Aside from The Witcher 2, no other game this year has placed me so firmly in the boots of a character and succeeded in making me not only feel like I am that character, but react like that character as well.

The game I'm playing at the moment that is giving me such a wonderful experience of playing a character and isn't an RPG is, of course, Batman: Arkham City. Aside from The Witcher 2, no other game this year has placed me so firmly in the boots of a character and succeeded in making me not only feel like I am that character, but react like that character as well. I became emotionally invested in every decision in Assassins of Kings, fretting about the potential consequences and whether or not the decision would violate my (or Geralt's as the case may be) vaunted impartiality.

In Arkham City my pulse quickens every time I hear a phone ringing because I know that Zsasz, that twisted bastard is only minutes away from slaughtering some other innocent and carving another notch into his own skin. I feel the Bat's anger, revulsion and pity every time I face one of the members of his rogue's gallery. Even more that Arkham Asylum, Arkham City makes you feel like you are the Bat. The fact that there is only ever one two possible outcomes to any mission (success or failure) and that your actions have no consequences aside from triggering the next story mission or forcing you to start over again may distance Arkham City from my favourite genre, but as an exercise in character the game is hard to beat.