First off, let me clarify a bunch of games I think are probably great that I didn't play yet: Dead Space, Gears of War 2, Resistance 2, Brothers in Arms: Hells Highway, Force Unleashed, Mirror's Edge, Little Big Planet, and Fable 2 (plus piles of others, but those are the biggies I think). I am slowing working through the stack, having finally gotten to Lego Batman, Call of Duty: World at War, and Prince of Persia just in the last few days...

Anyways, here are a few other games I thought were quite good but not quite in the same tier as my "best of" list...

Saints Row 2 -- Zany action and a very generous gameplay structure made this quite enjoyable throughout. They still haven't quite mastered the arts of world building and character the way that GTA has, but it's nice to see the series trying to move in its' own direction.

Spore -- Revolutionary tech and awesome ambition trapped in a rather boring actual game. If all that amazing customization actually made some differences in the gameplay, there would have been some real magic here. Maybe Spore 2?

Valkyria Chronicles -- Probably the best reason to own a PS3 right now. Fantastic combat system and a gorgeous look. The actual narrative isn't much above standard J-RPG fare, but at least it's decent J-RPG fare. I'm quite enjoying this one, and aside from some niggling complaints I have about the combat system I definitely recommend it if your like tactical RPGs.

Red Alert 3 -- Way too fiddly and micro-managey, but I still love the cheesy cutscenes and the overwhelming amount "stuff" going on sometimes. The RTS highlight of the year, I think, though that may say more about the state of other RTS releases this year...

Siren -- Even if they kind of backed off being truly episodic, I loved the format and the presentation. The actual gameplay didn't quite do it for me, but was interesting and it delivered on the core experiences of a modern survival horror game quite effectively.

Sins of a Solar Empire -- This is surprisingly making a ton of big name Best Of lists that I never would have guessed. It's a very good game, but I found it a little too RTS-y and not quite MOO-y enough for my tastes. I didn't really get into multiplayer with it, and the lack of single player structure was a big deficit in the title, IMO.

Left 4 Dead -- I want to spend some more time with this one, for sure. There are some amazing moments, but it's no Dead Rising 2 -- nor is it really trying to be, which is why I feel kind of unfair in my criticism of it.

Battlefield: Bad Company -- The singleplayer is pretty mediocre, but the multiplayer is best version of the core Battlefield experience yet. I hope they can take what worked about BC and someday turn out a definitive BF 1942 sequel.

Man, there are a lot of other games I quite enjoyed over this past year -- it's definitely been a good one. Here's hoping 2009 delivers just as well!