I stumbled upon this list a few days ago.
Ace Combat X/2
YR-99 (hangar view) - 1600
Alan Wake
Alan - 13,437
Alice: Madness Returns
Alice - 11,748
Asura's Wrath
Asura - 23,139 with 6 arms, 16,000 with 2 arms.
Axel Impact/DTRacer, PS2, 2003/2005
Cars - Base mesh ~12,000 polygons (max LOD)
Volume Shadow mesh - 4,000-5,000 Vert (dynamic shadows are not stored as actual polygons, hence vertex count)
Stages - ~200k polygons
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Bane - 25,000
Croc - 20,940
Thugs - 7,000
Up to 25K for main characters
Batman: Arkham City
Harley Quinn - 17,731
Harley Quinn (DLC) - 19,110
Poison Ivy - 15,977
Battlefield 3
Kiril - 15,818
Vladimir Kamarivsky - 15,819
Bayonetta
Bayonetta - 23,000
Jeanne (old outfit) - 18,873
Luka - 23,484
Rodin - 40,508 (15K for jewelry etc)
Bioshock 2
Big Sister - 7,253
Bulletstorm
Grayson Hunt (past/intro level) - 41,534
Grayson Hunt (default) - 43,709
Trishka - 21,122
Victor - 19,116
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Frank Woods (full gear) - 19,777
Canned Boss Game Studios game, Xbox, 2002
Cars - 25000 polygons (highest LOD) - 4 textures/poly, Base texture, Reflection map, a texture used to compute a fresnel term, Shadow map, Specular highlight (encoded in the alpha channel of the reflection map)
Backgrounds - 2 or in some cases 3 textures/poly
Peak number of polygons per second - 30M polygons**
Castlevania LOS
Laura - 10,000
Gabriel - 27,379 (with all upgrades.)
Crysis, PC, 2007
Nano-suit character - 67,000 polygons (uncertain whether it's an in-game model or not)*
Characters' heads - ~2500-3000 polygons
Characters' bodies - ~5000 polygons
Crysis 2 (console)
Nano suit - 19,073
Multiplayer suit - 27,414
Ceph (heavy) - 19,651
Dark Sector
Hayden Tenno (armoured) - 10,671
glave - 1,608
Darksiders II
Death - 12,216
Dead Island
Purna - 23,301
Xian - 15,961
Dead or Alive series, Xbox, 2001-2004
Character - ~10,000-15,000
Dead or Alive 4
Helena (C4, opera) - 39,659
Dead or Alive 5
Leifang (C8) - 32,497
Tina (swim suit) - 34,804
Dead Rising, X360, 2006
Peak number of polygons per frame - ~ 4 million**
Dead Space 2
Isaac Clarke - 21,595
Deathrow, Xbox, 2002
Characters - up to 7,000 polygons - 55 bones - 1024x1024 textures on the bodies and 512x512 on the faces
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Adam Jensen - 25,953
Yelena - 17,022
Devil May Cry 4
Lady - 27,432
Devil May Cry: DmC
Dante - 20,732
Flying Demon - 10,802
Kat - 19,077
Mundus - 17,057
Encharted Arms
Kairen - 13,073
Enslaved
Monkey - 20,407
Trip - 22,103
Far Cry 3
Vaas - 19,369
Final Fantasy XIII
Lightning - 8,488
Snow - 8,907
Bahamut - 16,000
Shiva - 5,752 and 7,938
Odin - 14,088
Brynhildr - 16,016
Final Fantasy XIII-2
Caius - 8,002
Lightning - 8,163 polygons, head and hair same as ff13.
Lightning (old outfit) - 8,488
Noel - 7,349
Snow - 8,274
Forza Motorsport 3
LOD0: 172753 polys
LOD1: 45074 polys
LOD2: 21802 polys
LOD3: 13134 polys
LOD4: 6360 polys
LOD5: 2556 polys
Hi-res cockpit: 79845 polys
Forza Motorsport 4
500,000-1,000,000 for auto vista,
Lamborghini Reventon - 562,786
Halo Warthog 798,005
Forza Horizon
Horizon world - 14,123,106 polygons
Ferrari 485 spider convertible LOD-0 217,805 polygons (without wheels)
Lexus lfa Rim LOD-0 30,047 polygons
Disc brake 3,674 polygons
Gears of War, Xbox 360, 2006
Wretch - 10,000 polygons with diffuse, specular and normal maps
Boomer - 11,000 polygons with diffuse, specular and normal maps
Marcus - 15,000 polygons with diffuse, specular and normal maps
Gears of War 2
Brumak - 40,084
Marcus Fenix, 20,195
Gears of War 3
Marcus Fenix, 31,831
Queen Myrrah - 23,415
Samantha - 23,038
Savage Kantus - 19,899
God of War 3
Kratos - 22,000
Gran Turismo 3, PS2, 2001
Cars - ~2,000-4,000 polygons
Gran Turismo 4, PS2, 2004
Cars - ~2,000-5,000 polygons
Gran Turismo 5: Prologue, PS3, 2007
Cars - 200,000 polygons (probably interior + exterior)
Gran Turismo 5
Cars ~500K photomode
GTA San Andreas, PS2, 2004
Characters - 2,000 polygons with 1 256x256 8bit texture
NPCs - 1,200 polygons with 1 256x128 8bit texture
Gant bridge - 16,000 polygons, includes LOD
Half-Life, PC, 1998
Zombie - 844 polygons
High Definition pack Zombie- 1700 polygons
Half-Life, Dreamcast, 2000-2001 (Canned)
Zombie - 1649 polygons
Half-Life, PS2, 2001
Zombie - 2822 (Highest LOD)
Half-Life 2, PC, 2004
Alyx Vance - 8323 polygons
Barney - 5922 polygons
Combine Soldier - 4682 polygons
Classic Headcrab - 1690 polygons
SMG - 2854 polygons (with arms)
Pistol - 2268 polygons (with arms)
Halo, Xbox, 2001
Master Chief - 2,000 polygons
Halo: Reach
Catherine Halsey - 15,088
Civilian - 15,808
Elite (Field Marshal) - 27,394
Elite (Ranger) - 23,964
Gúta - 10,800
Kat - 31,158
Noble 6 - 28,805 (with accessories.)
Heavenly Sword
Nariko - 23,620
Jak & Daxter, PS2, 2001
Jak - 4000 polygons
Jak II, PS2, 2003
Jak - 10,000 polygons*
Killzone 3
Characters - 10-15,000
MAWLR - 100K
Kingdom Under Fire : The Crusaders, Xbox, 2004
Main characters - 10,000 polygons
Characters - 3,000–4,000 polygons
Lair, PS3, 2007
Main dragon plus its rider - 150,000 polygons
16x16KM scene - 134M polygons (streamed into memory, not loaded at run time)
The Last Remnant
Emmy - 9,378
Rush - 7,923
Left 4 Dead 2
Nick - 17,761
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, GC, 2002
Link - 2800 polygons
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, GC/Wii, 2006
Link - 6900 polygons
Lollipop Chainsaw
Juliet - 19,146
Rosalind - 17,756
Lost Odyssey
Cooke - 10,071
Ming Numara (dress) - 8,982
Seth Balmore - 10,900
Lost Planet, X360/PC, 2007
Wayne - 12392 polygons (but finally 17765 polygons for compatibility with motion blur effect)
VS robot - 30-40,000 polygons
Background - ~500,000 polygons
Peak number of polygons per frame - ~ 3 million**
Magna Carta 2
Juto - 26,209
Zephie - 23,618
Marvel Vs. Capcom 3
Deadpool - 13,922
Hsein-Ko - 14,050
Jill Valentine - 16,197
Morrigan - 18,994
Ryu - 19,233
Mass Effect, X360, 2007
Saren - 15,076
Sheppard + armor + weapons - ~20,000-25,000 polygons
Mass Effect 3
Bakara - 12,928
EDI (DLC) - 28,831
Fem Shep (Systems Alliance formal) - 17,628
Fem Shep (base armour) - 22,329
Nyreen Kandros (C1) - 16,690
Nyreen Kandros (C2) - 19,105
Wrex - 11,906
Medal of Honour: Allied Assault, PC, 2002
Character - 4096 polygons
Metal Gear Solid: Peacewalker (HD Collection)
Big Boss - 4,497
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, PS2, 2005
Snake - 4,000 polygons
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots
Solid Snake - 5-10,000 (two LODs)
Geko - 7,777
Metroid Prime
Samus (w/ cannon) - 9800
Samus (w/o cannon) - 7622
Metroid Prime 2
Samus (w/ cannon) - 9800
Samus (w/o cannon) - 7622
Samus (light suit) - 9,744 or ~10K with lightbeam cannon
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Samus - 18,962
Metroid Prime: Other M
MB - 14,119
Samus (Power Suit) - 15,342
Samus (Varia Suit) - 15,280
Midnight Club, Xbox360/PS3, 2007
Cars - 100,000 polygons
Mirror's Edge
Faith ~ 20,000
Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance, PS2/Xbox/GC, 2002
Characters - ~7,000-10,000
Mortal Kombat 4, Zeus Arcade Board, 1997
Peak number of polygons per second - 1.2 million quad patches**
Mortal Komabt 2011
Goro - 19,414
Liu Kang - 19,044
Raiden - 20,003
Smoke - 20,996
Sub-Zero - 18,985
Sub-Zero, Cyber - 19,363
Nier
Emil - 13,487
Kaine (DLC) - 16,054
Nier (jacket) - 12,147
Nier (young) - 16,340
Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath
Xbox - 3,000
PS3 - 20,000
Hi-res - 529,000
P.N.03
Vanessa Schneider - 14,993
Prince of Perisa (2008)
Elika - 22,372
Prince - 21,880
Project Gotham Racing 3, X360, 2005
Cars - 80,000-100,000 polygons (interior + exterior), damages add between 10,000 and 20,000 more polygons per car
Brooklyn Bridge - 600,000 polygons (LOD might be included)
Manhattan Bridge - 1 million polygons (LOD might be included)
Project Gotham Racing 4
Car exteriors - 20-30,000
Car interiors - 20-30,000
Red Dead Redemption
John Marston - 14,980
John Marston (Deadly Assassin) - 13,362
Resident Evil 4, Gamecube, 2005
Leon - 10,000 polygons
Resident Evil 6
Ada Wong - 20,368
Helena - 19,821
Leon Kennedy - 14,358
Rumble Roses XX
Reiko - 34,042
Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces
unspecified plane - 1900
cockpit - 2800
hangar model - 3600
Sonic Generations
Old Sonic - 19,787
Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny, PSP
Characters ~3-4,000
Soul Calibur IV, PS360
Characters ~20,000
Darth Vader - 21,158
Yoda - 17,097
Splinter Cell: Conviction
Sam - 25,332
Splinter Cell: Double Agent
Sam (scuba gear) - 10,340
Street Fighter IV
Characters - 16,000
Environments - 300,000
Super Mario Sunshine, GC, 2002
Mario - 1500 polygons
Levels - ~ 60,000 polygons
Super Smash Bros Brawl
Donkey 4,758 polygons
Samus (Zerosuit) 5,089 polygons
Snake 5,149 polygons
Mario 5,227 polygons
Luigi 5,632 polygons
Wario 5,762 polygons
Marth 6,249 polygons
Peach 6,316 polygons
Tekken 6
Jin Kazama - 20,240
Tekken Tag Tournament 2
Asuka Kazama (kimono) - 18,353
Tomb Raider
(Lara)
TR1 - 230
TRIII - 300
Angel of Darkness - 4,400
Legend - 9,800
Underworld - 32,816
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, PS3, 2007
Main characters - ~20,000-30,000 polygons
Drake - ~30,000 polygons
Pirates - ~12,000-15,000 polygons
Uncharted 2
Chloe - 45,000, each subsequent LOD has halved count (3 LODs)
Drake - 37,000, no LOD in SP
Drake's Hair - 4,000
Vanquish
Augmented Reality Suit - 13,530
Velvet Assassin
Violet - 14,219
Virtua Fighter, Model 1
Akira ~2300
Jeffrey ~2000
Pai ~2000
Sarah ~1900
Lau ~1900
Wolf ~1800
Kage ~1500
Jacky ~1500
Virtua Fighter 4, Naomi 2, 2001
Jacky - 14,000 polygons
Virtua Fighter 4, PS2, 2002
Jacky - 7,000 polygons
Virtua Fighter 5, Arcade/PS3/X360, 2006
Character - ~40,000 with diffuse, specular and normal maps
Background - 100,000 - 300,000 polygons
V-Rally 3, PS2, 2002
Vehicles - 15,000-16,000 polygons (Might count multi-passes)
Stages - 500,000 polygons
The Witcher 2: Enhanced Edition
Geralt of Rivia (Blue Stripes) - 31,021
Geralt of Rivia (default, light jacket) - 26,091
Geralt of Rivia (outfit 2) - 26,088
Geralt of Rivia (rags) - 17,424
Geralt of Rivia (Seltkirk) - 31,624
Letho - 20,027
Lorweth - 15,411
Philippa Eilhart (red dress) - 21,320
Triss Merigold - 24,526
Vernon Roche - 17,496
Ves - 22,791
