PS2 Games

[Kekvit Irae]

I've heard good things about Bully, but nothing about The Warriors. I still suggest renting before buying.

I just got Resident Evil 4, and OH MY GOD is it good! I still hate Ashley and her worthlessness.

Kingdom Hearts 2 still sucks. I think MC Peepants put it best when he compared KH2 with RE4 (language warning). I gave up when I finally got to play Soras.

[Craterus]

Bully was good, but too short. Only about 20 hours of story there and the rest of the game is just milling round collecting stuff.

I think you'd be best off renting it for a week or two and you could probably finish it in that amount of time. I finished it in a week, but I was playing it pretty solidly.

[lars573]

The important thing to know about MGS2 imo is that it has a lot of cutscenes. Long cutscenes. Like 30 minute cutscenes. Also the plot gets insane.

LOL! This and the Peepants vid made me laugh. MGS2 has about 30 minutes of cut scenes. Total. Plus MGS plot is far from insane. It makes a lot of sense. An insane plot is in the Legacy of Kain series.

[Xiahou]

I've heard good things about Bully, but nothing about The Warriors. I still suggest renting before buying.

The Warriors caught my interest because it was based on a 1979 movie, which was based on a novel, which was loosely based on the ancient Greek story Anabasis.

[frogbeastegg]

LOL! This and the Peepants vid made me laugh. MGS2 has about 30 minutes of cut scenes. Total. Plus MGS plot is far from insane. It makes a lot of sense. An insane plot is in the Legacy of Kain series.

To quote wikipedia: Cutscene: A cut scene or cutscene (sometimes also referred to as a cinematic) is a sequence in a video game over which the player has no control. Cut scenes are used to advance the plot, portray character, and provide background information, atmosphere, dialogue and clues.

When I completed the game half my playtime was spent watching, not playing. Hours. FMV sequences, in-game action sequences, and the codec. The ending alone took half an hour!

I was enjoying the plot until the final stretch of Raiden's section. Then it went wacko, and couldn't seem to make up its mind what the heck it was about or trying to say. And no, my objection wasn't with

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

the whole thing being a simulation.

It was the stuff which came after that. It tried too hard to be smart and deep, and ended up as neither.

The game's famous for these two things. Oh, and for Raiden being naked at one point.

It's a shame. I loved the voice acting, liked a lot of the earlier plot, appreciated the secondary characters, and enjoyed the gameplay. If only it hadn't gone wacko, and if it had been a deal more concise and used other storytelling methods.

[Forward Observer]

If you like acradish 3rd person shooters with lots of humor and quite a bit of platforming thrown in, the the Ratchet and Clank games will give you hours of fun.

In the same vein are the Jak and Dexter series. I actually like them as well or better than the Ratchett series. Since all of these games are over 6 months old they have been re-issued and can be had for $20 new or even less if you go used.

I would skip the first game in the J & D series because it is a pure 3rd person platformer, but Jak II and III added a tremendous amount of content and different styles of gaming. Jak II added weapons and vehicles plus the game is set in an interactive GTA like enviroment. Jak III took this a step further and added desert combat road racing. The story and plethora of cut scenes in the Jak game are also very entertaining.

There are enough levels and sub level mini-games in either the Ratchet & Clank or the Jak & Dexter games that I guarantee you will not finish them in an evening or two. Unlike Black, which I also thought was way too short, these games will give one a lot of gaming bang for the buck.

There is also a 4th Jak game called Jak-X, which is strictly combat road racing. I am not big road race fan, and while it does not have the enormous content of the previous two Jak games, I managed to have fun with it and surprsingly finish it.

One last point--all of these games have quite a bit of replayablity due to the additional unlockable content from accumulation of various collectables and score points through the various missions or levels.

Cheers

[Csargo]

If you like acradish 3rd person shooters with lots of humor and quite a bit of platforming thrown in, the the Ratchet and Clank games will give you hours of fun.

In the same vein are the Jak and Dexter series. I actually like them as well or better than the Ratchett series. Since all of these games are over 6 months old they have been re-issued and can be had for $20 new or even less if you go used.

I would skip the first game in the J & D series because it is a pure 3rd person platformer, but Jak II and III added a tremendous amount of content and different styles of gaming. Jak II added weapons and vehicles plus the game is set in an interactive GTA like enviroment. Jak III took this a step further and added desert combat road racing. The story and plethora of cut scenes in the Jak game are also very entertaining.

There are enough levels and sub level mini-games in either the Ratchet & Clank or the Jak & Dexter games that I guarantee you will not finish them in an evening or two. Unlike Black, which I also thought was way too short, these games will give one a lot of gaming bang for the buck.

There is also a 4th Jak game called Jak-X, which is strictly combat road racing. I am not big road race fan, and while it does not have the enormous content of the previous two Jak games, I managed to have fun with it and surprsingly finish it.

One last point--all of these games have quite a bit of replayablity due to the additional unlockable content from accumulation of various collectables and score points through the various missions or levels.

Cheers

The Ratchet and Clank series of games are really fun and are replayable since there's some things you don't get in the first go through. I've played through everyone of the games 3-4 times and there was always something I missed or something gained never really lost the fun or got repetitive like some games do when you play them more than once.

[Sensei Warrior]

I'll throw in my 2 cents.

Shadow of Rome. God I love that game, its the best stress relief I know. Boss ticking you off? Pop it in and 'Butcher of Rome' a few people and watch your agnst melt away.

Red Dead Revolver Read the above and picture guns.

Freedom Fighters A shooter with squad based tactics. Yum

Genji: Dawn of the Samurai This is a rental. You either love it or hate it. It's so good looking I can't resist. It's probably the only game I own more for eye candy than actual play value.

Beyond Good and Evil I think thats what its called. You play a chica with a camera in a fantsy sci-fi setting. It's not an rpg, but more adventure based. Has a great storyline.

There are more but I can't remember them off hand. Haven't played the PS2 in months, I got caught up in MTW:VI again.

[Fragony]

I oh so second Beyond Good & Evil, it is so good that it's faillure to make profits is downright criminal. Very charming title, it's zelda meets metal gear, fun puzzles and combat, and many sections with stealth lite that work really well. Insane production values, awesome music and amazing graphics, it reminded me of Grim Fandango at times because of the excellent writing and artwork, really a must play.

[doc_bean]

Anyone played Okami yet ?

I played the demo and it was pretty fun, the bossfight was very cool, the normal battles weren't really all that great, but i'd like to check it out when I have the time to play it (err...juli ?)

[Fragony]

Haven't seen a copy, which is good because my ps2 once again did the die thing, waiting till march so I can play it on the ps3, untill that one dies on me as well that is.

I. hate. Sony.

[frogbeastegg]

Still waiting the the UK release, as I have been doing for months. Okami sounds like a near-perfect frog game. Soon, soon, February 9th it shall be mine! I'm more excited about it than Final Fantasy XII or Digital Devil Saga 2, the other two February I've-been-waiting-for-months-for-a-PAL-release games. I'm working to finish my current PS2 game (Shadow Hearts) so I can hop right into Okami as soon as I get it.

Fragony, what do you do to your PS2s?! Mine's lasted for four years and it's still in great condition. Humph, but then according to general reputation maybe I have been very lucky ... er, and thinking back it did come with a broken controller which I had to take back and yell at the shop until they reluctantly swapped it.

[Fragony]

Before or after they crumble? Before, I put disks in them, switch on the power and play games on them. After, I usually pick them up, say something like 'it is my personal opinion that this isn't a very solid product Sony sold me, I am not very pleased'

something like that, really

[Dave1984]

I've been through four PS2s in the last five years so my record ain't great, although to be fair they're always the first thing I sell if money gets tight. Although I've had my last one for about three of those five years now because I wouldn't make enough on selling it, and playing Timesplitters: Future Perfect against my girlfriend is actually an OK use for it. Oh, and playing DVDs.

[Kekvit Irae]

My PS2 once stopped trying to open and close the CD tray, and it wouldnt read the CDs, so I opened it up myself and realigned the laser pointer as per suggestions and walkthroughs on the web. Within the hour I was back to playing my PS2 like nothing had happened. Saves me a load on shipping and repairs.