Acclaimed Video Games
The top 1,000 most recommended games across 904 critic lists from 141 publications.
Updated: February 3, 2026
Most Acclaimed Video Games of 2004
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#1 Half-Life 2 (2004) (#5)
Valve | WIN | First-Person Shooter | ~13h | 86 lists
#2 World of Warcraft (2004) (#18)
Blizzard Entertainment | MAC, WIN | MMORPG | ~473h | 80 lists
#3 Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004) (#42)
Konami Computer Entertainment Japan | PS2 | Action-Adventure / Stealth | ~16h | 51 lists
#4 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004) (#70)
Rockstar North | WIN, PS2, Xbox | Action-Adventure | ~30h | 45 lists
#5 Burnout 3: Takedown (2004) (#150)
Criterion Games | PS2, Xbox | Racing | ~13h | 29 lists
#6 Katamari Damacy (2004) (#173)
Keita Takahashi, NOW Production | PS2 | Action / Puzzle | ~6h | 24 lists
#7 Halo 2 (2004) (#191)
Bungie | Xbox | First-Person Shooter | ~9h | 20 lists
#8 Rome: Total War (2004) (#216)
The Creative Assembly | WIN | Real-Time Tactics / Turn-Based Strategy | ~34h | 18 lists
#9 The Sims 2 (2004) (#300)
Maxis | MAC, WIN | Life Simulation | ~26h | 13 lists
#10 Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (2004) (#303)
LEVEL-5, Square Enix Product Development Division 9 | PS2 | Role-Playing | ~61h | 15 lists
#11 The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay (2004) (#314)
Starbreeze Studios, Tigon Studios, Virtual Programming | WIN, Xbox | Action-Adventure / Stealth | ~8h | 15 lists
#12 Ninja Gaiden (2004) (#334)
Team NINJA | Xbox | Hack and Slash / Action-Adventure | ~18h | 13 lists
#13 Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2004) (#377)
Intelligent Systems | GC | Role-Playing | ~31h | 14 lists
#14 Lumines: Puzzle Fusion (2004) (#417)
Gameloft, Q Entertainment | WIN, PS2, PSP | Puzzle | ~9h | 10 lists
#15 Gran Turismo 4 (2004) (#421)
Polyphony Digital | PS2 | Racing | ~75h | 12 lists
#16 Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines (2004) (#461)
Troika Games | WIN | Action RPG | ~23h | 8 lists
#17 Far Cry (2004) (#478)
Crytek, Crytek Frankfurt | WIN | First-Person Shooter | ~13h | 9 lists
#18 Unreal Tournament 2004 (2004) (#539)
Epic Games | 3 | First-Person Shooter | ~15h | 8 lists
#19 WarioWare: Twisted! (2004) (#566)
Intelligent Systems, Nintendo SPD Production Group No. 1 | GBA | Action / Music / Puzzle | ~2h | 7 lists
#20 Cave Story (2004) (#576)
Studio Pixel | WIN, Wii | Metroidvania | ~7h | 8 lists
#21 Counter-Strike: Source (2004) (#580)
Hidden Path Entertainment, Valve | WIN | First-Person Shooter / Tactical | ~67h | 9 lists
#22 Pikmin 2 (2004) (#583)
Nintendo EAD | GC | Real-Time Strategy | ~11h | 8 lists
#23 Fable (2004) (#623)
Big Blue Box | WIN, Xbox | Action RPG | ~12h | 8 lists
#24 ESPN NFL 2K5 (2004) (#674)
Visual Concepts | PS2, Xbox | Football (American) / Sports | ~11h | 5 lists
#25 Defense of the Ancients (DotA) (2004) (#715)
MAC, WIN | MOBA | 3 lists
#26 Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (2004) (#729)
Obsidian Entertainment | WIN, Xbox | Role-Playing | ~30h | 5 lists
#27 Pro Evolution Soccer 4 / World Soccer Winning Eleven 8 International (2004) (#780)
Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo | WIN, PS2, Xbox | Sports | ~26h | 8 lists
#28 Madden NFL 2005 (2004) (#783)
Budcat Creations, EA Orlando | WIN, PS2, GC, Xbox | Sports | ~15h | 4 lists
#29 Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War (2004) (#853)
Relic Entertainment | WIN | Real-Time Strategy | ~12h | 5 lists
#30 Thief: Deadly Shadows (2004) (#860)
Ion Storm | WIN, Xbox | Stealth | ~16h | 5 lists
#31 Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (2004) (#902)
Retro Studios | GC | Action-Adventure | ~17h | 5 lists
#32 Ratchet & Clank 3: Up Your Arsenal (2004) (#927)
Insomniac Games | PS2 | Third-Person Shooter / Platform | ~11h | 5 lists
#33 Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (2004) (#940)
Silicon Knights | GC | Action-Adventure / Stealth | ~10h | 4 lists
#34 Tekken 5 (2004) (#944)
Namco | ARC, PS2 | Beat 'em Up / Fighting | ~2h | 5 lists
#1
#5
Half-Life 2
2004
#2
#18
World of Warcraft
2004
#3
#42
#4
#70
#5
#150
Burnout 3: Takedown
2004
#6
#173
Katamari Damacy
2004
#7
#191
Halo 2
2004
#8
#216
Rome: Total War
2004
#9
#300
The Sims 2
2004
#10
#303
#11
#314
#12
#334
Ninja Gaiden
2004
#13
#377
#14
#417
#15
#421
Gran Turismo 4
2004
#16
#461
#17
#478
Far Cry
2004
#18
#539
#19
#566
WarioWare: Twisted!
2004
#20
#576
Cave Story
2004
#21
#580
#22
#583
Pikmin 2
2004
#23
#623
Fable
2004
#24
#674
ESPN NFL 2K5
2004
#25
#715
#26
#729
#28
#783
Madden NFL 2005
2004
#29
#853
#30
#860
#31
#902
#32
#927
#33
#940
#34
#944
Tekken 5
2004
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