10 PS2 Games That Still Blow Our Minds

Unlike Rogue Galaxy, which flew under the radar, 2007's God of War II was considered the perfect way for the console to take a bow.

After all, this generation had really excelled the action genre with it's more advanced character models and bigger range of realistic animation allowing for far more technically impressive set-pieces and combat. The original God of War was an absolute sea change in this regard but it's sequel took everything it did right and amped it up to 11 whilst stamping up and down aggressively on any minor quibbles.

The cinematic, very authored action game ran a fine line between the remarks of "it's like an interactive movie" and also somehow the most intense gameplay experience on the system. Scope and scale were huge, as Kratos violently faced down some of the most impressive foes in the entire series in increasingly more stylish scenes. Additionally, it just flows like butter and controls like a dream.

God of War II laid the ground-work for high-octane action-oriented titles for the next generation and beyond. In fact, one could argue that it's impact on gaming has been so great it's the reason that God of War's 2018 reboot had to dramatically change direction to stand out from games it had previously inspired.