PS2 Games That Impressed Gamers The Most

Summary

• Many games have impressed players throughout the industry’s history, whether it be due to graphics or new features.
• The PS2 boasted some of the most innovative and groundbreaking games in the industry, delivering impressive graphics, deep stories, and unique gameplay experiences.
• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was the best-selling and most impressive game on the PS2 and pushed its hardware to the absolute limit.

Throughout its decades of history, people across the world have seen a wide variety of impressive titles come along in the gaming industry. With each new generation of game console pushing the boundaries of what was thought possible for technology, it allowed games to go even further in their scope, with deeper stories, improved graphics, more content and so on.

While each console had its share of highly-regarded titles, the PlayStation 2 has perhaps one of the most prolific libraries in all of gaming. After all, it is still the best-selling home console of all time. On top of being impressive itself, Sony’s new 6th generation console had a plethora of titles that broke entirely new ground for the industry, titles that still impress fans worldwide to this day.

This list will cover the most technically impressive games on the PS2, due to their size and scope, or their graphics and presentation.

The entries will stick to only one title per game series, and not just PlayStation exclusives.

8

Black (2006)

The Most Visceral FPS Experience On The PS2

The PlayStation 2 has had its fair share of great FPS titles over the years, and Black is one of the often-forgotten cult classics of the 6th generation. Where the PS2’s other well-known first-person-shooter titles like TimeSplitters 2 took on a more arcade-style design, Black rooted itself in being more realistic.

The standout part of this FPS was its presentation overall. The game’s focus on realism in both its gameplay and graphics was a different approach for the PS2 at the time. Taking place in an all-out war in both Chechnya and Ingushetia, players are put in the boots of a CIA operator tasked with dismantling a terrorist organization known as the Seventh Wave. Black’s gameplay is downright chaotic, to say the least. Each encounter is a tense firefight, resulting in environments being filled with clouds of smoke and debris as bullets fly around the player. It was intense and hectic, creating an impressively visceral shooter experience that was relatively uncommon for the time.

While Black wouldn’t go on to be the most popular, remaining as a solo title with no later releases, it was praised for its unique presentation at the time, commonly cited as one of the most visceral FPS experiences that the PlayStation 2 ever saw.

7

Shadow Of The Colossus (2005)

The Largest Scale Battles Ever Seen On The PS2

Shadow Of The Colossus is one of the many action-adventure classics for the PlayStation 2, often being considered as one of the most influential titles in the history of gaming. It puts the player in the role of a man named Wander venturing through a mysterious realm battling massive beasts known as the “colossi”, with the ultimate goal of reviving a girl named Mono.

The game’s backdrop was one of the many points that allowed it to stand out, the fantasy atmosphere was dark and dreary, but incredibly unique and interesting. Most intriguing were the many colossal monsters featured within, offering tough and tense fights with some great presentation to pull it all together. Much like the God of War series, what made it all so impressive was just how massive of a scale these battles took place in its detailed, open-world environments, pushing the console’s hardware to its absolute limit at the time.

The only thing to hold Shadow Of The Colossus back from a higher slot on this list would be its hit-and-miss performance, especially during its many large boss battles. Nonetheless, it would receive universal praise for how unique and groundbreaking its concepts were. Its legacy continued with a next-gen port for the PlayStation 3, and a full remake for the PlayStation 4.

6

Okami (2006)

The Best Artstyle On The PS2

It’d be hard to have a list like this without giving mention to Okami, an action-adventure classic for the PS2, and one of the console’s most creative and eye-catching titles to date.

Taking place in a fictional rendition of old-age Japan, its plot is based on a mixture of the country’s traditional folklore and mythology, which can quickly be seen in the design of its main protagonist. Players take on the role of Amaterasu, a white wolf symbolizing the Japanese Shinto sun goddess bearing the same name. Following the aforementioned myth and folklore, the deity embarks on a quest to save the land from darkness. What made Okami such a striking title, apart from its interesting plot and fun gameplay, was its beautiful presentation. Taking on its distinctive hand-painted art style, the bold brushstroke outlines, and visuals bursting with color, it was truly stunning, and unlike anything seen in the gaming medium before.

Due to its release being so late in the console’s life cycle, Okami did not sell particularly well upon its 2006 release. Regardless, the game was widely lauded for its incredibly creative visual design as well as its unique and thoughtful plot. In more recent years, the game’s legacy would live on, with the release of updated HD versions for multiple platforms.

The Best Stealth-Action On The PS2

The popular Metal Gear series from Konami had some great offerings during the 6th generation of gaming. And while it would be hard not to pick Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty here, the series’ next installment, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, just edges it out.

The game follows suit with the series’ common formula, where players will traverse a new, visually stunning tropical island, as they stealthily navigate their way past enemies in true MGS form. Metal Gear Solid 3 took the series’ strong and highly-praised foundation set out in the previous titles and built upon it even further. Adding features that were brand-new for the franchise, like close-quarters hand-to-hand combat, as well as the new camouflage and injury management systems.

Metal Gear Solid 3’s visual appeal and new mechanics were a big step for the series, and the PlayStation 2 itself, offering an impressive amount of attention to detail and depth overall. Being considered by many as one of the greatest titles in the franchise, it may be unsurprising to hear that there is currently a remake of the game in development that is set to release in August 2025.

4

Silent Hill 2 (2001)

The Best Survival-Horror Experience On The PS2

The original Silent Hill from 1999 marked a major shifting point for survival horror games and quickly established the series’ name as a staple in the genre. And with its next release, Silent Hill 2, Konami added even more terrifying layers to the iconic franchise.

The second installment follows James Sunderland, as he ventures into the title location of Silent Hill after receiving a mysterious letter from his deceased wife. While it carries on the same gameplay formula as the previous title, Silent Hill 2 shows itself the most in the way it conveys its story and lore. Where the environment and events of the first game were rooted in reality, the second game instead bends the rules of reality, where what each character sees is dependent on their mind, acting as a manifestation of their psyche. Players are dropped into a story and environment where the lines between real and fake are completely blurred, making the atmosphere that much more horrifying.

Selling over one million copies worldwide within a month of its launch, Silent Hill 2 hit the nail on the head in delivering a great survival horror experience much like its predecessor. Even though the series hasn’t seen a mainline entry since 2012, its legacy has still lived on through the release of both its HD versions in 2012 and a full-on remake in 2024 that received universal praise.

3

Final Fantasy 10 (2001)

The Classic JRPG Series Comes To The PS2

Final Fantasy 10 is one of the fan-favorite games in Square’s long-running JRPG franchise, now sitting at sixteen mainline releases and countless spin-offs across its lifespan. With the launch of FF10 in the summer of 2001, the tenth main installment was expected to be big, being the series’ first outing on the new PlayStation 2.

Featuring the deep storytelling that’s come to be expected of Final Fantasy titles, it expands its unique universe even further, bringing in the all-new land of Spira, filled with tons of characters to interact with and varied environments to traverse. This time, the game returned to the more traditional turn-based battle system seen in its earliest titles, rather than the active-battle system that had been adopted for its recent releases at the time. Naturally, its presentation both in-game and the various cutscenes was what caught the eyes of gamers in 2001. Showing incredibly realistic, yet stylized visuals and design across the board, it was breathtaking for the PS2.

Final Fantasy 10’s reception would follow suit with the rest of the franchise, garnering universal acclaim with near-perfect scores, eventually getting multiple HD remasters alongside FFX-2 for Windows, as well as 7th and 8th generation consoles.

2

Gran Turismo 4 (2004)

The Most Photorealistic Presentation On The PS2

The Gran Turismo titles have always been regarded as having some of the best presentations in the racing genre, but Gran Turismo 4 took it to a new level. Released in 2004, the fourth main installment showed how far the franchise had come from its original roots on the PlayStation in 1997.

Sony’s well-known racing sim takes on the same formula as it always has, racing against opponents in various events, accruing points to progress further. Players can use earned credits to purchase vehicles, upgrades, and modifications to appearance, with a massive selection across all categories. GT4’s standout point this time around was its presentation, seen as a big improvement over the series’ previous entry. The graphics provided a level of realism that hadn’t been seen before on the PS2. Bundling that together with its new improvements to vehicle physics created a visceral racing experience unlike any other at the time.

Gran Turismo 4 was highly praised for its technological advancements and unrivaled visual fidelity, quickly becoming the top-selling game of 2005 on the PlayStation 2, and eventually being crowned its third best-selling game of all time.

1

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004)

The PS2’s Best-Selling Game Of All Time

It’s probably unsurprising to see Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas make this list, being widely considered one of the PlayStation 2’s most legendary games. It was Rockstar Games’ way of showing off their experience in working with the PS2’s complicated hardware and the RenderWare engine over the years, and it certainly impressed.

San Andreas took everything that the previous two installments did so well, improving and massively expanding upon the franchise’s common formula, offering the longest story, largest map, and most customization up until that point in the series. Seeing just how much the developers managed to cram into GTA: San Andreas, let alone on the PS2, is still astonishing today. From the city of Los Santos, through Angel Pine and San Fierro’s rolling hills, and finally into the deserts of Las Venturas, each area of its massive map brings the player a whole new atmosphere and set of missions. This is on top of its huge cast of voice acting talent, including Samuel L. Jackson, Clifton Powell, and Peter Fonda, just to name a few. Even rappers MC Eiht and The Game made an appearance as Ryder and B-Dup, respectively.

While its future ports and infamous Definitive Edition would generate some mixed reception, as far as the 2004 original goes, it’s an easy pick for the top spot. It became the PS2’s best-selling title by a long shot, with many even going on to hail it as one of the greatest games of all time. Suffice it to say, it not only shaped the future of Rockstar’s flagship series but also the entire open-world game genre.