[Gemini-Phoenix]

Wow! rying to narrow it down from a couple of hundred to just three is hard! There are so many good ones out there which I like for various reasons, although most of my favourites are let down by little details such as including a standard Amaray retail copy of the game inside...

Whilst I do like CE's such as the Halo 3 Legendary Edition, Halo Reach Legendary Edition, Crysis 2 Nano Edition, and Killzone 3 Helghast Edition, I find they're just too big. They also look very nice in promotional pictures, but up close they just look and feel very cheap.

I also like a lot of SteelBooks, but they're becoming far too common and once you've seen one you've seen them all! There are very few SteelBooks out there which offer anything unique over another, although I will say that those which come embossed / debossed (Eg, Dead Rising, Battlefield: Bad Company Gold) are always much nicer than those which are just printed. However, I do like a SteelBook as part of a much larger CE (For example, Gears Of War 2)

CE's which come with figures are also a bit 'meh' to me. Again, once you've seen one, you've seen them all, and they offer nothing new or exciting except for a different figure and a change of packaging.


Below are my top three favourite, and also the benchmark on which I grade the quality of other CE's:

3) Grand Theft Auto IV

The sheer amount of cool stuFf this CE comes with is just amazing, and all stuffed into a reasonably sized package! Not only are the bonus items functional, but they are also related to the game. One of the first truly outstanding CE's to be released, and still ranks high up on my list of best CE's ever, mainly because the quality of this CE has very rarely been surpassed!


2) Fallout 3 (Lunchbox)

It was a toss up between this and the Fallout: New Vegas CE, but this one looks a hell of a lot more unique, and also includes some damn cool stuff inside! Again, it's appropriate to the game, and the artwork on the tin is fantastic! WOuld have been nicer if they had been numbered and more limited, but you can't argue that the quality of this CE is a lot higher than that of others. A shame that Bethesda aren't consistent with their CE releases...


1) Bioshock 2

Definitely the nicest CE released to date! It not only looks good, but everything is of the highest quality, and the only let down for this CE is that it comes with the retail copy of the game inside, where they could've included a nice rust-effect SteelBook or worn DigiPak instead. That aside, this CE stands out amongst the crowd, if only for the fact that it comes with a 12" vinyl soundtrack LP! The rest of the items are appropriately related to the game, and the whole set is nicely presented! The benchmark for aspiring CE's!


Also worthy of a mention is the Far Cry 2 CE, but mainly because of the wooden box it comes in. I would also like to give The Godfather (UK PAL PS2) a worthy mention as well as I like the satin-lined 'coffin' case which the SteelBook comes in, although it's not much to look at on a shelf