Today’s exciting list is the best PS2 FPS games. Yes, that’s the Playstation 2 and first-person shooters.
We recently covered the Best 2D Video Games Of All Time, and it was shocking to us to see how many games that we love were actually 3D titles.
A lot of my own personal favorite video games are first-person shooters!
One of the best consoles (and controllers!) for first-person shooting is the Playstation 2. So this list should be pretty awesome.
As you probably know by now, the Playstation 2 is still the highest selling video game console of all time.
And with over 4,000 video game titles released for the system, it is safe to say we had a lot of options for this article.
So let’s get to the task at hand.. here are our best PS2 FPS games!
Table of Contents
10. Turok: Evolution (2002)
Turok: Evolution answers the age old question of “is there anything cooler than guns and dinosaurs?”.
Well, I could answer that question. But I guess the Turok franchise clarified all of that a long time ago.
The Turok series was alive and well on the Nintendo 64 back in 1997. I played the first two entries on N64 and absolutely loved them.
It was the 2002 release for Playstation 2 that gave the series a technical bump it needed.
As the prequel to the original Turok video game, we see our hero Tal’Set in a more story oriented game experience.
They did have a pretty awesome voice acting cast as well, including Ron Perlman.
The game play has you creeping through jungles hunting dinosaurs with your bow and arrow, and eventually gain access to a large range of futuristic weaponry to battle humanoid dino-dudes.
There’s even some awesome pterodactyl riding sequences!
Whether it lives up to the original entries on the N64 is highly debated. But it surely was an exciting first-person shooter title on the PS2 back when it released, and it set the foundation for a 2008 reboot title on the PS3.
So we would like to shout out Turok: Evolution as one of the coolest PS2 FPS titles from the early 2000s era.
It even made an appearance on our list of the Best Turok Games of All Time.
9. BLACK (2006)
Black is perhaps one of the most chaotic and visually intense shooters for the Playstation 2.
The game play is a blend of running and gunning, as well as stealth and cover type shooting.
Every time you fire your weapon, you should expect that there will be a ton of environmental reaction and destruction.
Smoke and dust everywhere, gun barrel fire, and destructible environments. It all results in a very tense cinematic experience.
The developers even placed a heavy emphases on realistic gun appearance, feel, and sound.
The game is a shorter experience and does not offer a multiplayer mode. Which is quite disappointing, because we would love to have more from Black to experience.
But surely, for what it does offer, Black is one of the most exciting and unique first-person shooters for the PS2.
We would not be very competent reviewers if we did not include Black on our list of the best PS2 FPS games.
8. Call of Duty 3 (2006)
Call of Duty 3 was the 2006 WWII shooting title developed by Treyarch, who later became known for the Black Ops series of Call of Duty games.
Like previous entries in the Call of Duty franchise, you’ll be in the middle of hot combat with a team of AI soldiers at your side in large open areas with many possible paths through.
And, as we have come to know from most Call of Duty experiences… the multiplayer is where it’s at. There are many multiplayer options, including online 16 player battle sequences.
Call of Duty 3 is a perfect example of where first-person shooter titles were in the early and mid 2000s… deep in cliché World War II scenes.
And you know what? That isn’t really a bad thing.
Obviously, the media (film, television, books, video games) are quite intrigued by the storytelling opportunities in the topic of WWII. And the consumers eat that stuff up.
The real life stories of WWII make for quite intense game play. And Call of Duty 3 is a great example of it making for a wonderful experience on the PS2.
7. Red Faction II (2002)
Red Faction II is the highly anticipated sequel in the Red Faction series.
It established a series focused on exciting first-person shooting on planet Mars. And it was wrapped in humorous, over the top action.
The game starts off slow, and continues to ramp up the action and the comedy as you progress through its unique story. And the voice cast includes the likes of Jason Statham.
The gimmick that makes a Red Faction game… well… a Red Faction game is the “geo-mod” ability to destroy the environment.
You will find a lot of fun ways to blast a hole in a wall to make a new path through the world.
This feature does not play as big of a role as it did in the original title, but it is still a fun addition to an already great first-person shooter title.
It’s all a pretty entertaining ride, and you’ll sure to be laughing your way through the entire story mode.
And once you’re done with that, you can jump into the game’s multiplayer, which is gonna give you even more fast-paced combat.
6. Medal Of Honor: Frontline (2002)
Medal Of Honor: Frontline is a WWII themed combat game from EA.
And though this was the first Medal of Honor title to be made without its originator, Steven Spielberg, the game still has a very cinematic feel to it.
You absolutely will feel like you are inside a really detailed war film. The game literally begins with the storming of Normandy.
But it’s not just all smash and bang and shooting. You are actually in close proximity to your fellow soldiers and exchanging dialogue with them during battle.
So yeah.. like I said.. it’s all very cinematic and detailed.
Of course, you use period specific weaponry, all with their appropriate clunkiness and imperfect feel.
Medal Of Honor: Frontline was one of the highest selling PS2 titles of all time, and received many award nominations and wins.
And now it receives one of the highest honors… a spot on our list of the best PS2 FPS games!
5. Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game Of The Movie (2005)
Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game Of The Movie (that’s a mouthful, isn’t it?) is the best movie adaptation to a video game for the Playstation 2.
As I’m sure you know, most film adaptations end up being quite rushed, and this results in underwhelming video games.
Well the 2005 “King Kong” video game breaks this mold entirely!
The film’s director Peter Jackson worked directly with Ubisoft to achieve a unique, cinematic gaming experience.
And the video game adaptation also features the film’s full cast for the voice acting, including Jack Black and Naomi Watts.
An emphases on atmosphere and immersion was implemented in the game’s design, and there is a lack of an on screen HUD (it can be turned on in the settings if you hate that).
And don’t worry… the game gives you exactly what you hope for: the ability to play as the human lead AND as Kong.
The Kong levels are played in third-person, allowing you to smash your way through the jungle environment and battle other monsters on the island.
King Kong, the official game, from the movie, by Peter Jackson… whatever it’s called… it was a smash hit in both sales and reviews.
It is still commonly referred to as the best film adaptation to video games. And we consider it to be one of the absolute best PS2 FPS games of all time.
4. Half-Life (2001)
Half-Life, the smash first-person shooter from Valve, probably needs no introductions. But we’ll do it anyways.
This epic game was developed by the newly founded Valve, started by former Microsoft Employees.
Valve licensed the Quake and Quake II game engines from id Software and combined their favorite parts of each to create their own custom engine to make their perfect first-person shooter.
Half-Life focuses on a smart blend of shooting, exploration, and puzzle-solving. All paired with incredibly storytelling and new ideas for the genre.
Rather than using cutscenes, you experience the story of Half-Life entirely in real time (there’s only one short cutscene in the entire game).
Valve aimed to entirely reimagine how a first-person shooter game was presented, and they sure did succeed.
The first release of Half-Life was for the PC in 1998. And it was immediately a gigantic hit.
It took the number one spot on our list of the 10 Best 90s PC Games Of All Time.
The Playstation 2 port was released in 2001, and featured several improvements to the game, including the exclusive cooperative multiplayer mode called “Decay”.
So not only do you get one of the best video games ported to the Playstation 2, but it was also arguably better than the original release!
Half-Life is widely considered both one of the most influential first-person shooter titles, as well as one of the best video games of all time.
3. Killzone (2004)
I still remember the first time I experienced the incredible video game title that is Killzone.
It was shortly after I had purchased my Playstation 2, and I heard about this revolutionary first-person shooter by developed by Guerrilla Games.
Of course, you know them for the more recent Horizon franchise. But it was one of their very first games, Killzone, that set them up for success.
Killzone boasted a quality of graphics and mechanics never before seen on the Playstation 2, and many were eager to jump into the game described as the “halo killer”.
Though Killzone was one of the most anticipated FPS games for the Playstation 2, reviews for the game were mixed once it finally released.
Some were not as impressed as they had hoped for. But I am here to offer a different perspective…
As someone who had no presumptions going into the game, I was incredibly pleased with the experience.
In fact… that might not be selling it well enough. It blew me away!
Needless to say, I was sold on the Killzone franchise, and quite excited for the followups.
It was that original Killzone title that established Guerrilla Games as one of the leaders of action video game titles. And it is Killzone that we should be thanking for all of that.
Thank you Killzone. You were freakin’ awesome.
2. Battlefield 2: Modern Combat (2005)
Battlefield 2: Modern Combat is the incredible first-person shooter title from masters of the genre: DICE.
Like in any good DICE game, we get an incredibly wide range of game mechanics to play with:
You’ll be on foot, racing buggies, driving tanks, riding on boats, flying helicopters, dropping into warzones by parachute, taking control of mounted machine guns, and there is a really cool transport mechanic as you warp into the body of another soldier on the battlefield.
Keep in mind, that each of those require their own entire systems created by the developers. And each controls entirely unique and feels quite realistic to the mode.
And all of this on the Playstation 2. It looks much more like a PlayStation 3 game.
Combat is chaotic, exciting, diverse, and absolutely gorgeous.
I’d possibly rank DICE as the number one developer of first-person shooter titles, and Battlefield 2: Modern Combat is a perfect example of their mastery in all things combat focused.
So it is with zero hesitation that I give it a spot on today’s best PS2 FPS games.
1. TimeSplitters 2 (2002)
The results are in, and TimeSplitters 2is officially the best PS2 FPS game of all time!
Something you may not know about the history of Free Radical Design and TimeSplitters is that most of the original team came directly from Rare and the GoldenEye 007 development team.
One of the main gimmicks of a TimeSplitters title is the range of time periods you will find yourself in, each tackled in the skin of a new character.
And of course… the game is full of silly cutscenes, fast-paced combat, a bunch of unique weapons, and more dynamic objectives than the previous title.
The gunplay is quite similar to GoldenEye 007 or Perfect Dark. And if you’ve played either of those games, you know just how fun that can be.
TimeSplitters offers three levels of difficulty, as it is known as a fairly tough game. So even in the easiest mode, you’ll possibly find yourself wanting to throw your controller at the television.
The levels are large, diverse, and offer a wide range of unique objectives with the change of time periods and locations. Expect to spend a lot of time in each area.
One of the most popular features is the Arcade League. Which are a ton of unique game challenges to tackle, perhaps the most fun part of the TimeSplitters games.
TimeSplitters 2 also made an appearance on our list of the 55 Best PS2 Games Of All Time, and we certainly think it is the best first-person shooting title to come to the Playstation 2.
If you’re excited about TimeSplitters.. we have some exciting news about the franchise here: New TimeSplitters Game Announced With Original Developers On Board.
