Why PS2 Open-World Games Are a Lost Art Form

From banger exclusives to third-party titles, there was something for everyone in its roster. While perusing Reddit this week, I stumbled upon a post praising the “open-world games” of the PS2 and it hit me right in the feels.

The PlayStation 2 is one of the best video game consoles ever made, but it would have been nothing with its game library.Obviously these open-worlds pale in comparison to what you get nowadays and yet I’d argue they had much more charm, and I was inspired to write this piece about what I’d consider to be the lost-art of open-worlds games.

It’s a tough one to argue because like I said the hardware back then didn’t allow for the sheer size and scale of modern open-worlds, and yet they still felt massive.

An obvious example is Spider-Man 2 (2004), or Ultimate Spider-Man (2005).

Compared to Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 New York feels so much smaller and yet it’s still so much fun to explore. I spent hours in this concrete jungle building up momentum as I swung through the streets, and I probably dived off the Empire State Building over a dozen times.

Activision

Hulk: Ultimate Destruction is another good example, sticking with the superhero theme. Rushing up buildings and mashing cars together was the thing to do when you weren’t following the main objective.

The same can be said for Transformers (2004). Choosing the Decepticon campaign and rampaging through Mission City as Autobots and the military chased you down never really got old.

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I can’t quite pinpoint when the change occurred for at some point or other open-world games lost that playground feel that made the PlayStation 2 games so enjoyable, and replayable.

Many of them lacked side-activity but we always made do. We made our own fun in whatever way we wanted.

Whether it be hunting for Bigfoot in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas or wading into the ocean for a shark attack Scarface: The World Is Yours, it was gaming in what felt like its purest form.

That’s not to say modern open-world games aren’t fun either, but with more advanced hardware comes different expectations.

You can’t have an Assassin’s Creed map that takes 3-5 business days to cross with nothing to do along the way.

You could get away with it when the game map took five minutes to cross, but not when the bulk of your gameplay will be about going from A to B.

There was just something so special about the PlayStation 2 era, and as a big supporter of video game preservation I hope more and more of its game library get ports, remasters, remakes and the like.