20 PS2 Games That Prove It's The Best Console Ever

4. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - CJ
Rockstar North

Although we've decided to go with San Andreas here, all three of the PS2 GTA games could have easily been tagged in instead. III defined an entire genre by popularising open-world sandboxes, while Vice City pushed that even further, all the while filtering it through a glorious '80s setting and introducing some of the franchise's most memorable characters.

San Andreas was probably the title players lost the most hours (actually, make that weeks) to though, capping off the entire generation in the perfect way.

Introducing an admittedly ridiculous amount of RPG elements, San Andreas also proved Rockstar weren't content to rest on their laurels. Of course, not every feature they added worked, but even in its worst moments (like the still-derided train sequence), the sequel birthed iconic gaming memories that developers trying twice as hard couldn't even come close to capturing.

Also San Andreas added jetpacks, so just, like, suck it, Vice City.

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Horror film junkie, burrito connoisseur, and serial cat stroker. WhatCulture's least favourite ginger.

Gaming Editor
Gaming Editor

WhatCulture's Head of Gaming.

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Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.

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WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.

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Video Editor and recent addition to the madness of the Gaming team, when she's not chatting about games, thinking about games, or playing games, she's streaming them on twitch. Tweet her pictures of dogs @DontRachQuit