Acclaimed Video Games
The top 1,400 most recommended games across 920 critic lists from 146 publications.
Updated: October 16, 2026
Most Acclaimed Video Games of 2004
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#1 Half-Life 2 (2004) (#5)
Valve
|
WIN
|
First-Person Shooter
|
~13h
|
90 lists
#2 World of Warcraft (2004) (#11)
Blizzard Entertainment
|
MAC,
WIN
|
MMORPG
|
~470h
|
87 lists
#3 Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004) (#41)
Konami Computer Entertainment Japan
|
PS2
|
Action-Adventure /
Stealth
|
~16h
|
56 lists
#4 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004) (#68)
Rockstar North
|
WIN,
PS2,
Xbox
|
Action-Adventure
|
~30h
|
50 lists
#5 Burnout 3: Takedown (2004) (#150)
Criterion Games
|
PS2,
Xbox
|
Racing
|
~13h
|
32 lists
#6 Halo 2 (2004) (#177)
Bungie
|
Xbox
|
First-Person Shooter
|
~9h
|
23 lists
#7 Katamari Damacy (2004) (#185)
Keita Takahashi, Now Production
|
PS2
|
Action /
Puzzle
|
~6h
|
25 lists
#8 Rome: Total War (2004) (#198)
The Creative Assembly
|
WIN
|
Real-Time Tactics /
Turn-Based Strategy
|
~34h
|
21 lists
#9 Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (2004) (#299)
LEVEL-5, Square Enix Product Development Division 9
|
PS2
|
Role-Playing
|
~60h
|
16 lists
#10 The Sims 2 (2004) (#300)
Maxis
|
MAC,
WIN
|
Life Simulation
|
~26h
|
14 lists
#11 The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay (2004) (#315)
Starbreeze Studios, Tigon Studios, Virtual Programming
|
WIN,
Xbox
|
First-Person Shooter /
Stealth
|
~8h
|
17 lists
#12 Ninja Gaiden (2004) (#322)
Team NINJA
|
Xbox
|
Hack and Slash /
Action-Adventure
|
~18h
|
15 lists
#13 Gran Turismo 4 (2004) (#402)
Polyphony Digital
|
PS2
|
Racing
|
~70h
|
12 lists
#14 Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2004) (#406)
Intelligent Systems
|
GC
|
Role-Playing
|
~31h
|
13 lists
#15 Lumines: Puzzle Fusion (2004) (#445)
Gameloft, Q Entertainment
|
WIN,
PS2,
PSP
|
Puzzle
|
~9h
|
10 lists
#16 Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines (2004) (#489)
Troika Games
|
WIN
|
Action RPG
|
~22h
|
8 lists
#17 Unreal Tournament 2004 (2004) (#497)
Epic Games
|
3
|
First-Person Shooter
|
~14h
|
9 lists
#18 Far Cry (2004) (#506)
Crytek, Crytek Frankfurt
|
WIN
|
First-Person Shooter
|
~13h
|
9 lists
#19 Fable (2004) (#525)
Big Blue Box
|
WIN,
Xbox
|
Action RPG
|
~12h
|
11 lists
#20 WarioWare: Twisted! (2004) (#536)
Intelligent Systems, Nintendo SPD Production Group No. 1
|
GBA
|
Action
|
~2h
|
8 lists
#21 Pikmin 2 (2004) (#583)
Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development
|
GC
|
Real-Time Strategy
|
~11h
|
9 lists
#22 Cave Story (2004) (#596)
Studio Pixel
|
WIN,
Wii
|
Metroidvania
|
~7h
|
8 lists
#23 Counter-Strike: Source (2004) (#618)
Hidden Path Entertainment, Turtle Rock Studios, Valve
|
WIN
|
First-Person Shooter /
Tactical Shooter
|
~63h
|
7 lists
#24 ESPN NFL 2K5 (2004) (#668)
Visual Concepts
|
PS2,
Xbox
|
Football (American) /
Sports
|
~13h
|
6 lists
#25 Madden NFL 2005 (2004) (#702)
Budcat Creations, EA Orlando
|
WIN,
PS2,
GC,
Xbox
|
Sports
|
~17h
|
6 lists
#26 Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (2004) (#767)
Obsidian Entertainment
|
WIN,
Xbox
|
Role-Playing
|
~30h
|
5 lists
#27 Defense of the Ancients (DotA) (2004) (#772)
MAC,
WIN
|
MOBA
|
~10h
|
3 lists
#28 Pro Evolution Soccer 4 / World Soccer Winning Eleven 8 International (2004) (#801)
Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo
|
WIN,
PS2,
Xbox
|
Sports
|
~26h
|
8 lists
#29 Tekken 5 (2004) (#867)
Namco
|
ARC,
PS2
|
Beat 'em Up /
Fighting
|
~2h
|
6 lists
#30 Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War (2004) (#879)
Relic Entertainment
|
WIN
|
Real-Time Strategy
|
~12h
|
5 lists
#31 Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (2004) (#907)
Retro Studios
|
GC
|
Action-Adventure
|
~16h
|
6 lists
#32 Thief: Deadly Shadows (2004) (#909)
Ion Storm
|
WIN,
Xbox
|
Stealth
|
~17h
|
5 lists
#33 Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (2004) (#937)
Silicon Knights
|
GC
|
Action-Adventure /
Stealth
|
~10h
|
5 lists
#34 Metroid: Zero Mission (2004) (#946)
Nintendo R&D1
|
GBA
|
Action-Adventure
|
~4h
|
4 lists
#35 Ratchet & Clank 3: Up Your Arsenal (2004) (#966)
Insomniac Games
|
PS2
|
Third-Person Shooter /
Platform
|
~11h
|
5 lists
#36 Pokémon FireRed/LeafGreen (2004) (#1039)
Game Freak
|
GBA
|
Role-Playing
|
~29h
|
5 lists
#37 Shadow Hearts: Covenant (2004) (#1081)
Nautilus
|
PS2
|
Role-Playing
|
~38h
|
3 lists
#38 Need for Speed: Underground 2 (2004) (#1082)
EA Black Box
|
WIN,
PS2,
GC,
Xbox
|
Racing
|
~20h
|
3 lists
#39 Spider-Man 2 (2004) (#1104)
Treyarch
|
PS2,
GC,
Xbox
|
Action-Adventure
|
~7h
|
5 lists
#40 SingStar (2004) (#1106)
SCE London Studio
|
PS2
|
Music /
Party
|
~10h
|
4 lists
#41 The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (2004) (#1116)
Capcom Production Studio 1
|
GBA
|
Action-Adventure
|
~16h
|
4 lists
#42 Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (2004) (#1134)
Ubisoft Shanghai
|
WIN,
PS2,
GC,
Xbox
|
Action-Adventure /
Stealth
|
~10h
|
4 lists
#43 Mashed (2004) (#1243)
Supersonic Software
|
WIN,
PS2,
Xbox
|
Racing /
Vehicular Combat
|
~4h
|
2 lists
#44 City of Heroes (2004) (#1249)
Cryptic Studios, Paragon Studios
|
WIN
|
MMORPG
|
~50h
|
2 lists
#45 RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 (2004) (#1288)
Frontier Developments
|
MAC,
WIN
|
Construction & Management
|
~16h
|
3 lists
#46 Doom 3 (2004) (#1333)
Aspyr Media, id Software
|
3,
Xbox
|
Horror /
First-Person Shooter
|
~11h
|
3 lists
#47 Gradius V (2004) (#1342)
Treasure
|
PS2
|
Shooter
|
~5h
|
2 lists
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