Painfully Obvious.

You don’t need me to tell you how good this game is; the rest of the gaming world got there first. I don’t know if any one game can be a “system‐seller” — but if you already own a PS3, it’s inexcusable not to own Uncharted 2.

It’s not just good; it’s unusually, surprisingly good. It’s unusual for a game to be this much better than its prequel. It’s unusual for a game to make such large graphical leaps over its prequel on same‐generation hardware.

Yes, I wish it were longer. Yes, the side quests are a bit repetitive. But how can you resist a world crafted so lovingly and meticulously? Just now, while exploring, I came upon a graveyard. The headstones were wearing headphones.

Let’s get straight to the point: Fallout 3, despite its minor flaws, is the closest I’ve felt to inhabiting a real‐life world inside a video game. It’s built for exploration and will deliver enough substance for at least a hundred hours of gameplay. On top of all this, enemies’ heads explode if you shoot them just right — and that’s pretty cool by itself.

This is perhaps the most gorgeous game I’ve ever played. More than half of the credit goes to stellar art direction; the game projected a 1980s EPCOT view of the distant future, complete and meticulous. It gave me chills. I’ve played through it once, but will have to postpone a second play‐through because there are too many other excellent games in my queue.

I am so in love with this game that I don’t even mind how my bass pedal is ready to snap in half. I’ll avail myself of the RMA process eventually, but for now some duct tape and a couple pencils will do the trick.

I’m late to the review party (I was too busy playing the game), so all the superlatives have been used up, but Bioshock is the undisputed Game of the Year. The central plot is shaky at times, but the atmosphere created by the rich backstory and gorgeous scenery is the best I’ve ever experienced in a video game.