Can we talk about the year 2004 for PC gaming?

Seriously, it was crazy. I'm one of the few that still consider 2004 the best year in gaming, however at that time I was just getting into PC gaming and that year I was just overwhelmed at the amount of games released, not to mention sequels to legendary franchises which were exclusive at the time of release. Never again will we see this happen:

• World of Warcraft
• Half-Life 2
• Unreal Tournament 2004
• Rome: Total War
• The Sims 2
• Counter Strike Source
• City of Heroes
• Everquest 2
• Doom 3
• Far Cry
• Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War
• Battfield: Vietnam
• Thief: Deadly Shadows
• Sid Mier's: Pirates
• Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines

Honestly, I just made this thread to honor a golden age in PC gaming that is long lost.

The good old days when PC gaming wasn't just glorified console gaming

Doom 3...take that off the list and that's a good list. Not saying Doom 3 isn't good, I had fun with it but it really doesnt belong on any best of list.

Only three on that list was worthy of my attention in that year.

Doom 3's the best Doom, and one of the best FPS ever made...

uh retro gaming forum?

2004 was a great year for both PC and consoles. So many great games.

2004 was awesome so was 2005 for me 2001-2007 was my favorite time in gaming not only on PC but console too so many amazing titles in those years that I still go back to today from SSX to F.E.A.R. the list is huge.

Didn't really fully get into PC until 2007 when Crysis arrive and its the reason why I build my first ever PC just to play Crysis and boy, I really had a totally new experience from my gaming perspective, but of course, I did in fact, I did play HL2 on PC in high school. Doom 3 was my first ever Doom game and I still go back to it from time to time, so it gets more love coming from me.

Golden PC isn't lost, it got a hell lot better.

I still enjoy some UT 2004 from time to time.

2007 was pretty much the beggining of the end of the golden age, though. After Crysis, PC barely had that level of big-time exclusives that set the world on fire. 2004 alone had dozens of those. Half Life 2 and Doom 3 in 2004 melted pc's.

It's still great though, much more variety now. Just not really that many games that set the world on fire, anymore. I was betting on New World from Amazon, but after reading some previews - yeah... guess we'll wait for WOW 2.

It was crazy, without counting the ones I already mentioned - others at the top of my head

MGS3

Halo 2

San Andreas

Fable

Burnout 3

The PC raped that year though.

@pinkribbonscars: Ummm...no. It ranks as the weakest Doom and NOWHERE near the best fps ever lol.

This thread is stupid 2004 was indeed one of the best year ever because of Half life 2, Riddick, Doom 3. but Doom 3 was not exclusive either. it was multiplatform title.

beside Eternal is best Doom game so?

console also have very few exclusives. those AAA console exclusives are just movie games. waste of time.

The crazy thing is that almost all of the heavy hitters in 2004 all released in a span of a month, counting both PC and console releases

Im also pretty sure STALKER 2 will be another PC exclusive that will crap all over console exclusives but it wont count because its not AAA mainstream.

well , 2020 wasn't that bad itself ... at least for gaming world

1- DooM Eternal

2- Half-Life Alyx

3- Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord

@ghosts4ever: It wont count because its going to be broken garbage just like the original.

according to new PC kids. this doesnot even count. because its not mainstream AAA title.

or because it can be greatest FPS ever made like original.

STALKER is better than all Half life, Crysis, FEAR combine.

@ghosts4ever: If by better you mean stalker has more bugs and glitches in it then all the other games you mentioned combined, then yeah sure its way better at being a broken mess.

try patches and mods. problem solved.

I don't give a flying f about those "new pc kids"

Play the original PC version, not the crappy BFG console version

@pinkribbonscars: Still the worst Doom game. Let me say that its not a bad game, I liked it, but its not the best fps ever or even the best Doom game, don t care what version we're talking about.

Doom 3 came out on the Xbox in 2005, pretty sure I mentioned 2004 timeline. Riddick was also multiplatform. Also, lol Stalker. That only counts as a bugfest.

Doom Eternal is multiplatform. I'll give you the other two, but Mount & Blade 2 is not really a firey game. To be honest, the fact we're only talking about 2 games compared to 2004 when there's like 20+ that's my point.

This is stealth trolling/PC bashing thread.

PC win every generation. its not that PC exclusivity died. its that third party exclusivity died. exclusives only came from microsoft and sony. sony games are third person movie games so you can assume microsoft one as AAA PC exclusives since Xbox is just nothing more than glorified mini PC.

and you are laughing at best PC exclusive of all time? lol console kids today.

Eh, a few good games on that list. Hardly my list of PC greatest hits

We're in a thread about PC gaming dude. No one cares about crappy console ports of PC games. And atleast play the games you're trying to have an opinion on.

I loved the original Battfield: Vietnam, incredibly immersive game, mainly because of it's terrific audio work, which I think the other entries never managed to top.

2004 was certainly one of the best years for PC gaming, if not the best, possibly more so than even 1998. But at the same time, I felt 2004 wasn't such a great year for console gaming. So in that regard, 1998 is the better year for gaming as a whole (console, PC, arcade). But for PC gaming specifically, I think 2004 has a slight edge over 1998.

My comment on Stalker hit a nerve? Seriously, it's a bug ridden fps that nobody except 2 people remember. It's trash. Crysis was the daddy of shooters.

I remember more 2004, but to your point, no doubt. I can imagine why 1998 is considered the best. What did you think about 2007? A lot of people say it's the best, but I didn't really love it that much. That it was great, but not the best.

Bro, that and Battlefield 2 were some of my best gaming moments. That was my youth right there. I don't even like military shooters, but those classic Battlefield games will forever be in my heart.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4500/STALKER_Shadow_of_Chernobyl/

oh really?

sure if you prefer cinematic casual experience then Crysis is better. if you prefer real PC FPS then no doubt STALKER is king.

Great list of games, however it is also a bit sad that the game that killed online mmorpgs are on the list(WOW).., EQ2 on the other hand was a great game and probaly the last true mmorpg before everything became wow clones..

I still think it's trash and yes, Crysis is better.

Same. It's in the small collection of games that I keep installed at all times, on any computer I own. Just in case. Always ready.

@virusvaccine21:

You made a long list showing of 2004 as the best year for gaming and didn't even show of the best game of 2004.

lol.

Actually I took another look. You forgot the #1 best game of 2004 and the #2 best game of 2004. Well done.

Did you read it was PC exclusives only?

More hype than substance in that list.

Thats a lot of fluff.

I don't know dude 2020 has been pretty awesome so far, honestly one of the better years in recent memory, and it's only 1/3 over. We still have the rest of the year, including the holidays.

I think 2020 might be better than 2004.

04 and 05 were both stacked years if talking games in general, not just PC alone.

I wish they would make a open world games based of of the old old games god i feel old lol.

kings quest

or heroes quest.

any of you guys remember those games?

Its kinda true.

Doom Eternal > Doom 3

Black Mesa = Half life 2

I did not. My mistake. I don't think that least was particular good though lol.

Half Life 2 is one of the greatest games of all time, and IMO the best FPS ever made. So there's that.

Well it isn't a list of all of the games being amazing, but more the combination of hype plus sequels. Stuff like The Sims 2 the sequel to at the time the best selling pc game of all time and Everquest 2, the sequel to a pretty popular MMO were big deals.

Eitherway, for me Rome: Total War and Half-Life 2 are in my top 10 games of all time.