5. Eternal Darkness: Sanities Requiem - GC

Eternal Darkness is something unique in the survival horror genre. Until now, the genre has truly been dominated by Resident Evil and Silent Hill, leaving most other games out to rot. Eternal Darkness showed that other games can penetrate that wall made by those two series. Ironically enough, it also came from the company that had never before produced an M game for their consoles. Eternal Darkness lets you play as several different characters, unfolding an adventure that has been going on for over 2000 years. Revolving around a girl who finds a tome in her grandfather's attic, Alexandra Roivas must end the horrors that her ancestors have unleashed.

4. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - PS2

After releasing Grand Theft Auto 3, nobody thought that Rockstar, a company that never produced anything of real value before, would be able to pull off something amazing again. Everyone was extremely surprised when Vice City was released, arguably the beginning of the GTA legacy. After GTA 2 and 3, Rockstar decided to move away from Liberty City and explore one of the other cities available from the first game. They decide to move over San Andreas and instead focus on Vice City. The twist is that they decide to set the game in 1986. Rockstar does a great job of recreating a very realistic version of the real-life Miami as well as the 1980's culture. While Vice City is outdated now, at the time, this was the GTA game to play.

3. The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind - PC/Xbox

Completely pulling away from both DnD style RPG's and Japanese RPG's is the Elder Scrolls series, an amazing testament to what games can do. To date, Morrowind still contains one of the biggest gaming worlds ever made, easily taking an entire real-world day to cross the whole continent on foot. Fill this world with countless quests, guilds, dungeons and monsters and throw in one of the most detailed backstory for any video game world and you have one continent in the vast Elder Scrolls world. I don't think this game needs much description here, as I have a hard time believe that anyone has not played it, however if you haven't, either pick this one up or the sequel, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

2. Metroid Prime - GC

If you think of Metroid Prime as a first-person shooter, you may leave disappointed. Do not be fooled, even though it is the first Metroid game from a first-person perspective, it is still the same old, great Metroid we remember. The game takes place shortly after the very first Metroid game (or Metroid: Zero Mission) when Samus goes to Tallon IV to prevent space pirates from taking Phazon. She lands to find space pirates mining to the central core of the planet. You now have to explore the wasteland of Tallon IV to find out what happened to the planet and to prevent the disaster from spreading across the universe. The first in the Prime trilogy, Metroid Prime is easily one of the best Metroid games in existence. Just don't be fooled, Metroid Prime is an action/adventure game, not a first person shooter. Remember that, and it will provide you with a great metroid experience.

Katosepe's Game of the Year Award: 2002

•1. Kingdom Hearts - PS2

Yes everyone, I am a HUGE Kingdom Hearts fan so this was an easy choice for me. Kingdom Hearts marks one of the strangest partnerships in video game history. When the newly formed Square-Enix decided to make an RPG with Disney, people were skeptical. Disney wasn't exactly known for great games however Square-Enix was one of the most trusted developers in the industry. What was going to happen? Well, the result was Kingdom Hearts, a true mash-up of Final Fantasy characters in a Disney world. After a dark force envelopes his home world, Sora, along with Donald and Goofy, must traverse the universe, sealing the hearts of the worlds from darkness and look for Riku, Kairi and King Mickey. The gameplay is extremely accessible to anyone but I would recommend the hard difficulty to experienced gamers. The storyline is also very engrossing and will leave you begging for more. I swore that I would never buy Kingdom Hearts when it was first released however, after finally playing it when my friend forced it into my hands, I was hooked immediately and now, it remains one of my favorite series.

Katoesepe's Console of the Year Award: PC

After a severe lack of good PC games for the last two years, the good ol' computer makes quite the comeback in 2002, many of the games, very reminisce of the glory days. The first four games on the list all will bring gamers back to the days of Doom, Age of Empires, Baldur's Gate and other great PC games of old however with very new features that will entice new gamers in for some good times. Finally, the game that really makes the PC the winner in my book is The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind. This game revolutionized RPG's for the world and created a whole new fan-base for gamers. This game showed me what RPG's can really do. And so, the award for best console of the year goes to the PC.

Honorable Mentions:

•· Metroid Fusion - GBA

•· Medal of Honor: Frontline - PS2

•· Medal of Honor: Allied Assault - PC

•· Panzer Dragoon Orta - Xbox