As a gamer, I play plenty of games each year.  Some are good, few are great, many are mediocre.  Almost none live up to the standard that this game has created.  I played this game for the first time this year, and it beats out everything else I've played  - I just can't put it down!  I am only about 5 hours in and haven't even reached the 2nd disc yet, but I feel I've played enough to give a fair judgement of the game and its mechanics.