Best Games of 2002

In a year of shooters, Metroid Prime and Splinter Cell provided intriguing alterations from the "average" by focusing on puzzles and stealth, respectively. Meanwhile, Morrowind was an example of the awkward expansion of "mission"-style questing in a more traditional open-world RPG but didn't live up to the standard set by GTA the year before or in the excellent follow-up, Vice City. On the other end of the traditional fantasy games, Zelda's Wind Waker was a stellar cel-shaded triumph and Warcraft 3 turned the RTS genre on its head with hero-focused combat and heavy narrative-driven campaigns.