Acclaimed Video Games
The top 1,400 most recommended games across 913 critic lists from 142 publications.
Updated: March 25, 2026
Most Acclaimed Video Games of 2004
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#1 Half-Life 2 (2004) (#3)
Valve
|
WIN
|
First-Person Shooter
|
~13h
|
89 lists
#2 World of Warcraft (2004) (#14)
Blizzard Entertainment
|
MAC,
WIN
|
MMORPG
|
~473h
|
83 lists
#3 Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004) (#41)
Konami Computer Entertainment Japan
|
PS2
|
Action-Adventure /
Stealth
|
~16h
|
54 lists
#4 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004) (#68)
Rockstar North
|
WIN
,
PS2
,
Xbox
|
Action-Adventure
|
~30h
|
48 lists
#5 Burnout 3: Takedown (2004) (#133)
Criterion Games
|
PS2
,
Xbox
|
Racing
|
~13h
|
32 lists
#6 Halo 2 (2004) (#177)
Bungie
|
Xbox
|
First-Person Shooter
|
~9h
|
22 lists
#7 Katamari Damacy (2004) (#179)
Keita Takahashi, NOW Production
|
PS2
|
Action /
Puzzle
|
~6h
|
24 lists
#8 Rome: Total War (2004) (#190)
The Creative Assembly
|
WIN
|
Real-Time Tactics /
Turn-Based Strategy
|
~34h
|
20 lists
#9 Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (2004) (#276)
LEVEL-5, Square Enix Product Development Division 9
|
PS2
|
Role-Playing
|
~61h
|
16 lists
#10 The Sims 2 (2004) (#297)
Maxis
|
MAC,
WIN
|
Life Simulation
|
~26h
|
14 lists
#11 The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay (2004) (#302)
Starbreeze Studios, Tigon Studios, Virtual Programming
|
WIN
,
Xbox
|
Action-Adventure /
Stealth
|
~8h
|
17 lists
#12 Ninja Gaiden (2004) (#305)
Team NINJA
|
Xbox
|
Hack and Slash /
Action-Adventure
|
~18h
|
15 lists
#13 Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2004) (#379)
Intelligent Systems
|
GC
|
Role-Playing
|
~31h
|
15 lists
#14 Gran Turismo 4 (2004) (#394)
Polyphony Digital
|
PS2
|
Racing
|
~75h
|
14 lists
#15 Lumines: Puzzle Fusion (2004) (#428)
Gameloft, Q Entertainment
|
WIN
,
PS2,
PSP
|
Puzzle
|
~9h
|
10 lists
#16 Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines (2004) (#474)
Troika Games
|
WIN
|
Action RPG
|
~23h
|
8 lists
#17 Unreal Tournament 2004 (2004) (#484)
Epic Games
|
3
|
First-Person Shooter
|
~14h
|
9 lists
#18 Far Cry (2004) (#492)
Crytek, Crytek Frankfurt
|
WIN
|
First-Person Shooter
|
~13h
|
9 lists
#19 WarioWare: Twisted! (2004) (#528)
Intelligent Systems, Nintendo SPD Production Group No. 1
|
GBA
|
Action /
Music /
Puzzle
|
~2h
|
8 lists
#20 Fable (2004) (#556)
Big Blue Box
|
WIN
,
Xbox
|
Action RPG
|
~12h
|
10 lists
#21 Pikmin 2 (2004) (#572)
Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development
|
GC
|
Real-Time Strategy
|
~11h
|
9 lists
#22 Cave Story (2004) (#578)
Studio Pixel
|
WIN
,
Wii
|
Metroidvania
|
~7h
|
8 lists
#23 Counter-Strike: Source (2004) (#589)
Hidden Path Entertainment, Turtle Rock Studios, Valve
|
WIN
|
First-Person Shooter /
Tactical Shooter
|
~67h
|
9 lists
#24 ESPN NFL 2K5 (2004) (#648)
Visual Concepts
|
PS2
,
Xbox
|
Football (American) /
Sports
|
~13h
|
6 lists
#25 Madden NFL 2005 (2004) (#714)
Budcat Creations, EA Orlando
|
WIN
,
PS2
,
GC
,
Xbox
|
Sports
|
~15h
|
5 lists
#26 Defense of the Ancients (DotA) (2004) (#733)
MAC,
WIN
|
MOBA
|
3 lists
#27 Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (2004) (#738)
Obsidian Entertainment
|
WIN
,
Xbox
|
Role-Playing
|
~30h
|
5 lists
#28 Pro Evolution Soccer 4 / World Soccer Winning Eleven 8 International (2004) (#779)
Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo
|
WIN
,
PS2
,
Xbox
|
Sports
|
~26h
|
8 lists
#29 Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War (2004) (#860)
Relic Entertainment
|
WIN
|
Real-Time Strategy
|
~12h
|
5 lists
#30 Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (2004) (#879)
Retro Studios
|
GC
|
Action-Adventure
|
~17h
|
6 lists
#31 Thief: Deadly Shadows (2004) (#882)
Ion Storm
|
WIN
,
Xbox
|
Stealth
|
~16h
|
5 lists
#32 Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (2004) (#910)
Silicon Knights
|
GC
|
Action-Adventure /
Stealth
|
~10h
|
5 lists
#33 Metroid: Zero Mission (2004) (#927)
Nintendo R&D1
|
GBA
|
Action-Adventure
|
~4h
|
4 lists
#34 Ratchet & Clank 3: Up Your Arsenal (2004) (#928)
Insomniac Games
|
PS2
|
Third-Person Shooter /
Platform
|
~11h
|
5 lists
#35 Tekken 5 (2004) (#963)
Namco
|
ARC
,
PS2
|
Beat 'em Up /
Fighting
|
~2h
|
5 lists
#36 Pokémon FireRed/LeafGreen (2004) (#1002)
Game Freak
|
GBA
|
Role-Playing
|
~30h
|
5 lists
#37 Need for Speed: Underground 2 (2004) (#1014)
EA Black Box
|
WIN
,
PS2
,
GC
,
Xbox
|
Racing
|
~20h
|
5 lists
#38 Spider-Man 2 (2004) (#1057)
Treyarch
|
PS2
,
GC
,
Xbox
|
Action-Adventure
|
~7h
|
5 lists
#39 SingStar (2004) (#1058)
SCE London Studio
|
PS2
|
~10h
|
4 lists
#40 The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (2004) (#1091)
Capcom Production Studio 1
|
GBA
|
Action-Adventure
|
~16h
|
4 lists
#41 Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (2004) (#1104)
Ubisoft Shanghai
|
WIN
,
PS2
,
GC
,
Xbox
|
Action-Adventure /
Stealth
|
~10h
|
4 lists
#42 City of Heroes (2004) (#1197)
Cryptic Studios, Paragon Studios
|
WIN
|
MMORPG
|
~50h
|
2 lists
#43 Shadow Hearts: Covenant (2004) (#1208)
Nautilus
|
PS2
|
Role-Playing
|
~38h
|
2 lists
#44 Mashed (2004) (#1209)
Supersonic Software
|
WIN
,
PS2
,
Xbox
|
Racing /
Vehicular Combat
|
~4h
|
2 lists
#45 RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 (2004) (#1259)
Frontier Developments
|
MAC,
WIN
|
Construction & Management
|
~16h
|
3 lists
#46 Gradius V (2004) (#1301)
Treasure
|
PS2
|
Shooter
|
~5h
|
2 lists
#47 Doom 3 (2004) (#1303)
Aspyr Media, id Software
|
3
,
Xbox
|
First-Person Shooter
|
~11h
|
3 lists
#48 The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (2004) (#1398)
Nintendo EAD Software Development Group No.3
|
GC
|
Action-Adventure
|
~15h
|
2 lists
#1
#3
Half-Life 2
2004
#2
#14
World of Warcraft
2004
#3
#41
#4
#68
#5
#133
Burnout 3: Takedown
2004
#6
#177
Halo 2
2004
#7
#179
Katamari Damacy
2004
#8
#190
Rome: Total War
2004
#9
#276
#10
#297
The Sims 2
2004
#11
#302
#12
#305
Ninja Gaiden
2004
#13
#379
#14
#394
Gran Turismo 4
2004
#15
#428
#16
#474
#17
#484
#18
#492
Far Cry
2004
#19
#528
WarioWare: Twisted!
2004
#20
#556
Fable
2004
#21
#572
Pikmin 2
2004
#22
#578
Cave Story
2004
#23
#589
#24
#648
ESPN NFL 2K5
2004
#25
#714
Madden NFL 2005
2004
#26
#733
#27
#738
#29
#860
#30
#879
#31
#882
#32
#910
#33
#927
#34
#928
#35
#963
Tekken 5
2004
#36
#1002
#37
#1014
#38
#1057
Spider-Man 2
2004
#39
#1058
SingStar
2004
#40
#1091
#41
#1104
#42
#1197
City of Heroes
2004
#43
#1208
#44
#1209
Mashed
2004
#45
#1259
#46
#1301
Gradius V
2004
#47
#1303
Doom 3
2004
#48
#1398
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