If there was ever a year to drop £1000 on a monster PC, this was it. Valve had been working on Half Life 2 since dinosaurs walked the Earth but it finally arrived and was well worth the wait. Then Blizzard dropped the nuke-sized bomb that was World of Warcraft - the biggest game in history. 'Nuff said.
The Runners-up Okay Nintendo fans, there's nothing in there for you. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes was fantastic, but just missed the cut. Unreal Tournament 2004 and Ninja Gaiden were near-misses as well.
But our four runners up are in a league of their own. MGS3: Snake Eater was the best of the MGS series before the major refresh in MGS4, and GTA: San Andreas gave urban riot fans the freedom to wreak havoc in an almost unbelievably large world - far bigger and more varied than GTAIV's.
Halo 2 might not have had the single-player campaign we hoped for, but its legendary online multiplayer took the top spot on Xbox Live's most played list and didn't budge until well into the Xbox 360's lifespan, when Halo 3 launched.
Then there's Half Life 2 - widely disputed to be the best PC game of all time. But with millions of paying players and a continuously growing universe, there's only one genre-defining game that could have won this year...
The Winner: World of Warcraft
No games of the decade list worth its salt could go without mentioning the true titan of the noughties - arguably the most popular game of all-time - Blizzard's monster MMO, World of WarCraft.
At the time of writing WoW has amassed over 12 million subscribers and earned Blizzard enough cash to run Belgium for another ten years. Success was always inevitable thanks to Blizzard's religiously loyal fan base and history of quality releases, but no one could ever have seen its game becoming the true monster it has.
No other MMO before or since has managed to amass this level of exposure among the general populous. WoW has penetrated the mainstream through TV shows like South Park and advertised directly to the wider audience through telly ads starring Ozzy Osbourne and Mr. T.
And its popularity is shown in Activision Blizzard's earnings too - of which it makes up half - and the $1 billion gold farming industry it's helped build across the world. Oh, and it's quite a good game as well; thoughtfully designed, charmingly presented with constant player reward and a world that demands to be explored.
Only Half Life 2 from that list that I like personally but they are all worthy contenders with the exception of the immense disappointment that was Halo 2. MGS3 was beautifully done but I just got bored; must be the only person who preferred the 2nd one to the 3rd.
Now, I haven't played World of Warcraft; some of my friends are hooked though.But Half Life 2 is one of the best games made full stop. WoW must be orgasmic by comparison...
I loved the way Halo 2's campaign went and know of one person who agrees! I was hoping for more insight into the Covenant and it most certainly delivered that for me. Arbiter rules!
I found HL2 highly overrated. Its a good game, but i dont get all the fuss about it. WoW is the biggest time waster on the planet, but you can't deny the effect that it has had on the industry. MGS3 was well ahead of its time, had a fantastic story but hideous controls. Halo 2 is junk compared to the first, though it did wonders for online console multiplayer, and San Andreas was the evolution of Vice City, but it lost the..well Miami Vice influence, and aesthetically suffered. Its a tough one, There was also Pickmin 2, Riddick, Burnout 3 and Kingdom under Fire. Though i understand industry wise HL2 or WoW would be more important, Burnout 3 and Kingdom under fire are my games of the year.
The best in the series, you can't beat that rainy junglr setting and the bosses.
Only criticism of it is the fact they cut out too much back-story and dialogue after people moaned so much about the plot-heavy MGS2.
Half- life 2 - I bought it, played through it once and was amazed. 2 years later I picked up the case and thought I really want to play through this again. But when I re-installed I couldn't remember my password and the email account that was linked to the account was no longer in use.
So there was no way I could play it again, even though I spent £30 or whatever on it, which is absolutely ridiculous. I still have the CD and box which is just un-usable now.
It's a tough decision this time around but I think CVG got it right . Although I think Half-Life 2 is the best game ever created in every aspect with its solid story and fascinating characters like "Alex and Dog" of course. But WOW was different a massive game which is almost perfect in every way . I know its was a tough decision coz both Blizzard and valve have a history of making perfect games but I think it was the right decision in my opinion , Cmon how many other games do you know that can be referred to as "WOW" . And WOW it was ......
These 5 choices give a small glimmer of just how many sequels there were in that year, especially with the number '2' after the title. There has never been a year before or since like 2004 for sequels:
Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, Doom 3, Burnout 3: Takedown, GTA: San Andreas, Silent Hill 4: The Room, Ratchet and Clank 3, Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, Knights of the old republic II, Viewtiful Joe 2, Mario Power Tennis, Pikmin 2, The Sims 2, Need for speed Underground 2, Final Fantasy XI.
I haven't played World of Warcraft. It's not my kind of thing. I played Half Life 2 on the Xbox and was a bit disappointed to start with actually. The reason is that I was traditionally a Sega(and then a Nintendo) player and the likes of Metroid Prime would never make you do anything as mundane as putting litter in a bin at the start of the game. But then I realised how great the 'Route Kanal' level was and that Valve seemed to have been taking notes from games like Silent Hill and Resident Evil with 'We don't go to ravenholme'. I still didn't think that the Xbox graphics did justice to the game but, now playing The Orange Box on the Xbox360 it seems much better. I'm not sure why Episode 1 went on to be relatively dull but Episode 2 is back to being great.
No game can ever authoritiavely be said to be the best ever though. It’s like comparing apples and oranges to compare Half Life 2 to, say, Super Mario World. Even to compare it to other 3D games it is a matter of personal taste as to what blend of gameplay types you like in your games. For me, Jet Set Radio is one of the finest 3D games because it is fun, quirky and well designed. Half Life 2 is too but certainly not in the same way that Sega make their games.
I'm sorry, but World of Warcraft looks like turd, plays like turd. The community is full of obnouxious children, sex pests, and very much a disaster like Playstation Home.
Good things out of it? It had a MMO structure and plenty of updates.
But it was easy to bank people, to cheat in the game, then it slowly became broken.
And what was it? 15 american dollars to experince this 'premium' game? No thanks.
I try not to get involved with these GOTY things that sites make, but this time I just have to. This should have gone to MGS3: Snake Eater. WoW is a great game in it's own right, but MGS3 was not just the best game of 2004, it was the best game of the decade, imo.
I find myself knowing quite a few gamers and I never knew 1 that actually played WoW. That's ether because those people don't leave their homes at all or they are embarrassed to say they do play it which says it all. I myself have played it and thought it was ok for 5min then I was done. I hear pacing in that game is very poor with players doing an epic quest with dragons and s**t then the next quest they are hunting rats, wtf is tht?
I cant decide between MGS and HL as those are 2 extraordinary games but I am sure one of those should have won.
btw when it 1st launched what were the sale figures? All this mainstream publicity has only been recent so can you say a game was the best of its year when it started going crazy a few years later? +CVG you have to get it by now that most users or whatever does not mean best game or best anything.
MGS3 was utter pants. It was so dense with Kojimas own boring f**king ramblings on well, everything i just couldn't play it. I don't want a lecture on japanese cinema and the impact that being the only nation ever to have nuclear weapons against them has had on it.
I've never played a Metal Gear Solid game but, from what I've read, it was MGS4 that was more self obsessed with huge cut scenes. MGS3: Snake Eater looks more fun. In fact I'd argue that the third game in any series is usually more fun than the fourth. Sonic 3, Curse of Monkey Island, Quake 3, Silent Hill 3, Devil May Cry 3. There may be more good Part 3s than part 2s in fact.
MGS 3 was an amazing game. Granted... the controls were annoying and I know some people who couldn't get beyond that problem. For me, once I got to some grips with the lack of camera in the gameplay it was the most involving and immersive game ever made. The production was so tight and the story was brilliant in relation to the world created by Kojima. I used to have dreams about it. The opening theme 'Snake Eater' has to be hands down the best original recording on any game ever. And, it got even better when 'Subsistence' was released with a freed up camera and all the extras. And the Boss battles.... nothing comes close to the boss battles. The PS3 game was good but 'Snake Eater' is still the best in the series.
MGS3 was utter pants. It was so dense with Kojimas own boring f**king ramblings on well, everything i just couldn't play it. I don't want a lecture on japanese cinema and the impact that being the only nation ever to have nuclear weapons against them has had on it.
Least MGS4 made up for it in spades.
I don't agree.
MGS3 has the least dialoge and philosophical rambling out of all the MGS's.
Like I said, in my opinion, there is not enough story and dialogue in that version, but that is just me.
It is almost like an action-MGS game, and absolutely bloody incredible. And that is from recent experience: I played it for the first time early this year.
The hours long battle with The End (the wheel-chair-bound super-sniper) in that massive rainy forest is a golden moment of gaming.
Crawling in the wet grass - snakes and frogs hopping past - you go through all your different modes of sight (thermal, night-vision etc) in a bid to spot the camouflaged monster in the trees who is trying to kill you.
Waiting in the bushes for any movement that would give his position away, all you can hear is the animals around you...then you realise you can spot the old fart by using your directional mic to hear his breathing!!
CVG, I just feel the need to point out that being the most commercially successful game does not make WOW the best of 2004. I played it and thought it was complete rubbish, to be honest, as well as being a hugely over-priced rip-off. £9 a month? No thanks. You can rent infinite games for a quid more than that! 12 million subscribers!? There are more morons in the world than I thought. It's worse than Facebook addiction. While I do enjoy playing games, I enjoy a whole lot more besides, and I implore these sad individuals to go out and obtain lives.
MGS3 was utter pants. It was so dense with Kojimas own boring f**king ramblings on well, everything i just couldn't play it. I don't want a lecture on japanese cinema and the impact that being the only nation ever to have nuclear weapons against them has had on it.
Least MGS4 made up for it in spades.
I don't agree.
MGS3 has the least dialoge and philosophical rambling out of all the MGS's.
Like I said, in my opinion, there is not enough story and dialogue in that version, but that is just me.
It is almost like an action-MGS game, and absolutely bloody incredible. And that is from recent experience: I played it for the first time early this year.
The hours long battle with The End (the wheel-chair-bound super-sniper) in that massive rainy forest is a golden moment of gaming.
Crawling in the wet grass - snakes and frogs hopping past - you go through all your different modes of sight (thermal, night-vision etc) in a bid to spot the camouflaged monster in the trees who is trying to kill you.
Waiting in the bushes for any movement that would give his position away, all you can hear is the animals around you...then you realise you can spot the old fart by using your directional mic to hear his breathing!!
GENIUS!
MGS3 is amazing, and achieved more storyline-wise than MGS1 & 2 combined, despite being much more concise (a huge plus, given 2 & 4's endless cutscenes). It was also the only game in a long time to make me get a little choked up over the ending. I'd buy it again in HD, no problem.
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