2. BioShock Infinite

BioShock was properly fuggin’ nuts, wasn’t it? Plasmids that let you shoot fire, ice, electricity, and even bees out of your hands. Enemies who, after years of abusing said plasmids, grew twisted both mentally and physically. Little girls escorted by hulking mountains of men as they sucked the sweet, sweet ADAM out of corpses. A plot twist that made gamers think about their role in a video game. And all of this happened in a city under the sea.

Over four years after that landmark title, Irrational Games are quite literally raising the stakes, taking BioShock from the briny depths of Rapture to the floating city of Columbia. While Infinite isn’t a sequel or prequel to the previous two BioShock games, it’s unclear whether or not the games share the same universe. What is clear, though, is that a civil war is taking place in the clouds for control of Columbia, and the girl you’re tasked with rescuing — Elizabeth, who can manipulate tears in space-time — fought over like a weapon. Complicating matters is the frightening Songbird, Elizabeth’s flying robotic keeper until you busted her out, chasing you relentlessly across the city.

Quite frankly, I’d be ready to give BioShock Infinite my personal GOTY right damn now. You know, if it wasn’t for the last game on the list …

1. Mass Effect 3

Why, it’s the preemptive Game of the Year winner, two years running! Perhaps I should’ve known better than to believe that Mass Effect 3 would ship late last year as originally planned, what with so many other high-profile games firmly planted to release in November. In any case, we’re just two short months away from this year’s GOTY.

Mass Effect 3 marks the end of Commander Shepard’s saga, and after two games of chasing Reapers across the galaxy the fight has finally come to Earth. Squad mates will be recruited, aliens will be bedded, shops will be patronized, and it will be done in the name of preventing all organic life in the galaxy from being annihilated. No small task, as the previous games featured tough fights with just a single Reaper — here you’ll be fighting an entire fleet of them.

While it’ll be great, Mass Effect 3 has a couple of potential hangups. First is the seemingly tacked-on multiplayer, which feels like an excuse for EA to charge used game players for an online pass. Thankfully, multiplayer will be limited to co-op. Second is the fact that this will be Shepard’s last hurrah. Sure, Mass Effect’s vast universe will allow it to expand into other games and mediums, but I’ve grown attached to Shepard — she (the correct Shepard) is a BAMF.

So there, I’ve decided what the best games will be this year. Feel free to tell me how wrong and terrible of a human being I am in the comments below!