Playstation 2 Online - Online Focus List

Top Online Games played at OnlineConsoles PS2
by: Ben Pekarek

When OnlineConsoles first launched, the Playstation 2 only had a small handfull of online games. At the time, I was nowhere close to predicting the tidlewave of online titles that would hit this console. Over the years it was brutal trying to figure out which games to shape the community around. With each new release and subsequent termination, I was shuffling forums on our Message Boards on a regular basis. The PS2's online game list is a mine field. Features such as keyboard/headset communication, buddy lists, cross region support, framerate performance, gameplay, platform exclusivity, art direction, game design, and most importantly LAN support; all play important roles in seperating the good from the bad. Unfortunatly hand testing this information for hundreds of games has been extremly laborious, and has taken years to sort out.

It was decided that focusing on a smaller number of games would be much more advantageous to the PS2 community here at OnlineConsoles. Therefore we are currently focusing the community on 6 key games. Anywhere from 2 to 4 could be added down the road. However, with resoration projects going on behind the scenes we are going to focus on just 6 for now, and make further decisions at a later date and time.

Please keep in mind the complex decision making process that has taken place to categorize these games based on quality. This page is intended to steer you in the right direction, and to buy the right games to play with this Playstation 2 community. Remember this is not a complete information list for every PS2 online game. For full information on network features, cross region support, and more; see our Online Game Lists for each region.

These games will retain the most online focus above all other online titles here at PS2 OC. Almost every "Top" Online game here, can be played with just 2 Human players due to many having bot support to fill in the rest of the roster.

Game	LAN	60fps	PS2 Exclusive	Keyboard Chat	In-Game Bots	Map Rotation	SplitScreen Online
Armored Core	X	X	X
Jak X Combat Racing	X		X	X	X		X
Midnight Club 2	X			X
Star Wars Battlefront I & II	X				X	X
Tribes Aerial Assault	X		X		X	X	X
Twisted Metal Black Online	X	X	X	X	X

ARMORED CORE

Developed by From Software, Armored Core is one of the few Japanese developed games to feature LAN support. Combat is 1-vs-1 arena style, pitting players against each other in intense battles that require strategically fast reflexes to come out victorious. The franchise provides you with hundreds of unique parts to customize your own mech. You will often spend just as much time in the AC Garage fine tuning your mech as in battle.

Armored Core is very demanding and has a high learning curve, but is extremly rewarding if you take the time to immerse yourself in its world. Yes there are many people who simply won't be able to handle these games. They can be quite intimidating. However if you are looking for a new challenge in gaming, don't hesitate to pick up one of these games. Veterans will help you learn the ropes in no time.

We play all 3 LAN compatible AC games online including: Nexus, Nine Breaker, & Last Raven. In addition, we allow for discussions to take place on all PS2 Armored Core games in our dedicate AC forum, due to the fact that every release does support local play over ILINK.

Note: We will be playing the North American versions of Armored Core Nexus, Nine Breaker, and Last Raven which each support LAN play for tunneling online. The PAL versions oddly do not feature LAN support despite some instruction manual misprints.

JAK X: COMBAT RACING

Based on the Jak & Daxter games, Jak X is a futuristic combat racing game where players drive tire-tread buggys over various terrains. With so many online racing games these days using realistic representations of real world cars, its great to have a game like Jak X that has more artistically creative vehicles and environments. This is a very accessible game, making it easier to get into than any other game we focus on. Just hit the thrust, and squeeze the triggers to fire. The genius of Jak X is in its variety of modes. While it does have a deathmatch mode, it really shines in its competative racing modes.

MIDNIGHT CLUB 2

What really makes this game great is the open world gameplay, where you can drive anywhere you want. Take this environment, and add in Capture The Flag, car traffic, pedestrians, and power up items, and you have probobly one of the most intense multiplayer experiences available on the PS2. Best of all, a code to unlock ALL of the vehicles in the game works online. So you don't have to wait to use such cars as the Tokyo Police Car, or the Velocci.

Midnight Club 2 was chosen over Midnight Club 3 for a variety of reasons:

MC2 has a more consistant framerate, where-as MC3's framerate is plagued by sluggish performance due to its excessive special effects and motion blur. Midnight Club 2 is a far smoother game experience.

In LAN, Midnight Club 2 supports car traffic which Midnight Club 3 does not.

Midnight Club 2 is more like an arcade game with its original car designs. Midnight Club 3 has licensed real world vehicles. Creativity takes priority over what is essentially in-game advertising through the use of licensed products.

MC3 has car customization, and while this is great in a game like Armored Core where there is balance between rival players; for this type of game an even playing field is best. When everyone uses the same vehicle it means they have equal potential for speed and acceleration.

STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT 1 & 2

With Star Wars Battlefront, a 2 player experience can be just as exhilirating as playing with 16. The game allows for online bots. So even if you are short on rallying support for an online match, playing 1-vs-1 is still a blast! In addition to bot support, the PS2 versions support PC based software for dedicated servers. Very few console games have this capability. We currently provide servers running 24/7 for each game. They are on dedicated bandwidth and features roughly 50 bots in each server! It would be impossible to run this off of a home broadband connection.

Note: Due to complications, our SWBF community is best seperated between PAL and NTSC. Our NTSC players focus online play on our dedicated servers. Since the game does not support cross region play for online or LAN, PAL users would have to import and LAN tunnel the game. The problem is, our NTSC dedicated servers are not accessible via LAN tunneling. So, for this title we are recommending that PAL users and NTSC users each forge their own seperate online player bases.

TRIBES AERIAL ASSAULT

Back in the golden era of First Person Shooters, the PC was home to 3 games that would influence all other shooters to follow: Quake 3 Arena, Unreal Tournament, and Tribes 2. While each of these games improved upon formulas set forth by franchise predecesors, these were by far the most polished deathmatch experiences found on the PC at the time. It can be argued that these games are still the best frag based shooters to ever grace the PC.

Roughly a year and a half after its PC release, a port of Tribes 2 was released on the Playstation 2 as "Tribes Aerial Assault". If you are a fan of fast paced shooters with ammo the size of trash cans, then this is a must buy. The PS2 version has a solid framerate, brand new textures, and virtually all of the features found in the PC version.

Note: While PC dedicated server software is available for this game, it does not support bots. In order to use bots you must host from your PS2. All online games dwindle down to just the hardcore fanbase and TribesAA is no exception. In order to facilitate the best online experience, we at OC promote hosting from the PS2 console where you can use bots to fill in the ranks.

TWISTED METAL BLACK: ONLINE

This is probobly the best Deathmatch game available for the Playstation 2. Originally the online servers were seperated, but when tunneling this game over the internet using the LAN option, the PAL and NTSC versions can link up to play online. The art direction, coupled with tons of game options, great gameplay and a fantastic Keyboard Chat, make for one of the best games the PS2 has to offer for online. TMBO should be a top priority purchase for anyone interested in PS2 Online.

If you don't focus the site around < insert game here >, then nobody will play it! Why do this?
There is a specific philosophy behind the concept of focusing the site on under 10 games. The idea, is that by increasing activity for specific titles, the rest will take care of itself. By having people regularly play just 1 game, such as Twisted Metal Black Online, other game sessions at random will spawn off from this. People might play for a few hours on Twisted Metal, but then say "hey guys want to go try out this other game for a bit?". Increasing centralized activity in one game, will be a catalyst to activity in others.

But you aren't focusing on MY favorite online game? Why?
Due to the size of the community, we simply cannot rally around hundreds of online games. People end up scattered across so many game titles. Every console at OC has its own set of unique problems. The Dreamcast has connectivity hurdles, the GameCube has a lack of online games, and the Playstation 2 has way too many online games. We are litterally drowning in available options. As such, when we narrow it down to a few select games to really focus the community towards, many others, some of which may be your ultimate favorite, end up taking a lower priority to the top games at the site.

Why is TimeSplitters NOT a top online game? Are you crazy?
The Playstation 2 has many First Person Shooters. We can't focus on ALL of them. We already have games like Star Wars Battlefront and Tribes Aerial Assault. TimeSplitters unfortunatly couldn't be included. Believe me, both TimeSplitters 2 & Future Perfect are great games, but there are a few negatives to their gameplay. You cannot jump in either title, which has an impact on the gameplay. Also, many of the weapons are either absurdly overpowered (laser machine guns), or incur too much splash damage(rocket launcher). Other shooters like Project Snowblind with its unique weapons and superb map rotation; and FireWarrior with its fantastic deathmatch gameplay would take presidence over the TimeSplitters games. Don't worry, we will still be playing TimeSplitters here quite a bit between many of our game sessions for the top games, but unfortunatly it couldn't be included as top tier.

Why is Killzone completely depreciated here? This should be one of the PS2's top online games!!!
Killzone has a variety of problems. For starters, it has no LAN option, so the game will eventually be shutdown. Secondly, it has game crippling bugs and game design flaws. First and foremost is the sketchy collision detection. This was a problem that plagued the game early on after its release, and while it was tempered somewhat in subsequent patches, bullets and grenades still seem to kill without logic. Often times you just fall over dead wondering what happened. This is further exacerbated by overcrowding in online maps. Gameflow is impeded greatly as a result of this, because you are dieing more frequently. More death means more waiting to respawn.

Respawn times can reach as high as 15 seconds. During a deathmatch I decided to test this to see exactly how much the respawn times, and deaths were impacting my playing experience. In a match that ended after 10m48s, I was staring at respawn screens for a total of 3m42s, which is 34%. This means that in 1 hour of gameplay, you would be staring at a respawn screen for over 20 minutes of that time! This is unacceptable. There is no reason for someone to spend 1/3rd of their playing time staring at a lifeless polygonal model as the camera pans around it, regardless of how poor they are doing in the game.

Before you get into "LOLZ you are probobly a noo..." stop. I play against pro Quake 4 players on the PC regularly. This game has problems that are not felt in other PS2 online games. Even Star Wars Battlefront with its cyclical 1-15 second respawns doesn't yield the same problems that Killzone has. Games like Project Snowblind blow Killzone out of the water.

These are other games we play online inbetween game sessions of our "top online games".

Heroes of the Pacific

Area 51
Cold Winter
Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal
Ratchet: Deadlocked
Robotech Invasion
Project Snowblind
TimeSplitters 2 & Future Perfect
Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior
XIII

Call of Duty 2: Big Red One

Battlefield 2: Modern Combat
Ghost Recon: Jungle Storm
Rainbow Six Lockdown
Sniper Elite
SOCOM (1,2,3,CA)
Splinter Cell Chaos Theory

Conflict: Global Terror

Hot Wheels Stunt Track Challenge
MotoGP 4
OutRun 2006: Coast 2 Coast
TOCA Race Driver 2 & 3

Midnight Club 3 DUB Edition + REMIX

Godzilla: Save the Earth
Mortal Kombat Deception & Armageddon

ATV Offroad Fury 2, 3, & 4
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, 4, &Underground

The Playstation 2 has had a ton of great RPG's. However, none of them feature LAN support or any other method to secure their future. Thus, PS2 OC has decided to become an overtly competative game focused website. These RPG's sort of sit in limbo here. They aren't necessarily depreciated, but they aren't focused on too much either. We are instead encouraging people to take advantage of the online forever RPG options on offer at our Dreamcast and GameCube websites with PSO and Homeland. Inquire at those sites for further details.

Champions of Norrath: Realms + Return
EverQuest Online Adventures + Frontiers
Final Fantasy XI Online
Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows
Phantasy Star Universe
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse

A large number of online titles have been depreciated, encouraging community members to play only the best-of-the-best. If a game is missing a "PDB" (player database) in our Online Game Lists, it means the games are depreciated and will be rarely if ever played by veteran members of this site.

In some instances, rather good games are superceded by others. One good example of this, is Splinter Cell. Instead of scattering players across 3 different games, we decided to focus everyone solely on Splinter Cell Chaos Theory.

25 to Life	uninspired

Killzone	serious game design defects
Serious Sam: Next Encounter	character models too tiny, unbalanced weapons
Urban Chaos: Riot Response	terrible framerate, uninspired multiplayer levels

Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30	superceded by - Call of Duty 2 "BRO"
Brothers In Arms: Earned In Blood	superceded by - Call of Duty 2 "BRO"
Call of Duty: Finest Hour	superceded by - Call of Duty 2 "BRO"
Call of Duty 3	superceded by - Call of Duty 2 "BRO"
Commandos Strike Force	overly simplistic deathmatch levels

Delta Force: Black Hawk Down	superceded by - Battlefield 2: Modern Combat
Delta Force: Black Hawk Down (Team Sabre)	superceded by - Battlefield 2: Modern Combat
Ghost Recon 2	developed by Rainbow Six 3 team
Ghost Recon: Advanced War Fighter	extremly sub-par, shovelware
Rainbow Six 3	broken game, terrible network code
Splinter Cell: Double Agent	superceded by - Splinter Cell Chaos Theory
Splinter Cell: Pandora Tommorrow	superceded by - Splinter Cell Chaos Theory

Full Spectrum Warrior	no lan, average game
Full Spectrum Warrior: 10 Hammers	has lan, still average game
Rogue Trooper	4 co-op levels, gets stale quickly

Ford Versus Chevy	no comment
Juiced	redundant street racer
Street Racing Syndicate	redundant street racer
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift	redundant street racer
Test Drive Unlimited	no comment

Crash n' Burn	no comment
Flatout	no comment
Flatout 2	no comment

MTX: Mototrax	superceded by - ATV Offroad Series
MX vs ATV Unleashed	superceded by - ATV Offroad Series
MX vs ATV Untamed	superceded by - ATV Offroad Series

Greg Hastings' Tournament Paintball Max'd	obsolete due to gameplay in real FPS's being superior
World Championship Paintball	obsolete due to gameplay in real FPS's being superior

Fight Club	no comment

ALL WWE WRESTLING GAMES	no comment
ALL MISC GAMES	no comment
ALL SPORTS GAMES	no comment
ALL EA GAMES	no comment