Best computer games of the year
By MIKE BERMAN
Scripps Howard News Service
December 03, 2003

There's snow on the ground, flames dancing in the fireplace and the fat, bearded guy is retrieving his old red suit from the cleaners, which can mean only one thing - it's time for the 2003 Bermie Awards.

Yep, it's that time of year again, when I bestow the coveted Bermie on games and other geek toys that have won my heart during the past year.

The 2003 Computer Game of the Year: I'm going out on a limb here, because I've only played a beta version, but "Uru: Ages Beyond Myst" from UbiSoft is hands-down one of the most addictive - and frustrating - games I've ever played. The great artwork and sheer expanse of this game makes it tough to beat.

Most Anticipated Game to Never Materialize: "Half-Life 2," where are you? The folks at Valve have pushed the release date of this game back so many times, it's beginning to resemble my last date - all spark, no flame!

Best War Game: It seems every game publisher is jumping on the WW II revival bandwagon this year, making this a tough choice, so we have a tie. "Secret Weapons over Normandy" from LucasArts and "Call of Duty" from Activision take top honors here. The ability to strafe Nazi positions with a Star Wars Tie Fighter or recreate some of the fiercest battles of the war won me over.

Best Game Based on a Movie or Book We Could Never Understand: "Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring" from Sierra not only enhances your understanding of the Lord of the Rings saga, it helps you grasp a better understanding of the characters and complicated story-line. Plus it's a lot more fun than having to reread the trilogy or having to sit through extended versions of the movies.

What, Another One?: LucasArts takes top honors here by releasing three Star Wars titles in one year. "Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided," "Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy" and "Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic" did their bit to keep the legend alive.

Best Civilization Clone: It's those dastardly dudes from Microsoft Game Studios again, this time with "Age of Mythology: The Titans." Although this is an expansion pack for Age of Mythology, which took top honors last year, it's definitely worth spending a few extra bucks if you don't already own the game and want to toss around a few lightning bolts.

Best Conversion from Game Console to PC: When I first played "Halo" from Microsoft Game Studios on the Xbox, I fantasized about how great a game this would be for the PC. Well, now it's a reality and I'm not disappointed. In fact they've even managed to make this game better by adding a few features.

Best Role-Playing Game (RPG): Can you say Microsoft - again? Although I risk the wrath of all "Diablo III" fans everywhere, "Dungeon Siege: Legends of Aranna" has to win in this category. The characters are better developed and the story line is more intriguing.

Dumbest Idea to Come Along Since "Enhanced for AMD": Can you say "Games for Windows XP" three times, real fast? The folks at Microsoft have developed another ploy to sell more copies of their operating system by proclaiming that XP is the best thing to happen to PC gaming since DOS. You'll soon be hearing that phrase over and over again, plus be lured to a Web site - www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/games - where Microsoft will hype the top 10 games and offer add-ons and other goodies.

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