Game of the year for 2008. Possibly 2009.

I love Hideo Kojima and his Metal Gear series in the most heterosexual way possible.  No other franchise has combined ridiculously intriguing story telling (pretentions as it may seem) with such fresh and bulletproof gameplay every time around.  Hell, Metal Gear Solid 4 could be Snake and a monkey doing nothing but sitting in a tree, throwing their own excrement at each other and I would still be, at worst, third in line to pick it up.  That being said, I had some reservations when I learned Portable Ops Plus was a narrative-free revisiting of last year's excellent original.  A mostly content free sequel screams “cash in” but, then again, it's being marketed (and priced) as an expansion pack.  So, all's fair in the land of trade offs, right?  Right?