Best of E3 2006 Awards

Best Action/Adventure Game

These often story-driven games usually contain a little of everything: Exploration, combat, and puzzle-solving.

• Best Shooter
• Best Role-Playing Game
• Best Online Multiplayer Game
• Best Racing Game
• Best Massively Multiplayer Game
• Best Strategy Game
• Best Action/Adventure Game
• Best Original Game
• Special Mentions

Winner: Bioshock

Best Action/Adventure Game: Bioshock (Take-Two)

Any game claiming the legacy of sci-fi shooter-RPG System Shock 2 had better be up to the task. Few games have this sort of following, and fewer still have the kind of name that can make seasoned gamers blanch after all this time. System Shock 2's sense of atmosphere, eerie solitude, and powerful psychological horror is still unmatched.

Good thing, then, that Bioshock is looking so good. It's from the same developer and takes place in an underwater city called Rapture, home to a failed, Ayn Rand-esque social experiment. Rapture is done up in a 1920s, art-deco style that's about as different from System Shock's clean sci-fi look as it's possible to be.

Irrational has created a kind of ecosystem within Rapture, where many different types of creatures cooperate to perform different roles without any intervention from the player. You can exploit these non-scripted interactions to your benefit; some creatures will fight with each other, while others exhibit symbiotic or even parental roles towards others.

Claustrophobia is not a normal emotional response to a video game. But in Bioshock, the water outside is always leaking in, and imminent destruction is always on your mind. No other game at this year's E3 offered anything like the weird, original atmosphere of Bioshock, and to be honest, no other game has us quite as fired up. >>>More info

Runner-ups

God of War II: Picks up where God of War left off. That should be all you need to know to have you on the edge of your seat waiting for this one. >>>More info

Alone in the Dark: Taking bold steps into episodic content, this respected franchise has the artistic and technological chops to back it up. >>>More info

Super Mario Galaxy: One of the most innovative and enjoyable Wii games on show, Galaxy put the Wiimote to outstanding use. Walking on the underside of a planet will never get old. >>>More info

Assassin's Creed: This free-roaming, Thief-like action-adventure from the team behind Prince of Persia: Sands of Time proved extremely impressive. >>>More info