AgentJ, thanks for your reply. Nice to see you man-handle all my suggestions like that. THAT REPLY WAS ALPHA, BABY. YOU! YOU'RE GENETICALLY SUPERIOR, BRO! Also, I know some of them you already listed, but considering there were so few on that list I'd recommend (mainly because the majority of them I never played and they don't seem like my cup of tea), I thought I'd include them in my list as well.
As for Vice City, it might be a little tough to go back to now that you've played the others, but man, it's a game you really can't overlook. I think it's the best GTA game I've ever played, and don't get me wrong, I love GTA4 also, but you need to take some time out for Vice City. It's one of the best games on the PS2 without question, and one of my all-time favorite games, in fact, it is among my top 3.
I'm not sure how exactly you never liked the 3D Tony Hawk games, but okay. If you're sure, you're sure. I think THPS3 is the best in series, and it's one of my all-time favorites also.
I suggest giving Ratchet a second shot. It's a cool series, man. The first one is great, though let me warn you ahead of time that the boss is pretty much impossible unless you exploit a glitch (which you can do at any time, don't worry) to get a ton of money to buy a certain weapon. I thought the second one was really great, though it's final boss was definitely pretty weak. However, I found the second one to be highly replayable.
I think the original NBA Street is totally rad. I like it more than the follow-ups. It was the modern day NBA Jam. I had some good times with it. To be honest, though, I've never gone back to it so I'm not so sure how well it holds up these days. I suppose you could pass on this one if you've played the others.
ATV Offroad Fury 2 is a game that really didn't get the respect it deserved. I remember it got a 7.0 at Gamespot, and it's much worse follow-up ATVOF3 received a score of 7.5. I never understood that. The 3rd one was kinda whack and very uninspired with many lame stages. Personally, I'm not all that big on off-road racing games, but I can say that ATVOF2 was some of the most fun I've ever had on any PS2 game. Especially when racing 2-player with a friend. If you're into that kind of stuff, check it out. I imagine there are better off-road racing games out there, but I have yet to find one that I've enjoyed as much as ATVOF2. Whether you want to pass on it or not, I leave it up to you.
With Stuntman, you said you love the franchise, so I'm assuming that includes the original too, right? I hope so. I think the first one is better. In the original, they actually used your own footage in the movie clips. Considering how crazy your runs could end up, it was really rewarding to see your extra crazy stunts make it into the trailers. Stuntman: Ignition was good, but I'm not totally thrilled about the way you had to completely link everything to get 100%. It kind of felt unnatural that you'd have to keep driving extra close to objects and stuff every 2 seconds to keep the chain going.
Scarface is a game some will love, others will hate. It changes the story of the movie. If you can't get over that, forget about it and don't bother. I thought the drug dealing mechanics of the game were a lot of fun. I suppose that aspect could be repetitive, and required quite a bit of work to keep things in balance, but that never really bugged me too much. The gameplay was quite good as far as I'm concerned. The soundtrack was awesome. People don't talk enough about the game's soundtrack. I guess it makes the fatal error of having some bonus songs that aren't from the 80's. Whatever. Big deal. I don't think it hurts the game at all. The world in the game is well designed. I had plenty of fun with the combat, and the driving too. Lots of great races, lots of great variety in the places you'll visit, and lots of Tony Montana's mouth. I thought the Balls meter ended up being a great idea. It had a lot of really smart ideas. Some people think it's too much of a rip-off of Vice City, but I would disagree. The game does plenty to stand up on it's own, and in fact, quite a few of it's ideas ended up being borrowed by Rockstar for GTAIV. Oh, the whole "Pimp my Crib" aspect they added is a neat idea, but it doesn't actually work in the game. Well, I mean, it works, but everything just gets reset back to the default appearance, so I guess it's a bug or something. Not a big deal anyway, but that was one of the disadvantages of last gen for sure, since they couldn't release an update to easily fix it. Regardless, I think it's a game you'll definitely have to see for yourself. I hope you'll enjoy it the way I have.
Okay, this is getting long. The Godfather... Look, back when it came out, I was skeptical. I was not a big fan of EA either, especially with all the stuff they had been doing in the business, but I think lately they've turned things around a bit. So let me tell you about the Godfather. The gameplay is a lot of fun. It's a violent game. I remember at a couple points, it was almost kind of disturbing to me. Not that it's excessively violent or gory or anything, but at the time, it all just seemed so real to me. Those ragdoll physics are put to really good use, let me tell ya. Dropping a dude with a shotgun is some serious business. The music in the game loops the main theme over a lot, and that seems kind of unfortunate after playing games like GTA, but what can ya do? Considering the time when the movies take place, it's understandable. There's also not very much variety in cars in the game, and their physics, much like Scarface's, can be a little weird at times, but they get the job done. Basically throughout the game, you'll take over businesses and eliminate gang factions, but I found all that to be enjoyable enough to gladly do it countless times throughout the game. It's cool, man. I actually don't own this one. I need to buy it for 360, so I can replay it and nab some achievements while I'm at it.
Alright, that's it. I'm done. If you have anymore questions, let me know.
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