2004 will go down as a red-letter year in the history of games. The PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube have reached their peak in the final year before the next-generation systems start to steal the spotlight, with absolutely brilliant titles on every platform.

Meanwhile, the PC is again pushing the envelope with experimental graphics technology, refined storytelling techniques, and new types of online play. Unlike years past, no obvious winner has emerged: instead there are about a half-dozen titles that, on a normal year, would've been shoo-ins. But 'there can be only one,' as they say, and the moment of truth has come. Which game will be the GameSpy 2004 Game of the Year?