Well
they’re coming thick and fast now aren’t they! The Top 10 Games for 2004 are
here, although it’s not a stellar year looking back it still boasts some top
quality games that are still played thoroughly today.
As is the
norm, I must emphasise that the list is based on games and platforms that had
their release date in the EU in 2004. Not the US ,
Australia or Japan
That is why
one of the games on here, that was released in other areas in 2003 is on this
list, and why another game from this year that was released in North America in
2004 will not make this years list, but next years. Anyway, I digress…
7 of the
games in the top ten were available to buy and play on the PC, while there were
2 each for the XBOX and PS2 and 1 for the GBA. There were none for the GameCube
and you can tell that this year and 2005 were transition years for the console
world due to the impending release of the Xbox 360, PS3 and Nintendo Piss. Also
the Nintendo DS was released in North America
in November 2004, meaning that the GBA probably makes it final showing in these
lists.
2004 was a
year for shooting things with guns, as 5 of the top ten games were FPS games
and September through to November was the popular period, with 6 of the 10 games
being released in this timeframe.
Without
further ado, I introduce game No. 10 on our list. It’s a PC game, it’s a First
Person Shooter and from 2004 this game broke boundaries in gameplay and
graphics that could possibly be seen as the first in a new wave of graphical
wonder games…
10. Far Cry – FPS – PC (Mar 04)
Developer:
Crytek
Publisher:
Ubisoft
Developer
Crytek, who you will know more for the Crysis series of games comes their first
full game – Far Cry. As you can expect, it was a graphical marvel, paving the
way for the next generation of FPS games that played smoothly, had alternate
ways of being approached and looked graphically incredible. It’s arguable that
without the advances that Far Cry introduced, that games like CoD and
Battlefield would not be quite the games they are today.
Following
the tried and tested route of being stranded on a strange and unchartered
island, with lots of bad guys and some other things Far Cry isn’t the greatest
game so far as story goes, but it’s gameplay mechanics and graphical advances
more than deservedly places this game in 2004’s Top Ten.
Next we go
from being in a strange island to being sent to Paragon City
9. City of Heroes – MMORPG – PC (Apr
04)
Developer:
Cryptic Studios
Publisher:
NC Soft
City of
Heroes – still going strong today, with its latest update coming in March 2012,
this has always been a fascinating game, and with it’s regular updates has kept
die-hard fans hooked for over 8 years. Being able to decide on your archetype,
primary and secondary powers, your superhero name, your battle-cry and maybe
most importantly how you look baby are all fun and creative ways to start your
superhero career. You fight through different zones, levelling up and fighting
harder and harder enemies, culminating in some mega bastards in alternate
dimensions. Definitely worthy of a Top 10 place, and still a popular game
today.
As we leave
Paragon City
8. Fire Emblem – RPG / Turn Based
Strategy – GBA (Jul 04)
Developer:
Intelligent Systems
Publisher:
Nintendo
Many an
addictive hour has been spent playing Fire Emblem, and for me personally the
Red Hot Chili Peppers By The Way album
became my personal soundtrack to the game. Strangely addictive game play,
taking you back to an age when gameplay and story meant more than graphics
(before No. 10 came along to blow that theory out of the water!)
With a
story driven quest, this game (which is the first of the series released
outside Japan
Staying in
the fantasy genre, we go from a Japanese constructed RPG/TBS to a thoroughly
British RPG with massive elements of Open World structure thrown in…
7. Fable – RPG / Open World – XBOX
(Oct 04)
Developer:
Big Blue Box
Publisher:
Microsoft Games Studios
Yes that’s
right, Big Blue Box bring you gallivanting into Fable. It’s a big open world
RPG game, from the mind of British gaming guru – Peter Molyneux.
Basically,
it follows your kinda typical RPG game – you perform quests, side-quests, chat
to people, level up and advance the story. But following on from 2003’s
MonkeyBoxGaming GotY – Knights of the Old Republic, it’s not as cut and dried
as that. You can choose whether to be nice as pie, or a complete arsehole. The
choice is yours, and depending on your alignment your ending will be different.
The gameplay is easy, meaning there’s no long learning curve with playing it
and the dialogue and script of the game is very British. With a good bit of
British humour and a well written story, Fable is a good game to represent the
quality of gaming from these fair isles.
From Fable
and its lovable characters and chucklesome dialogue, to Mars…and some scary
shit to boot…
6. Doom 3 – FPS / Survival Horror –
PC (Aug 04)
Developer:
id Software
Publisher:
Activision
If you
consider yourself a gamer, and you’ve not (at the very fucking least ) heard of
Doom then go back to knitting you prat. The Doom franchise is one of the most
influential and popular in gaming history, from the masters of the FPS – id
Software – the 3rd incarnation of Doom comes with more scary moments
than the majority of horror films ever released. Obviously much more
graphically advanced than the original 2 games, and with that extra amount of
amazing graphics comes with it the ability not just to use them, but in a way
not to use them. Large parts of the game are entirely pitch black, with the
player relying on his flashlight to traverse the level and find the nasty
enemies. Fair enough I suppose, makes it a bit more real…oh yeah while your
flashlight is equipped, your gun is holstered.
This part
of the gameplay alone adds an extra dimension of shit your pants panic that
cements Doom in the 21st Century as a horror game as much as it is a
FPS.
As we enter
the top 5 of 2004, have a bit of a think. Think of games you played, or play
now that you’ve been playing for years from 2004 – there really can only be 5
choices and I hope you agree…
From one
FPS by the innovators and inventors of the genre to another by giants of the
genre, who don’t need to re-release the same tat year on year to prove anything
to those who know…
5. Counter-Strike: Source – FPS – PC
(Nov 04)
Developer:
Valve
Publisher:
Valve
The remake
of MonkeyBoxGaming’s 2000 GotY, Counter-Strike, Counter-Strike Source or CSS is
a fantastic game, and can be seen on such sites as Pure Pwnage – awesome
web-series…BOOOM HEADSHOT!!! The gameplay is pretty similar as the original and
the goals are the same – Terrorists vs Counter-Terrorists in deathmatch,
diffuse the bomb etc. Purely about the multiplayer the way only Valve can do,
CSS is a brilliantly social game, and can create and also destroy
friendships…or so I’m led to believe!
CSS is well
worthy of it’s top 5 place if only for this actual fact. As of the time of
writing, which is 20:56 on Saturday 28/07/12, CSS has just under 11,000 more
gamers on Steam than CoD MW 3. 10,990 to be exact. Still massively popular,
consistently fun, and enjoying a huge cult following, CSS deserves at least
it’s No. 5 spot on this list. FYI the original CS has 8,130 more gamers online
at this moment than CSS, meaning it has 19,120 more players than the latest
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare game.
We move
from Valve’s CSS to another FPS that doubles as a Third Person Shooter. And
it’s sometimes so hard to get away from that Galaxy, far, far away…
4. Star Wars: Battlefront – FPS / 3rd
Person Shooter – PC/PS2/XBOX (Sep 04)
Developer:
Pandemic Studios
Publisher:
Lucasarts
That’s
right, in at No. 4 we have Star Wars Battlefront. Yes it’s another FPS, and yes
it’s another Star Wars game, but hell well Star Wars games are good they’re
great, and when they’re bad, they’re fucking awful.
SWBF is
similar to EA’s Battlefield game where you are a soldier (one of 4 classes:
infantry, heavy, pilot or sniper) battles the forces of evil, or good depending
on your allegiance. The game doesn’t really follow a proper narrative, just
that it lets you get involved in some of the battles of the Star Wars universe
from the perspective of a foot soldier, instead of the usual big character or
ace pilot - which is refreshing in itself.
Many, many,
happy hours spent playing SWBF yielded some great fun and the want to go back
for more. So many cups of coffee, gone cold by being ignored in favour of
shooting up some stormtroopers, but that’s ok…I like cold coffee. Also this is
a good crossover game from the 2 trilogies, incorporating the big battles of
the original trilogy (Galactic Civil War: Galactic Empire vs Rebel Alliance)
and the prequel trilogy (Seperatist Crisis/Clone Wars: Galactic Republic vs
Confederacy of Independent Systems).
Unfortunately
the game was released a year before Episode III came out, so the prequel
battles end with the Battle of Kashyyyk (Wookiee Homeworld), so the prequel
battles aren’t as much to do with the Clone Wars and more the
Seperatists…anyway I could go on about the game and Star Wars history but I’ve
got a top ten list to finish, and speaking of finishing we come to our Bronze
Medal Winner.
From Star
Wars to one of the most heavily decorated games of all time, unfortunately for
me personally, it’s still up there but pipped at the post by 2 others from this
year which spank it completely…anyway where’s my crowbar?
3. Half-Life 2 – FPS – PC (Nov 04)
Developer:
Valve
Publisher:
Valve / Sierra
That’s
right, we go to the world of Black Mesa and Gordon Freeman with his lovely
crowbar. Following on a good 20 years (in game) after Half-Life was released,
Half-Life 2 is an absolutely phenomenal game, well worthy of it’s 39 GoTY
awards, and several Game of the Decade awards. To be honest this game would
have been number one on my list if the current occupants of 2 and 1 were
released any other year…but then I suppose that’s obvious…
Gordon
returns in HL2 for an amazing FPS which breaks the mould and delivers an
amazing story which stands up today as one of the best games ever made. After
the events of Half-Life in which Black Mesa accidentally opened like a massive
vortex that started a little incident which Gordon ended, it all went a bit
bigger and kinda ruined the world. The enigmatic G-Man is evident in and around the game, and the gameplay is
exceptional, resulting in an amazing experience and resulting in something very
special, not just a critical and commercial success, but an instant cult
classic.
From Gordon’s
crowbar wielding, rollercoaster experience to something a bit more mundane, a
bit more normal, a bit more like life…
2. The Sims 2 – Life Simulation – PC
(Sep 04)
Developer:
Maxis
Publisher:
Electronic Arts
That’s
right, you can pretty much guarantee any year that has a new Sims release will
have it included into the vast majority of Top Ten Games lists around the
world. A lot has changed from The Sims to its second incarnation, and it proved
such a successful formula that it is the most commercially successful PC game
of all time, reportedly selling over 20 million copies. That is pretty special.
From trying
to make ends meet, and actually feeling that pang of “Oh shit” when something
goes wrong, knowing that it’s gonna be a tight few weeks, to just saying “SCREW
THIS!” and using one of the many cheats to turn it into a sandbox game where
you can design and fill your dream home. The game as a stand-alone is pretty
fantastic and utterly addictive, proving to still be one of the most amazing
games of the last year – even with The Sims 3 coming in 2009. If you haven’t
played or heard of this game then you’re likely to not be reading this blog at
all, and probably live in some kind of cave. Either that, or you’re just some
kind of cretin, with an annoying, whingey voice, who can’t stop shouting, and
moans at everything like a complete twat.
Ah-hem, so
The Sims 2 grabs our Silver Medal, an a worthy Silver it is too, however to get
to the obvious choice for Gold, you need to leave Pleasantview and head west to
Los Santos…
1. GTA: San Andreas –
Action/Adventure / Open World – PS2 (Oct 04)
Developer:
Rockstar North
Publisher:
Rockstar Studios
Of course
it is, come on let’s be serious for a minute, Half-Life 2 is ground shattering,
The Sims 2 is one of the bestselling games ever, and other games from this year
are brilliantly addictive and fun. But one game from 2004 destroys them all, it’s
a tour de force piece of gaming that is still as fun (if now graphically a
little dated) as it ever was.
The
innovations that the game brought with it in this GTA were astounding. From
simple things like riding a push-bike, to flying fast jets, and going the step
further than Vice City from just being able to change your outfit, to
completely customising your outfit from all of the clothes shops, and changing
whether you had a shaved head or a massive ‘fro. Not forgetting, your CJ Johnson
could be a porky fucker from too many Cluckin’ Bells or a buff goliath of a man
because of your trips to the gym.
The coup of
having Samuel L Jackson voice Officer Tenpenny was a well welcome addition to
the game, and the sheer vastness of the game meant that you could get lost –
literally lost – in the game needing to continually consult your in-game map. You
could get lost in the game in the other sense of the phrase, I personally enjoyed
driving out to the middle of nowhere, wait at the side of the road, and try to
get the 1-shot kills as cars drove past. Not by shooting the drivers of course,
but when you shot the gas tank the cars would just explode, like a
self-destruct button of doom. Amazingness. And that’s just my own personal
enjoyment.
The story
focusses around CJ Johnson, who returns to the San Andreas city of Los Santos,
where his mother has recently died. Bad times. You find that shit gets from bad
to worse generally after that, and then things get a little better, then worse
again, then really worse, and finally kinda better as you go from a gangsta
from da hood, cycling around with your mates, going for some chicken, to a
complete fucking mogul. With cameos from Vice City and GTA III coming into play
as well San Andreas is one of the best games ever made, and still keeps people
captivated today.
Well that
was the Top Ten Games 2004 list, with another GTA game coming top of the pile.
The mid-naughties were rife with some classic games, but also rife with some
tat as we moved away from the XBOX/PS2 generation and entered our current gen
of the Xbox 360 and PS3. 2004 believe it or not was also the year Nintendo
introduced the world to the DS, yes the DS is 8 years old this year.
Keep
checking back on the site for more Top Ten Lists, the next one being 2005’s
list and also I’m currently ploughing through Knights of the Old Republic on
the Xbox 360, even though it’s better now by a mile on the PC (playing it on
the 360 is very buggy and very glitchy) which will result in a full review of
the game – and as my story driven gaming personality dictates, I will be
playing KotOR 2 straight after, and now that The Exile in number 2 has a canon
name (Meetra Surik, Female) it’s going to make the playthrough for me a little
bit better.
Happy
Gaming!
Toolbox 24
GTA: Vice City, is definitely another one for the ages. Capitalising on GTA:III’s success from the year before, Rockstar stepped it up a notch, by going bigger, badder, and back to the 80’s. If I hear the song Dance Hall Days by Wang Chung, I am immediately thrown back to the beaches, the Hawaiian shirts and short-sleeved jackets of 1980’s Vice City. And I am also thrown back into the shoes of the much loved character Tommy Vercetti, voiced by the iconic Ray Liotta. So much loved was Tommy, that when the recent trailer for GTA:IV was released, the older character in it was touted to be an older Tommy Vercetti by thousands of fans who had seen the trailer and tried to dissect it – this rumour was met with an amazing buzz and excitement from even more fans. Unfortunately this was put to bed by Ray Liotta, who has denied any involvement with the game. Even if the character is Vercetti – he wont be the same without Liotta’s voice. Anyway, I’ve sidetracked quite amazingly here, the point being however that the character you play as Tommy Vercetti is lovable, likeable, hard as nails and brings some of that Liberty City toughness to the (at first appearance anyway) soft streets of Vice City. We see some links to GTA:III in this game, but it’s a fan favourite of many due to the setting and the incredible voice cast. Also the game improved on GTA:III by adding helicopters and motorbikes to the repertoire of usable vehicles – as well as more melee weapons. From the start, Vice City’s story is gripping, engaging and full of plot twists and turns. If it were any other time period, it wouldn’t have worked, it’s a story that fit’s into the 80’s like bad clothes, funky tunes and cheesy attitude. Unfortunately however this game is pipped to the top spot by a game of even grander proportions.
