On 3/18/2024 1:10 PM, kyonshi wrote:
> On 3/18/2024 3:23 AM, Spalls Hurgenson wrote:
>>
>>
>> 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:
>> ----------
>> * 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!
>>
>>
>
> 2004 was one of my lost gaming years. I was busy finishing school and
> starting university, and I really didn't play as much as I did before
> (even less 2005 when I switched my computer to Linux and was now limited
> to open source games...).
> I have played a few afterwards, but outside of KOTOR2 nothing stuck in
> my mind too much.

oh wait, there is actually one I played.

Oolite came out in 2004. Which is an open source elite clone that is
still being developed. I really like it for the modding capabilities
though. It otherwise is just a modernization of Elite with slightly more
modern graphics.