HF Retro Game of the Year - 2004 - San Andreas Wins!

[SniperHF]

So we have game of the year votes from 2011 to 2017 but none from before, so why not do it now?

Slightly different rules since we're talking about old games. Votes can be changed, so if you hear a case or debate it out maybe you'll come out on the other side and you can change it.

Previous years:
2017 - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - 31%
2016 - Uncharted 4: A Thief's End - 20%
2015 - The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - 35%
2014 - South Park: The Stick of Truth - 15%
2013 - The Last of Us - 29%
2012 - The Walking Dead - 20%
2011 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - 48%

Retro Votes:
2010 - Red Dead Redemption - 31.6%
2009 - Assassin's Creed II - 20%
2008 - Fallout 3 - 43.5%
2007 - Mass Effect - 25%
2006 - The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - 22.8%
2005 - Civilization IV - 22.4%

 

[H3ckt1k]

Personally Pokemon leaf green gets my vote, its probably my favourite game out of the entire series. On the list though id vote Halo 2, that game changed my entire house hold in terms of what games were allowed to be played and what not. Had friends over all the time to play that

 

[S E P H]

If Halo 2 doesn't somehow win this I have lost faith in you guys as gamers.

 

[Goatlender]

If Halo 2 doesn't somehow win this I have lost faith in you guys as gamers.

I voted Halo 2, but there are plenty of other games just as good. GTA:SA, Half-Life 2, MGS 3, and WoW are all just as deserving.

This poll is severely missing Burnout 3: Takedown!

 

[S E P H]

I voted Halo 2, but there are plenty of other games just as good. GTA:SA, Half-Life 2, MGS 3, and WoW are all just as deserving.

This poll is severely missing Burnout 3: Takedown!

Not saying any of those games are bad in the slightest, like you got KOTOR II on that list with GTA, Paper Mario, MGS, and Pikmin. Those are all class "A" games as far as I am concerned. However, none of those games are as revolutionary as Halo 2 was - it redefined FPS along with one of the best campaigns you can ever play.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

Metroid Prime 2 should be an option, but it's Halo 2 here.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

I've actually played more then one game on this list...

For my vote I went with "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas" as it's still (arguably) the best GTA game in the series. Plus it seemed like everybody you knew was playing it back then when it came out.

I also played "Unreal Tournament 2004" online a lot back then and had a ton of fun.

"Doom 3" while it looked pretty (no doubt thanks to the crazy PC specs that you needed to run the game at the time) I thought got very predictable very quickly. The jump scares got old fast.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

No love for this either?? Tsk.

I thought it was a very neat FPS. The bosses and enemies were a refreshing change from the usual, the weapons were sweet (stake gun anyone??) and the metal soundtrack during firefights was cool.

 

[SniperHF]

Check the previous threads after the poll is finished for discussion on what's gonna be in the next polls

 

[Frankie Spankie]

Not saying any of those games are bad in the slightest, like you got KOTOR II on that list with GTA, Paper Mario, MGS, and Pikmin. Those are all class "A" games as far as I am concerned. However, none of those games are as revolutionary as Halo 2 was - it redefined FPS along with one of the best campaigns you can ever play.

The Half Life series is what redefined FPS. Halo always felt like a ripoff of Half Life to me. What Halo did was make FPS games popular on console.

 

[Bjorn Le]

Easily the hardest of these classic polls. I wouldn't be upset if any of San Andreas, Half-Life 2, Halo 2, KOTOR II, or Paper Mario won. I played every game except Vampire (and honestly, I've never even heard of Vampire), and most of them I look back very fondly at.

Not saying any of those games are bad in the slightest, like you got KOTOR II on that list with GTA, Paper Mario, MGS, and Pikmin. Those are all class "A" games as far as I am concerned. However, none of those games are as revolutionary as Halo 2 was - it redefined FPS along with one of the best campaigns you can ever play.

Agree that it's a great game, disagree about it's legacy. Halo 2 was probably the first great, big, multiplayer game in the modern era (it made FPS's mainstream), but while the game itself was great, I would credit Microsoft more than I would Halo itself. Microsoft built the multiplayer platform (Xbox Live) and used an in-house studio (Bungie) to bring it to the next level. I wouldn't say Halo 2 redefined FPS either. It simply took advantage of online play, at the right time (Xbox Live got its kinks out in 2003 and 2004, and Halo 2 was used to elevate the platform). It really doesn't improve significantly on the Halo: CE formula, beyond the strong focus on multiplayer. If any Halo is revolutionary and elevating for the genre, it's Halo 3.

 

[Ceremony]

Gran Turismo 4

 

[SniperHF]

I played every game except Vampire (and honestly, I've never even heard of Vampire)

You'd probably like it, at least the first 3/4'ths of it anyway (it kinda falls apart later).
Writing, dialog, quests, characters are about as good or better than anything else on the list.

I don't think it's quite on the level of game of the year in this field for a few reasons. Combat is kinda weak or arguably outright bad, it has significant bugs without the fan patches.

 

[tacogeoff]

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for me. I didn't really play much else as I was to busy with hockey.

 

[WarriorOfGandhi]

KOTOR2 gets my vote. I could write a PhD thesis on why this game, warts and all, is so fantastically great, but someone pretty much already did so. If you have several hours of your life to spare, I highly recommend it:

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II

 

[Bjorn Le]

You'd probably like it, at least the first 3/4'ths of it anyway (it kinda falls apart later).
Writing, dialog, quests, characters are about as good or better than anything else on the list.

I don't think it's quite on the level of game of the year in this field for a few reasons. Combat is kinda weak or arguably outright bad, it has significant bugs without the fan patches.

It sounds interesting, and from what I've read in the last 30 minutes it seems like a cult classic. Sounds a bit like KOTOR 2 to be honest (in the sense that it's a game with very strong writing and characters hampered by significant bugs never fixed by the developer).

 

[SniperHF]

Sounds a bit like KOTOR 2 to be honest (in the sense that it's a game with very strong writing and characters hampered by significant bugs never fixed by the developer).

It's *VERY* similar in that way, though the general tone of the game is quite a bit different just due to the setting. More dark humor and humor in general, some zany characters. It put me off for quite a while. Vampires? Meh.

The the factional intrigue and plot is really well done. Ending in terms of the story gets mixed reviews, I liked it but there are different endings so maybe some are better than others .

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Check the previous threads after the poll is finished for discussion on what's gonna be in the next polls

Who?? Me because I mentioned "Painkiller"

If so, it came out in 2004 too.

 

[Surrounded By Ahos]

Rome Total War AINEC

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Halo 2 was a system-seller for me, which means something for me as it was the first new console that I bought with my own money.

It was a monolithic game as a 17/18 year-old. I couldn't escape that game if I wanted to because everyone that I knew was also obsessed with it. At least it completely warranted the hype.

 

[Bjorn Le]

Rome Total War AINEC

I liked some Total War games (Medieveal II and Shogun 2 the best), but I never could get into the first Rome. It’s so shallow.

 

[syz]

Halo 2's popularity remains mind blowing to me. It took a PC concept and made it 100 times worse and people call it revolutionary.

 

[aleshemsky83]

Halo 2's popularity remains mind blowing to me. It took a PC concept and made it 100 times worse and people call it revolutionary.

PC gaming in the early 2000s was predominantly people with low end hardware. Very few people went out and bought cards to play new games which was just a reality of what you had to do at that point in time. If you wanted to play half life 2 or the new supreme commander, you had to either upgrade your pc or deal with low fps on low settings.

Reminds me of what I was saying a couple months back

http://hfboards.mandatory.com/posts/135706719/

Its funny because when I bought this game it barely ran on my pc.

Which by the way, to me thats why rts kind of went downhill for a long period of time. They started making command and conquer and total annihalation in 3d engines and (especially in the case of supreme commander) extremely hardware intensive. Then we see the rise of Dota and LOL out of that genre which even a potato can run. Thats what makes PC gaming great imo, not this master race nonsense. Back then it was even more accessible than console gaming. Its no coincidence rts became less popular as the system requirements went up.

Throw Diablo II in there too. To me the appeal of pc gaming has always been the games that anyone can run. But Halo I was really impressed by. I remember the enemies would duck and dip when you shot at them evading your bullets. Yes Unreal or Quake had much more complex bots, but they didn't have those interesting animations that the covenant did.

As for online, I actually never touched halo online, I was left out of that hype just because I thought the idea of paying for online was laughable, cannot believe that caught on

 

[NyQuil]

Halo 2's popularity remains mind blowing to me. It took a PC concept and made it 100 times worse and people call it revolutionary.

Yeah I remember playing it and being confused.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Shouldn't have even been a thread for this year. The answer is WoW. Most popular/played game of all time? Easily set the mark for MMORPG games. Can't say any other games listed did that in their class.