt bring perfection. As it is, it’s a knockout!

I am no longer a fan but now a full-fledged junkie! I would certainly consider Burnout 3 to be the "GoldenEye" of racing games!

Oblivion not only raises the bar in the visual and audio modules but also in the gameplay and presentation department, making it easily one of the most recommendable titles to anyone who has ever enjoyed the thought of truly doing whatever they want in a video game, in a world where actions actually mean something.

I'm in love with Metal: Hellsinger. First and foremost, the mechanics feel precise, which is critical in a shooter and doubly so in a rhythm game. The music is its heart, and it is good to the point that the OST would be worth picking up on its own. The part that makes Metal: Hellsinger special is in how well it weaves the music, the themes, the action, and the unrelenting rhythm together. It's a non-stop barrage of, "you get to perform awesome things done to the beat of a fantastic metal soundtrack." I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the game until the credits rolled, and it left me immediately wanting more.

FFXII has my vote for Game of the Year for 2006, and I'd even go as far as to call it my personal Game of the Generation.

Batman: Arkham City is one of the best games I've ever played. It isn't perfect, but it's only kept away from perfection by a weak plot and a few nagging gameplay flaws.

Easily one of the best video games I've played in the recent past, and I've played quite a few of them. Whether or not you're a fan of consoled-based role-playing games, you owe it to yourself to try this one; it might just change your opinion of them.

No other Star Wars game, including "Star Wars Galaxies," has done a better job of completely immersing you in the Star Wars universe. It's impossible to finish the game without somehow feeling like your actions have made a difference.

I'm not going to say that Half-Life: Alyx is the reason to get a VR headset, as that would be a disservice to the entertaining gameplay experiences that have been done well within VR. Rather, I will say that Half-Life: Alyx is perhaps the first VR game that gets close to making the player feel like they are a tangible part of the world. It represents some of the absolute best that VR technology can offer right now, and I would point to this particular game for anyone who wants to decide for themselves if VR is "worth it." This title couldn't have been done any other way; Alyx is a masterful addition to anyone's VR game library.

It doesn't reinvent the wheel, but the amount of care and polish that went into this title is readily apparent.

What RE4 does is put the "survival" feel back into the survival horror genre. It's nice to see the originator back on the bloody cutting edge.

Without a doubt, it's the best platformer developed in the past few years, and quite possibly the best 3D platformer yet produced. It's got art, music, a storyline, incredible levels, a real sense of direction and a great sense of humor.

Real-time strategy gamers have become accustomed to things being done a certain way, and while World in Conflict makes massive and sweeping changes to the tried-and-true formula of RTS titles, it does so in such a way that makes other genre offerings pale in comparison.

Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth knocks it out of the park. It takes the already excellent first game and expands it to a bigger and more populated world. The combat has been improved, the dungeon design is better, the story hits a lot more than it misses, and from start to finish, it was pretty much everything I could've wanted. Only a few nagging problems keep it from perfection, and it's a love letter to everything that makes Final Fantasy VII great.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is almost the raw ideal of video games. It's a giant exciting open world, and you're given a huge amount of tools and puzzles to use in that world. It takes everything that was great about Breath of the Wild and improves upon it. It even takes some of the previous negatives (like weapon durability) and turns them into new strengths. The only weak part in the game is that the story isn't any great shakes, but even that's more of a minor annoyance than a serious complaint. Tears of the Kingdom is destined to be a modern classic, and it's an absolute joy to play. Unless you disliked the Breath of the Wild formula, Tears of the Kingdom is a must-play for any Switch owner.

One of the best packages of the past several years, with no element even average; everything is as close to perfect as can be expected.

Given the wonderful environment design, new RPG elements, and extremely well done "gangsta" theme, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas comes as close to perfect as anything in the past few years.

Not just the best superhero game to date, but it defines what a fantastic superhero game should be.

It is a brilliantly constructed game that sets up a world and then sets the player loose, allowing you to explore as you see fit. From the art direction to the genre-bending gameplay, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a landmark in game design that is sure to be referenced in the years to come. Buy it without hesitation.

Let's be perfectly frank here; games this good come out very rarely, and when they do it feels like a gift. Guitar Hero is the gift of a great game and the gift of music. It is the gift of rocking your walls clean off your house.

The best of the Test Drive series and a personal favorite. The game is realistic in execution. The music rocks. The gameplay is a blast.

This is plain, simple fun for virtually anyone who wants to take a crack at it. Bust it out at your next shindig, and you will not be disappointed once things get going.

Half-Life 2 doesn't have any radically new technology under its hood, but every bit of it is as polished as the floor of a palace...A lock for Game of the Year but also as the yardstick against which future first-person shooters will be compared for years to come.

Hades is Supergiant's best game yet, and that is high praise. While it lacks some of the emotional punch of Bastion, that is basically the only area where it lags behind. The characters are likeable, the gameplay is phenomenally fun, the soundtrack is amazing, and the entire game is a joy. Even if you're not a fan of roguelikes, it's worth giving Hades a shot because it is the embodiment of a roguelike done right. It's easily one of the best games on the Nintendo Switch, and it's a solid port. Hades is a must-play and easily one of the best games of the year.

At $20, Okami HD is one of the greatest gaming values of 2012, representing the greatest and largest Zelda-like adventure to not come from Nintendo. It's been updated beautifully and features strong, complementary use of the Move technology.

Every time you sit down with Metroid Prime the experience is always entirely different thanks to the ever-expanding environment and numerous enhancements that you'll consistently come across.

Each component of the package has moderate to minor flaws, but as a whole of historical significance and truly unique, entirely innovative contemporary game design, The Orange Box is pretty damn close to perfect, barring the rare, almost accidental miracle title.