Best Games of the 2000s

The 2000s: the last good decade, some might say. Easy access to the world wide web, but not too much. Technology that tried the rule of cool more than the rule of work. Food with flavourings that might kill you, but it was way more delicious so that’s fine. But it was also a fascinating cross-section in history for games. Not only did we have the four nations in harmony for five minutes, the decade also saw the 5th, 6th, and 7th generations. This was arguably the final decade before you got nickel and dimed for every penny, though there were signs. Join us as we take on maybe our hardest task ever: trying to pick the best games from every year of this whipper of a decade. To make things even harder, we’re only choosing one game per franchise as the #1 for each year.

 

2000

3rd. Deus Ex

2nd. Final Fantasy IX

1st. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask

The first year of the millennium, and the last proper year for the N64, the PS1 and the Dreamcast, 2000 went out in style with games like Jet Set Radio, Final Fantasy IX and Phantasy Star Online. Even PC got in on the action with the game-changing immersive sim Deus Ex. The N64 had the last laugh though, as 2000 plays host to the worthy follow-up of the best reviewed game of all time, which is The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask.

Trying to follow up a game like Ocarina of Time might seem like a daunting prospect. If this was art, it’d be like trying to ask Da Vinci to make Mona Lisa 2. Or like me writing Fortnite Lego: how to Farm Eggs 2. No real difference. While the exploration, combat and overall gameplay is much the same as its predecessor, Majora’s Mask uses a framework that’s incredibly ahead of its time. Instead of an adventure that you can tackle at your own pace, Majora’s Mask has Link try to save the world in three days, before the Moon crashes into the ground. Of course, you can then travel back to the start with all the knowledge and equipment you’ve gathered, meaning you need to keep running through the game multiple times in order to succeed.

Add in the new features like masks and transformations, as well as a darker edge with arguably even more memorable character designs, and Majora’s Mask offers everything that OoT did and more, making it a perfect sequel and great start to the decade.

2001

3rd. Final Fantasy X

2nd. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

1st. Silent Hill 2

The first proper year for the PS2 internationally, 2001 also marked the release of the GameCube and the original Xbox, with all three consoles uniting to prove that gaming had moved forward in a big way. Halo redefined first person shooting, Super Smash Bros. Melee and Animal Crossing proved that Nintendo will always be the champion of social-led gaming experiences, but the PS2 had a banner year in 2001.

From the debut of games like Devil May Cry, the pivot to 3D in Grand Theft Auto 3 that would begin its juggernaut-like ascension to most profitable series of all-time, to all-time classics like Final Fantasy X and Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty. The PS2 was THE killer app for the year 2001. Funnily enough, it would still be Konami who’d take the cake for best game of 2001, but it wasn’t for MGS 2, as in our restless dreams, we still see that town.

Yes, of course it’s Silent Hill 2, the game that taught us all that the phrase “‘til death do us part” has an early opt-out clause. Silent Hill 2 follows James as he receives a letter from his long dead wife beckoning him to Silent Hill, only to find that the town is filled with both people with tortured pasts and a smattering of demons that look like they’re jonesing to punish you for your sins. This isn’t a fun game in the slightest, but it proved that Resident Evil didn’t need to be the only survival horror stand-out in the genre.

With storytelling that basically changed video games forever, Silent Hill 2 is a foundational bit of media but only if you’ve got the stomach for some of its gross details. I mean, look at those camera angles!

 

2002

3rd. The Legend Of Zelda: Wind Waker

2nd. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

1st. Metroid Prime

Now that we’ve left the safety net of what we’ve already covered on this channel, things have become a lot more difficult. And we’re already seeing how the one game per franchise at #1 rule makes things pretty interesting.

The PlayStation 2 had some banger sequels, like Grand Theft Auto: Vice City or Onimusha 2, while introducing new franchises like Ratchet & Clank, SOCOM and Sly Cooper. Xbox weren’t slouching either, with The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, Dead Or Alive 3 and Jet Set Radio Future all competing for your attention and cash. Still, we have to admit that the year 2002 is the year of the Gamecube.

Even with just the GC version of Soulcalibur 2, Super Monkey Ball 2, and The Legend Of Zelda: Wind Waker, the Gamecube would make you the envy of everyone on the playground. Even Super Mario Sunshine was very good, two very not good levels notwithstanding.

If you want the best of what the Gamecube had to offer in 2002 though, it’s Metroid Prime. Nintendo had so much success bringing their 2D franchises to 3D on the N64 that many were wondering how the exploration focused Metroid would work in the third dimension. The answer? Flawlessly. Somehow, Nintendo managed to publish one of the best first person shooters of the sixth generation, with Retro Studio’s take on Samus Aran having a timeless aura and atmosphere that’s still incredibly haunting.

Exploring the planet of Tallon IV is genuinely frightening at times, though that’s because you also might get facehugged by a Metroid. Scary to a nine year old Gamecube owner, just saying. Great abilities, cool weapons and beautiful cutting edge graphics made this a Gamecube statement piece and the sands of time have left this beauty alone.

 

2003

3rd – Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time

2nd – F-Zero GX

1st – Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic

Compared to the sheer tidal wave of quality games that’s to come in 2004 to 2007, 2003 feels kind of lacking by comparison. It’s definitely no slouch, with dozens of excellent games across every platform, it’s just that it feels something like a calm before the storm when looking back through history.

The Gamecube was buoyed by brilliant exclusives like Mario Kart: Double Dash, Billy Hatcher, our beloved F-Zero GX and Viewtiful Joe, and the PS2 played host to Jak 2 and Dark Chronicle. Meanwhile third party games like The Simpsons: Hit & Run, Beyond Good & Evil, Tony Hawk’s Underground and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time ensured players on all platforms had some quality fun.

Ultimately though, it’d be the Xbox that’d earn the last laugh in 2003, thanks in no small part to the release of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. If BioWare weren’t on your radar with PC releases like Baldur’s Gate or Neverwinter Nights, this made them the arrow for all devs to point to.

An RPG powerhouse, BioWare were practically given creative liberty when making Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, considering it was set four thousand years before the events of the prequels. Hard to feel shackled by lore in that regard, though extended universe tidbits like the Mandalorians did make an appearance. This is pre-Pedro Pascal, you understand.

While the deep and engrossing combat is up there with some of the genre’s best, it’s the story and the agency the player has within it that make KOTOR such a firm fan favourite. What better universe is there for making good vs evil choices than Star Wars, after all? With plenty of jaw-dropping revelations to be had throughout too (or at least one big one), Star Wars: KOTOR offers way more than just name recognition. Here’s hoping whatever is going on with this remake and series gets sorted soon.

 

2004

3rd – Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

2nd – Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

1st – Half-Life 2

Here we go. Any of these next four years would be a contender for the best year from a pure video games standpoint in any decade, so the fact that they’re on the bounce is staggering.

All three major consoles were giving it both barrels, with Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door and Pikmin 2 for the Gamecube, along with Halo 2, Fable and Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox, but it’s the PS2’s library of games for this year that’s frighteningly stacked. Metal Gear Solid 3, GTA: San Andreas, Gran Turismo 4, Onimusha 3, Dragon Quest VIII; all are GOTY contenders, but the winners this year were PC players thanks to the release of a huge FPS game.

The answer is obviously Half-Life 2. Valve already revolutionised FPS gameplay with the original Half-Life but the sequel upped the ante in a way that other game developers haven’t been able to copy in the years since.

Gordon Freeman’s battle against the Combine forces merely serves as the backdrop to one of the most immersive shooters ever made, thanks in no small part to a genuinely brilliant physics engine that the game actively encourages you to mess around with. Using a gravity gun to launch buzzsaws at zombies will never get old, though we’re not so keen on having to wait for the gondola lift to arrive. Or those barnacle thingies, they’re gross too.

From gunplay to exploration, physics-based puzzles and combat and even vehicles, most game developers struggle to include one of these features at a high level. Valve managed to have their cake and eat it too. Quite the awakening.

 

2005

3rd – Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening

2nd – Shadow of the Colossus

1st – Resident Evil 4

2005 might’ve been the start of the seventh generation of consoles with the Xbox 360, but it’d take a year for it to really shine, with the only notable launch games being Condemned: Criminal Origins and Ridge Racer 6. Oh, and Kameo, which managed to outshine Rare’s other Xbox 360 launch game, Perfect Dark Zero. Not very hard. What a weirdly plasticky game.

The next generation was here, but the time to adopt would come a bit later. But the PS2 stayed the course and carried on killing it. Listing the amount of excellent games that launched in this year alone would take up an entire video in itself, but we’ll make special mention of Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening, a game that redefined the character action genre, and Shadow of the Colossus, a genuine example of games as art. Oh, there was also the debuting God of War this year too. We didn’t forget it, there was just too much competition this year.

Still, the PS2 nearly missed out on the best game of the year, considering Resident Evil 4 was meant to be a Gamecube exclusive. Sure, it’d launch on PS2 by 2005’s end, but RE4 was essentially the Gamecube’s swansong from Capcom, a company that had been not-so-quietly carrying the console’s library. After about five games of fixed camera survival horror adventure, and a few spin-offs too, Resident Evil 4 overhauled the formula into a more action-focused third person shooter. The result is one of the tightest controlling shooters in history, and a game that’s aged as well as Paul Rudd.

Returning to the shoes of Leon S. Kennedy, albeit in a new setting, was huge for Resident Evil fans, but Resident Evil 4 also managed to serve as a decent entry into the series for newcomers, with a new plot largely separate from the events of Raccoon City. This could’ve been GOTY any year this decade, quite honestly.

 

2006

3rd – The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

2nd – The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

1st – Okami

The Xbox 360 reached its first full year in 2006, and the reasons to own one were definitely piling up. Dead Rising, Oblivion, Prey, Gears of War and Blue Dragon were all stellar examples of the “next generation”. 2006 also saw the release of the Nintendo Wii, which would soon become a mainstay in the TV cabinets of all grandparents in Britain. Wii Sports and The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess ensured that the Wii would have a great launch, but again, the PS2 simply showed its undeniable staying power in the face of its competition.

Of course, it helps that Sony were dragging their feet on the PS3, which snuck out at the end of the year with the excellent Resistance: Fall of Man, but the PS2’s library in 2006 reached all-time great levels. God Hand is the cult hit masterpiece that we all know and love today, while Persona 3 and Bully offered two different takes on high school social life, both of which are highly entertaining.

Once again though, it’s Capcom that takes the nod for the best game of this year, with their Zelda-inspired Okami. Well, Clover’s Okami. Who they would then shut down a year later. But still!

The dungeons, the overworld exploration, the way abilities are doled out through the game, all of it is singing from the same hymn sheet as Zelda but it’s done with a magic and grace that hadn’t been seen since Ocarina of Time. Sure, a lot of that charm comes from the game’s unique Celestial Brush mechanic, which has you drawing on the screen to use certain powers years before the Wii U became a thing, but the graphics, sound design and humorous story all combine to create an adventure that’s truly unmissable.

Quite frankly, the fact that they managed to release a game with such a timeless artstyle as Okami on the PS2 speaks to the incredible versatility of Sony’s second console. If the sequel is half as good, it will be pretty great.

 

2007

3rd – Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

2nd – Super Mario Galaxy

1st – Halo 3

What a crazy, crazy year. Please don’t get too mad at us for this one. Let’s show you why this was so hard.

The first year to really feel like the next generation of consoles had become a necessary upgrade, the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii are littered with exclusives that were genuine system sellers. The PS3 offered Uncharted and Motorstorm, while the Wii had No More Heroes and the phenomenal Super Mario Galaxy, while on the third party end, everyone could enjoy games like the first Assassin’s Creed and Skate. Meanwhile, PC players were eating thanks to Team Fortress 2 and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl. Even the PS2 was still chugging along, with God Of War 2 offering some life to the old girl, somehow.

Despite all that though, it was the Xbox 360 that carried all the momentum in 2007. From dedicated exclusives like Crackdown, Beautiful Katamari and Lost Odyssey, to timed console exclusives like Mass Effect and BioShock. The Xbox 360 was the place to be in 2007, especially via Xbox Live, and nowhere was that felt more than with the two biggest games of that year, Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

CoD4 is inarguably one of the most influential games of the 2000s and of all time, kicking off the industry’s love affair with brown and grey military shooters.

For our money though, Halo 3 is simply the better, more complete game. Halo 3 had way more modes for the multiplayer and a ridiculous amount of tools for players to make and share their own maps and modes.

As a game, it’s still a masterpiece of first person shooting to this day, but as a moment, Halo 3 felt like the first attempt on consoles to create an infinite game, sustained by user content in the back half of its life. It’s an idea that might’ve been morphed and mutated into something more nebulous in the years since, but back then, it seemed so cool. Halo 3 signalled the end goal that games like Fortnite are still chasing. Shame Microsoft seemed to forget that along the way.

 

2008

3rd – Gears Of War 2

2nd –  Persona 4

1st – Grand Theft Auto IV

Now we’ve hit 2008, and while there’s still plenty of great games out there, it doesn’t quite reach the same heights as previous years. The PS3 offered exclusives like LittleBigPlanet and Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. You might be surprised that I haven’t jammed MGS4 in here as a huge MGS fan, but for me, it just needed about 3 more hours of actual gameplay. LittleBigPlanet did also lose a lot of its appeal when the servers were murdered. Meanwhile, the Xbox 360 had Gears of War 2, Fable 2 and Ninja Gaiden 2. It was the year of twos for the 360, apparently.

Somehow, the PS2 was also still kicking in amongst the top contenders with Persona 4, though Atlus releasing that game on PS2 back then feels like an own goal. Throw in the “over-hated but I’m only really saying that because Subspace Emissary was dope” Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and each console offered worthy exclusives, but in the end, it was the third party releases that ruled this year. Fallout 3, Rock Band 2, Burnout Paradise, Dead Space and a small indie game called Grand Theft Auto IV. Maybe you’ve heard of it?

Choosing GTA IV now versus Vice City or San Andreas earlier on might seem wild, we’ll admit. But GTA IV is the highest reviewed game of the lot, and felt like an incredible technical step forward. Many at the time bemoaned the lack of RPG-esque systems in GTA IV, but the reality is that GTA IV was the blueprint for Rockstar to create a new breed of open world games; ones that allowed for more interactivity with the world and its NPCs. It’s amazing how much heavy lifting some realistic-ish ragdoll physics do in making your game feel more alive.

The fact that the Euphoria engine was only ever used in Rockstar games, The Force Unleashed and obscure American football game Backbreaker feels criminal. Add to that an actual story that’s dark and emotional at times while staying true to the series’ humour, and the 16-player online modes that were a precursor to the GTA Online we have today, GTA IV should be regarded as both the first step in GTA’s second evolution, but also an incredible game in its own right.

 

2009

3rd – Batman: Arkham Asylum

2nd – Left 4 Dead 2

1st – Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Question: Despite the official release date of 2011, if we want to be technical, Minecraft has been available in at least public alpha since 2009. So, should we have considered it here? Or were we right to maybe save Minecraft for a 2010s video, if you fancy it? Let us know down below.

As for actual game releases in 2009, third party games were strong, such as Batman: Arkham Asylum, Borderlands, Dragon Age: Origins, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Assassin’s Creed 2, Bayonetta, Street Fighter 4 and Left 4 Dead 2. Exclusives for the Wii and Xbox 360 were carried by Madworld/Punch-Out and Halo 3: ODST respectively but the PS3 was finally playing catch up. Infamous, Demon’s Souls and Killzone 2 were all great, but it was Uncharted 2 that really stole the year.

While everyone enjoyed the first Uncharted, it wasn’t the all conquering goliath that catapulted Naughty Dog out of Crash Bandicoot’s shadow that it would become. Uncharted 2 was that game for many, and all it took was a more dramatic opening set piece. Sure, having a gunfight on a small boat or seeing a German U-Boat in the middle of a jungle helped make Uncharted 1 enjoyable, but the slow reveal of Nate’s situation in the middle of a trainwreck is a core memory for many PS3 owners. It was that type of set-piece, level design and narrative direction that led Uncharted to become more than just a simple Tomb Raider knock-off, and would even then force Tomb Raider to show more Uncharted-like qualities in its reboot trilogy years later.

We might never see Naughty Dog return to the world of Uncharted, but even if they did, it’s 50/50 on if they’d even be able to match this classic.

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