JIVEMagazine.com - JIVE Magazine's Best Video Games of 2004

2004, the year of the sequel. Seems like yesterday we were doing this very same Year End write-up. 2004 was a year of anticipation that erupted into heated arguments about consoles, genre defining titles and which sequel's developers could beat up your sequel. With 2005 just around the corner, the next generation of consoles will up the ante (and lessen your wallet) in the coming months.

Grand Theft Auto : San Andreas (Rockstar North / Rockstar Games) How do you top one of the most sought after hit games of 2001? Well you follow up with Grand Theft Auto : Vice City exactly one year later. How do you top that? You wait 2 years and car-jack the entire gaming industry by surprise with Grand Theft Auto : San Andreas. GTA:SA not only fulfilled the hopes every fan of the series, but they raised the bar even higher for themselves. Fortunately enough for Rockstar, no one else in this category can even compete - Rick "Low Tek" Merced

Burnout 3 : Takedown is one of the best games that has been released all year. I�ve put a controller in the hands of some of the most skeptical, most novice non-gamers and they�ve loved it. If it can get them hooked, it will most certainly hook you. - Sterling McGarvey

Def Jam: Fight for NY (EA Canada / EA Games) An extremely odd marriage of Aki Corporations wrestling game engine combined with some of Hip Hop and Rap top talent has catapulted Def Jam: Fight for NY into JIVE's best fighting game of 2004 - Rick "Low Tek" Merced

During E3 I made sure to keep my excitement in check during the XBox press conference, and especially during the preview for Halo 2. I made sure to not get caught up in the hype of all the new features and graphics that would soon make Halo 2 a reality. I even avoided the release of new screenshots of the game and tried to keep myself busy with other games. I put my Halo addiction into the closet and locked the door. Unfortunately, I am but a humble man who must succumb to his gaming desires every now and then. The release of Halo 2 for me was like an AA member throwing a party with his old pal Jack Daniels. - Rick "Low Tek" Merced

Jak 3 (Naughty Dog / SCEA) Last year's Jak II : Renegade was a complete 180 compared to its light-hearted predecessor which no one really expected and thus became JIVE's Best Platform Game of 2003.

Jak 3 followed through with the dark futuristic storyline that Jak 2 built. A well made storyline combined with highly applauded gameplay made Naughty Dog's latest proteg� our Best Platform Game of 2004. - Rick "Low Tek" Merced Donkey Konga (Namco / Nintendo) Coming from the creative minds at Nintendo, Donkey Konga was a hit at this years E3 Expo due to its innovativeness to the genre as well as the simple and intuitive gameplay that allows almost any gamer to play with ease. - Rick "Low Tek" Merced

Fable (Big Blue Box / Microsoft Game Studios) Quite possibly one of the most highly anticipated games for the XBox, Fable has enough remarkable moments and features that makes this game shine above the rest of the games in this year's selection of RPGs despite the lack of promised features. - Rick "Low Tek" Merced

There really shouldn�t be too much doubt as to whether this title is worth grabbing. Throw in online play, and you�ve lost another reason not to buy it. ESPN NFL 2K5 is the best $20 game ever made (until ESPN NFL 2K6 comes out, if the price is this nice). - Sterling McGarvey

Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 (Frontier Developments, Ltd. / Atari) - read the review

There are very few games that surpass my expectations. Relating to this, most of us have been burned at least once by the beloved misuse of the word, �sequel.� Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 not only has met all my expectations for the amazing game that I thought it would be but it truly surpassed anything that I could have imagined the game turning into. - Willa Laskowitz

Out of left field comes the one MMORPG that has turned the genre inside out with its dazzling (yet manageable) graphics, quick learning curve, and extremely addictive gameplay for the first time in years. The folks at Cryptic Studios took the battered and beaten Massive Multiplayer genre and made a game that no one expected and can't stop playing. - Rick "Low Tek" Merced

It's an insult to your videogame collection by not owning this. Wonderful gameplay, superb music, genius concept. There's nothing you can really say that's bad about this game. Do yourself a favor and pick it up today. - Carrie Ratajski

Silent Storm is a brilliant game with a few minor flaws. Lots of research went into the weaponry and equipment, which always adds depth to an era-based game. The graphics are easy on the eyes and wonderfully detailed, though manipulating the 3-D camera can be a bit of a pain when determining line-of-sight for that perfect sniper shot. The underlying music, while a tad repetitive, has an appropriately tense quality and (if some fansites are to be believed) adding your own mp3 soundtrack is a piece of copy-paste cake. In a market already flooded with so many WWII-inspired distractions, Silent Storm is a unique take on the subject and worthy of your time... as precious as it is. - Thomas Strickland

Hardly anyone except the SNK fanboys will find this title little more than entertaining. This title is the first game in the series to be fully 3D, unfortunately some of the games key aspect were lost in the transition. - Rick "Low Tek" Merced

Chronicles of Riddick : Escape from Butcher Bay (Starbreeze / VU Games) - read the review

All in all, this is a very good game, with a bit of challenge, and plenty of side-quests that will have you going back trying to unlock all of the various concept art and pictures from the recently released movie. - Chris "Fnord" Jones

There are few soundtracks I hunt down. Silent Hill. F-Zero GX. Metroid Prime. But Katamari Damacy, I made a concerted effort to get this game's soundtrack. The music is a perfect fit for the game. It's not as if it was designed for the game, or that the game was designed for it. It's as if the two of them were birthed side by side, growing symbiotically, feeding one another's greatness and feeding on one another's greatness. It's that good. - Carrie Ratajski

Despite the overwhelming amount of hit games that were released this year for the PS2 Grand Theft Auto : San Andreas outshined every game in our PS2 collection this year. A top notch soundtrack comprised with fantastic RPG elements and Rockstar's secret ingredient made this title our best PS2 game of 2004. - Rick "Low Tek" Merced

Overall, you're not going to find many better games this year, or from this generation, than from Metroid Prime 2 Echoes. The game improves upon the original in nearly every area, which is saying a lot. From the moment you load the game, the presentation floors you and doesn't let up. Any self-respecting gamer must have this in their collection. There is absolutely no excuse. You must own this game. - RJ Layton

Let's face it, Halo 2 is the posterchild for the console defining game. Just as its predecessor was enough reason to purchase an XBox, Halo 2 is just another reason why the Holidays are a time for giving. Save a gamer some time this Holiday season, buy them Halo 2. - Rick "Low Tek" Merced

�Super Mario 64 DS (Nintendo / Nintendo) An exceptionally wonderful update the classic game that made the Nintendo 64 a console to own. The original game defined what a platform game should be. Just as the original defined the Nintendo 64, this title will be the sole reason to own a Nintendo DS this year. - Rick "Low Tek" Merced

Despite the drama surrounding the first release date of Half-Life 2, Valve Software tuned up the storyline and beefed up their 3D engine far beyond any fan of First Person Shooters had ever expected. Half-Life 2 is the one of the only testaments that has kept PC Gaming alive this year. - Rick "Low Tek" Merced

Introduction by Rick Merced, Picks & Commentary by JIVE Staff