(FORTUNE Magazine) – Metal Gear Solid 2 PlayStation 2 Konami, $50 Subtitled "Sons of Liberty," this spy thriller looks like a big-budget film and plays as though you're genuinely living inside a secret operative's skin. We'd say more about MGS2's twisted plot, but then we'd have to kill you. Your mission: Buy it.

Halo Xbox Microsoft, $50 This first-person shooter comes with macho Marines, upsettingly skillful aliens, and enough guns, gear, and vehicles to excite the most jaded Quake-head. Vivid, out-of-this-world scenery includes sun-flared skies and blinding snowstorms.

Munch's Odyssey Xbox Microsoft, $50 To prove Xbox isn't only about guys with guns, get into the agreeably mutated minds of Oddworld's Abe and Munch, a mumbling and sometimes fumbling geek-show duo destined to work together to overcome outrageously inventive obstacles.

Pikmin GameCube Nintendo, $50 You are a big-nosed, bubble-helmeted spaceman who has crash-landed on a heavily vegetated planet. They are friendly, seed-to-sprout-to-superplant creatures called Pikmin. An addictive twist on the concept of flower power.

Half-Life PlayStation 2 Sierra, $50 The console version of this PC classic spins the same action-packed conspiracy yarn of a research lab overrun by mutants. A keyboard and mouse option, new levels of play, and a team mode make it the most rewarding rendering yet.