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Top Five Games The recommendations were flying fast and furiously in the GameSpot offices, but we finally narrowed our choices down to five games we thought anyone would like to receive this year. Whether you're giving or receiving, don't miss these top picks. Grim Fandango 
The latest from LucasArts is more than just a great adventure game. Drawing upon the Mexican Dios de Los Muertos legends, Grim Fandango is set in a beautifully detailed world filled with memorable characters. It's funny, moving, and a continual pleasure to play from beginning to end. This fact should come as no surprise; the game comes from Tim Schafer, the man responsible for adventure classics like Day of the Tentacle and Full Throttle. But Grim Fandango is his finest game yet, setting a new standard for a genre that has been mired in the legacy of Myst for too many years.
Read the review Get the demo Half-Life 
The first game from Valve Software uses the Quake II engine but begs more comparisons to Doom. This is not to say Half-Life is dated, it's just the first game to inspire the same kind of awe. With a continually surprising premise, a great atmosphere, cool weapons, and creepy monsters, Half-Life made one GameSpot editor declare that it had restored his faith in gaming. And once you start wandering through the hallways of the Black Mesa Federal Research Facility, you'll undoubtedly understand why.
Read the review Need for Speed III 
For some, breaking the law and high-speed pursuits are just a Sunday night television show. For the lucky owners of Need for Speed III, it's just another day on the highway. The previous version of Need for Speed lacked the one feature that fans of the series loved so much. But here in the third installment of the series, the great action of police chases has returned with the added feature of letting you take the role of the cops! This is definitely one game where a 3D graphics card begs to be included as an ancillary gift. Take it from us, of all the driving games available now, for pure speed and action, this is the only game to buy.
Read the review Get the demo NFL Blitz 
There are those who like their football games to be slow and methodical, like a good game of chess. Then there are those who appreciate the finer arts of in-your-face, bone-crushing tackles that send opposing players hurtling to the ground with a myriad of broken bones. If you're one of the latter, you'll find the gameplay in NFL Blitz just right. This is one game that doesn't feign realism when it comes to gameplay. Rather, it comes close to a faster version of football with all the strategy left intact. If you're ripe for a game with nothing but energy on the gridiron, this is one not to be missed.
Read the review Starcraft 
Blizzard Entertainment reclaimed its status as the premier real-time strategy developer with Starcraft, the company's first game since 1996's Warcraft II. What made Starcraft so great, though, wasn't a host of revolutionary features. In many ways, it's as traditional as they come. But the detailed plot and excellent single-player campaign set it apart from the rest in many ways. The great graphics, the diverse yet finely balanced factions, and the continual thrill of multiplayer games only add to its greatness.
Read the review Get the demo | |||||||||||||||||
