Half-Life 2 [Xbox]

Most game developers would be content producing a title that's hailed as the best video game of all time. Some are just greedy and choose to go on to create the only game that surpasses it in every respect. Half-Life 2 was released last year on the PC by Valve Software, following many delays and drama, but the wait was truly worth it. This year, the challenge was to cram such a cutting-edge game engine into the aging technology of the Xbox -- and for players who only use the living room as their gaming domain, they're in for visuals and a game experience unlike anything the console has offered before.

Half-Life 2 puts players in the skin of brooding, unlikely hero Gordon Freeman. In the first game, he was a scientist at a compound experimenting in trans-dimensional teleportation physics-related something-something. It doesn't matter; the experiment went wrong, scientists died, aliens invaded, marines tried to clean up the mess (the surviving facility personnel were classified as part of said "mess"), and Gordon had to save the day. This didn't quite happen, as now some entity -- lovingly called "our benefactors" by the human puppet government -- are running the show, while an underground movement attempts to free society from the abusing regime.

So the story isn't hugely original, but that's beside the point. Half-Life 2 creates the illusion of a living environment better than anything out there, through the use of incredible technology, natural-feeling dialogue and performances, and stunning art design.

Valve has done an admirable job of porting the game over to a machine that's significantly less powerful than the sort of PC you need to run it capably. Although the texture clarity has been scaled down, the developers have kept the detail level high where the characters and facial animation are concerned.

The incredible physics system is also all in place. Play in the world for just 10 minutes, and you'll be enthralled. Smash a wooden crate with your crowbar and watch it randomly splinter into many pieces, each with its own physical mass and density. Humanoid enemies dive, leap, run, and collapse under a hail of your gunfire with lifelike ragdoll physics that are tweaked perfectly.