Top 10 PS2 Exclusives

Hand over your hard-earned cash for some seriously good games.

IT'S CHRISTMAS!!! And you know what that means don't you? It's time to whip out your wallet and hand over your hard-earned cash for some seriously good games. In this special series of VideoGamer.com Top Tens, we list the best exclusive games for each of the seven major platforms, and tell you why they're so ruddy brilliant. Today we cast judgement on Sony's evergreen PS2. Is it the greatest console of all time? These ten games suggest it might just be.

10. Metal Gear Solid 3 - 2006

Truth be told, Metal Gear Solid 2 was a disappointment. It looked the business, and the first level, which saw Solid Snake infiltrate a rain-soaked tanker, was stunning, but stand-in hero Raiden didn't cut it. Thankfully, Hideo Kojima learned from the mistake and saved Raiden from further embarrassment in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, replacing him with Solid Snake look-a-like Naked Snake. The game's camouflage-fuelled stealth gameplay is superb, and Kojima's trademark lengthy cutscenes are stylised genius. Better than its predecessor in almost every way, MGS3 is an essential inclusion in any discerning PS2-owner's collection.

9. Final Fantasy XII - 2007

Final Fantasy XII dares to be different. Battles can be avoided entirely by simply running around monsters. The trademark transition between exploration and combat is nowhere to be seen. Party members are controlled with a curious "gambit" system, which dictated their actions under certain circumstances. And the "license" system determines which abilities and equipment are used by characters. It's not your typical Final Fantasy adventure, but it is a breath of fresh air for the series, one that revamps many of the tried and trusted mechanics the series is famous for. Some fans don't like it, and, admittedly, it's grossly inaccessible for series newcomers, but for everyone else it's one of the greatest Japanese role-playing games ever created. Fans of Square's superb PlayStation RPG, Vagrant Story, are guaranteed to love it - FFXII is Yasumi Matsuno's handiwork.