Warning:
--------
So, this is essentially a random ramble, except without me actually
calling it that. There's no central argument here; no theme; it's just
me going on endlessly about a long list of games. You have been
warned.

Intro:
------
Every now and then, I sift my library by year and there are a few
years in video gaming that really stand out. 1995 is one; 1998 is
another. But I've decided to focus on 2004, which was a surprisingly
full year in video games history. So let's talk about that! (And, yes,
I know I did something similar a year ago - 'Knowing Your Classics Pts
1,2 & 3 - but this is a deeper dive into a specific year, which makes
it completely different ;-)

Mostly, I just want to talk about the games (so many games)! Hopefully
this wide-ranging topic will spark conversation. Ignore the stuff that
bores you and just reminisce about specific games that you liked!
Think of it as a buffet; lots of semi-appetizing reheated discussions!
Only read the stuff that looks interesting! Break the thread into
separate topics! There's gotta be something in this post that
interests you! ;-)

2004 is probably most remembered for the release of both "Half Life 2"
and "Doom 3", so let's get those two out of the way first.

The Games:
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* Half Life 2
Honestly, "Half Life 2" left me underwhelmed - both in 2004
and to this day. I know it's well renowned, as far as I was
concerned it didn't really do anything in FPS games I hadn't
seen before. Sure, it was done with more polished than a
lot of other games, but it felt too tightly scripted, its
gormless hero was dull as dishwater, and it had a lot
of uninteresting segments. Sure, the gravity gun and
Ravenholm were neat... but they couldn't carry the game
by itself. IMHO.

* Doom 3
This game similarly left me unexcited on its release,
although I've come to appreciate the game more as the years
have gone by. But sure it didn't feel like the earlier Doom
games we knew and loved, and that annoyed me terribly. But
even after I warmed up to it, the game's flaws - most
notably its monster closets and the infamous darkness -
keep it from being as good as it could have been.

* Baldurs's Gate: Dark Alliance 2
A console-only title, the "Dark Alliance" doesn't get
much love compared to the better-known PC alternatives,
but it's actually not that bad a game. It's a far
simpler title than the PC CRPGs, of course, but it has
its own charm. In some ways, its setting captures
the 'adventure-land' feel that D&D tries so hard to
cultivate much better than the Bioware titles (even if
the PC games better capture the tabletop feel of the game).
Mechanically simple, but a nice diversion.

* Viet Cong: Purple Rain
Admittedly, the core game came out in 2003 and probably
shouldn't be included in this list; "Purple Rain" is a
compilation of the core game and the expansion. Still,
it was this compilation where the game really started
to gain attention, and anyway, it was the first version
I played. Despite a number of too-long levels, overall
it had a verisimilitude to it that few FPS games of the
day (or even today!) could match. I'm normally opposed
to remakes and remasters, but I wish this one got
the full treatment, that's how much I loved it.

* Onimusha 3
A console game ported to PC, it was so sloppily done
that many of its puzzles prompted you to push Playstation
controller buttons even if you were using a mouse/keyboard.
Still, its Japanese-weird story was an intriguing departure
from my normal gameplay, and the combat was colorful and
fun. "Onimusha 3" was one of those games that made me -
at the time a stern PC evangelist - start to reconsider my
opinion on console titles.

* The Suffering
I always thought of this game as something released
on Halloween, but apparently it came out in March. Well,
I bought it in October, anyway. Its early levels still
stand out as one of the spookiest experiences I've ever
played on PC. The feeling doesn't last through the rest
of the game, but fortunately the setting and gameplay
are enough to carry it once the scares become
predictable. One of my favorites.

* Katamari Damacy
Another console-exclusive, I didn't actually play this
one until years later... and then regretted how long it
took me to discover it. Weird and wonderful, its
simplistic concept is contrasted by its detailed worlds.

* Battlefield Vietnam
BFV - a multiplayer only game - was never one of my
favorites, but it was one of those games I respected.
I didn't play a lot of it, but I admired how well it
captured the mood of the seminal conflict and combined
it with the needs of the gameplay. Plus, it had a
rockin' soundtrack, with all the Vietnam War hits!
There's nothin' like flying a Huey low over the jungle
blasting 'Fortunate Son'!

* Farcry
Not just "Half Life 2" and "Doom 3", but "Farcry" also
came out in 2004. I told you this was a year of note!
Sure, the latter half of the game faltered after the
introduction of the mutants, but between the solid
first half fighting mercenaries and the awesome visuals
and giant, detailed open-world, "Farcry" was a fun game
and a great technology demo.

* Red Dead Revolver
Oft forgotten in the shadow of its better-known
successors, RDR set the stage for those great games. On
its own, it's not that great to play these days except
to see how its ideas evolved as the franchise developed.

* Thief Deadly Shadows
Generally disliked by "Thief" aficionados, "Deadly
Shadows" is actually my favorite of the series. Its
open world, solid - and accessible - stealth mechanics,
and some great missions make it a very fun game. I think
its bad reputation comes more from the fact that it
went third-person and that it was designed for console
rather than any serious flaws in its implementation.

* Full Spectrum Warrior
FSW is a game that, sadly, never founds its niche. It looks
like a first/third-person shooter, but it's actually more
of a strategy/ puzzle game; there's a very specific way
to get past the AI in the levels, and its up to you to
figure out how to move your troops into the right positions
to outmaneuver the opposing forces. Its clever mixture
of real-world tactics and action-game mechanics make it
another favorite from that era.

* Myst Uru
"Uru" was a disappointment to me. It's one of those games
I really wanted to like; I was hoping it could get me
re-invested in the "Myst" franchise which, after the first
game, I'd mostly lost interest in. But it's 'you're
playing yourself in the game' and weird mixture of modern-
day sensibilities and Myst-fantasy made for an unconvincing
melange, and the puzzles and setting remained as
frustratingly uninteresting as ever.

* Alpha Black Zero: Intrepid Protocol
A forgotten FPS, APZ's most interesting feature was that
it used the "Serious Sam" engine to create a thematically
interesting but boring-to-play adventure. It has a
surprisingly interesting sci-fi story, but the levels
are overly large without much to see or do in them.
Definitely a case of quantity over quality. Still,
the narrative inspired me to replay it a few times.

* Call of Duty United Offensive
My absolute favorite game in the franchise, "United
Offensive" is the forgotten expansion to the original
"Call of Duty". It has some of the best maps in the entire
series, and some of the best-paced action as well.
Compared to this, all the rest of the games in the
franchise were let-downs.

* WH40K Dawn of War
The first really successful Warhammer 40K game. Sure,
there were earlier WH40K video games, and some (like
"Space Hulk") were quite well received, but "Dawn of War"
was the first one to really make it big. It was pretty
fun too, even coming in on the tail-end of the RTS craze,
with just enough alterations to the formula to make the
game feel fresh in comparison to its peers.

* Star Wars Battlefront
Yup, not just "Farcry" and "Half Life 2" and "Doom 3",
but "Star Wars Battlefront" too! 2004; what a year!
Despite its multiplayer focus, I enjoyed this one more
than "Battlefield Vietnam", partially because of its Star
Wars setting, but also because it had solo-against-
bots. Its sequel was, IMHO, the better game, but the
original "Battlefront" was an exciting taste of what
was to come.

* Forgotten Realms: Demon Stone
Another D&D game; sadly, this one wasn't that good. It
wasn't horrid - an action/brawler in the style of "LOTR:
Return of the King" - but it was fairly shallow and
had a number of overly long and tedious levels. Still,
it had just enough high-points to keep me playing
until the end. Oh, and it had fan-favorite Drizzt too.

* Total War: Rome
The third game of the Total War series, "Rome" didn't
really do too much new, but its solid production values
and good mechanics kept me playing. I never mastered the
combat but enjoyed it mostly as a 4X strategy game
(admittedly, missing the whole point of the series).
Still, its massive battles were fun to look at.

* Bards Tale
I quite disliked this one, even though mechanically it
was quite similar to the "Dark Alliance" series. But it
felt a bit too simplistic for my taste, and too much of
its humor revolved in the game pointing out all the
foibles and stupid tropes of CRPGs... and then repeating
those same mistakes. If you see why these tropes are so
stupid, developers, why are you still doing it in your
own game?!?

* Kill Zone
Another console exclusive, and another game I didn't play
until much later. That's probably for the best, because
had I played "Kill Zone" in 2004, it probably would have
undone all the introspection and growth prompted by
"Onimusha 3", reaffirming my belief in the superiority of
the PC platform. Admittedly, it wasn't really until
"Kill Zone 2" that the franchise really took off, but
the original was too grey, with too-clunky controls
to be much fun. But I guess when the best FPS you had
on consoles was "Halo", even "Kill Zone" looked good...

* Halo 2
Speaking of which... 2004 also saw the release of
"Halo 2" (although only on XBox; the PC port wouldn't
arrive until 2007). I know a lot of people love this game,
but I think it's the worst of the franchise; ugly, a dull
story, poorly paced, and just not a lot of fun to play.
Then again, I liked ODST and Reach, so what do I know?

* Nexus: The Jupiter Incident
A "Homeworld" clone, featuring battling starships in 3D
space. It had a solid story and was, generally, a fun game,
but a lot of my interest drained away about a third of
the way into the game, when the hero gained super-science
gravitic drives that let them replace their rockets and
spaceships with rotating rings for gravity. I really
loved the 'realistic' aspect of the game, but it became a
bit too sci-fi later on for my taste.

* Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
I loved this game's predecessor - "VTM: Redemption" - so
I had high hopes for this one. But it's setting (modern-
day Los Angeles) and the vast number of bugs made for a less-
than-stellar experience. Still, it was an ambitious game
and even though I didn't enjoy playing it, I nonetheless
respected the game for what it was trying to do. If only
the developers hadn't tried to race Valve to be the ones
to release the first "Source Engine" game...

* Prince of Persia: Warrior Within
"Warrior Within" is a sort of guilty pleasure. There's
so much cringe about this game, not least is the
scantily-clad villainess or its emo hero. But it
recaptured the excellent platforming and time-manipulation
of its predecessor, improved the combat, and had some
excellent level design. Still one of my favorite games
in the franchise.

* Star Wars: Knights of Old Republic 2
Not quite the game its predecessor was, KOTOR2 was another
overly-ambitious title let down by its rushed development
schedule. Its grey-on-grey morality tale was interesting,
but (IMHO) a poor fit for the Star Wars universe, and the
clunky combat of the original - and less interesting maps -
made for a poor experience. Still, more Star Wars was
always welcome.

* Tribes: Vengeance
a.k.a. Tribes 3, this game leveraged a single-player
campaign into the franchise. Fans of the series hated it,
but - being single-player focused even then - I welcomed
the addition. Or I would have, had the gameplay been
more interesting. Mostly, I remember the levels just
not being very interesting to traverse, as the game was
more interested in showcasing how large its levels could
be rather than making them fun arenas. Sadly, this game
killed the franchise for years; I'd have liked to see
a more polished sequel.

* Unreal Tournament 2004
Not only Half-Life 2, Doom 3, etc. etc., but also UT2K4.
Probably the second best game in the franchise (nothing
will top the original!) it had big levels, solid mechanics
and gorgeous visuals. Not a favorite of mine, but still a
solid game.

* Second Sight
Another overlooked classic, this third-person shooter
from Free Radical Design featured a strong story,
interesting level design, and some really fun psychic
powers. Mechanically, it wasn't their best game, but
it still ranks up there as one of the more memorable
titles of 2004.

* X-Men Legends
Yet another console exclusive, "Legends" was a mix of
bombastic action, RPG mechanics, and Marvel super-heroes.
It's really hard to argue against that combination! A bit
too reliant on the "X-Men" movies for inspiration, perhaps,
but still a lot of fun.

* Evil Genius
James Bond meets his match... in you! Build the evil lair
that you use to commit diabolic crimes, and then trap the
secret agents that come to stop you! Basically, "Dungeon
Keeper" but for spies. Unfortunately, some of its humor
was a bit off, and its mission-based structure (or, at
the very least, a lack of sandbox mode) kept it from
being as entertaining as it could have been. But I
could appreciate the game for its novelty.

* Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth
RTS comes for Middle-Earth. Honestly, not the greatest
of games and - without its license - it probably wouldn't
be remembered. But it was fun to fly around the game-
world (modeled after the movie's visuals) and absolutely
nothing beat the thrill of riding a few dozen Rohirrim
horsemen into a mob of orcs, and watching the latter go
flying from the impact of so much horsemeat and steel!

Also, some less-memorable games:
--------------------------------
These are all sequels to existing franchises and - while
none of them were bad - neither did they really add much
to their series. They were just 'more of the same'; fun
to play, but not really worth spending a paragraph
to go over each one. (also, I don't really have any strong
feelings about most of these ;-)

* Splinter Cell 2: Pandora Tomorrow
* Hitman 3 Contracts
* Ace Combat 5
* Jak 3
* Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Athena
* Ground Control 2
* Gran Turismo 4
* Metal Gear Solid 3: SnakeEater
* Need for Speed: Underground 2
* Sly 2: Band of Thieves
* Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
* Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault
* Syberia 2

Final Words (and call to action)
--------------------------------
So many noteworthy games! I told you 2004 was a year worth reviewing!

How many did you play? Did I miss any you feel deserve to be
remembered as some of the great games from a year filled with great
games? Do you have any memories about specific games?

C'mon, discuss!