I will soon be getting a PS2. I plan on buying Twisted Metal Black, Robotech, Madden 04, & Metal Gear Solid 2. I like action games, smash ups, etc. I am not a big fan of fighters or role players. Recommendations?

Recommendation #1: Buy the online pack PS2. It's a very good deal for the extra $20. I've seen it advertised with the game ATV Offroad Fury 2 included as well (Circuit City I think) Look for that.

My favorite game for the PS2 is Ratchet & Clank. It's just dropped to $19.99 and it's worth that and a lot more. I think you can find MGS2 Substance for the same price as the original, and it has the whole original game and a lot more. You might like War of the Monsters, it's a fun smash-up, but maybe more of a rental for now until the price drops.

And of course there's always the obvious : GTA 3 and GTA Vice City. Great games that I'm sure you'll enjoy.

Here would be my list.

1. Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance(definately)
2. Devil May Cry
3. Amplitude (not really for everyone, but you should definately try it out at least)
4. Soul Calibur 2 (its not a fighter, its Soul Calibur )
5. Socom
6. Splinter Cell (if you dont have an xbox)
7. Dynasty Warriors 3 (yes, 3 not 4, the funnest game ever when you just want kill of hordes of enemies w/o too much thinking)

I am sure people will recomment the GTA series, though I will highly disagree and steer you the other way.

Hehe, in the time it took me to post that, somebody recommended GTA

Well, different strokes and all. I agree with almost everything on your list but found Devil May Cry almost unplayable. To each his own.

BTW: Amplitude is definately awesome. You got that one right.

Disgaea
Final Fantasy X
Xenosaga EP1
Suikoden III

Here is my list of recommendations to you:

Ico

Jak and Daxter

Ratchet and Clank

GTA (BOTH)

Amplitude and Frequency

For Nascar, I really like Dirt to Daytona

I know you said no RPG's, but Suikoden 3 is excellent.

Get Mark Of Kri or I will kill ya and you're dog or cat or whatever pet you happen to have in your house.

PS. I'm not going to kill anything but I'd gave you and them such a beating.

I agree DMC was very unplayable. I heard great things about it, bought it, played for 20 minutes, and took it back. But yeah, totally to each his own.

I'd definitely recommend Xenosaga, it was fantastic. Also World Series Baseball 2k3 if you like baseball. GTA 3 and Vice City are a must. I liked FFX, as well.

If you like boxing, Ready to Rumble 2 was both cheap, and fun.

One more, Escape from Monkey Island. Just an awesome, funny game.

Oh, I forgot Hot Shots Golf 3. Good stuff.

Someone forgot to mention SOCOM. And if you want a good platform game with some stealth elements thrown in check out Sly Cooper. It's a GH now so you can pick it up for $20. Its a little on the short side but it's alot of fun.

Thanks for the recs. I've heard good things about these games in the past, so I'll probably picke them up as well.

Jak and Daxter
Vice City (Hopefully the game is as cool as the comercial)
Socom (I've heard great things about the online play)

I'll probably check out Devil May Cry. Isn't that the game that is based off the Resident Evil engine?

It's a very good list to start renting from.

The online pack is what I'll be getting. I really enjoyed X-Band back in the day. Now if Sony would make a Mario Kart clone playable online, I'd be all set.

Just to set you straight

I loved Jak and Daxter, it was really cute, but Ratchet and Clank was in every way imaginable superior. It's longer, more challenging, less buggy, prettier and just better. It's also largely a shooter, which you apparently like. Since they can both be bought for less than 20 bucks, I'll again recommend you get R & C now and wait for Jak II in Oct. That game looks to be very awesome.

And GTA Vice City is exactly like that commercial, minus the slick editing. I think it was a good idea to use in-game footage for the ad (like they did for GTA 3 as well). Also that song (I Ran) is in the game as well.

Here's some of my recommendations that no one else posted

-Silent Hill 2
-Silent Hill 3
-Resident Evil: Code Veronica X
-The Getaway (basically a superior game to GTA IMHO)
-The Terminator: Dawn of Fate (controls can turn you down if you new but I got use to them and the gameplay is solid action)
-The Thing

I also have Resident Evil: Dead Aim but it took me 2hours and 5 mintutes to beat on my first try so I suggest you rent it.

Madden04
NCAA Football 04
Socom(now a greatest hit)
Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4
Tiger Woods 2003(2004 comes out 9/23 though& had online play)
GTA3
GTA: Vice City

I'm curious about what you guys found unplayable about Devil May Cry. I bought it on a recommendation but haven't opened it yet and you have me a bit worried

What about Buffy? Is that any good?

Shinobi
Maximo
Gungrave
Dynasty Warriors 3: Extremely Legends
Dynasty Warriors 4: Extremely Legend (Comming out 11/4)
FFX

You may hate RPG's, but I -love- RPG's. FFX and Xenosaga can be found for under $20. FFX is a sweet and happy beautiful love story that's lots of fun. Xenosaga is epic and so shining in its beauty [everything I imagined games would be one day]

But get Virtua Fighter 4 EVO, Capcom VS SNK 2, Gran Turismo 3, Shinobi,

and my faovirte

DDRMAX <3

A lot of folks liked it, but I found it very difficult to play. It's hard, and I don't like that RE camera system (at least they don't use the horrid RE type controls). I didn't like it, but if you like difficult, mindless beat-em-ups, or like the RE type games, you'll probably enjoy it. I paid almost full price for it and felt ripped off, but seeing as most people like it, you'll probably get your $20 out of it.

I don't hate role players, I'm just not that into them. RP's like Zelda I enjoy, it's the more traditional ones that turn me off.

Is Shinobi a sequel to the late 80's arcade game?

You should check out Dark Cloud 2. It's heavily "inspired" by Zelda. I thought it was pretty cool and looks great. The DVD Talk review can be read right here.

Quote:

Is Shinobi a sequel to the late 80's arcade game?

Yes it is. I don't know much about that one, though.

Devil May Cry isnt hard at all, just start off on the easiest level if you do have a hard time with it.

Where can you find Xenosaga for under $20?

I rented Shinobi a while back. It seemed like it should have been a good game but if fell short by quite a bit. The action consists of hacking and slashing your way past various non-descript badguys in generic environments. There's no checkpoints so if you get killed you have to start back at the begining. The gameplay isn't very deep and gets repetitive very quickly.

If you're looking for a good ninja game check out Tenchu Wrath of Heaven. Give it a rental first as always, if you do like it GameStop has it for $30 ( that's where I got my copy).