GameSpot's Best and Worst Video Games of 2004

GameSpot ^ | 12-14-04 | Tor Thorsen

[silent_jonny]

With 2005 just around the corner, it is almost time once again for GameSpot's ninth annual Best and Worst of the Year Awards. The Awards begin this Friday night, with our Year in Review news roundup, and coverage of the finalists in the Dubious Honors, Genre Awards, Platform Awards, and Special Achievement Awards categories.

Then, starting this weekend, GameSpot will start handing out medals to the winners of the Special Achievement Awards (Saturday, December 18) and Dubious Honors (Sunday, December 19). Next week will see the winners in the Genre Awards (Monday, December 20) and the Platform Awards (Tuesday, December 21). GameSpot Live will be running exclusive video content showcasing the winners of each category.

Next Tuesday will also see the 10 finalists for the Game of the Year named. The following day, GameSpot will crown our 2004 Game of the Year across all platforms. The next day, it will be your turn to pick your favorite game of the year when the voting for GameSpot's Readers' Choice Awards begins. The winners in those categories will be named on Saturday, January 17 at 6:00pm PST.

A near-complete listing of categories and finalists is below. To discuss the finalists, categories, or anything else awards-related, go to our official GameSpot's Best and Worst of 2004 forum.

CATEGORIES AND FINALISTS

SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARDS (FINALISTS)

Best Original Music
The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From
Butcher Bay (Xbox, PC)
Halo 2 (Xbox)
Katamari Damacy (PS2)
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2)
Myst IV Revelation (PC)

Most Surprisingly Good Game
City of Heroes (PC)
The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From
Butcher Bay (PC, Xbox)
Greg Hastings' Tournament Paintball (Xbox)
Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders (Xbox)
TrackMania (PC)

Best Licensed Music
Battlefield Vietnam (PC)
Def Jam: Fight for NY (Xbox, GC, PS2)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2)
Red Dead Revolver (Xbox, PS2)
Tony Hawk's Underground 2 (PC, Xbox, GC, PS2)

Best Story
The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From
Butcher Bay (PC, Xbox)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2)
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2)
Myst IV Revelation (PC)
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (GC)

Best Sound Effects
The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From
Butcher Bay (PC, Xbox)
Half-Life 2 (PC)
Halo 2 (Xbox)
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2)
Myst IV Revelation (PC)

Best Graphics, Technical
The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From
Butcher Bay (PC, Xbox)
Doom 3 (PC)
Far Cry (PC)
Half-Life 2 (PC)
Rome: Total War (PC)

Best Voice Acting
The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From
Butcher Bay (PC, Xbox)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2)
Half-Life 2 (PC)
Otogi 2: Immortal Warriors (Xbox)
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II:
The Sith Lords (Xbox)

Best Graphics, Artistic
Half-Life 2 (PC)
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2)
Myst IV Revelation (PC)
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (GC)
World of Warcraft (PC)

Best Expansion Pack
Call of Duty: United Offensive (PC)
IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles - Ace (PC)
Rise of Nations: Thrones and Patriots (PC)
Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed (PC)
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Athena Sword (PC)

Best Game Based on a TV or Film Property
The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From
Butcher Bay (PC, Xbox)
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 (PS2)
James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing (Xbox, PS2, GC)
The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth (PC)
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II:
The Sith Lords (Xbox)

Best Budget Game
Colin McRae Rally 04 (Xbox)
ESPN NFL 2K5 (Xbox, PS2)
ESPN NHL 2K5 (Xbox, PS2)
Guilty Gear X2 #Reload (Xbox)
Katamari Damacy (PS2)

Best New Character
The Boss - Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2)
Dog - Half-Life 2 (PC)
The King of All Cosmos - Katamari Damacy (PS2)
Kreia - Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II:
The Sith Lords (Xbox)
Ryder - Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2)

Funniest Game
Alien Hominid (GC, PS2)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2)
Katamari Damacy (PS2)
Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude (PC, Xbox, PS2)
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (GC)

Biggest News
Acclaim shutters offices, staffers ushered off premises
Big Deal: EA and NFL ink exclusive licensing agreement
ESPN NFL 2K5 officially $19.99
PSP hitting Japan on December 12 for $185
Valve vs. Vivendi Universal dogfight heats
up in US District Court

Most Innovative Game
The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From
Butcher Bay (PC, Xbox)
Feel the Magic: XY/XX (DS)
Full Spectrum Warrior (PC, Xbox)
Katamari Damacy (PS2)
Perimeter (PC)

Best Multiplayer Game
Burnout 3: Takedown (Xbox, PS2)
ESPN NFL 2K5 (Xbox, PS2)
Halo 2 (Xbox)
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow (Xbox, PC)
Unreal Tournament 2004 (PC)

Best Use of a Celebrity
James Woods (Mike Toreno) - Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2)
Jean Reno (Jacques) - Onimusha 3: Demon Siege (PS2)
Samuel L. Jackson (Officer Tenpenny) - Grand
Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2)
Vin Diesel (Richard B. Riddick) - The Chronicles
of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay (Xbox, PC)
Willem Dafoe (Nikolai Diavolo) - James Bond 007:
Everything or Nothing (Xbox, GC, PS2)

Best Original Game Mechanic
Burnout 3: Takedown (Xbox, PS2)
The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From
Butcher Bay (Xbox, PC)
Fight Night 2004 (Xbox, GC, PS2)
Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy (Xbox, PS2)
Halo 2 (Xbox)

Most Improved Sequel
Burnout 3: Takedown (Xbox, PS2)
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 (PS2)
FIFA Soccer 2005 (PC, Xbox, GC, PS2)
Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders (Xbox)
Unreal Tournament 2004 (PC)

DUBIOUS HONORS

Most Despicable Product Placement
Cy Girls (PS2)
Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel (Xbox, PS2)
Need for Speed Underground 2 (PC, Xbox, GC, PS2)

Worst Use of Celebrity Voices
The Bard's Tale (Xbox, PS2)
Catwoman (PC, Xbox, GC, PS2)
ESPN NFL 2K5 (Xbox, PS2)
Need for Speed Underground 2 (PC, Xbox, GC, PS2)
WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw (PS2)

Most Disappointing Delay
Forza Motorsport (Xbox)
Gran Turismo 4 (PS2)
Resident Evil 4 (GC)
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (PC)
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory (PC, Xbox)

Biggest Disappointment
Driver 3 (Xbox, PS2)
Doom 3 (PC)
Halo 2 (Xbox)
Fable (Xbox)
GoldenEye: Rogue Agent (Xbox, GC, PS2)

Worst Use of a Good License
Bad Boys: Miami Takedown (Xbox, GC, PS2)
Fight Club (Xbox, PS2)
GoldenEye: Rogue Agent (Xbox, GC, PS2)
Seven Samurai 20XX (PS2)
Spider-Man 2 (PC)

War of the Year
Vietnam
[The War] on Terror

Best Game No One Played
Codename: Panzers, Phase One (PC)
Otogi 2: Immortal Warriors (Xbox)
Silent Storm (PC)
TrackMania (PC)
Wade Hixton's Counter Punch (GBA)

Flat-Out Worst Game
Apocalyptica (PC)
Bad Boys: Miami Takedown (Xbox, GC, PS2)
Big Rigs: Over the Road Racing (PC)
FBI Hostage Rescue (PC)
Space Raiders (GC)

GENRE AWARDS

Best Action Adventure Game
The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From
Butcher Bay (PC, Xbox)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2)
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (PS2)
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (GC)
Ninja Gaiden (Xbox)

Best Shooter
Half-Life 2 (PC)
Halo 2 (Xbox)
Far Cry (PC)
Painkiller (PC)
Unreal Tournament 2004 (PC)

Best Fighting Game
Dead or Alive Ultimate (Xbox)
Def Jam: Fight for NY (Xbox, GC, PS2)
Dragon Ball Z: Budokai 3 (PS2)
Guilty Gear X2 #Reload (Xbox)
Mortal Kombat: Deception (Xbox, PS2)

Best Platformer
Kirby & the Amazing Mirror (GBA)
Jak 3 (PS2)
Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal (PS2)
Sly 2: Band of Thieves (PS2)
Sonic Advance 3 (GBA)

Best Adventure Game
Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly Director's Cut (Xbox)
Law & Order: Justice is Served (PC)
Myst IV Revelation (PC)
Silent Hill 4: The Room (PC, Xbox)
Syberia II (PC)

Best Driving Game
Burnout 3: Takedown (Xbox, PS2)
Colin McRae Rally 2005 (PC, Xbox)
NASCAR 2005: Chase for the Cup (Xbox, PS2, GC)
Rallisport Challenge 2 (Xbox)
TOCA Race Driver 2: The Ultimate Racing Simulator (PC, Xbox)

Best Puzzle/Rhythm Game
Feel the Magic: XY/XX (DS)
Dance Dance Revolution Extreme (PS2)
Karaoke Revolution 3 (PS2)
Katamari Damacy (PS2)
Mario vs. Donkey Kong (GBA)

Best Role-Playing Game
Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean (GC)
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (GC)
Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne (PS2)
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II:
The Sith Lords (Xbox)
Tales of Symphonia (GC)

Best Traditional Sports Game
ESPN NFL 2K5 (Xbox, PS2)
ESPN NHL 2K5 (Xbox, PS2)
Fight Night 2004 (Xbox, PS2, GC)
MVP Baseball 2004 (Xbox, PS2, GC)
World Soccer Winning Eleven 7 International (PC, PS2)

Best Alternative Sports Game
Mario Power Tennis (GC)
NBA Ballers (Xbox, PS2)
NFL Street (Xbox, GC, PS2)
Pool Paradise (GC, PS2)
Tony Hawk's Underground 2 (PC, Xbox, GC, PS2)

Best Strategy Game
Kingdom Under Fire: The Crusaders (Xbox)
Rome: Total War (PC)
Sid Meier's Pirates! (PC)
Silent Storm (PC)
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War (PC)

PLATFORM AWARDS

Best N-Gage Game
Asphalt: Urban GT
Colin McRae Rally 2005
FIFA Soccer 2005
Pathway to Glory
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm

Best Game Boy Advance Game
Astro Boy: Omega Factor
Kirby & the Amazing Mirror
Metroid: Zero Mission
Pokémon FireRed Version / Pokémon LeafGreen Version
Sonic Advance 3

Best GameCube Game
Mario Power Tennis
Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
Pikmin 2
Tales of Symphonia

Best PlayStation 2 Game
Burnout 3: Takedown
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
World Soccer Winning Eleven 7 International

Best Xbox Game
Burnout 3: Takedown
The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay
Halo 2
Ninja Gaiden
Rallisport Challenge 2

Best PC Game
The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay - Developer's Cut
Half-Life 2
Rome: Total War
Unreal Tournament 2004
World of Warcraft

GAME OF THE YEAR (FINALISTS)
To be announced on Tuesday, December 21 (11:00am PST):

GAME OF THE YEAR (WINNER)
To be announced on Wednesday, December 22 (11:00am PST)

READERS' CHOICE AWARDS (Voting Begins Thursday, December 23, 11:00am PST)

[silent_jonny]

Games are probably on your Christmas list--either for yourself or for someone else--so I thought you might find the above list useful.

My Best & Worst List

The best game I played this year:
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (this is the best game I've ever played--period)

The worst game I played this year:
Syphon Filter: Omega Strain (completely pointless sequel with terrible graphics and horrible mechanics)

The most surprisingly good game I played this year:
Red Dead Revolver

The most disappointing game I played this year:
Call of Duty: Finest Hour (a strictly by-the-numbers shooter, no where near as exciting as the hype led me to believe)

[swilhelm73]

Most Despicable Product Placement?

What kind of category is that?

And what's with the uber-PC War of the Year?

[Dan from Michigan]

Best Voice Acting Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2)

LOL.
"Are you a profession moron, or just a gifted amateur?!"
"What kind of license you got - a fishin' license?"

BTW - The new Leisure Suit Larry is for Playstation 2? Alright! It won't run on my dinosaur PC.

[silent_jonny]

And what's with the uber-PC War of the Year?

That means that a certain war was focused more on this year than any other. This year it was Vietnam and the WOT. Some years it's WWII.

[Strategerist]

Rome: Total War is freakin' awesome.

[Steel Wolf]

I'm a huge City of Heroes fan. I mean, you can make your own superhero! I've wasted so many hours battling evil it's silly. That's a game I may literally never get tired of.

Biggest disappointment: Knights of the Old Republic II. I loved KOTOR so much I was probably setting myself up, but jeez. All kinds of interesting story lines that went NOWHERE. It's like they just ran out of time and stopped making the game. I was willing to overlook a lot, too, but this was simply too much.

[COEXERJ145]

Funny, of all the games listed, the only one I have and played is Call of Duty: United Offensive.

[Future Snake Eater]

I can see them putting down "Doom 3" as one of the year's biggest disappointments, but they didn't even list it in the "best graphics" category? Come on now...give credit where credit is due!

[silent_jonny]

Doom 3(PC) is nominated under "Best Graphics Technical".

[KoRn]

Jump To Lightspeed was a great expansion to Star Wars Galaxies, but since the original game was so broke, boring, I'll stop now. It just couldn't succeed. :-(

[Libloather]

Still the best -

[NImerc]

My biggest dissapointment was hands down DOOM 3. Along with Everquest II. (both PC)

Currently playing Warhammer: Dawn of War and I must say it rocks. If your into RTS this is a great looking and great playing game with plenty of carnage, if your into that sort of thing :)

[rb22982]

Go World of Warcraft =)

[silent_jonny]

Old School! :)

[Shooter 2.5]

I have played Halo 2, HalfLife 2 and Doom 3. It's not that I think Halo 2 is the best game out there but the people lined up to buy it at Midnight should speak for itself.

[SaveTheChief]

City of Heroes is great. I have had a lot of fun battling evil in that game too. If I get tired of working with one of my heroes, I play another of a different type.

Now that World of Warcraft is out, it is difficult for me to justify paying for more than one MMOG at a time. I am going to give it a couple of months to see which one of the two I like best.

WoW is beautiful, by the way.

[Psycho_Bunny]

I had the same experience with MOH: Pacific Assault - that game seriously sucks.  I uninstalled it about a fourth of the way through.

I'm surprised D3 didn't make the lists more:  it was stellar.  I hadn't been freaked-out by a game in a long time.

HL2 is waaaaayyyy over rated.  And WTF is up with the ending?  Just when you reach the point that you expect you're going to be transported to another dimension BAM!  The game's over.  It's like the coders just gave up and called it quits.

And don't even get me started on Steam for HL2....IF I HAVE TO CONNECT TO THE INTERNET TO AUTHENTICATE MY COPY OF THE GAME EVERY FREAKIN' TIME I PLAY IT THEN WHY DO I HAVE TO INSERT THE PLAY DISK?  ONE OR THE OTHER, A$$HOLES - NOT BOTH!!!!!!

ARG!

BF: Vietnam was sweet but there are serious problems with the connect net-code......which really surprised me.

Riddick for PC was good.....but not THAT good.

I just picked up Battle for Middle-Earth yesterday.....so far it's pretty impressive.

[superfluousdude]

a better one from one of the ghetto pedestrians...

"That ese put dust in my weed!"

or

"I smoke weed cause it gives me knowledge."

[silent_jonny]

I haven't played Halo 2 yet (mostly because I've never played Halo 1 :o)

[silent_jonny]

I sense anger.

[Shooter 2.5]

I thought Doom 3 was also a disappointment until it was explained the players didn't want a different storyline for Doom. They just wanted the exact game with different graphics and that's what ID delivered.

As far as most despicable game, won't the Freepers nominate JFK Reloaded?

If anyone is interested in an entertaining Arcade game, I could suggest the Oddworld series.

[Libloather]

Antiballistic missiles are old school? Since when - the last millennium?

[COEXERJ145]

I've never really liked the DOOM or Quake series. For the FPS games, I always liked Delta Force with DF2 being the best of the series. However, Novalogic has some new game called Joint Operations which is crap IMHO.

Right now I've been playing Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault. The graphics are excellent and while it does take certain liberties to history (simply because it is a game) they did do okay with accuracy. The game starts with boot camp, then you go to Pearl Harbor with orders to report aboard the U.S.S. Arizona but of course you don't make it. Then you're with the Marine raiders on Makin Atoll, then to Guadalcanal and then to Tarawa.

You get to use many of the weapons available in the Pacific War including the Thompson with the 50 round drum magazine, the Springfield 1903, M-1 Garand/M-1 Carbine, M55 SMG, BAR, etc as well as some Japanese weapons. (They give the Japanese the Type-100 Submachine Gun, which didn't exist until 1945, but that is so in online play each side will have an SMG.)

I haven't played it online yet as there don't seem to be any servers I can connect to that don't have pings over 500ms.

[silent_jonny]

Antiballistic missiles are old school? Since when - the last millennium?

The game is old school. Sheesh!

[SolitaryMan]

Try Far Cry, that is a fantastic game with a pretty good (as game go) story line. The terrain is expansive and the graphics are great.

[July 4th]

Gran Turismo 4 may be a disappointing delay, but the previews for it look outstanding. I've never seen a racing game with such realistic (and actual) local scenery.

GTA - San Andreas looks good as well, but I think I'll wait until the price drops a little on that one.

[Poser]

Have you played the Riddick thing? I've only got a PC and I like strategy and 1st person shooters.

[Cobra64]

Who cares? Is this the sand-box era here?

[silent_jonny]

As far as most despicable game, won't the Freepers nominate JFK Reloaded?

I nominate "Shellshock Nam 67"--if John Kerry wanted to make a game about Vietnam, this would be it. Very unpleasant and inaccurate.

[SolitaryMan]

I wish the old Front Page Sports Football was still around. Too much arcade stuff for me.

[silent_jonny]

GTA - San Andreas looks good as well, but I think I'll wait until the price drops a little on that one.

I always wait for a price drop--even if I love the game. I can't stomach paying $50 bucks for a game when I know in a few months it'll be around $19.99.

I had Gran Turismo 3 and liked it okay, but it got old for me. Apparently, it got old for a lot of people. You can buy it used for about $5 now. I hope GT4 has a longer lifespan--and better music!

[Libloather]

The game is old school. Sheesh!

Yet the idea and technology is not - nyet?

[silent_jonny]

I don't understand your post.

[silent_jonny]

I haven't played Riddick, but I've heard mixed reviews. The folks at GameSpot seem to love it, though.

[The Real Eddie01]

You can still play the original. Download a copy of MAME32 (multi arcade machine emulator). Then download the roms for missle command.

[thestob]

I really wish I could make that MAME thing work, but I have never had any luck ...

I'm playing Half Life 2 right now ....too much driving and boating so far...I want more shooting

I liked Halo 2 except the ending was weak ....

[Chesterbelloc]

Is that Karl Rove in his "bat-cave" on election night?

[Clypp]

Best Game of the year(that I have played):
Rome:Total War.
Simply the best strategy, heck, ONLY strategy RTS since...the last Total War game. Shame it's fraught with bugs. The patch will hopefully clear things up when it is released mid-January.

[silent_jonny]

If my PC was strong enough to play games, I'd be right there with you :)

[Libloather]

Is that Karl Rove in his "bat-cave" on election night?

That would be me. BTW, I've got your address...

[jb6]

How about Postal 3, as if the first two were not bad enough.

[silent_jonny]

I've never heard of Postal 3--and I thought I'd heard of everything!

[jb6]

The theme is just like it sounds. From what I read, the way you end it is either the police kill you or you ice yourself. The whole game revolves around killing as many civilians as possible. Yeah, that stupid.

[jb6]

I'm waiting for Lord of the Rings, massive multi-player. The graphics on the beta look awesome, the setting is all of Middle Earth and there is even a morality factor. Oh and from what I understand, the NPCs react to weather and day time.

[silent_jonny]

Hmmmmm, if I wanna go on a killing spree, I'll stick to the Hitman games :)

[jb6]

I'm surprised Call of Duty didn't make the list, it was an excellent game, hands down. I was so in it, even with my infantry training it got me sucked in totally.

[silent_jonny]

Which Call of Duty? The PC or Console version? I played Call of Duty: Finest Hour on Xbox and it was terrible. The commercials that they show on TV are totally misleading.

[jb6]

I played on PC and it was really good.

[edchambers]

My biggest dissapointment was hands down DOOM 3.

Just curious why does everyone seem so disapointed with DOOM3?I thought the graphics were spectacular and it was creepy and fun to play I was more dissapointed that my PC didn't have enough power for it to run smoothly.Maybe that's it,Is everyone else having that same problem?

[FreedomCalls]

Remember "Zork"?

West of House
You are standing in an open field west of a white house,
with a boarded front door. There is a small mailbox here.

>_

Play it online here or here.