Microsoft recently attracted headlines for activating backwards compatibility with Xbox 360 titles for Xbox One. However, TechRadar has since discovered that Sony is also intending to bring at least some of the huge PlayStation 2 back catalog to PlayStation 4. Whether or not the company will enable compatibility title-by-title or provide a more complete emulation solution, here are some PS2 classics that you, as a result, could soon play again on your much newer console.
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
Probably the most hyped game in history in the long run-up to its launch in 2001, Metal Gear Solid 2 initially attracted a slightly mixed reception, largely due to its heavily story-driven focus. However, it’s now easy to look back and perceive the game as simply ahead of its time; it is now often cited as one of the best computer games ever made. Themes such as social engineering, political conspiracies and artificial intelligence feature prominently in a storyline rivaling those of the best films ever screened.
Jak 3
The third platform adventure in Sony’s own Jak series, it’s also – by our reckoning, at least – the best game to carry the Jak name. While the first title in 2001, Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, was a promising start but over too soon, and 2003’s Jak II made a few too many obvious nods to the Grand Theft Auto franchise in rapid ascendancy at the time, 2004’s Jak 3 stripped away some of its predecessor’s silly distractions for a more pleasing, if less hyped, all-round package.
Zone of the Enders
If you were one of the many Metal Gear Solid fans eagerly anticipating Sons of Liberty “back in the day”, you’ve probably got a copy of this hack-and-slash mecha fighter in the back of a cupboard somewhere. Why do we say that? Because the game, upon its release in early 2001, came packaged with a playable demo of Metal Gear Solid 2. What a genius decision by the publisher, Konami…
However, it also led many gamers to – unjustly, in our view – overlook Zone of the Enders itself, which was also a product of MGS head honcho Hideo Kojima and ram-packed with addictive battles and sparkling graphics by the standards of its time. The sequel, Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner, is even better, by our opinion and those of contemporary critics. Not that you likely have a copy of that game – it did sell comparatively poorly…
