Unexpected Game of the Year
Last year I picked Call of Duty 4 as a GotY for myself, this time its Dead Space. While they differ drastically in many aspects one thing that is common to both of these games is the quality. Quality of presentation, quality of gameplay, quality of visual and audio design. All of these aspect are of EXCEPTIONAL quality. The only thing is that the story is pretty straightforward, but its done just right for this type of a game - it keeps you interested in finding out what happens next. The new dismemberment approach to gaming is great and makes you wonder how you've played games without dismemberment before. There are tons of places where you'll be staring at the TV in awe of the great visuals. Zero gravity jumps, vacuum, huge bosses, fantastic scenery - all of it makes the game an easy buy. This game is pretty scary but it is not quite in the same league as System Shock 2, which I remember scared the hell out of me. But all in all this game is great and if you have not played it I'd recommend going to the store and getting it (should be 40-50 bucks now). It's well worth your money.
P.S. Anxiously waiting for the sequel!