CP picks the best video games of 2002.

Bow hunks: Legolas and Aragorn get into the ring.

by Frank Lewis and Chris Newborg

Action/Adventure

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (EA, for PS2) is a geek's dream come true. It's as brilliant and mesmerizing an adaptation of Peter Jackson's epic films as said films are of Tolkien's novels. (Caution: Make sure you're buying EA's LOTR game and not Universal Interactive's. That one sucks with the force of Sauron's gaze. Well, Saruman's, anyway.)

And then there's The Mark of Kri (SCEA, for PS2), a vaguely Polynesian-themed adventure game that's so colorful and fluid it looks strikingly like a Disney animated movie -- until the first time the hero beheads a foe, or holds one up by the shoulder and impales him repeatedly with thrusts that are almost sexual.

On the military front, three strong offerings surfaced this year. Medal of Honor Frontline (Electronic Arts, for all systems), a first-person shooter, places you in World War II fighting Nazis. The opening sequence is reminiscent of Saving Private Ryan's, with mortar shells exploding all around as you storm the beach. SCEA offers up a more contemporary military thriller with SOCOM U.S. Navy Seals for the Playstation 2. A voice headset, for online play, allows you to communicate with your fellow commandos. (You can also play as a terrorist.) But UBI Soft's Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell for the Xbox is the most visually impressive. As NSA operative Sam Fisher, you are charged with the duty of infiltrating a terrorist group in the former Soviet republic of Georgia.

Sports

In 2002, Electronic Arts' dominance of the sports genre was seriously challenged. Sega Sports' 2K3 series -- pro and college basketball and football, and the NHL -- dethroned the king with stunning visuals and refreshingly easy controls.

THQ's Moto GP (for Xbox) is by far the most realistic motorcycle-racing game to date. The addition of custom soundtracks allows you to tear around the track to your own beat. And if you tire of computer-controlled opponents, hop onto Xbox Live and take on up to 16 human competitors.

Death and Destruction

We're willing to tolerate mediocre graphics and a backstory that's bizarre, even by Japanese standards, for carnage on the scale that Gungrave provides (Sega, for PS2). The title character -- a sullen, trenchcoated young man -- totes impossibly large firearms and wears a tricked-out coffin slung across his back (with which he also can kill), and does a maniacal little dance when the firing gets intense. Toss in a theme song that sounds like Danny Elfman conducting a big band in a foul mood, and you got fun. This one earns its "M" rating.

If structural damage is your thing, you can't go wrong with Mech Assault (Microsoft Studios, for Xbox). Whether you use the 30-ton lightweight scout or the 100-ton Battlemech, this game delivers destruction on a heavyweight scale.

And we can't forget the return of the game that sparked the violence-in-video games argument, Mortal Kombat (Midway, for all systems). It's by far the most improved game, offering all the blood and gore that's synonymous with the series. Ripping a vanquished foe's skeleton out by the base of the spine has never felt so good.

But our pick for game of the year: Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (Rockstar, for PS2). More lifestyle than game, GTA is fiendishly addicting; you can wander around maiming, killing and stealing without ever completing an objective. And with the best and most extensive soundtrack ever included in a game (there are eight "radio stations" to choose from), this game will consume obscene amounts of your time. (A friend borrowed our copy, then brought it back two weeks later, saying "Take it back! It's ruining my marriage!" And his wife didn't even know about the hookers.)

The Next Big Thing

The promise of online gaming was realized this year, with all three major system manufacturers offering varying degrees of faceless human competition. The clear front-runner, however, is Microsoft's Xbox Live. Gates' boys have really done their homework, and it shows in the depth and scope of the service. The voice headset alone sets the service apart; the only thing better than scoring on a long pass into double coverage against a human opponent is being able to talk trash about it.