Your top three games of each year of the 2000s

[Blutwurstritter]

2009
Mad World (Wii)
Trine
Eador: Genesis

2008
Dead Space
C&C: Red Alert 3
C&C 3: Kane's Wrath

2007
Supreme Commander
Witcher 1
HoMM 5:Tribes of the East

2006
Call of Juarez
Dark Messiah of M&M
DoW: Dark Crusade

2005
F.E.A.R.
Disciples 2: Gallean's Return
Flatout

2004
Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines
The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay
Thief: Deadly Shadows

2003
WC3: Frozen Throne
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Max Payne 2

2002
Gothic 2
Warcraft 3
Age of Mythology

2001
Aliens Versus Predator 2
Stronghold
Icewind Dale

2000
Deus Ex
Baldur's Gate II
Thief 2

Mostly based on what I remember playing and enjoying back then. Does not necessarily mean that those titles are better than those left out, especially for years 2000-2002. There are just too many great games in that period. Feels bad having no room for all the other gems that were released in those years.

Didn't we have a similar thread with top 10 games per genre? I think I've done a list like that a few years ago, but I failed to find the thread. It would be great if there was a pinned page that gathers links to all threads of this type.

 

[anvi]

C'mon anvi, bring on the list!

I can easily find 3 good games from the early 2000s, but they were kinda the only good games. Late 2000s are a joke.

2000
EverQuest: The Ruins of Kunark
Jane's F/A-18
Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

2001 (I didn't play any of these but wish I did)
Dark Age of Camelot
IL-2 Sturmovik Operation
Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis

2002
Freedom Force
Soldier of Fortune 2 (I think the first FPS were enemies were no longer just 1 blob. The enemy bodies had different parts, you could shoot legs off etc.)
Neverwinter Nights
Mafia
Divine Divinity

2003
Command & Conquer: Generals (and Zero Hour). One of the last good RTSs.
Temple of Elemental Evil
Freelancer (I never played it but it sounds good)
Warcraft 3 (I played it briefly, I don't really like it but it spawned tower defence games and all kinds of stuff).
SWG (Never played it, it was apparently awesome before NGE)
Lock On: Modern Air Combat (great flight sim, turned into DCS).

2004
Unreal Tournament 2004 (I love this game)
Far Cry - not bad
Tribes: Vengeance

2005
SWAT 4
Guild Wars
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (I love it, the only 3d GTA I liked)
FlatOut - underrated
Falcon 4.0 (I didn't play but it was one of the last real combat flight sims)

2006
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic
Flatout 2
shit year

2007
Vanguard: Saga of Heroes (pretty much my favorite game)
Bad year otherwise

2008
N/A do not own a wii

2009
Arma 2
DA-O
Knights of the Chalice

 

[Humanophage]

2000
Baldur's Gate 2
Icewind Dale 1
Evil Islands

2001
Gothic 1
Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura
Wizardry 8

2002
Gothic 2
Neverwinter Nights (+add-ons)
Disciples 2

2003
Age of Wonders: Shadow Magic
Temple of Elemental Evil
Victoria 1

2004
Space Rangers 2
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines
Rome: Total War

2005
Civilization 4
Hearts of Iron 2
KOTOR 2

2006
Geneforge 4
Planet Alcatraz
Pathologic

2007
Avernum 5
Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer
Witcher 1

2008
Mount and Blade
King's Bounty
Geneforge 5

2009
Eador: Genesis
Knights of the Chalice
Risen

2006-2008 was a real sag. 2009 was more tolerable and it started getting a bit better from then on. I even had to exclude Ego Draconis from 2009 because there was no space, but it's a solid game.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

The decade starts out well, but by 2003 something has gone horribly wrong. By the end of the decade, you start considering new hobbies. People saying 2006 was the worst year need to take another look at 2008 and 2009, because holy shit those years were dire.

In my post, I noted that 2008 is second only to 2006 in how dire it was, with Fallout 3 possibly the 2nd best PC game and 3rd best on any platform. 2009 was definite incline in comparison to the 2006/2008 stygian abyss:

• Arma II
• Fuel
• Trine
• The Void (a.k.a. Turgor)
• Muramasa: The Demon Blade (Nintendo Wii)
• Demon's Souls (Playstation 3)
• Flower (Playstation 3)
• Yakuza 3 (Playstation 3)

 

[ADL]

Shockingly little Chronicles of Riddick Escape From Butcher Bay ITT

2000
Deus Ex
Rune
Thief 2

2001
Anarchy Online
Max Payne
Operation Flashpoint

2002
Mafia
Morrowind
Neverwinter Nights

2003
Planetside
Splinter Cell
Star Wars Galaxies

2004
Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay
Half-Life 2
Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines

2005
Face of Mankind
Guild Wars
SWAT 4
(runner up: Civilization 4)

2006
Battlefield 2142
Guild Wars Factions & Nightfall holy shit those came out in the same year?
Hitman Blood Money
(runner up: Pathologic)

2007
STALKER SoC
The Lord of the Rings Online
The Orange Box
(runner up: Hellgate London)

2008
Mount & Blade
Warhammer Online Age of Reckoning
X3

2009
Arma 2
Risen
The Saboteur

 

[oddech_wymarlych_swiatow]

2000
Marvel vs Capcom 2
Spider-Man
MDK2

2001
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Virtua Fighter 4
Aliens vs Predator 2

2002
Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance
C&C: Renegade
Resident Evil REmake

2003
SMT3: Nocturne
SNK vs Capcom: Chaos
King of Fighters 2003

2004
Digital Devil Saga
Mortal Kombat: Deception
VtM: Bloodlines

2005
Digital Devil Saga 2
Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks
Quake 4

2006
SiN Episodes: Emergence
Raidou Kuzunoha vs Soulless Army
Persona 3

2007
Spider-Man 3
C&C3: Tiberium Wars
Crysis

2008
Mortal Kombat vs DC
Raidou Kuzunoha vs King Abaddon
Persona 4

2009
Strange Journey
Devil Survivor
Wolfenstein

 

[Ash]

Shockingly little Chronicles of Riddick Escape From Butcher Bay ITT

Appropriately little. It's shit. For immersive pretty game with walking sim elements, Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth released shortly after and on the same console is far better. Escape From Butcher Bay's gameplay is dumb and barebones, there isn't much a story to speak of, soundtrack is non-existent, the game is pretty and somewhat immersive, that's it. If that's all you need to be impressed then...no comment. Don't want another weirdo taking up a deranged fascination with me for speaking truthfully.

The whole thing is a waste of time. Machine Games have never produced a single good game.

 

[Lemming42]

Tallying up the top ten. Where people put more than three games in a year, I just used the first three and discarded the rest. There were a couple where people listed games but mentioned they hadn't played them; I didn't count those but I don't think it would have changed much if I did.

This might not be totally accurate, but I did my best given that people were listing the same games in different years, mentioning too few or too many games, using wacky acronyms, etc. In quite a few of these years, there was a three-way tie for third place. In those instances, I just picked whatever was mentioned first.

First, the top three of each year, with how many votes they got:

2000
Deus Ex - 16
Thief 2 - 9
BG2 - 9

2001
Arcanum - 9
Wiz8 - 5
Max Payne - 5

2002
Morrowind - 15
NWN - 5
Mafia - 4

2003
ToEE - 8
Kotor - 7
SimCity 4 - 3

2004
VTMB - 15
Half-Life 2 - 7
Rome: Total War - 5

2005
Civ4 - 7
SWAT 4 - 5
F.E.A.R. - 5

2006
Dark Messiah - 9
Medieval 2 - 4
Titan Quest - 3

2007
Witcher - 11
STALKER - 6
Portal - 6

2008
Dead Space - 7
Fallout 3 - 6
Mount & Blade - 5

2009
Demon's Souls - 8
Dragon Age: Origins - 6
KotC - 4

Here's a top ten. I say "a" instead of "the" because again there's a tie for last place; Dead Space and HL2 were also eligible at seven votes.

Deus Ex - 16
Morrowind - 15
VTMB - 15
Witcher - 11
Thief 2 - 9
BG2 - 9
Arcanum - 9
Dark Messiah - 9
Demon's Souls - 8
Civ4 - 7

 

[Vic]

only one person voted for Oblivion?

 

[Ash]

Here's a top ten. I say "a" instead of "the" because again there's a tie for last place; Dead Space and HL2 were also eligible at seven votes.

Deus Ex - 16
Morrowind - 15
VTMB - 15
Witcher - 11
Thief 2 - 9
BG2 - 9
Arcanum - 9
Dark Messiah - 9
Demon's Souls - 8
Civ4 - 7

More agreeable than the 90s thread tallied votes. Definitely very PC-biased (lol Dark Messiah is not better than console classics such as Ninja Gaiden or even the NDS Castlevanias) but it comes with the territory.

only one person voted for Oblivion?

Was it you?

 

[flyingjohn]

There really should be a new codex top non rpg vote.

 

[Beans00]

I'll try to do less HM's this time because it's cheating.

2000
Deus ex
baldurs gate 2
pokemon crystal

HM- diablo 2, thief 2

2001
Arcanum
Fallout tactics
Halo

2002
metroid prime
gta vice city
metroid fusion

2003
temple of elemental evil
ncaa football 2004 // madden 2004 (same gameplay different leagues)
mario kart double dash

2004
halo 2
gta san andreas
metroid prime 2

hm- battlefield vietnam, ncaa football 2005

2005
F.E.A.R
pokemon emerald
battlefield 2

2006

madden 2007(c ya vision cone) 6th gen version only
battlefield 2142
medieval 2 total war

2007
S.T.A.L.K.E.R SOC
halo 3
portal

2008
S.T.A.L.K.E.R CS
braid
ncaa football 2009 (6th gen version only, since they nerfed jump the snap)

2009
S.T.A.L.K.E.R COP
empire total war
halo odst

some years were pretty hard to think of games, particularly 06,08,09.

01-08 was the peak of sports games(except nhl,boxing) on 6th gen consoles. Madden, Ncaa, Fifa, were all at their best. Boxing and NHL peaked on 7th gen.

Most codexers are kind of dweebs like Ash (who spent his entire childhood indoors), so I doubt anyone except me will bring up sports games.

 

[Vic]

gta san andreas

man, it didn't come up for me when I googled games of 2004, how could I forget that? wonder how many more games I have missed.

 

[H. P. Lovecraft's Cat]

2000
Diablo 2
Armored Core 2
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver

2001
Halo: Combat Evolved
Silent Hill 2
Metal Gear Solid 2

2002
Metroid Prime
Resident Evil Remake
Kingdom Hearts

2003
Silent Hill 3
Soul Calibur 2
Manhunt

2004
GTA: San Andreas
Halo 2
MGS3

2005
RE4
God of War
DMC3

2006
Gears of War
Flatout 2
Umm, Resistance: Fall of Man I guess? This year sucks.

2007
God of War 2
Bioshock
Crysis

2008
MGS4
L4D
Dead Space

2009
Demon's Souls
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Infamous

There's probably only 9-10 of those I would consider classics.

 

[flyingjohn]

With the new votes: the top are:

1-Deus Ex - 17
2-Morrowind - 15
2-VTMB - 15
3-Witcher - 11
4-Thief 2 -10
4-BG2 - 10
5-Arcanum -9
5-Dark Messiah - 9
5-Demon Souls -9
6-civ 4 -7

 

[Vic]

how many of these games feature good turn based combat? oh wait...

 

[Incognito]

gta san andreas

man, it didn't come up for me when I googled games of 2004, how could I forget that? wonder how many more games I have missed.

Long list

 

[udm]

2000
Deus Ex, Baldur's Gate 2, Thief 2. Too many choices but these were my top 3, similar to many others'.

2001
Serious Sam TFE, Deus Ex, Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Also quite a number to choose from; I wanted to list Max Payne, AVP2 and Operation Flashpoint, but while I enjoyed them, they still didn't make as big an impact on me as the listed 3, which I've completed multiple times.

2002
Jedi Outcast, Morrowind, Battlefield 1942. This year was particularly memorable though I only played these games in 2003, when I got a better PC. Otherwise I spent most of my time replaying games like HOMM3, Deus Ex, and System Shock 2.

2003
KOTOR, Enemy Territory, Silent Storm. Not a bad year with other good games like Raven Shield, Vice City, and Beyond Good & Evil.

2004
Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay (the original, not the one from the remake), Space Rangers 2, Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines.

2005
SWAT 4, KOTOR 2, Neverwinter Nights Diamond. Ok I struggled to find 3 here, but I definitely spent a lot of time on the 3 listed.

2006
Dominions 3. Yeah I got nothing else LOL. I don't think I played many games from this year, and the ones I played like Prey and Rise of Legends, I just didn't like that much. It just felt like game devs were creatively bankrupt. There are several 2006 games in my Steam library like ARMA, Neverwinter Nights 2 and Company of Heroes, but I haven't played them. A lot of the indie titles were (IMO) garbage too. This was a truly depressing year and felt like PC gaming would never recover. I think it was also the year when fucking game journos kept talking about how consoles were replacing the PC.

2007
Crysis, Penumbra: Overture, STALKER. I only played Crysis much later, but Penumbra showed me that there was hope for good atmospheric indie games rather than hipster trash, while STALKER was a huge breath of fresh air after years of railroad-y games.

2008
Left 4 Dead, Dead Space, Penumbra: Black Plague. Would have liked to put Savage 2 in this list too. Anyway this was the year when the PC gaming scene felt like it was finally en route to recovery and the spotlight was moving away from consoles. The only thing I hated about this year was the release of Fallout 3 and how my friends acquaintances kept raving to me about how great it was.
EDIT: I forgot Mount & Blade was released this year. This is a tough one, I love M&B but since I played it in 2007 with the 0.751 beta release, I don't know where I'd put it. I guess it should be an honorable mention then.

2009
Red Faction: Guerrilla, Arkham Asylum, Recettear. Was torn between Borderlands and Recettear, but I hate the Boredomlands series with a passion after the first game.

Looking back, the 2000s weren't all that bad for me as I got a few games that I really enjoyed and still play to this day like Silent Storm and Red Faction Guerrilla. It was still a big shift from the 90s though, when nearly every month there was at least one game announced/released that I'd be looking forward to.

 

[Zoo]

Only base games, mentioned the best expansions.

2000

Deus Ex
No One Lives Forever
Shogun: Total War

2001

Gothic
Grand Theft Auto III
Wizardry 8

2002

Gothic II (great with or without Night of the Raven)
Heroes of Might and Magic IV
WarCraft III: Reign of Chaos

2003

Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne
Medieval: Total War
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

2004

Ratchet & Clank 3: Up Your Arsenal
Rome: Total War (even better with Barbarian Invasion)
WH40k: Dawn of War (Dark Crusade is the best version)

2005

Civilization IV (the peak is Beyond the Sword)
F.E.A.R.: First Encounter Assault Recon
Psychonauts

2006

FlatOut 2
Heroes of Might and Magic V (Tribes of the East is the real greatness)
Okami

2007

God of War II
Mass Effect
The Witcher

2008

Braid
King's Bounty: The Legend
Mirror's Edge

2009

Bayonetta
Dragon Age: Origins
Risen

 

[Talby]

These threads are depressing, 1990's to early 2000's is wall to wall bangers every year, now we're lucky to get something of similar calibre once a decade.

 

[man_at_arms]

The decade starts out well but from 2006 up until about 2013, the period I call the Nadir of Gaming, a time between the 360's launch and when the market shifts (and fragments) due to Kickstarter / Steam Greenlight / Early Access, the choices get difficult and I end up including games that I would rather not put in a game of the year list.

2000

• Deus Ex
• Thief II
• Diablo II

2001

• Advance Wars
• Halo: Combat Evolved
• Civilization III

2002

• TES III: Morrowind
• Gothic 2
• Warcraft III

2003

• SimCity 4
• Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
• C&C Generals

2004

• Half Life 2
• World of Warcraft
• 40K Dawn of War

2005

• Civilization IV
• Star Wars: Battlefront 2
• Destroy All Humans!

2006

• Medieval II: Total War
• Hitman Blood Money
• Dark Messiah of Might & Magic

2007

• Mass Effect
• Europa Universalis III
• Halo 3

2008 (my God, what a terrible year)

• Spore
• Mercenaries 2: World in Flames
• Valkyria Chronicles

2009

• Risen
• Left 4 Dead 2
• Red Faction Guerilla

 

[AndyS]

2000: Deus Ex, No One Lives Forever, Virtual Pro Wrestling 2
2001: Grand Theft Auto 3, Arcanum, Halo
2002: Freedom Force, Jet Set Radio Future, Morrowind
2003: Star Wars: KOTOR, Max Payne 2, Splinter Cell
2004: Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines, Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay, Tron 2.0
2005: Psychonauts, The Warriors, Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth
2006: Persona 3, Bully, Dark Messiah
2007: STALKER, The Witcher, Portal
2008: Dead Space, Saints Row 2, Valkyria Chronicles
2009: Brutal Legend, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Demon Souls

I feel like things hit a tipping point somewhere around 2003. The 80s and 90s lists I could probably make several different top 3s for a particular year and still feel happy. The deeper I went in the 2000s, though, the more I felt like I was scraping a barrel, settling on three, and going "Meh, good enough, I guess."

 

[cruel]

Cool thread.

2000	Baldur's Gate 2	Deus Ex	Icewind Dale
2001	Gothic	Wizardry 8	Arcanum
2002	Gothic 2	Morrowind	Disciples II: Dark Prophecy
2003	SMT III: Nocturne	KotOR	ToEE
2004	VtM: Bloodlines	LoH: Trails in the Sky	Sacred
2005	Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance	God of War	F.E.A.R.
2006	Persona 3	Trails in the Sky SC	NWN2
2007	Mass Effect	Bioshock	The Witcher
2008	Persona 4	King's Bounty: The Legend	Fallout 3
2009	Demon's Souls	Dragon Age: Origins	Risen

 

[PsihoKekec]

2000: Baldur's Gate II, Thief II, Shogun: Total War
2001: Kohan: Immortal Soverigns, Baldur's Gate: Throne of Bhaal, Stronghold
2002: Medieval Total War, Mechwarrior IV: Mercenaries, Icewind Dale II
2003: Rainbow Six: Raven Shield, Massive Assault, Call of Duty
2004: Rome: Total War, Dawn of War, Half Life II
2005: Civilization IV, Dawn of War: Winter Assault, Swat IV
2006: The Operational Art of War III, Galactic Civilizations II, Medieval: Total War II
2007: Witcher, Puzzle Quest, Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl
2008: Sins of Solar Empire, Stalker: Clear Sky, Warfare
2009: Demon's Souls, Stalker: Call of Pripyat, Brütal Legend

 

[Jason Liang]

2000
- Baldur's Gate 2
- Diablo 2
- Skies of Arcadia
2001
- Europa Universalis 2
- Ikaruga
2002
- Neverwinter Nights
- Decker
- Megamek
2003
- Temple of Elemental Evil
- Daibanchou
- WWE Smackown Here Comes the Pain!
2004
- Vampire Bloodlines
- Rance VI
- Grand Theft Auto San Andreas
2005
- The Punisher
- Civilization IV
- King of Fighters XI
2006
- Sengoku Rance
- Marvel Ultimate Alliance
- Urban Rivals
2007
- Europa Universalis 3
- Artificial Girl 3
2008
- Estiah
- Warstorm
2009
- King of Fighters XII