From THPS 2 and Deus Ex to Halo, Vice City, Metroid Prime, and KOTOR, these are the early-2000s games that still define an unforgettable era.
Favorite early 2000s video games (2000-2003)
The early 2000s were one of gaming’s most explosive little windows because everything seemed to be changing at once. Between 2000 and 2003, you got the PlayStation 2 takeover, the Xbox launch, Nintendo experimenting harder than ever, PC gaming getting more ambitious, and a stream of titles that still feel like the blueprint for entire genres. This was the era that gave people THPS 2, Deus Ex, GTA III, Halo, Vice City, Metroid Prime, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, and KOTOR — not just great games, but games that altered what players expected from movement, music, open worlds, storytelling, shooters, and RPGs.
INTRODUCTION
Picking favorite early-2000s games is hard because this was not a “one genre wins” period. You had open-world crime games becoming a cultural force, console shooters suddenly feeling essential, sports games turning into lifestyle objects, RPGs getting deeper, stealth getting slicker, and action games learning how to feel stylish instead of just functional. A lot of modern gaming still lives downstream from this period.
So this list is not trying to be fake-neutral. It is a love letter to the 2000–2003 stretch — the games that felt huge then and still look important now. Some were critical monsters on release, some were cultural earthquakes, and some just rewired a generation’s taste. Either way, these are the kinds of games people still bring up because they were not just hits. They were turning points
Why the Early 2000s Still Feel Untouchable
Part of what makes 2000 to 2003 feel so special is that the games were not polished into sameness yet. You could feel studios taking bigger swings. Deus Ex blended immersive sim systems with conspiracy-heavy storytelling in 2000. GTA III made 3D open-world crime fantasy feel mainstream in 2001. Halo: Combat Evolved helped define console shooters that same year. Metroid Prime turned a sacred 2D series into a first-person classic in 2002. KOTOR and Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time closed out 2003 by proving licensed RPGs and cinematic action-adventure games could still feel fresh. These were not just successful games. They were games that expanded what people thought their genres could do. 
Another reason the era lasts is variety. The biggest titles did not all sound, look, or play the same. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 and THPS 3 made skateboarding feel like a music-video religion. Metal Gear Solid 2 turned blockbuster stealth into something strange and self-aware. Devil May Cry made stylish action feel truly stylish. Vice City weaponized atmosphere and soundtrack curation. It was an era where a game could shape your taste in music, your sense of humor, your idea of cool, and your standards for what games should even attempt.
Here Is the List
1. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 (2000)
One of the clearest “you had to be there” games of the era. THPS 2 was not just brilliant to play — it was a full cultural delivery system for skateboarding, punk, hip-hop, and pure momentum. It also sits near the very top of 2000’s critic rankings, which tracks perfectly with how often it still gets remembered as one of the defining games of its generation. Reference links: Metacritic’s 2000 rankings and yearly release listings.
2. Deus Ex (2000)
If you want one early-2000s game that still feels eerily ahead of its time, it is Deus Ex. It mashed together RPG systems, stealth, shooting, cyberpunk conspiracies, and player choice in a way that still feels ambitious now. It is one of the easiest picks on this list because it represents the exact kind of PC-era boldness people romanticize for good reason. Reference link: 2000 release-year listings and enduring critical placement.
3. Diablo II (2000)
A genre anchor. Diablo II did not just succeed — it basically became the addiction template for loot-chasing action RPGs for years after. Its click-loop, item hunger, replayability, and class obsession made it feel infinite to a whole generation of PC players. Reference link: 2000 critically acclaimed game listings.
4. Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn (2000)
This is one of the great “deep RPG” answers from the era. It was critically adored in 2000 and still gets cited whenever people talk about classic computer role-playing games done at a very high level. If Deus Ex was the sleek future, Baldur’s Gate II was the dense fantasy side of the same early-2000s ambition. Reference link: Metacritic’s 2000 rankings.
5. Grand Theft Auto III (2001)
This is the game that made a lot of people realize what a 3D open world could actually feel like. GTA III was not just successful; it was one of the loudest design shifts of the era, and it landed near the very top of 2001’s critical charts. If you are making an early-2000s list without it, you are probably just dodging history. Reference links: 2001 Metacritic rankings and 2001 release-year listings.
6. Halo: Combat Evolved (2001)
The original Halo is one of the strongest “this changed everything” picks from the whole period. It helped establish Xbox, pushed console FPS design forward, and remains one of the signature releases of 2001 both critically and culturally. Reference links: 2001 Metacritic rankings and 2001 release-year listings.
7. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (2001)
There are few games from this era that feel as strange, expensive, and discussed as MGS2. It was technically impressive, narratively divisive in a way that only made it more lasting, and still stands as one of the most fascinating big-budget sequels of its time. Reference link: 2001 release-year critical listings.
8. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 (2001)
If THPS 2 was the breakthrough, THPS 3 was proof the series could still hit at a ridiculous level. It actually tops Metacritic’s 2001 all-platform rankings, which says a lot about just how untouchable that run was. Reference links: 2001 Metacritic rankings and 2001 release-year listings.
9. Devil May Cry (2001)
A hugely important action game. Devil May Cry helped define stylish combat as an identity, not just a mechanic. It is one of those games where you can still feel the future branching out from it. Reference link: 2001 release-year critical listings.
10. Metroid Prime (2002)
This was the risky reinvention that worked. Turning Metroid into a first-person game could have gone wrong in ten different ways, but instead it became one of 2002’s most acclaimed releases and one of the most beloved Nintendo games ever made. Reference link: Metacritic’s 2002 rankings.
11. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002)
If GTA III changed the map, Vice City perfected the mood. The soundtrack, the neon, the Miami crime-fantasy vibe — it all made the game feel less like a sequel and more like a full pop-culture statement. It also ranks among the strongest-reviewed games around that period. Reference links: 2002 and 2003 critical rankings, depending on platform.
12. Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (2002)
A giant for PC players. Warcraft III mattered not just because it was great strategy, but because its map and mod culture would echo far beyond its original design. Even on pure critic terms, it sits near the top of 2002 PC rankings. Reference link: Metacritic’s 2002 PC rankings.
13. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2003)
One of the boldest aesthetic pivots Nintendo ever made. The cel-shaded look was controversial at the time, but the game’s identity has aged beautifully, and it remains one of the defining Nintendo releases of the early-2000s window. Reference link: 2003 release-year critical listings.
14. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (2003)
KOTOR is one of the easiest games on this list to recommend in retrospect because it delivered exactly what people wanted from a great Star Wars RPG: choices, party dynamics, lore weight, and a story players still talk about. It is also right near the top of 2003’s PC critical rankings. Reference link: Metacritic’s 2003 PC rankings.
15. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2003)
This is one of the smoothest action-adventure picks of the era. The Sands of Time blended movement, timing, light puzzle-solving, and the rewind mechanic into something that felt elegant instead of clunky. It remains one of 2003’s strongest remembered releases. Reference links: 2003 release-year listings and the game’s own reference page.
16. Viewtiful Joe (2003)
A cult-favorite pick with real critical muscle. Viewtiful Joe looked unlike almost anything else on shelves and played with a kind of comic-book speed and flair that made it instantly memorable. It is exactly the kind of game people mean when they say the early 2000s had more personality. Reference link: 2003 release-year critical listings.
17. SSX 3 (2003)
If you want a pure “this era ruled” answer, SSX 3 is hard to beat. Style, speed, music, arcade excess — it carried a lot of what made early-2000s sports games feel alive. It also shows up strongly in 2003 critic listings. Reference link: 2003 release-year critical listings.
18. Soulcalibur II (2003)
A fighting-game favorite from the same stretch, and one of the cleaner reminders that the early 2000s were stacked even outside the biggest mainstream talking points. Tight combat, broad appeal, and critical strength made it an easy inclusion. Reference link: 2003 release-year critical listings.
FINAL THOUGHTS
What makes 2000 to 2003 feel so loaded in hindsight is not just that there were a lot of good games. It is that so many of them still feel like first drafts of the modern gaming imagination. GTA III showed what open worlds could become. Halo helped define console shooters. THPS 2 and THPS 3 made music and sports games feel like cultural events. Metroid Prime proved reinvention could work. KOTOR showed licensed RPGs could actually matter. Deus Ex still looks like a warning shot from the future. 
So yes, these are “favorite” early-2000s games. But they are also more than that. They are some of the clearest examples of an era when games were getting bigger, stranger, cooler, and more ambitious all at once. And that is why people keep going back to them: not only because they were great, but because they still feel like the moment the medium realized how much it could be
Comments
annabrown
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cmsmasters
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