Having spent an unreasonable amount of time with Dawn of War II and its follow-up expansion, Chaos Rising, there were few games this year I wanted on my hard drive more than Retribution.

The series' particular brand of combat -- beefy dudes shooting and/or smacking one another for minutes at a time -- appeals to me greatly. As does the loot system, which is both immensely satisfying and motivating.

Vanilla Dawn of War II was long, and repetitive. Chaos Rising was quite a bit shorter, but had a vastly more interesting narrative. And now with Retribution, the new standalone expansion, Relic Entertainment is offering single-player campaigns for six different races. We're going in exciting new directions, people.