Games of the Year

Game That Makes Learning Fun!
God of War (Sony, PS2): Red-eyed revenge — against a god, no less — is the name of the game in this ballsy and bloodily compelling action fantasy set in the age of Greek myth.

Game Best Enjoyed Under the Influence, Not That We Condone That Sort of Thing
A hearty, uncoordinated salute to Shadow of the Colossus (Sony, PS2), whose titanic monster-slaying action was like a stoner-metal album cover come to life, minus the seeds and stems in the spine.

The “Games Based on Comics Don’t Have to Suck” Award
Comic geeks everywhere soiled their XXL sweatpants for the incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction (Vivendi Universal, PS2, Xbox, gamecube), which delivered on the promise of its title, distilling everything cool about the Hulk — namely his tendency to lay waste to entire cities — into a compulsively playable time-suck.

Game That’ll Tide You Over Until the Next Season of Deadwood
Gun (Activision, PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360, Gamecube, pc), a.k.a. Grand Theft: Stagecoach. The makers of this free-roaming Western adventure thought of everything, including Kris Kristofferson and an option that lets you scalp your Inj — er, Native American — enemies.

Sports Games for the Rest of Us
For the non-fan, a rules-heavy sports game can be as much fun as calculus, so be thankful for FIFA Street (EA, PS2, Xbox, Gamecube), which relocated soccer from stadiums to international ghettoes and scored it with worldwide beats, and Blitz: The League (Midway, PS2, Xbox) which turned pro football away from licensed niceness and reached gleefully violent, ’roid-raging heights.

Game That’s More Disturbing Than It Needs to Be
James Bond 007: From Russia With Love (EA, PS2, Xbox, Gamecube) was a pleasingly retro entry in the Bond game franchise, complete with rocket packs and Istanbul and Lotte Lenya. But hearing Sir Sean Connery’s sepulchral voice of 2005 issuing from his circa-1963 electronic likeness is just plain creepy.

The “Damn, Didn’t I Just Play This?” Award
Couldn’t tell the difference between all the “ride pimpin’” car-racing games currently cluttering the shelves? Us neither. From Midnight Club 3 to Need For Speed Underground 2 to L.A. Rush, our eyes now immediately glaze over at the mere mention of “custom rims.” We’re looking at you, Xzibit.