Yahoo! Games: Best of 2006 Awards

• Best Action-Adventure Game
• Best Online Multiplayer Game
• Best Parlor Game
• Best Racing Game
• Best Role-Playing Game
• Best Shooter Game
• Best Sports Game
• Best Strategy Game
• Best Original Game
• Best Video Game of Year

• Best Casual Game
• Most Innovative Casual Game

WINNER:

Gears of War

The most surprising thing about Gears of War is how downright thoughtful it is. This is a game about carefully advancing and firing from behind cover, about timing your reloads with the utmost precision, about making sure your teammates are alive and flanking. It's an uncanny and unprecedented marriage of the tactical with the spectacular, and as such, it stands out among this year's shooters. There's even a short and tightly told story that lays the groundwork for Gears to be fleshed out into a series.

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Editor Notes

Yet another well-earned gong for Epic's blockbuster, although I rated Half-Life Ep One as a close second -- not least because despite its bargain price, it's only slightly shorter than Gears. --Mike Smith

Note to Epic: please don't pull any more tricks like that terrible endgame boss battle with General RAAM. While I loved Gears of War, it was really disappointing to have it end this way. Also, can we get some more support for different kinds of multiplayer games? You've made a great game, and all but straightjacketed it by limiting it to deathmatch. Otherwise, great work, Epic, and congratulations on selling bazillions of copies. The success is well deserved. --Tom Chick

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