Best Expansion Pack

Retail expansion packs are a viable means for game developers and publishers to increase the longevity and improve the core qualities of their best game designs. The best of these take an already great game and manage to make it even better than before by introducing fundamentally new design elements that thoroughly improve upon the original game. Many great games receive suitably great expansion packs, but here are the five finalists for the greatest expansion of all this year:

Anarchy Online: Shadowlands (PC)

Publisher: Funcom
Developer: Funcom
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Funcom's futuristic online role-playing game got off to a shaky start, but it's truly come of age and is better than ever in Shadowlands--a great opportunity to give this imaginative game another look. While many massively multiplayer games only seem to languish as time goes by, Anarchy Online has undeniably and significantly improved.

Battlefield 1942: Secret Weapons of WWII (PC)

Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Digital Illusions
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Last year's best online multiplayer shooter is also arguably this year's best online multiplayer shooter, thanks in no small part to this excellent expansion pack.

Civilization III: Conquests (PC)

Publisher: Atari
Developer: Firaxis Games
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Addictive, new scenarios and a multiplayer component that fans were hoping for all along make this expansion pack to one of last year's finest strategy games a genuinely significant upgrade.

Command & Conquer: Generals Zero Hour (PC)

Publisher: EA Games
Developer: EALA
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The release of Electronic Arts' visually stunning real-time strategy game was closely followed by this excellent expansion pack, which introduces some cool, new elements and lots of imaginative, new units to an already great game.

Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne (PC)

Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
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The best real-time strategy game of last year became even better with the release of The Frozen Throne, an expansion pack with enough new content that it could practically be considered a sequel.

And the Winner is...