I just had the oppurtunity to play half-life 2 on my friends new alienware system and all I have to say is Fucking game of the year!!
Holy shit the graphics are unreal!! The game play is excellent, although I did not get to play it through, but still very fun.
Anyway, as far as outdoor graphics goes, this one pwns! I would say indoor graphics Doom 3 slightly is better. The physics within the game is great too, all objects react very well within the environment.
Oh yeah, counter strike source is very nice, it just makes the CS game alot better with the new source engine!
Another game I had the oppurtunity to play was LOTR:Battle for middle earth, I am a big RTS fan and it lived up to my expectations as an RTS addict. The graphics, music, and game play is great. The only thing I did not like was the AI, I mean the hardest setting is pretty pathetic to play against. Me and my friends tried taking on all hards and it was a walk in the park! They should learn a little from Blizzard on AI, here's a hint give the comp twice the resources and have the bastard attack early and often! But that's the cheap way of doing it!

The next game I'll be waiting for!

Battlefield 2