A trip back to 2001 in gaming history (Part 2)

As 2001 goes on and "Mars Odyssey" reaches Mars to finally tell us whether there has ever been life there - you most probably did not care about that at all, as you'be been extremely busy watching the new "The Lord of the Rings" and "Harry Potter" movies. As soon you were done with those movies you went straight back to gaming (didn't you), so we can keep looking as what exactly did 2001 have to offer.

Before I carry on with this I'd like to note that it'd be really cool if you reading this would share your thoughts and opinions on the games I highlighted below as I (and probably most other people) am not well familiar with all of them and might have totally missed the awesomeness of some or even generally missed to mention some cool games released that year.

Some other years I already covered, be sure to open them up in a new tab while reading this one.

Having that out of the way, let's get straight to the point!

Grand Theft Auto III

A landmark in gaming history! One of the first games to display such a detailed open world with this many exploration possibilities. The first third-person kind of GTA game. Released for the PS2 in October 2001, PC gmers still had to wait quite a bit, until May 2002 to play it. The game's original release date had to be moved due to September 11 attacks as some of the content and references had to be changed.

Shenmue II

Parts of Shenmue II were developed along side with the first Shenmue, which at that time was the most expensive game ever made. As mentioned in one of my earlier posts - each Dreamcast owner would have had to buy Shenmue twice for the company to make up for the expenses developing the game. Shenmue III is scheduled to be released this year!

Commandos 2: Men of Courage

A real-time tactics game, sequel to "Commandos: Behind Enemy Lines"

Silent Hill 2

Same as with GTA 3, Silent Hill fans had to wait until 2002 to play this on on the PC. This isn't really a direct sequel to the first game released in 1999. Nevertheless a truly worthy successor to the first installment and often referred to as the greatest horror game ever made. Would you agree with this? Or would you have a better nominee?

Ico

An action adventure title released for the PS2, however originally planned to be for the PS1.
I actually remember playing the game and what surprised me at that time is how they managed to tell an immersive and complex story using minimum dialogue. Do you remember the story?

F1 2001

Devil May Cry

An amazing hack and slash title released by Capcom for the PS2. Originally it was planned as Resident Evil 4. The game was often called the best and most innovative title of the genre a the time.

Ace Combat 4: Shattered Skies

A flight simulator released by Namco for the PS2.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3

My second favorite THPS game to this day (the first one is THUG2), and by the looks of it - the franchise is not likely to ever deliver anything worthwhile again. The first PS2 game that had an online mode. Along with GTA3, THPS3 are the highest rated PS2 games of all time. A significant new feature for the series in general was introduced in the third installment - the revert, allowing players to combine their lines with quarterpipe tricks (skate talk right here). Do/did you skate? What do you think is the best Tony Hawk game?

Civilization III

Unlike the original game - the second and third installments were not designed by Sid Meier. The game received overall positive feedback and got several "game of the year awards".

Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex

This time the game was developed by Traveller's Tales and published by Vivendi Universal Interactive Publishing and Konami. The first game in the series to be released not exclusively for the PS console but also for Xbox and Gamecube. The game was often criticized for not bringing anything new to the series and re-using what was already introduced in the older games.

FIFA 2002

One more FIFA for you.

Alien versus Predator 2

An FPS by Monolith Productions, allowed you to play as a Marine, a Predator or an Alien. The game generally had mixed reviews but I remember it having an awesome multiplayer mode that had me hooked for days and days! Do you have anything to say about this one? (don't be that guy who picks a marine!)

Deadly Dozen

Empire Earth

A historical RTS developed by Stainless Steel Studios, the first one to start the series. With the main idea being that you play through a span of 500 000 years of human history.

SSX Tricky

The second game in the SSX series.

Battle Realms

Would you have any memories or thoughts to share about this one?

Stronghold

A historic RTS by Firefly Studios. I don't have any fun facts about it, but I can say that I really enjoyed playing it back in the day, as the gameplay is wonderfully balanced making both military and economic aspects of it extremely immersive.

Project Gotham Racing

Released as an Xbox-exclusive launch title, a successor to the 2000 Dreamcast "Metropolis Street Racer" by the same studio (Bizarre Creations).

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon

First game in the Ghost Recon series. Unlike other Clancy games - Ghost Recon is not based on any of his books. The game had colossal success and as most fans would say - it redefined the tactical shooter genre.

Comanche 4

Dead or Alive 3

Or as you may know it as "Deddo Oa Araibu Suri" in Japan "giggles in English" - another Xbox-exclusive launch title. Gameplay, controls and mechanics are essentially the same as in DOA2.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

The fourth Metal Gear game by Hideo Kojima, which is a direct sequel to the original Metal Gear Solid. This game is too big of a deal to fit everything into a small description - so I will leave it to you to tell us what you know/think/remember about this MGS game.

Halo: Combat Evolved

The first game to start the Halo series and yet another Xbox-exclusive launch title for 2001. Often referred to as one of the best games of all time and placed as 4th by IGN in their all-time FPS top list. Oh how I remember flying those purple thingies around and playing capture the flag all day long!

Return to Castle Wolfenstein

A reboot of the Wolfenstein series. Was not developed by id Software like the original. "id" only were only credited for producing the game.

Gothic

An RPG developed by a German studio "Piranha Bytes". The game had quite high system requirements for its time, however compensated for that by a compelling story, immersive gameplay and a sophisticated control system.

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance

Another awesome installment in the iconic RPG series, the first installment to become available for console players.

Jak and Daxter: The Precurcor Legacy

Anohter Naughty Dog platform game and we have to hand it to them - they do know how to make these. Worth to mention that this one was an open world one!

Emperor: Battle for Dune

The third RTS set in the Dune universe, a direct sequel to the previous games.

And that's all I have for 2001, what games from this year gave you the best memories, which ones would you perhaps consider coming back to and which of them would you recommend us to try out. It would be absolutely amazing if you could tell everyone of your thoughts and ideas!

Thanks for your time!