Devil May Cry is a great game, and is definitely the coolest, adrenaliniest game out there, but once you get the grenade launcher, the game balance gets all screwy as there’s hardly any use for the shotgun anymore, and damn near no reason to use the handguns, no matter how cool they are.
Definitely a “must play” if not necessarily a “must buy.”
I don’t own a PS2 but here is a list of top-rated games from ps2.ign along with reviews.
http://ps2.ign.com/scores_9.html
If you want games like Civ2, though, the PC is your best bet. You might try Civ3 which was out recently or Europa Universalis 2.
Blimey. Looking at that chart, all I can say is don’t buy Twisted Metal:Black! I had the original on PS1 and liked it, but TM:B (violent, gothic driving/destruction derby game) was just tedious. Far too fast, controls tricky, gameplay repetitive. Fun to start with, very quickly boring.