Either SimCity 4 or Civilization IV for me

Team fortress 2, for flawless class balance and map design.

I hate these threads. Don't make me choose!

I nominate Dwarf Fortress, for its sheer depth and vision (and continuous development), if for nothing else.

 Eventually, I'm going to retry DF when I have the time to really figure it out. It should be extremely developed by my retirement. Until then, I'll say CIV IV.

Very tough since I have a very short memory.  Total Annihilation came out in the 90s.  Baldur's Gate II? When did that come out?

2000 pc, 2001 mac

Borderlands by a nose in front of GC2.

This ... just because it's the game I keep going back to. I'm surprised a big company hasn't tried to reproduce it.

Dwarf Fortress is well on its way to being the best game, but I don't think it can truly hold that title yet. It's too far from complete in my opinion; as an RPG I'd say it's still inferior to Daggerfall in a lot of ways, and Dwarf Mode is barely even a game so much as a construction tool crossed with an ant farm. Also the game as a whole lacks elegance of interface and prettiness of graphics, and tends to be tough to get into.

If the Paradox core suite was considered a single game that would qualify, but as it is I'll call them the best developer. Best game altogether is harder because it's too subjective. I'd say best RPG is either Morrowind, Daggerfall, or the latest Deus Ex, depending on preference. Best strategy is Europa Universalis III, I guess, it's the most popular of those games although I personally prefer Crusader Kings. Shooters as a genre are not suited to having a single "best" since in single player they're about a single cinematic experience and in multiplayer are about chilling with your buddies.

Really though, everything comes down to taste.

Eve online.

I'd vote for Total Annihilation if it was in the past 10 years. I'll go with Morrowind instead. If you didn't play it when it was new, then you'll never understand. 8) If anyone (including me) ever found out how many hours I've accumulated (and am still accumulating) in that game it would be shocking.

Tough to choose.  On the console side I'd go with Shadow of the Colossus.  On PC I'd probably pick Europa Universalis III.

Vampire:Bloodlines. I've never replayed an RPG more than twice, bloodlines I played each clan at least once, some twice. The atmosphere was perfect, the "problem solving" was seamlessly integrated. The characters were well acted. The story was fairly unique. Just a brilliant game.

Deus Ex. Or was that before 2001?