What would y’all recommend for an avid XBOX 360 player who now has a Playstation 2 instead? (The *second *360 died of RROD and I can’t afford to replace it again yet.) He’s partial to first person shooters, but not exclusively so. Favorite games include Halo, Call of Duty, Portal and at least some of the Final Fantasy games. He’s old enough that I don’t worry about age ratings.
Thanks in advance.
Bump.
Pretty please?
Could you give us some more examples of non-FPS games he likes? I know that some of the Call of Duty and Medal of Honor games are supposed to be good, but the PS2 never seemed like a good FPS platform to me.
Not only that, but if he played on Xbox Live, he doesn’t have anything like that to play with. Agreed, though. We need more information on what he likes or doesn’t like, although I think it’s pretty standard to have Shadows Of the Colossus if you have a PlayStation 2.
The good news is there are tons of games for PS2 and they’re all dirt cheap now that they’re a generation behind. FPS’s I enjoyed on PS2 are SOCOM 2, Black, and Killzone. There are lots of other great action series like Metal Gear, Devil May Cry, God of War, Hitman, Resident Evil, Grand Theft Auto, Twisted Metal, etc. Just check out the PS2 Greatest Hits series; you pretty much can’t go wrong with any game on that list (mostly; I’m not sure how Jaws Unleashed made it on there).
I absolutely understand that this isn’t going to replace his XBOX experience, and as soon as I can afford to replace it, I will. But a very generous and wonderful person sent me her old PS2 so that he can have something in the meantime. As his birthday is in January, and I’m likelier to have $50 to buy a few PS2 games than I am hundreds of dollars for a new XBOX…
Anyhow, thank you so much, DCnDC. That gives me a great list to start with!
The actual FPS games on the PS2 were pretty unremarkable, at least later in the console lifespan. What the PS2 has is a long list of good genre-bending games, like GTA: San Andreas, Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3, the God of War series, Resident Evil, Twisted Metal: Black, the Final Fantasies, Ico, Beyond Good & Evil, Shadow of the Colossus, Freedom Fighters, Devil May Cry, SOCOM, Mercenaries or Viewtiful Joe.
And that’s not a padded list; that’s the list of games I’d feel absolutely compelled to rebuy if my current PS2 and game collection were stolen. There’s also a long list of just great games. If you’re looking for inspiration, I’d check the Gamespot’s PS2 Top Games list. (Link.) Since the platform has over 70 games with a 9.0 or higher score, I’m sure you’ll find something interesting! 
Of course, stepping down from the 360 the graphics will disappoint, but he might be pleasantly surprised about the length and depth of the games. Have fun!
How hard are Viewtiful Joe and its sequel? I hear tons of great stuff about them, but I don’t like insanely difficult platformers.
Loved Psychonauts, though, another game I’d recommend to anyone.