Acclaimed Video Games
The top 1,000 most recommended games across 827 critic lists from 134 publications.
Updated: October 26, 2025
Most Acclaimed Video Games of 2004
Filters
Game Status
Search
1
No series matching ""
No series available
Short
Medium
Long
Showing 36 of 36
36 of 36
#1 Half-Life 2 (2004) (#5)
Valve | WIN, Xbox, X360, PS3 | First-Person Shooter | ~13h | 85 lists
#2 World of Warcraft (2004) (#17)
Blizzard Entertainment | MAC, WIN | MMORPG | ~473h | 79 lists
#3 Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (2004) (#42)
Konami Computer Entertainment Japan | PS2 | Action-Adventure / Stealth | ~16h | 48 lists
#4 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004) (#68)
Rockstar North | WIN, PS2, Xbox | Action-Adventure | ~30h | 43 lists
#5 Burnout 3: Takedown (2004) (#142)
Criterion Games | PS2, Xbox | Racing | ~13h | 28 lists
#6 Katamari Damacy (2004) (#173)
Keita Takahashi, NOW Production | PS2 | Action / Puzzle | ~6h | 23 lists
#7 Halo 2 (2004) (#184)
Bungie | Xbox | First-Person Shooter | ~9h | 20 lists
#8 Rome: Total War (2004) (#213)
The Creative Assembly | WIN | Real-Time Tactics / Turn-Based Strategy | ~34h | 18 lists
#9 The Sims 2 (2004) (#281)
Maxis | MAC, WIN | Life Simulation | ~26h | 13 lists
#10 The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay (2004) (#296)
Starbreeze Studios, Tigon Studios, Virtual Programming | WIN, Xbox | Action-Adventure / Stealth | ~8h | 15 lists
#11 Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King (2004) (#317)
Armor Project, Bird Studio, LEVEL-5, Square Enix Product Development Division 9 | PS2 | Role-Playing | ~61h | 13 lists
#12 Ninja Gaiden (2004) (#320)
Team NINJA | Xbox | Hack and Slash / Action-Adventure | ~18h | 13 lists
#13 Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door (2004) (#400)
Intelligent Systems | GC | Role-Playing | ~31h | 13 lists
#14 Lumines: Puzzle Fusion (2004) (#409)
Gameloft, Q Entertainment | WIN, PS2, PSP | Puzzle | ~9h | 10 lists
#15 Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines (2004) (#440)
Troika Games | WIN | Action RPG | ~23h | 8 lists
#16 Gran Turismo 4 (2004) (#448)
Polyphony Digital | PS2 | Racing | ~75h | 10 lists
#17 Far Cry (2004) (#475)
Crytek, Crytek Frankfurt | WIN | First-Person Shooter | ~13h | 9 lists
#18 Unreal Tournament 2004 (2004) (#518)
Epic Games | 3 | First-Person Shooter | ~15h | 8 lists
#19 Counter-Strike: Source (2004) (#543)
Hidden Path Entertainment, Valve | WIN | First-Person Shooter / Tactical | ~66h | 9 lists
#20 WarioWare: Twisted! (2004) (#550)
Intelligent Systems, Nintendo SPD Production Group No. 1 | GBA | Action / Music / Puzzle | ~2h | 7 lists
#21 Cave Story (2004) (#558)
Studio Pixel | WIN, Wii | Metroidvania | ~7h | 8 lists
#22 Pikmin 2 (2004) (#560)
Nintendo EAD | GC | Real-Time Strategy | ~11h | 8 lists
#23 Fable (2004) (#657)
Big Blue Box | WIN, Xbox | Action RPG | ~12h | 7 lists
#24 ESPN NFL 2K5 (2004) (#672)
Visual Concepts | PS2, Xbox | Football (American) / Sports | ~11h | 5 lists
#25 Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords (2004) (#710)
Obsidian Entertainment | WIN, Xbox | Role-Playing | ~30h | 5 lists
#26 Defense of the Ancients (DotA) (2004) (#713)
MAC, WIN | MOBA | 3 lists
#27 Madden NFL 2005 (2004) (#755)
Budcat Creations, EA Orlando | WIN, PS2, GC, Xbox | Sports | ~15h | 4 lists
#28 Thief: Deadly Shadows (2004) (#758)
Ion Storm | WIN, Xbox | Stealth | ~16h | 5 lists
#29 Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War (2004) (#764)
Relic Entertainment | WIN | Real-Time Strategy | ~12h | 5 lists
#30 Pro Evolution Soccer 4 / World Soccer Winning Eleven 8 International (2004) (#858)
Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo | WIN, PS2, Xbox | Sports | ~26h | 7 lists
#31 Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (2004) (#875)
Retro Studios | GC | Action-Adventure | ~17h | 5 lists
#32 Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (2004) (#893)
Silicon Knights | GC | Action-Adventure / Stealth | ~10h | 4 lists
#33 Ratchet & Clank 3: Up Your Arsenal (2004) (#903)
Insomniac Games | PS2 | Third-Person Shooter / Platform | ~11h | 4 lists
#34 Tekken 5 (2004) (#915)
Namco | ARC, PS2 | Beat 'em Up / Fighting | ~2h | 4 lists
#35 Need for Speed: Underground 2 (2004) (#947)
EA Black Box | WIN, PS2, GC, Xbox | Racing | ~20h | 5 lists
#36 Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow (2004) (#974)
Ubisoft Shanghai | WIN, PS2, GC, Xbox | Action-Adventure / Stealth | ~10h | 4 lists
#1
#5
Half-Life 2
2004
#2
#17
World of Warcraft
2004
#3
#42
#4
#68
#5
#142
Burnout 3: Takedown
2004
#6
#173
Katamari Damacy
2004
#7
#184
Halo 2
2004
#8
#213
Rome: Total War
2004
#9
#281
The Sims 2
2004
#10
#296
#11
#317
#12
#320
Ninja Gaiden
2004
#13
#400
#14
#409
#15
#440
#16
#448
Gran Turismo 4
2004
#17
#475
Far Cry
2004
#18
#518
#19
#543
#20
#550
WarioWare: Twisted!
2004
#21
#558
Cave Story
2004
#22
#560
Pikmin 2
2004
#23
#657
Fable
2004
#24
#672
ESPN NFL 2K5
2004
#25
#710
#26
#713
#27
#755
Madden NFL 2005
2004
#28
#758
#29
#764
#31
#875
#32
#893
#33
#903
#34
#915
Tekken 5
2004
#35
#947
#36
#974
Filters
Game Status
Search
Release Year
Drag or shift+click for ranges
Platform
Genre
Series
No series matching ""
No series available
Playtime (HowLongToBeat)
Short
Medium
Long