I think the guys have said that this particular category in their awards discussion might go away, but BOY-HOWDY does Far Cry 3 ever foot the bill. The first few hours felt a bit on-rails to me and I very nearly moved on to something else, but I am so very glad I gave it another shot.
I'm in my early thirties, work way too much, but can't seem to cut loose the vidja games. I tend to latch on to huge open-world games that take 50-100+ hours to beat or tiny, contained bite-sized nuggets on PC, PSN, XBLA or iOS. Keeping up with the competitive multiplayer Flavor-of-the-Month is just not practical for me anymore (as much as my id fights me on that point) so I can dive deep into Batman: Arkham City, Sleeping Dogs, and large-scale RPG's -- always having a clear objective (helpful for time management) and not having to deal with foul-mouthed tweeners or the inwardly faced rage when I can't quite measure up to pros. I used to love to hate Call of Duty, so much so that my live-in girlfriend asked me to stop playing it when she was home. Why am I telling you all this? Well...I'm not sure...but I think it's because Far Cry 3 surprisingly is the epitome of what I look for these days in gaming experiences. The "Skyrim With Guns!!!" slogan, while irritating, fits like a slightly-too-tight glove to be honest.
I'm approiximately halfway through (cue the pitchforks & torches) and I probably shouldn't bother reviewing but it's been years since a game has affected me on so many levels. It has the open-world & intuitively labeled map a la the Grand Theft Auto series, gunplay & stealth that somehow makes me feel like I'm decent at FPS's again, it's beautiful & also scratches that long-dead WoW itch with skill trees and XP.
I love it. If you're anything like my self-description above, I think you might too.
~Amp