As seen elsewhere I’d thought I’d do my own round up of the best and worst of 2004. So here it is….
Games
A mixed year for gaming. Too often the games are released to make the Christmas market leaving a fairly barren spring an summer. Anyway, top 3 are:
1) Half-Life 2. Slapped Doom 3 in the gameplay stakes and looked just as pretty.
2) Halo 2. Nothing touched this for online play.
3) Pro Evolution Soccer 4. The daddy of football games. Still playing it even with the lag issues. Will be playing it until Pro Evo 5 comes out.
Contenders: GTA 3:San Andreas, Ghost Recon 2, Rainbow 6 3:Black Arrow, Burnout 3, Far Cry. A late entry is Online Poker. I am doomed although $50 dollars up after 3 days.
Music
My top albums were:
1) Mylo – Destroy Rock & Roll. Find of the year for me with Drop the Pressure one of my most played tracks.
2) Franz Ferdinand – Franz Ferdinand. Enough said elsewhere about these guys.
3) Keane – Hopes and Fears. Just loved the whole album. Need to see them live.
But some other strong contenders. Kasabian, Snow Patrol, The Streets, Razorlight, Damien Rice, Scissor Sisters, Mull Historical Society. I will need to get a bigger iPod.
Film
1) Lord of the Rings:Return of the King – a stunning film to end a stunning trilogy. The first three weekends of the year are booked as I want to watch each of the three extended editions…again.
2) Lost In Translation – the film just worked for me. Seemed to be a split audience on this one but I loved it.
3) Spider-Man 2 – stunning effects and the film stuck to faithfully to it’s comic roots which paid dividends.
Contenders – The Bourne Supremacy, Shrek 2, Star Wars Trilogy, Hero, Collateral. Must watch Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind as lots of lists are putting this at the top.