The 10 BEST PS2 First Person Shooters
“The Operative: No One Lives Forever” (2002)
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There may never be another Goldeneye 007, but on PS2, gamers got the next best thing with The Operative: No One Lives Forever. Borrowing not only the title of one of the many James Bond films, No One Lives Forever also tells the story of a British secret agent named Cate Archer in the 1960s and uses the time period to full extent with over the top outfits and pseudo-futuristic gadgets straight out of the Bond franchise. Instead of all-out action and gunplay, the game focuses on stealth and clever use of gadgets as Cate attempts to stop whatever world dominating plans the evil organization H.A.R.M. may be plotting. The series received multiple sequels, but the original No One Lives Forever was sadly the only one ported to consoles.
“XIII” (2003)
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Ignoring the abysmal recent remake, XIII remains a classic for its cel shaded comic book style and presentation that is one of the few forms of media to faithfully bring the pages of the comic it's based on to life. Following an amnesiac spy who is blamed for the assassination of the U.S. President, David Duchovny’s charmingly monotonous tone brought the character of XIII to life. The text popping up as the player nailed headshots or the words BOOM quite literally erupting from explosions immersed the player in the pages of the comic book the game was based on. The title received mostly mixed reviews and poor sales killed any possibility of a sequel, but the game has become a cult classic and its stylish comic book aesthetic has more than helped it stand the test of time.
“Area 51” (2005)
Over the years, countless properties have had players facing down the aliens, whether they’re invading us, we’re invading them, or we just happen to encounter them out in the vastness of space, but few have truly tapped into the potential of the top secret base Area 51. A pseudo remake of the light gun game of the same name, Area 51 puts players, oddly enough, in the military boots of David Duchovny once again as he and his team are sent in to clean up a mutant virus outbreak. The title is chock full of government conspiracies, shocking revelations and unlikely allies, as well as a surprisingly star studded voice cast even featuring the likes of Marilyn Manson. Besides the normal military artillery, the player is infected with the mutagen and gains supernatural abilities to survive the invading alien forces.
“Battlefield 2: Modern Combat” (2005)
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There was once a time when the Battlefield name stood for outstanding quality with state of the art graphics and precision gunplay. While those days are seemingly behind us for the time being, the PS2 managed to get one of the best entries in the once lauded franchise this side of Bad Company and laid the groundwork for what the series would become in the coming years. Whereas many other FPS still focused on the run and gun style of gameplay, Battlefield focused on slower more tactical encounters while still offering gamers the choice to go in guns blazing despite the odds being stacked against this option. Many of the modes now familiar to not only Battlefield but multiplayer FPS in general, the landscape of both console FPS and multiplayer offerings as well would look very different without Battlefield 2.
“Killzone” (2004)
While it might not have been quite the “Halo Killer” Sony was hoping for, Guerilla still managed to deliver a solid first person shooter experience that eventually became a well respected franchise that boasted one of the best multiplayer modes that still hasn’t been duplicated since. Nowadays the original Killzone is looked back on with a bit more appreciation for what it accomplished on the limited hardware of the time. Despite the more cinematic presentation than other shooters of the time, technical hiccups and poor AI held the game back from mainstream appeal until its far more popular sequels came along. However even despite the limitations, the gameplay remains remarkably solid and the Hollywood caliber sound design helps bring the irradiated landscape of the Helghan wars to life.
“Black” (2006)
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When the creators of the Burnout series decided to apply what they brought to the racing genre to first person shooters, it definitely garnered some attention. With the goal in mind to bring Hollywood caliber action to consoles shooters, Black features some of the most impressive, for the time, destruction as well as all out bullet hell mayhem and sound effects that could blow out many standard tv speakers, Black did for the FPS genre what Michael Bay did for action movies. The story itself might have been complete nonsense, but it served its purpose of setting up the next set piece for players to blow to shreds with a hail of thunderous gunfire. Thankfully this one-off by the studio has been ported to modern consoles as well so new players can experience the cacophony of carnage and bullet hell that Black offers.
“Medal of Honor: Frontline” (2002)
The Medal of Honor series might be no more nowadays but back on the PS1 and PS2, the series was the pinnacle of WWII first person combat, and while both systems saw numerous releases over the years, the benchmark of the series was undoubtedly its first entry on the PS2, Medal of Honor Frontline. While it didn’t make huge changes to its tried-and-true formula established by previous entries, Frontline nailed every aspect of its combat, objectives-based gameplay and atmosphere better than any other entry. Storming the opening Normandy level remains an exhilaratingly haunting experience even today, and while many subsequent entries attempted to match this level of immersion, none managed to even come close. Call of Duty might be the reigning champ of first person shooters these days, but for a time, Medal of Honor represented the best of what console shooters had to offer.
“Red Faction” (2001)
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How is it with all the advancements in video game engines over the years, we’ve actually ended up with LESS destructible environments? In the early days of the PS2, destructible environments and terrain were barely a consideration due to hardware limitations but the team at Volition and their GEOMOD Engine proved it was not only possible, but it was also a hell of a good time, too! The ability to take out bridges, walls and quite literally tunnel in any direction if you had enough explosives was revolutionary for the time and is still a marvel even two decades later. Despite the Total Recall-esque plot tying everything together, the series proved popular enough to span a series of sequels, but sadly the GEOMOD technology was never utilized outside of the Red Faction series and there hasn’t been a proper entry in the franchise since 2011.
“Half-Life” (2001)
Half-Life is undoubtedly one of the most important and influential shooters of all time with its influence still being felt in the first person shooter genre even today. The story of Gordon Freeman and the Black Mesa Facility dealing with the fallout of an interdimensional incident and the iconic G-Man remains one of the highest rated games of all time. While Half-Life has been ported almost as many times as Skyrim, until the recent Black Mesa, the PS2 version was the definitive version of the beloved game, featuring not only updated and smoother graphics, but also tweaks and improvements to level design. If you hadn’t had the chance to play Half-Life during its initial release on PC, those on the home console actually had the chance to play the best version there was.
“Timesplitters 2” (2002)
The original Timesplitters was a launch title for the PS2 and was a wonderful proof of concept with its inventive character designs and time hopping objectives, but Timesplitters 2 was where the series truly found its footing. Featuring a much more fleshed out and detailed storyline as well as more levels to explore and each taking place in a new time period, the sequel improved on its predecessor in every way imaginable. One of the standout multiplayer experiences on consoles, thanks in large part to a majority of the dev team having also worked on Goldeneye 007, Timesplitters 2 hit a bar that even its followup Future Perfect couldn’t match. The series still maintains a loyal fanbase, and with rumors of the series making a comeback, there’s no better TIME to be a loyal Timesplitters fan.
