My First Dozen PS2 Games

[Rogmeister]

Well, I finally broke down and bought a PlayStation 2 this week. I had a GameCube but got a bit tired of a number of games being made available for the PS2 and XBox...but not the Cube. So, over the weekend I weighed the pros and cons of PS2 vs. XBox and just decided the PS2 had more games I really wanted so I went with that one. Maybe I'll buy an XBox for myself on my next birthday but that wouldn't be until next summer.

As far as games go, I bought 3 the day I bought it (Monday), came home and ordered 4 more online and then bought 2 new games via eBay and finally went out yesterday and got two more. Once the ones I ordered come in, that will give me 11 games...I'll wait for those to arrive and then I'll go out and decide what to make the twelfth game and probably hold at that for awhile. Here, then, is the first dozen PS 2 (minus one) games of my collection...

1. DOA 2 Hardcore
2. Grand Theft Auto III
3. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
4. Haven: Call of the King (cheapest so far for me, $14.95)
5. Ico
6. Jak and Daxter
7. Maximo
8. Max Payne
9. Tekken 4
10. Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution
11. World Series Baseball
12. ?

As to what the 12th game will be, I haven't decided yet. I'm not a big sports gaming fan though I do like baseball games so WSB covers that. I have Madden 2003 for the GC and have hardly played that so that will hold me for awhile. I'm not big on RPGs but I do like straight adventure games. I also like platformers and fighting games. I notice I don't have an FPS yet and would like to get one in that category but which one to get? I already have the GameCube versions of Red Faction II, TimeSplitters 2 and Medal of Honor: Frontline and wouldn't want to get those again...any suggestions? I was thinking of getting the PS2 version of Return to Castle Wolfenstein but have been warned against that...

[davidbrit2]

Activision Anthology! Duh! :-D

Or check Target and see if you can still get Amplitude for $18.88. It's tons of fun. You play tracks of the song as you fly through a weird CG environment. Multiplayer is insane, and it's pretty much the only thing I use with my network adapter.

Oh, and if you see Rez for a good price, get it. It's like playing Panzer Dragoon on lots and lots of LSD.

[bargora]

I agree that Rez is very cool, and should be picked up if seen for a reasonable price.

As far as FPS, I enjoyed Unreal Tournament, which should be dirt cheap these days. As a launch title, though, it's looking a bit dated by now (if that matters to you). Plus, it's more fun against a human player, as there's no "story" mode per se; the single player mode instead gives you a series of tournament arenas to conquer (deathmatch, domination, CTF, assault). And unfortunately, to unlock the single player arenas in two-player mode, you need to do the i-link thing (2 discs, 2 linked PS2s, 2 TVs)--I guess they were too large for one PS2 to handle by itself, as all of the single-machine multiplayer maps are comparatively small. All that aside, I liked it and played the hell out of the single-player mode.

If you have any aspirations toward mech geekiness, Armored Core 2 is also dirt cheap these days, and is the Gran Turismo of mech combat. If spending nearly as much time in the shop tweaking designs as (or more time than) you spend fighting with them sounds like fun, well, that's Armored Core mech geek bliss for you.

And for your Japanese ultra-cute cooperative multiplayer 2.5D platforming needs, consider The Adventures of Cookie and Cream. Also...dirt cheap!

I would recommend Gradius III and IV, but I think that you have to be a Gradius fan already, because they will hand you your hat pretty quickly otherwise.

[lendelin]

Two suggestions: 1) REZ, fantastic game, starts rather harmless, and becomes as good as it gets. (Tron-like graphics, challenging if you unlock everything, great replay value, and at the end almost artistic unique graphics. 2) Gran Turismo 3. I always found racers boring and prefer adventure and RPGs; but GT3 is a programming masterpiece, an instant classic. the controls so good. it delivers the depth of a RPG. It's awesome, and the graphics are fantastic.

[Drexel923]

Sly Cooper is a really fun platformer.

[Rogmeister]

Sly Cooper is one of two platformers that are very high on my want list and a likely pick-up for my 12th game. I will mark down your other suggestions, guys, and check them out. Thanks!

[WiseSalesman]

You like adventure games? You might like Kingdom Hearts. So far, my favorite game I own for the system.

[Rogmeister]

That's another on my list of games to give serious consideration to. Perhaps I'll put that on my Buy It Once The Price Comes Down To $20 list...

[Arcade Antics]

No brainer: Amplitude (or Frequency).

Amplitude can be had new for about $25; Frequency is $20 or less new. You definitely need one of 'em.

[evilmess]

I just hit a dozen too, here's my list

Grand theft Auto: Vice city
War of the Monsters
Guilty Gear X2
NFS: Hot Pursuit 2
Midnight Club 2
Jak and Daxter
Gun Grave
State of Emergency
Twisted Metal: Black
Auto Modellista
Devil may Cry
Burnout 2

[petewhitley]

Mark of Kri is IMO the most underrated game on the system. Should be dirt cheap as well, bag some of the more expensive suggestions for now and get a few cheap ones.

[Rogmeister]

I'll look for Frequency or Amplitude. Of the ones you list, evilmess, I have Vice City, Jak and Daxter's on the way, and two others I have on GameCube. Of the other's, I may be interested in Devil May Cry. I'll check out Mark of Kri also. I have indeed been looking for the cheaper games...of the 11 I've bought so far, I've only paid full price for two of them (WSB and Vice City).

[SoulBlazer]

I'm VERY picky about the console games I own, so these are the 15 which have made the cut and are keepers for my PS2. Please note, though, I'm a big fan of Koei and RPG's.

Final Fantasy X
Legaia II
Wild Arms 3
Xenosaga
Suikoden III
Kessen II
Romance of the Three Kingdoms VIII
Dyntasy Warriors 4
Gradius 3 + 4
Ring of Red
Shadow of Destiny
Activision Anthology
Deus Ex
Grandia II
Metal Gear Solid II: Substance

In addition, my roomie has GTA 3 and GTA: Vice City, as well as SNK vs Capcom II so I play those a lot as well.

[Rogmeister]

I think I'll mark some of these down in a notebook (the ones I think I may like anyway) and check some sites for reviews as well as checking around for prices. The games that are still full-priced will be put to the back of the list until I get the cheaper ones first.

In the meantime, 3 of the games I ordered arrived today...Max Payne, Jak and Daxter, and Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution. That may be it for this week...unless Maximo arrives tomorrow.

[SoulBlazer]

Reviews are fine, but always take them with a grain of salt. If the game is still pricey (over $30) and you're not sure, rent it first. There's a reason Blockbusters sued Nintendo over 10 years ago for the right to do that.

[Rogmeister]

So does this mean there's a chance Aquaman isn't as bad as everyone is saying?

[SoulBlazer]

I've never tried that one, so I can't say. Just do rentals smartly.

The sorry part is that I have more GC games on my 'must buy for the rest of the year' list then the PS2. The only PS2 games I'm waiting for are FF X-2 and MGS 3.

[Half Japanese]

Here's a few ps2 games I really enjoyed and you might like:


Sly Cooper & the Thievious Raccoonus
Mark of Kri ($10 at Best Buy, GOGOGO!)
Gungrave
Mr. Mosquito
Gitaroo Man

[XpOsUrE]

You made some great choices there mainly the GTA games, and vf 4 evoultion, also if your into survival horror games, then you mite want to pick up the excellent recently released silent hill 3.

P.S. Make sure you stay away from the horrible buggy none makeing sense new Tomb Raider recently released .

[jaydubnb]

I would suggest giving War of the Monsters a try. Part King of the Monsters, part Rampage, it'sincredibly fun, especially w/ 2 players. Its one of the few PS2 games (besides MGS2) that has kept my attention.