10 Greatest PlayStation 2 Games Everyone Played At Least Once

Published Sep 12, 2026, 7:00 PM EDT

Jared is a writer, editor, and Communications Studies graduate who loves popular nerd culture (almost anything to do with Marvel, DC, Star Wars, or The Lord of the Rings) and the interactive storytelling medium. Jared's first console was the PS1, wherein he fell for Spider-Man, Spyro the Dragon, and Crash Bandicoot.

The PlayStation 2 era may be a bygone one, but it’s also one of the most special home console eras we’ve ever had, and maybe ever will have, considering that the launch of the PlayStation 6 will probably be quite controversial or vitriolic following the PlayStation’s latest remarks and practices. Some fans would make the switch to the original Xbox in this era and never look back, though others stuck with the PlayStation family after the PlayStation 1, from PS2 to PlayStation 3 and onward.

Not every incredible PS2 game was exclusive to the console. Notwithstanding, the PS2 is home to some of the best games ever, and anyone who owned a PS2 is bound to have played each of the following games, at least once, due to them simply being so legendary. It’s also clear from widely assessing a batch of the most ubiquitous and well-known games on PS2 that many of them were either the first installment or the sequel in phenomenal franchises that are almost all ongoing to this day, ensuring that this era was the birthplace of some of PlayStation’s greatest achievements.

10 God Of War (2005)

God of War (2018) couldn’t be the game it is, with the Kratos that it has, if it wasn’t for the Greek mythology era that began on PS2 and depicted how rageful the demigod could be. God of War is representative of how prominent hack-’n-slash gameplay was in this era, and would later inspire games like Dante’s Inferno, before being completely overhauled in Santa Monica’s franchise continuation/reboot. God of War has come a long way since the PS2 era, but there’s no doubt how many fans would have played it when it was first released, as its popularity hasn’t ceased for a moment in over two decades.

9 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is one of the more truncated or distilled Grand Theft Auto games, and it may not be everyone’s cup of tea for that reason. It might not impress as much as Grand Theft Auto 3 or Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in terms of gameplay or scope, and it hasn’t aged as well, either. Still, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (and its prequel, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories) is uniquely charming; in particular, it marinates wholly in a 1980s Miami-inspired aesthetic.

And, if it’s possible that there are any Grand Theft Auto fans out there who haven’t played Vice City yet, there’s still ample time to do so before the biblical release of Grand Theft Auto 6 this November.

8 Jak And Daxter: The Precursor Legacy

Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy may not have been as seminal a platformer as Naughty Dog’s Crash Bandicoot, but it arguably has twice as much heart and far richer worldbuilding full of humor and lightheartedness, much less some stunning biomes and levels. While the series in its entirety is fantastic, The Precursor Legacy possessed a whimsy that was quickly abandoned in later installments, with Jak 2 briskly whisking the franchise away from that cartoonishness and substituting it with a dark dystopia.

Sadly, it doesn’t seem as if the Jak and Daxter franchise is ever coming back in a meaningful way, though it’s quite possible that Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet may inherit Naughty Dog’s penchant for nostalgic in-house franchise Easter eggs and sneak Jak and/or Daxter into the space-faring sci-fi game somewhere.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty is everything that fans today adore about the auteur Hideo Kojima: it’s wholly unique and original, like every other Metal Gear Solid game. If you’ve played any Metal Gear Solid game, you were likely to have played Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, especially if you owned a PS2 and were even remotely interested in where the franchise was headed following PS1’s Metal Gear Solid.

6 Ratchet & Clank (2002)

Ratchet & Clank was a flagship PS2 game that blended into the same pool of action-platformers from this era, but it’s unquestionable that it managed to skim the surface and stand out amongst its excellent peers. Aside from Spyro, even, Ratchet & Clank put Insomniac on the map, and the franchise is seemingly still going strong after its most recent game, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, which played into Insomniac’s strengths as a developer and pushed its technological envelope majorly.

5 Resident Evil 4 (2005)

It’s no exaggeration to say that Resident Evil 4 not only refurbished the survival-horror Resident Evil franchise wholesale for new audiences and a fresh take on gameplay for the series, but was also genre-defining for action, in general. It would’ve been the perfect PS2 game for fans who weren’t necessarily interested in Resident Evil as a horror franchise, but were suddenly curious about it when it was becoming heavily action-oriented (it’s still technically a survival-horror game, but it’s decidedly more action-heavy and relies far less on traditional scares than its predecessors).

Resident Evil 4 was foundational for action games going forward, and hasn’t aged a day. The Resident Evil 4 remake’s gameplay introduced a parry and modernized the original’s formula well, but both games stand on their own, demonstrating how astonishing Resident Evil 4 is. If it wasn’t for Resident Evil 4, it’s interesting to imagine how the series would’ve taken shape, or if it would’ve had the longevity it enjoys today.

4 Shadow Of The Colossus (2005)

Shadow of the Colossus is a niche little game that doesn’t have much to it beyond horse-riding in vast vistas in order to locate, climb, and slay colossi. It’s an iconic PS2 game distinctly from that era—proof that 2005 was an unbelievably terrific year for video games, as well—and even more so than Fumito Ueda’s Ico. The PS4’s The Last Guardian, while stunning and heartbreaking, never amounted to what Shadow of the Colossus achieved popularity-wise, either.

3 Silent Hill 2 (2001)

Like Resident Evil 4, Silent Hill 2 was a revelation for its survival-horror franchise, only far earlier in its respective franchise. Silent Hill 2 is still regarded as the most important and exceptional entry, having been fully character-driven and embracing a psychological element that the original Silent Hill game lacked. It’s up to fans whether they prefer the occult atmosphere or the psychological atmosphere for Silent Hill, yet Silent Hill 2 is probably one of the most-played and beloved horror games from the PS2 era, and for good reason.

2 Spider-Man 2

Considered by many Marvel fans to be the best Spider-Man game ever, on PS2 or otherwise, Spider-Man 2 leaped into an open-world formula and debuted web-swinging mechanics that are still praised to this day. Anyone who owned a PS2 must’ve played Spider-Man 2, unless they cared little for Marvel or Spider-Man, and this game could likely be the reason why Spider-Man games were so prolific and successful thereafter, in tandem with the popularity of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man movies.

1 The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King

Speaking of licensed movie tie-in video game adaptations, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King crests that list and then some. The PS2 was home to many Lord of the Rings games, including the JRPG-inspired The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age, but The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is easily the game that everyone will have played. This title is even more special in co-op, and for many players, it will be why the PlayStation 2 holds such a special place in their hearts.

The PlayStation 2 was Sony's second console in the PlayStation lineup and quickly became one of the best-selling home consoles of all time. Released in 2000, the Sony PlayStation had sold over 155 million units worldwide by March of 2012.