Game of the Year 2004 Awards: Best Non-RPG
Myrthos, 2005-02-24

The last couple of weeks you could vote for the best RPGs and MMORPGs that have been released in 2004. Not us but you the player decide who receives the RPGDot 2004 Awards in the various categories. We thank all those who entered their votes and helped us in making it possible to select the best games of 2004.

Best Non-RPG
Like previous years we also offered the option to vote for any other game but an RPG.

The winner: Half Life 2
A $40+ million dollar behemoth that towered over the gaming landscape, Valve's followup to the acclaimed Half Life sparked debate over whether it lived up to the genre-changing legacy of the original but there's little doubting the highly polished and meticulously crafted sequel wowed a legion of players. From the minute the highly scalable engine revealed the awe-inspiring graphics, players were taken on a carefully structured ride across a post-apocalyptic East European vista. While the debate goes on in gaming forums about whether the tightly integrated physics or facial animations qualify as "innovative", I'll simply add Ravenholm, Highway 17 and some others to my "favourite gaming moments" collection.

(Dhruin)

Runner Up: Rome - Total War
Those players who enjoyed the game long enough to get over the initial thrill of Rome: Total War know that it has many problems. Even with the most recent patch (still very new), the game can be rather unpleasant at times, most significant of the issues being the worst A.I. ever produced for a computer game. Still, Creative Assembly seems to have hit the spot with this one. The fun-driven game play stamped down with excitement that the game offers, in addition to fairly realistic approach to the whole thing, simply voids every possible reproach I could think about. And, the fact that we are seeing it's engine used more and more often in recreating famous battles of the past must be worth for something.

(HWFanatic)

Second Runner Up: Far Cry
The relatively unheralded Far Cry beat its more fancied rivals Doom 3 and Half Life 2 to market with next-generation visuals that simply blew players out of the water. The tropical island setting was rendered with a vividness and clarity never seen before, along with the requisite features like physics and vehicles. Unlike its rivals, Far Cry is more than a rail shooter with large open areas and solid stealth elements, giving players plenty of choice and freedom in how they approach the mission objectives. The cunning AI and dense jungle make for plenty of tense moments and although the fantastical story has some weak points, all up Far Cry is a stunning achievement from newcomer Crytek.

(Dhruin)

To make it complete we now give you the top 10 as voted by our visitors:

With 34% of our voters not knowing what to answer here.

The team votes included two adventure games in the top 3.

List of the awards
Awards on RPGDot:
Best graphics
Best Sound and Music
Biggest Surprise
Biggest Disappointment
Most Anticipated
Dream Game
Best Console RPG
Best Non-RPG
Best RPG

Awards on MMORPGDot:
Best graphics
Best Sound and Music
Biggest Surprise
Biggest Disappointment
Most Anticipated
Dream Game
Best Expansion MMORPG
Best MMORPG

Note that percentages are rounded to the nearest number.