Gaming Rites of Passage 2000–04
Continuation of the gaming rights of passage series now onto the new millennium
Previous series here: https://kaneofthrones.medium.com/gaming-rites-of-passage-95-99-ac2158de699f
2000
Command and conquer Red Alert 2 — Arguably the most fun RTS game ever made, was not the most balanced but if you missed this you should un-miss it
Jet Set Radio — Great use of Cel Shading , worth a play just for the visuals
MechWarrior 4 vengeance — Had to throw in a MechWarrior at some point, this is a good starting point if you want to move onto MW3/5 & MWO
Dead or alive 2 — A D&A had to make it, play as Ryu Hayabusa or someone forgettable, a good take on fighting
Phantasy Star Online — One of the best games ever made, sadly you probably wont be able to get the same experience on this game again, for the most part the community, along with those dodgy hackers giving out super powerful weapons if you were nice to them are gone, however there’s some light at the end of the tunnel with PSO2
Hydro Thunder — master the waves with this one
Metal Slug 3 — NEO GEO NEO GEO, Keith Apicary approves this game
Tony Hawk Pro skater 2 — One of these games had to make it, also try the underground games if you missed them
2001
Halo: Combat Evolved — This took single player first person shooters to a new level, the standard of the soundtrack, story and gameplay mechanics make this necessary, especially for those noobs who started with halo 4
Sonic adventure 2 Battle — The GameCube version is the best in my opinion but any sonic adventure 2 will do, the diversity of gameplay mechanics in this game will prove a highly rewarding challenge
Super Monkey Ball — A bizarre but very well made game
Conkers Bad Fur Day — Classic game with the lovable Conker
Sega GT — Great game that was missed because it was on the DreamCast but this along with the 2002 version are worthy of a playthrough
Gran Turismo 3 — Better than the later Gran Turismo’s this was very well made
Tribes 2 — Bounce rock skate with a Gun
Pikmin — A cute and challenging game
2002
GTA: Vice City — a GTA had to make it and this is the best one to start with, play for the music alone, this game is the reason Hall & Oates is loved by people born in the 90's
Ratchet and Clank — cool name for a cool game
Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos — Classic, made a difference to RTS games by having hero units play such a prominent role, which would lead to mods such as dota
metal gear solid 2 — A metal gear had to appear eventually, this is a good game to jump into, check out the first and third metal gear solid games if you like this
Emperor: Battle for Dune — The best dune RTS, those Sardaukar are no joke
TimeSplitters 2 — An exceptional multiplayer experience but the single player is worth a play along with the map maker, don’t miss it
Metroid Prime — This game managed to pull off a great FPS
2003
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic — KOTOR radiates the passion it was made with
F-Zero GX — The second best f zero game, has good graphics along with intense challenging racing
Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge — The most unique flying game you will probably ever play, great story and gameplay, worth a playthrough
Unreal 2: The awakening — An often overlooked game that is surprisingly good
Tales of Symphonia — A great RPG bringing the classic JRPG experience into a later generation of graphics
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time — Best of the Prince of Persia series
2004
Mech Assault 2: Lone Wolf — A masterpiece in Mech combat, mainly a multiplayer experience, master wall-walking for extra points however the single player is worth a playthrough
Half Life 2 — This and the first one are both great, master the Gaben gun
Halo 2 — A revolutionary online shooting experience with a fantastic game engine, Halo 2 was the place to hang out on Xbox live, from glitching out of just about every map in custom games with Randoms to the competitive 4v4 games and memorable story you will not regret playing the best halo in the series
Fable — A well made fun RPG that will set you up for the fourth in the series that is coming out soon
The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay — A daring, complex, thrilling game, I don’t know how they did it but they made a great game from a film and it surpassed all expectations
Need For Speed: Underground 2 — There are other notable night time racers but this is the best one
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War — The best Warhammer game for a long time, the expansions are also for the greater good
Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow — The first one was good but this game will challenge you, worth a try
Burnout 3: Takedown — The most fun burnout game, nuff said
Unreal Tournament 2004 — I was on the fence between this and UT99 both great additions to the unreal series and the FPS Genre
NFL Street (And NBA street as a bonus) — The NFL & NBA street games were mind blowing when they came out, worth a shot if you missed them
If you managed to complete all the above you may need to go outside to make sure you’re still human
up next 2005–09
