Lord knows gamers love a shooter something fierce. In a genre that has no shortage of titles, it’s tough to stand out. This year’s nominees not only managed to be memorable, but they also served as a reminder of why shooters make up a big portion of games published each and every year. While from the very start the Wii may have seemed like the perfect console for shooters, it took this year’s The Conduit to really showcase just what Nintendo’s machine was capable of. EA’s bite-sized Battlefied 1943 not only proved the tried and true formula the original Battlefield established still worked well today, but also that it was still incredibly fun. Borderlands’ RPG twist and loot drops provided us with endless hours of fun searching for something to shoot with ridiculously cool weapons, and Valve’s Left 4 Dead 2 built upon the foundation of the first game to create one of the most replayable shooters of all time. Though none of these presented a complete package as deep and robust as this year’s Best Ever Shooter winner.

It’s tough enough for a sequel to live up to its predecessor, but when that game is following up Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, the task seems almost insurmountable. Leave it to Infinity Ward to prove us wrong. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 not only improves on the original game, it blows it away. Whether it’s the pulse-pounding, edge of your seat action sequences in the single-player campaign, the co-operative Spec Ops missions, or the insanely addictive, highly enjoyable online multiplayer, there’s not a single thing that Modern Warfare 2 doesn’t do better than the original, and that’s what earned it this year’s title.