10 PS2 Games That Still Blow Our Minds

The PlayStation 2 has one of the best game libraries in history, but it wouldn't have been quite as successful as it was without Grand Theft Auto. GTA 3 was a major turning point in gaming, Vice City remains perhaps the most stylish entry in the franchise but San Andreas is a truly incredible feat.

Obviously, the most stunning factor of this pedestrian-pummelling sequel is that it's map is more than three times bigger than it's predecessor. This allows for a wealth of location variety, including introducing the American countryside to the series for the first time.

And whilst this is clearly done with some caveats, like a heavily reduced draw distance, what is most important was that the game engine doesn't suffer at all with this sudden size increase. Better yet the, entire state of San Andreas is explorable with no visible load times.

True freedom in gaming felt within reach, and to demonstrate this there was more player customisation. Not just clothes and hair, but how you choose to play as CJ has an effect. Work out and he becomes stronger and can run for longer, eat too much fast food and he'll put on weight and thus lose stamina.

Its graphics aren't exactly revolutionary but it really doesn't matter. All of this fitting on a single PS2 disc with no issues is still jaw-dropping. San Andreas set a bar that every other video game needed to aim for, with major franchises all competing in it's shadow for who could be the biggest, boldest and brashest innovator. The idea of "open world" had never been this open before.