Holiday Buyer's Guide 2006 - Xbox 360

For the gamer with a dark side... Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent (read ourreview)

Gaming is escapist entertainment in which we do things we'd never try in real life. From harassing a chicken in Zelda to flattening a policeman with your car in GTA, we all enjoy indulgingthe devil on our shouldernow and then. For the budding psychopath in your life (c'mon, it's you, isn't it?), this year's guiltiest pleasure is Splinter Cell: Double Agent. As government-badass-gone-truly-bad Sam Fisher, you can do more than just kill, maim and steal. You can betray your own beloved country and join up with a sinister terrorist organization. Whoa.

Don't worry, when the pressures of immorality become too heavy, you can always switch a few in-game decisions and - bam! - you're a patriotic superman again. What other holiday game lets you play both the hero and the anti-hero?

Runner-up:Saint's Row

Charlie Barratt
I enjoy sunshine, the company of kittens and turning frowns upside down. I am also a fan of sarcasm. Let's be friends!