Toolsets, the mod community, and all kinds of customization are just some of the features that keep PC RPGamers loving their rigs year after year. This year PC fans were met with even more reasons to love them with a host of new RPGs to tweak and play around with, and a selection ranging from PC exclusives to solid ports of console titles.

Best PC Dragon Age: Origins

Dragon Age: Origins continues BioWare's legacy of complex story-driven RPGs, creating a strong role-playing experience in which players are encouraged to express their character's personality through interesting dialogs and story choices. The game's excellent writing, voice acting, and dramatic arc create a cinematic experience on all platforms. However, the PC version features the best controls and the most tactical options for combat. The jury is still out on whether Dragon Age will harbour the kind of mod community that produced oodles of content for Neverwinter Nights, as most modders are waiting for the main campaign to be released for the toolset. With a high level of replayability and an upcoming expansion promising to reflect the big choices made in the main campaign, though, Dragon Age is likely to dominate our PC screens for some time to come.

Torchlight sprang out of the fertile minds of the Runic Games studio in Seattle. Backed by a variety of successful individuals from Blizzard's line of products in addition to many other talented workers, this title is an excellent demonstration of how fantastic an action RPG can be when done with flair and style. With addictive gameplay that spans many enemy types and dozens of dungeon floors, the player will never run out of monsters to smash. Three classes with distinct playstyles can each specialize in three talent trees, giving rise to a variety of unique character builds. Flinging spells with a trusty pet at his side, the player explores deep underneath the town of Torchlight to discover just what went wrong inside the mines being dug deep into the earth... It's no surprise that Torchlight has received an award this year.

The PC version of Borderlands takes advantage of the same bonuses that other PC games have. First and foremost is access to mods. Other than that, one big plus for the PC release is the advantage found using a keyboard and mouse setup. The first-person shooter aspects of Borderlands lends itself naturally to the PC release. So the loot-gathering and RPG aspects of this title are just enhanced on the PC.

by Becky Cunningham, Anna Marie Neufeld, Michael Cunningham