Batman: Arkham City

This could be the best PC game of all time. I know you guys have short attention spans, so I'll keep this short and sweet.
Well, I picked it up during the Steam sales for $25. I would have paid much more if I knew how good it was. I played Arkham Asylum before this, and that was a magnificant game too. Both games were nominated for Game of the Year. Neither of them got it. I think Arkham City should have beaten Skyrim for it this year. But, Uncharted 3 still should have one.
In any case, the game uses a lot of PC exculsive technologies to their fullest. It uses FXAA, DX 11 tessellation and HBAO, ambient occlusion, PhysX.... the game looks spectacular. I'm willing to say it's the best looking game of all time. Not counting photorealistic mods for Crysis or GTAIV. Because this game is actually optimized and I can max it with a 470 with zero troubles.
The gameplay, like the first one, is constantly entertaining. The combat flows perfectly and is satisfying. I find myself looking for fights instead of going out of my way to avoid them. They blend in puzzles with the gameplay in a way that doesn't completely stump you, but adds depth to levels and getting places. The platforming never hiccups and works better than game such as Assassin's Creed, which are centered around platforming.
All of that good stuff the first game did well, too. But, with Arkham City, the story unfolds soo much better. It's a very engaging story with more character connections (you actually play as other characters too). The first game was Batman on his own with just communications with alfred, more or less. This game builds itself on interacts between, not just you, but the NPCs in the game too. Each character has their own role in your adventure, and your gameplay elegantly revolves around it.
The screen-writing in this game plays a lot like an interactive movie at times. Kind of like Uncharted. But, the best part is, the scripted events don't interupt your gameplay. The game seemlessly translates between cutscenes and controllable gameplay without you even taking notice at times. So, it feels like you're in constant control. And when Batman does something awesome in a cutscene, you did something to help instead of just watching.
Something I've always thought modern games were lacking was boss fights. No worries here. Boss fights in this game are both rewarding and fun. They aren't grind fests or overly frustrating. They have their own learning curve that you must grasp and exicute to succeed.
Unlike a lot of story-driven games, this game is open world. Even games such as Uncharted that build themselves on scripted events still carry the character one direction. There may be multiple perspectives to take for a fight or something, but you can't run around anywhere you want. In Arkham City, the whole world is free to roam. And each place has it's own side missions to do and things to find. I've been sticking straight to the story, but, after that's done, there are still hundreds of things to do. Replay value FTW.

I'm not hesitant to say it's the best PC game of all time. Really. You need to play this.
The graphics are beyond top-notch, the story is compelling, the gameplay is super fun, the puzzles keep you thinking, it's all perfection.
And Catwoman is hot. And in latex. And a playable character.
Well, play Arkham Asylum first. It's really good too. And they build off each other story wise.

-Rath

P.S. - I was blown away when I first loaded it up and saw the graphics. So, I've been killing FRAPS and taking screenshots out the wazoo. When I beat the game, I'll sort through them and upload a few so you guys can see just how good it looks.

Here are some screens.