The Best Games of 2007

We pick our best games for the year. How many of them did you play, and what's our overall game of the year?

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5. The Orange Box (PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3)

- Read our full review of The Orange Box

EA's Orange Box would deserve a spot on the list for the sheer amount of content included in the package alone, but what makes it even more remarkable is that each of the components is a refined experience not to be missed.

There's Half-Life 2, of course, already hailed as one of the best PC games ever made and there are two episodic updates to Half-Life, the second of which makes its debut in The Orange Box. And then there are Team Fortress 2 and Portal, one a stylised squad-based shooter that's got something for everyone and the other a devilishly clever shooter-slash-puzzler that has managed to develop a massive following in just a few short months. Each of the games is worthy of a release in its own right, so the chance to get them all together makes this a no-brainer.

4. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PlayStation 3)

- Read our full review of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune

On paper Uncharted: Drake's Fortune sounds like a middling title, something of a mishmash of Tomb Raider and some nondescript shooter. But it's so much more than that. Hero Nate Drake, supposedly a distant relative of 16th century navigator Sir Francis Drake, is in search of the treasure of El Dorado, following a path set out by his forebear.

Along the way to the booty, Uncharted provides PlayStation 3 owners with a suspenseful and frantic experience that shows off the power of the console and a vibrant game world, which is brought to spectacular life by developer Naughty Dog. The writing is sharp and the characters are endearing, something video game creators have struggled to do for some time. Go on. A trip to an island could be just what you need to survive the dreary Christmas weather.

3. BioShock (PC, Xbox 360)

- Read our full review of BioShock

The world of games was brought out of its traditional summer slumber with a horrifying bolt when 2K Games put out BioShock in August. Immediately dubbed by many to be a contender for Game of the Year, BioShock is a shooter that relies more on subtlety than any of its genre peers.

In fact, calling it a shooter takes away from the game's most outstanding achievement, which is to weave together an experience steeped in the writings of 20th century philosopher Ayn Rand with a slowly unravelling, complex story set in an underwater world filled with art-deco designs and hideous monsters, and plot twists that hammer home the importance of accountability for your actions.

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