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:

Rainbow Six Vegas

Rainbow Six's newest installment proved our favorite collective multiplayer experience of 2006. Its experience point system beat out its competitors by rewarding persistence as well as skill. Even if you're rubbish, you'll still make your way to the unlocks eventually. No other game last year provided such a balanced online experience.

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Editor Notes

Tom Clancy games have enjoyed endless success in the online multiplayer realm. Vegas continues the tradition with finesse, including a great control system, gorgeous visuals, and making that perfect vanity move: letting me put my goofy mug into the game and adding some butch-looking scars. I am a gadget-carrying killing machine now. --Rich Greenhill

Rainbow Six Vegas for the 360 is the best all-around package for online gaming: it has the unlockable weapons and online persistence of Battlefield 2142 and the co-op campaign of Gears of War. And if that's not enough, it has virtually unlimited co-op gameplay with its randomized terrorist hunts. What's more, it even lets you put your own face on your character. It's slightly freaky to see yourself or your friends in the game, but it's a great example of how Vegas goes further than any other shooter with its online multiplayer support. -- Tom Chick

In the absence of any new massively multiplayer releases, Vegas is a good choice -- although I personally had more fun with Gears. --Mike Smith

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