As an RPG, it's not the best in the market. As an action game, it's not the best in the market. Its story is decent, and although some aspects of the bigger side stories are very well thought out, the writing is, er, nothing to write home about.

But no other game can be more accurately described as "greater than the sum of its parts." Basically, Skyrim is - as PC Gamer said in their review - "a ****ing country in a box."

Even at $100, this would still be worth it.

It's pretty old. It doesn't look very good, even when compared to its contemporaries. It doesn't support widescreen displays properly. Its aiming mechanic is *very* weird, and for a first-person shooter, this particular flaw should have been lethal.

But it's good. BiA: Road to Hill 30 is still one of the best World War II shooters ever made. It also stands out from its peers in the tactical shooter genre by achieving a near-perfect balance between playability, challenge and tactical depth. It's a pity that Gearbox is now (December 2010) busy with other projects. A modern-era BiA game might just give Call of Duty and Battlefield a run for their money.

While Civ V has been the subject of much criticism from the series' long-time fans, don't let their silly words of anger distract you. The Civ formula remains intact in this latest game, and many of Civ IV's clunky elements (I never liked religion and espionage) have been removed. Additionally, wars are now much more fun and tactical to fight thanks to the one-unit-per-tile restriction despite some glaring (but still relatively minor) flaws introduced by the concept.

The only things I can name as negatives are the rather stripped-down multiplayer (which I don't play anyway) and ridiculous DLC prices. Just forget about these, buy it, then set an alarm clock because you *will* lose track of time.