The PlayStation 2 in 2025

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The PlayStation 2 (PS2) needs no introduction, being one of the best selling consoles and the most well regarded thanks to its game library. While the console is over 25 years old, modern mods and accessories allow for improved reliability, video quality, storage, and even online functionality. Whilst it’s nice to revisit the PS2 era of gaming, having to deal with wired controllers, game discs, composite image quality and memory cards with limited storage can be a burden.

Thankfully there are modern enhancements that make it more accessible and bring much needed QOL improvements. Softmodding your PS2 can bring enhancements such as loading and running games directly off the hard drive, which is ideal if you have a large library of games and would prefer not to switch discs when you want to play a different game. Even in 2025 there are new accessories still being produced for the PS2 that bring modern features like wireless controllers.

FreeMcBoot: You will see reference to this throughout the PS2 community, this is best thought of as aftermarket software that allows you to run non-signed or authorised software which we can use to make the most of the PlayStation 2. FreeMCBoot is a softmod, which is software that runs from the memory card when the PS2 starts up. As it runs from the memory card, you can restore the PS2 to an unmodded state by removing the memory card upon startup. This is useful if you encounter any issues with FreeMcBoot.

FreeMcBoot is considered mandatory to take the most of your PS2, and you can purchase pre-modded memory cards that already have FreeMcBoot installed along with a few utilities.

A PS2 running FreeMCBoot, with a list of applications

Hard Drive

Installing a hard drive (HDD) is one of the most common upgrades for PS2, especially for the original (fat) models, as it bypasses the aging disc drive (which often fails due to laser wear). This setup lets you load games digitally from the HDD, reducing load times, eliminating disc scratches, and allowing storage for hundreds of titles. Sony’s original intention for the hard drive was to speed up the game’s load times by caching data to the hard drive, and to allow for internet downloads since it was interlinked with the Network Adaptor. With the use of home-brew software like openPS2Loader, we can use this to load and run game from the internal HDD itself, removing the need to use the DVD drive.

Original models of the PS2, also known as the ‘fat’ models have a dedicated expansion bay where the drive can be fitted into. But to actually use the drive requires the Network Adapter which included an IDE connector to allow the PS2 to interface with the drive. There are two types of network adapters:

The Official PS2 network adapter: released by Sony, which features an Ethernet interface for network connectivity, and an IDE interface connector which is what’s used to connect to the hard drive. Some network adapters also came with a 56K modem, although this is of little use or benefit. The original drives used by Sony were IDE, which whilst it was the standard of the time, is no longer commonly used as many hard drives use the SATA interface instead. THis means the connect we use to connect the hard drive has changed. Because of this, it might be more desirable to use the second type of network adapter.
The Gamestar network adapter: This can be commonly found online on sites such as Amazon, Aliexpress and eBay. It’s a third party unlicensed accessory designed to allow a SATA hard drive to be used with the PS2, meaning we can use modern larger hard drives. These adapters however do not have any network functionality, they are just intended for HDD use.

Formatting and managing a HDD using uLaunchELF

Whilst the official Sony network adapters used IDE which was the standard at the time, they can be modded to use SATA by replacing the interface board. This is a simple and commonly done upgrade that gives you SATA support along with network functionality. Slim PS2 consoles have a disadvantage when it comes to HDD support as Sony removed the expansion bay to reduce the size of the console. This means its no longer possible to connect a hard drive. Adding to the issue is that later models that have updated firmware (SCPH9000x) remove the ability to load FreeMcBoot from the memory card.
Are these consoles a lost cause? Well not so much if you understand the limitations and the options available for your specific model:

IDE / Internal HDD: Early PS2 slim consoles technically have the IDE interface which is still present on its motherboard, however you will have to manually soldier the connections on the motherboard which is beyond practical use for most gamers. Still it does hint that possibly Sony were looking to integrate an internal HDD solution for the slim models, possibly a 2.5 inch bay for notebook hard drives?

Ethernet: However the better solution is to use the network interface, which comes included as standard in all slim form factor consoles. OpenPS2Loader have support for SMB Ethernet loading, allowing you to connect the SP2 console to a network drive or device to load your game from, This can be a simple PC with a network share enabled for the PS2 to load from, or a network drive such as the Western Digital MyCloud. I recommended connecting the device directly to the ethernet socket of the PS2, and avoid using additional switched or routers if possible, I found the PS2 struggles to use more complicated network topologies

Example use case could be:

A Windows PC that has a PS2 network share, Windows has built in support for Samba network sharing which is what OpenPS2Loader can also use. If your PC’s ethernet port is already occupied, you can either add an additional Ethernet PCIe card, or connect a USB Ethernet Adaptor to your PC. As the PS2’s network adaptor is limited to 100Mbps, you don’t need anything high end, ‘fast’ or gigabit ethernet is enough. Later versions of Windows disable SMB v1 support, because of vulnerabilities within the protocol but can be re-enabled within the Windows Features section of the Control Panel.
Some travel routers have SMB file sharing support, like this one. By configuring the network sharing settings, you can then connect an external hard drive through its USB port. Since the travel router supports USB 2.0, bandwidth will not be an issue. Some older routers like the BT HomeHub 1 also supported network sharing through the Ethernet port which can also be used.
Many NAS (Network Attached Storage) can be configured for this purpose also, since they are intense to be connected to a router, you will need to set its own IP address when connecting directly to the PS2. Some network drives will also automatically sleep after a while of no activity which you may have to change or disable.

I should also mention that network SMB support isn’t just available to the slim consoles, fat models can also take advantage of SMD if they are using the Sony network adapter.

USB: Another solution is to use the USB interface by connecting an external USB external hard drive. I do not recommend this as while this might be the most accessible option, the USB interface used for the PS2 is limited to the 1.1 protocol which maxes out as 12Mbps. This is too slow for use for PS2 games and you will encounter slower loading times, and FMV’s might skip or cut out as the USB interface lacks the required bandwidth to stream the FMV video.

1394 i.LINK: This interface was present in the launch PS2 models, and upto the SCPH3900x models. It was removed the last fat revision of consoles (SCPH5000x) series and was never used in the slim models at all. OpenPS2Loader does support this interface in the latest builds and can be an alternative to using the HDD bay but as external Firewire drives are rare, this interface is rarely used. I would only recommend this interface if you had a very first launch model of the PS2 (SCPH1x00x) which was exclusive to Japan only. These models did not had the standard HDD expansion bay that was present in the later models, instead it uses a PCMCIA card along with an external HDD drive that was custom designed for the interface. Since these might be difficult to find, it will often be easier to source a Firewire drive or enclosure instead.
OWC do sell a 1394b enclosure that is compatible, but you will need an 1394b to 4pin 1394 adapter cable, and a 5V power cable or supply since the enclosure is intended to be bus powered, which the PS2’s 1394 interface wasn’t designed to provide.
Lastly you will often see the 1394 interface referred to as either Firewire or i.Link, these are the brand names that Apple and Sony respectively gave to the 1394 interface and are mostly compatible with each other however Apple typically refers to the 6pin interface that provided power, whilst Sony (i.Link) typically implement the 4pin interface that does not provide power (Some Sony VAIO computers provide both types of ports)

MX4ISO: This is a home-brew accessory that allows you to access an microSD card over the memory card interface, which carries much more bandwidth than the USB interface which makes it desirable for those that have a slim PS2. Whilst capacity is limited and MicroSD are more expensive per Gigabyte, it’s a good alternative comported to running games from Usb or via Ethernet. The latest builds of OpenPS2Loader support this as a block device, however you won’t be able to save games to the memory card. Instead you will have to use the Virtual memory Card (VMC) features as a workaround. I’m unsure if two MX4ISO devices can be used.

SDD?

Whilst it’s tempting to throw in a solid state drive, they have little to no performance advantage to a regular hard drive, and are a poor value proposition from a storage/value ratio. Remember the games in question are designed to run from a DVD drive that reads a 4x speed, the slowest HDD on the market will still be faster. A 5400rpm spinning hard disk is more than enough. A 3.5 inch HDD is advised, wince they will use both the 12V and 5V power rails of the PS2, many 2.5in HDD will only use the 5V rail which might be more stressful on the PS2’s aging power supply.

TLDR: For fat PS2 models go for a SATA network adapter for SATA HDD, unless you really need network support. For the slims go for the Ethernet NAS option or MX4ISO and forget the USB interface.

For storage capacity, 1-2TB is plenty for many PS2 games.

Memory Card

The official Sony memory cards were released in only 8MB of storage, good for around 15-20 game saves. With a larger PS2 library you might wish to consider a larger memory card for additional storage space. I’m not sure if Sony ever released memory cards in larger capabilities, I’ve seen mentions of a 16MB memory card but have yet to locate any and most PS2 software refers to the memory card as an 8MB device. Third parties have produced larger memory cards that range from 16MB to 128MB which appears to be the maximum supported.

Many games will support the larger memory cards without any issues, but a fair few will have noticeable slower access and save times, sometimes even up to a minute before the game have finished saving. Ridge Racer V and The Simpsons Road Rage will detect and save to the cards correctly, but the access times are very slow. Headhunter is near unplayable as it access the memory card as the game plays it’s introduction sequence, resulting it becoming jittery.

Games that have issues with larger memory cards can be mitigated by using the VMC (Virtual Memory Card) feature in OpenPS2Loader, this will create a virtual memory card that is saved to the hard disk and assignes it to one of the memory card slots. This can help with problematic games that have issues writing and reading to large memory cards

One thing to mention is when using a soft modded PS2, you will need to use an official Sony Memory Card, as the FreeMcBoot exploit relies on the MagicGate signing for it to run, which isn’t supported on many third party memory cards. Softmod exploit’s work on both Memory Card slot 1 and 2. I typically have the softmod installed on Slot 2, and use Slot 1 exclusively for game saves.

Video Output

The PS2 supported a variety of video output modes which can enhance the image quality and depending on the game, will provide support for progress and higher resolution modes. Not only is the image more cleaner, it also makes I easier to read the game’s text on screen.

By default the PS2 shipped with the composite video output cable, which gives you three output jacks (yellow/red/white which gives you basic video and stereo sound). Even in Europe where the Start interface was common, Sony insisted on shipping with the composite AV cable.

The PS2 supports both RGB and Component video out

Component cables are readily available and not only provide better image quality than the standard composite AV cable but will allow you to enable progressive scan (also known as 480p) which is much desired for fast motion games. It also makes it easier to connect to HDTVs since many will feature component inputs as standard.

Scart cables are also supported which will provide RGB output and is compatible with nearly all of the PAL PS2 library, but you wont get any progressive scan using the Smart cable. It’s all no longer used on modern TVs, even in Europe. I only recommended this if you are connecting to a CRT TV that isn’t HD capable. The common US alternative to SCART is S-Video which will provide better quality than composite AV, but is still inferior to component.

Although the PS2 predated HDMI support, HDMI adapters do exist from third parties. These will take the component signals from the PS2 and will convert it to HDMI. As this is an active conversion, they will require additional power usually in the form of an USB adaptor. Whilst the quality of these adapters isn’t perfect, they are very accessible and content for those who simply wish to quickly connect their PS2 to a modern HDTV, or to a 4KTV that lacks both composite or component inputs which is becoming more common as these legacy ports are being phased out.

Useful Links

OpenPS2Loader – Software that allows you to run games from a hard drive, it is installed to the memory card

FreeMcBoot – You can also purchase a pre-made memory card from online resellers like eBay or Amazon marketplace

Street Racing Syndicate

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Street Racing Syndicate is like the mixture of The Fast and the Furious and a Hot Import Nights car show. Released in 2004 by Eutechnyx and Namco (who developed Ridge Racer), it’s you against the underground racing scene in cities like LA, Miami, and Philly. Your goal? Stack cash, earn respect, trick out your ride, and—get this—charm virtual models with your sick drifts. It has that weird 2000s vibe where winning races unlocks videos of real-life models. It’s cheesy as hell but you have to love it.

Gameplay’s where this game revs its engine. You’re dropped into an open-world hub—way ahead of its time for 2004—cruisin’ between races, respect challenges, and pink slip bets where you can win or lose your car. The Street Mode is the meat of it: race through city streets, day or night, dodging traffic and pulling stunts like drifts or two-wheel driving to rack up respect points. The damage system is legit—smash your ride too hard, and it handles like a shopping cart, plus repairs hit your wallet like a bad night at the casino. It’s not just “go fast, turn left”; you gotta think about not wrecking your bankroll. Arcade Mode’s got quick races, checkpoint runs, and speed trials if you just wanna jump in, and the console versions had online multiplayer back in the day—though good luck finding a server now, unless you’re time-traveling to 2004.

The car roster? Solid. Over 50 licensed rides from Nissan, Toyota, Mitsubishi, Subaru, and more. You’re tuning up Skyline GT-Rs, Supras, and RX-7s with real-world parts from brands like AEM and Sparco. Customisations deep for the time—think engine swaps, body kits, and neon lights that scream “I watched Tokyo Drift too many times.” It’s not quite Need for Speed: Underground’s level of polish, but it’s got enough to make you feel like a street mod god. The controls are arcadey but tight, with a weighty feel that makes drifts satisfying, though it ain’t as forgiving as Underground or as sim-heavy as Juiced.

Visually, SRS holds up… kinda. The cities look alive with neon glow and traffic, but the graphics are a bit rough compared to Underground’s slick sheen. Cars look dope, especially when you’re rocking custom paint and rims, but the environments can feel blocky, like someone forgot to polish the backstreets. The soundtrack’s got that early 2000s energy—think Chingy, Xzibit, and some generic hip-hop beats. Sound effects are decent—engine roars and tire screeches do the job, though they don’t quite pop like Forza or even Midnight Club.

SRS is unapologetically 2000s. It’s got that Fast and Furious swagger, complete with the cringey girlfriend mechanic that’s so dated it’s almost charming. But that’s the appeal—it’s raw, it’s gritty, it doesn’t pretend to be high art. Compared to Need for Speed: Underground, it’s less polished but has a unique edge with the damage system and open-world cruising. Juiced feels more serious with its crew management, but SRS is just about living the street life without overthinking it.

Downsides? It’s not perfect. The AI can get in your way at time, and will either rubberbanding like crazy or drive like they’re on their learner’s permit. And while the open world was cool for 2004, it feels small compared to modern racers like Forza Horizon.

Versions

Gamecube: The NGC release is pretty basic, there no online or custom sound support that you would find on the other console releases but it does run at a stable framerate.

PlayStation 2: This version make basic use of the PS2’s capabilities, and lacks support for it’s progressive scan mode which would have been much welcomed for a racing game. There was online support if you had the required Network Adapter, or a PS2 slim that featured built in Ethernet. The online servers have since been shut down and there does not appear to be a community project to bring it back online.

Xbox: This port included support for custom soundtracks, so any music that you had saved to the Xbox hard drive could be played back in game.

Microsoft Windows: Street Racing Syndicate was also released for the PC, back in the Windows XP era, and appears to work fine all the way to Windows 10. You can even purchase It digitally online. Online play hs workable if you use OpenSpy

Exploring a Windows Theme CD

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Once upon a time, Themes were an excellent way to personalise ones desktop, from a simple wallpaper to changing the OS colour scheme and fonts, themes were a good way for one user to express themselves through the use of their desktop. The Windows 9x series of operating systems say the rise of custom themes thanks to the Plus! pack that added an easy way to add and apply a theme and gave a framework for third party themes to be created and distributed online.

Some of these themes were collected and circulated onto the CD-ROM which was sold in stores for those who didn’t have access to the internet, or just wanted an instant collection of themes to choose from. I managed to find one on the Internet Archive which was released around 2000.

The CD includes a large selection of themes that can be applied to Windows 98 and 95 (and Millenium Edition). They are sorted into folders that relate to the genre that relates to the themes (such as TV Shows, Music, Male and Female celebrities). Most of the themes are compressed into a Zip file, of which an evaluation copy of WinZip comes included.

There is also a demo utility that runs automatically when you insert (or mount) the CD which will advise on how to locate and install the themes.

The Themes

Since this CD was mastered from around 2000, many of the themes will be from media that was popular in that era:

Keeping Up Appearances: A popular BBC sitcom in the 90s, this theme required me to manly copy the .theme file into its folder, else it would apply the custom wallpaper, icons or sounds. Lines will the show will play as the alert and dialog sounds, in addition to shutdown and start sounds when you login. This one also comes with custom boot and shutdown screens, however you need to use another utility to apply them.

The X Files was one of the more popular TV shows of the 90s so it make sense an X-Files theme is included. Main issue with the theme is when you shut down the PC, as we are treated to an trance remix of the X-Files theme which goes on for 30 seconds whilst the system is waiting to shutdown. Still you at least get to hear the X-Files theme on start-up.

There is another X-Files theme which is much better in its colour scheme. Like other TV show based theme, Mulder and Scully’s lines from the TV show play whenever you minimize or open a menu, which can get annoying over time.

The Tick: This one has a nice cool blue scheme, similar to the Underwater theme that shipped with Windows 98, but has a horribly compressed background featuring various characters from the TV show ‘The Tick’

Farewell Seinfeld: Seinfeld was one of the more groundbreaking sitcoms that was popular during the 90s (although it debuted in 1989). This theme is worth it for the Seinfeld intro theme alone, that plays when you log into Windows. The desktop background is very well done and almost looks official.

Twin Peaks: Another popular TV show, this one has an interesting colour scheme and keeps the shutdown sound short. There is supposed to be a screensaver for this theme (its mentioned in the readme file) but I was unable to locate the SCR file.

Tomb Raider 2: The Tomb Raider series of games were stupidly popular during this era, as such many desktop themes were created around the theme of Tomb Raider, and Lara Croft specifically. This one is kind of nice, it has an image of Lara riding on a snowmobile, with an Office 97-eque WordArt of the theme’s name.

Oasis: Complete with guitar-rifts whenever you use the start menu from their popular songs.

Ozzy: Dedicated to the late great Ozzy Osbourne, Kicking off the theme is the start up theme being ‘Crazy Train’, however there are songs that play whenever a program is opened so the Windows startup sounds like a chaotic mess. The green colour scheme makes it look like an 80’s terminal which can be difficult to read. It also runs into the problem of having too long of a shutdown sound, that being ‘Mama I’m coming Home’. Oddly this theme does not contain a wallpaper, only sound and the colour scheme.

A nice simple New York theme

A tank theme, complete with sounds of a explosion every time you close an program

MTV’s Beavis and Butthead – another popular cartoon show in the 90s. An ok-ish colour scheme but the wallpaper isn’t the best quality.

Titanic – This theme borrows some sound from the Science theme, and will play that Celine Dion song when you log out, Thankfully its only around 12 seconds long instead of 35 with some of the other themes. One of the few themes that has a 1024×768 resolution wallpaper.

Johnny Bravo which was a popular Cartoon network show

Rugrats – This one a bit chaotic, like it plays the opening theme but you also hear lines from the show since they are set to play whenever a program is run, to logging onto Windows sounds like a mess. The wallpaper isn’t that good either with a bunch of low quality images from the show, along with a WordArt-looking logo.

An interesting Simpsons theme, I believe the wallpaper was off the episode ‘Mom and pop Art’ which was inspired by The Persistence of Memory. What I like is what they did for the start sound, instead of The Simpsons theme it’s a line from the episode King Size Homer where Homer looks for the ‘any’ key on his terminal.

Another Simpsons theme, this one uses icons from Virtual Springfield. One of these comes with a screensaver, but it will not function as it requires a visual basic runtime that isn’t shipped with the theme.

Utilities

A few utilities come included to help with apply the custom themes and the boot screens. As the stock version of windows 95 lacked the Desktop Themes applet (You needed the Plus!) pack for this) a few applications are provided to help apply the themes.

You can also install these for Windows 2000 to allow for easier theme support, and Windows NT 4 if you have the free resource pack installed. Desktop Architect is one such application that can be used to apply themes and to change the boot and shutdown screens.

Matrox Mystique

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86Box recently introduced support for the Matrox Mystique and the Millenium series of graphics cards. Here we will be looking at emulated versions of these graphics cards to see what performance and gameplay is like with these graphics cards. Despite Direct3D being released in 1996, Matrox still developed their own since DirectX support was not as mature.

Matrox Simple Interface

The MSI API was Matrox’s proprietary 3D rendering interface designed specifically for Mystique’s hardware. Unlike general-purpose APIs like Direct3D or OpenGL, which were becoming standard, MSI was tailored to leverage the Mystique’s hardware features to deliver optimized 3D performance for specific games and applications. This was inline with other 3D vendors of the era with 3DFX and their Glide API, and ATi with the CIF API. These games, however, are still reliant on DirectX for sound and game controller support.

The Games

The Matrox Mystique is best paried with an Intel Pentium, preferably an MMX if your host CPU can support it’s emulation. A driver can be obtained here or here. It appears Matrox provided support all the way to Windows XP, but the MSI API was only supported for Windows 9x-based operating systems. MSI games will not function or will fallback to 2D DirectDraw rendering.

We will be using an 86Box virtual machines to run these games, using the following config:

OS: Windows 95B with DirectX 3
Video: Matrox Mystique 4MB – Driver ver 4.10.01.751
Motherboard: MSI MS-5124 with an Intel Pentium 100Mhz
Sound: AcerMagic S20
Network: D-Link DE-220P
86Box verion 4.2.1 build 6130

Destruction Derby 2

The followup to the first Destruction Derby, the original PC release was exclusive to S3 with their S3D API. Psygnosis appear to have changed teams and paired with Matrox Destruction Derby 2’s API. On the Mystique the game runs fine with no noticeable rendering errors. We have support for resolutions up to 640×480 in 16-bit colour (65,536 colours). This results in sharper and more detailed visuals compared to the PlayStation’s lower resolution and the DOS version’s often 8-bit colour mode.

Still modern PS1 emulators like Duckstation can improve on the resolution add texture filtering.

Monster Truck Rally

The demo detects and runs fine on the Mystique card. The demo itself is quite limited in terms of gameplay, with the first just letting you drive a motorcycle around a desert. The second demo is simply a opening sequence rendered entirely within the game engine.

Screamer 2

This appears to be a DOS game but will run OK unside Windows 95. Although I had issues getting the sound to work,due to the Acermagic soundcard not using the default parameters.

Time Warriors – Performs very slowly and there are a few texture issues during gameplay.

Tomb Raider –The retail version lacks Matrox support, so we had to download a separate patch and we had to manually copy a modified exe file which replaces the existing game. Once installed we are greeted with a nice Matrox MSI rendered intro logo before the opening FMV plays. There is an issue with the game’s menu text appearing as black which makes it difficult to read – this could be an specific driver or emulation issue

Mechwarrior 2

Works fine using the driver version 4.10.01.3751. The MSI version’s higher resolution and colour depth makes a welcome difference compared to the PlayStation’s low-resolution output and the DOS version’s limited colour palette. You do need a strong CPU to gat a smooth framerate, since these games were still reliant on partial rendering on the CPU. Ona Pentium 100, we get a choppy framerate.

We do see the Matrox suffers from texture warping and Z-buffer inaccuracies due to the Mystique’s limited 3D pipeline, causing occasional misaligned textures or clipping. This is present ion the PlayStation version also, but appears to be less apparent.

Project Manager Pro (1996)

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A project management software from 1996 that I found on a bundled OEM PC from TIME. Lets take a look at what project management was like in 1996

The software was intended to be used on Windows 95 and 3.1, which was still in common use at the time of release. It was developed by SoftKey Multimedia, who were well known for their line of budget software that was typically sold as part of a bundle. SoftKey would later acquire MECC and software division of The Learning Company. If you’re not familiar with project Management software, it’s intended for professional project managers and larger organizations to handle complex projects (e.g., construction, IT development) with detailed scheduling and resource management.

Here we have a straightforward interface, leveraging the graphical capabilities of Windows 95 to provide a more accessible experience compared to earlier DOS-based and Windows 3.1 tools. It included built-in features for creating Gantt charts, a popular feature for visualizing project timelines, influenced by the historical development of project management software like the Harmonogram and Gantt charts which are very common for project management.

Typical features were that users could create and manage tasks, breaking down projects into smaller, actionable components. This included setting task names, descriptions, and priorities, a standard feature for project management tools of the time.

The Symbol/Connector Date Sensitive feature is one of the ways Project Manager Pro will let you show progress. This feature causes symbols and connectors to change after the current date line to indicate future activity. The date. For straight line connectors, the line pattern will change from solid to dash. You can define dependencies between tasks, ensuring that certain tasks could not start until others were completed, reflecting methodologies like the Critical Path Method.

There is another way to show progress with Project Manager Pro. This is through the use your start and end date. Your start date is connected to the progress symbol and the progress symbol is connected to the end date.

In comparison to Microsoft Project 4.1a which would have been released around the same period, Microsoft’s is a professional-grade tool with advanced scheduling, resource management, and scalability for complex projects, targeting enterprises and experienced users. Project Manager Pro is a simplified, budget-friendly option for small-scale projects, designed for ease of use by non-experts.

Halo 3 ODST

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A first-person shooter developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios, released on September 22, 2009, for the Xbox 360. Unlike the main Halo series, which focuses on the super-soldier Master Chief, ODST puts you in the boots of Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODSTs), elite but human soldiers in the Halo universe.

For the campaign you play as The Rookie, a faceless ODST grunt dropped into New Mombasa, which looks like a city planner had a stroke and then got glassed by aliens. There are a lot of closed off area’s, and parts of the city are blocked off with huge doors. It’s likely the city was designed around the Xbox 360’s memory limitations, as the city is divided into sections that can fit into the console’s limited memory. The vibe is dark, rainy, and lonely and could also pass for a horror game with its atmosphere. You wander around this semi-open-world hub, picking up clues to trigger flashback missions where you play as other squad members.

The game makes a departure from previous Halo games where you typically play as the MasterChief. With Halo 3 OST, you play as the ODSTs, or Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, are an elite special forces unit of the United Nations SpaceCommand (UNSC) military. They play vital role in the war against the constant and whilst not as powerful as the Spartans (MaterChief), they are still pretty capable compared to the Marines.

There are also collectibles in the form of audio logs about a woman named Sadie, who was present at the time of the attack. You can hear the screams and the panic of the public as the convenient attack whilst Sadie is screaming to get to safety. It’s kind of like listening to a podcast whilst you are wondering around the streets of Mombasa.

A few of the main characters are:

The Rookie: The main person you play as, pretty much silent protagonist since its intended to be a stand-in your the player.
Gunnery Sergeant Edward “Buck” – Voiced by Nathan Fillion, this guy’s got the charm of Mal from Firefly but with a better haircut. Buck’s the guy you want runnin’ your team: tough, loyal, and droppin’ one-liners that make you wanna high-five your TV.
Corporal Taylor “Dutch” Miles – Dutch, voiced by Adam Baldwin—yep, another Firefly alum—is the squad’s heavy weapons guy, like if you gave a tank a personality and a Bible. He’s all about blowing stuff up with rockets or drivin’ Warthogs.
Lance Corporal Kojo “Romeo” Agu – Romeo, voiced by Nolan North—aka every video game character ever—is the squad’s sniper.
Private First Class Michael “Mickey” Crespo – Mickey’s the explosives nerd, voiced by Alan Tudyk, who’s basically Wash from Firefly.
Captain Veronica Dare – voiced by Tricia Helfer, She’s not an ODST but tags along for some secret spy project involving an alien Engineer and the city’s AI. She’s got history with Buck, which is like watching a soap opera with more explosions.

You will play as these characters at various points during the campaign, each will have their own weapon set.

Firefight is a cooperative survival mode introduced in Halo 3: ODST (2009) for the Xbox 360, designed for up to four players (local or online via Xbox Live). In Firefight, you and your teammates play as ODSTs defending against endless waves of Covenant enemies (Grunts, Jackals, Brutes, etc.) on specific maps based on the campaign’s environments. Enemies come in waves (five waves per round, three rounds per set), with difficulty escalating as you progress. Each wave introduces tougher enemies or new enemy types (e.g., Brute Chieftains or Hunters in later rounds). After each set, “Skulls” (game modifiers) activate, increasing difficulty by adding challenges like tougher enemies (Tough Luck Skull), reduced player health (Iron Skull), or faster enemy movement (Catch Skull).

2009 saw many multiplayer game incorporate this co-op PvE mechanic, like Horde mode in Gears Of War 2, and the Zombie Mode in Call Of Duty World At War.

ODST started as a “mini-campaign” idea, like a quick DLC to keep fans busy after Halo 3 dropped in 2007. Bungie had a small team—about 70 folks, with a core design crew of five—working with the Halo 3 engine, so they didn’t have to build from scratch. They reused assets, tweaked the gameplay for squishy ODSTs instead of tanky Spartans, and added cool stuff like VISR mode and silenced weapons. The big hook was the noir vibe, with New Mombasa as a semi-open hub. Bungie had a ready-made engine from Halo 3, so they didn’t need to redesign a new physics engine for the gameplay, and may assets from Halo 3 could be reused. They had a small, experienced team, not the 500+ you see on modern blockbusters. The scope was tight: a short campaign, a new co-op mode (Firefight), and recycled Halo 3 multiplayer maps. They also leaned hard on existing lore, so no need to dream up a whole new universe. Compared to today, where it can take up to 5 years for a new mainline Halo title.

Ridge Racer (Arcade Archives)

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Ridge Racer—the granddaddy of drift-happy arcade racers—gets dusted off and slapped onto modern consoles like the Switch 2, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. For 16.99, you’re getting the original arcade game—think one track, one car (that red Mazda MX-5 lookalike), and a whole lot of techno beats. No frills, or DLC’s, just pure arcade racing.
We have seen a slight resurgance of Ridge Racer games with Type 4 and the PSP Ridge Racers 2 being rereleased on the PS4/5, making use of the consoles emulation, and as a fan of the aracde original I’m excited to see Ridge Racer ported to the home consoles… again.

The game takes full advantage of the analogue controlls offered by the modern consoles, The drifting feels good—tight, responsive, and satisfying when you nail that perfect slide through Ridge City’s bends. You’ve got four modes: Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, and Time Trial, each tweaking the speed and lap count. Time Trial’s the real MVP, pitting you against a rival car in a one-on-one showdown.
Two ROMs are offered, with the DX version using an H-shifter and clutch. It’s cool, but good luck finding a controller that makes it feel natural.

Hamster didn’t just add the arcade ROM and call it a day. They included in some extra goodies: A proper Time Attack Mode, High Score and Caravan Modes for leaderboard chasers, and a rewind feature for when you make a mistake on that hairpin turn. Multiple save slots are nice, and the redesigned UI’s slicker than the old Arcade Archives setup. PS5 and Xbox players get trophies and achievements. The extra modes make use of save states which are transparent tot he user, and stats are recorder and shared online with other users.

But here’s the kicker: no multiplayer, no extra tracks, no car selection, and no third-person view like the PlayStation version had. It’s the arcade original, which is both its charm and its biggest middle finger. There isn’t enough content to justify the price, even if the game is accurate to the original ROM.

Still it’s a nice charming game, and a nice tribute to Ridge Racer. Hopefully we will see further System 22 releases ported to home console, mainly Rave Racer and Ace Driver in their glorious 60fps.

Call Of Duty – Black Ops

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Another FPS game released November 2010 and developed by Treyarch. Considered to be a sequel to World At War.

The game’s set in the 1960s, at the height of the Cold War, where the U.S. and Soviet Union are locked in a global pissing match. The campaign’s core conflict revolves around covert U.S. operations to counter Soviet influence, from Cuba to Vietnam to Arctic outposts. It’s all about proxy wars and espionage, reflecting the real-world fear of mutually assured destruction. You’re playing as CIA operative Alex Mason, running black ops to stick it to the commies, which screams “America, hell yeah” but also shows the shady lengths the U.S. went to for dominance.

The Bay of Pigs Invasion (1961) kicks things off, with Mason involved in a botched CIA-backed attempt to overthrow Castro’s regime in Cuba. It’s a direct nod to U.S. anti-communist policies and the failure of covert intervention, showing the messy reality of regime change. The game doesn’t shy away from portraying Castro (or at least his double) and the Cuban Revolution as key pieces of the geopolitical chessboard. Vietnam War missions, like those in Khe Sanh and Hue City, highlight the U.S.’s military quagmire against the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese. Black Ops captures the chaos and moral ambiguity of the war, with soldiers like Woods griping about the pointlessness of it all, echoing real-world anti-war sentiments.

Numbers are a common occurance within the game campaign and play a large role int he story. The “Numbers” program, where Mason’s brainwashed by the Soviets, is a big metaphor for psychological warfare and propaganda. The idea of a sleeper agent programmed to kill on command plays into Cold War fears of ideological control—both sides were paranoid about the other “corrupting” their people. It’s less about left vs. right and more about how far governments (U.S. or Soviet) will go to manipulate minds for their agendas.

Nova 6, the fictional chemical weapon, is a plot driver, with the Soviets planning to unleash it on the West. It’s a stand-in for real Cold War anxieties about WMDs, like nerve gas or nukes. The game doesn’t preach, but it shows the U.S. and Soviets both playing dirty—testing weapons, running unethical experiments (like Reznov’s backstory)—which raises questions about the moral cost of “winning” a war.

The game leans hard into the U.S. as the “good guys” fighting Soviet evil, with characters like Dragovich and Kravchenko painted as cartoonishly vile. This mirrors the era’s anti-communist propaganda, where the Red Scare was still a thing. That said, it’s not totally one-sided—Mason’s team isn’t exactly saintly, and the CIA’s methods (torture, assassination) get a side-eye, hinting at the hypocrisy of both superpowers.

Multiplayer

This is where Black Ops earned its stripes. You’ had a selection of 14 maps at launch, classics like Nuketown, Firing Range, and Jungle. Black Ops saw the introduction of COD Points, so you could flex your wallet and unlock that shiny new gun without grinding for days.

Nuketown: A tiny ‘50s suburb with two houses, a couple of buses, and a whole lot of carnage due to it’s small size. The nuke shelter and mannequins give it that creepy Cold War charm.
Firing Range: A military training ground with shacks, towers, and tight corners. Think of it as Nuketown’s slightly bigger cousin. Fast-paced but with just enough room to breathe. You can flank, hold a rooftop, or go Rambo in the middle. The central tower’s a death magnet, but controlling it feels like you’re the king of the lobby.
Jungle: A dense Vietnam jungle with rivers, huts, and elevated paths. It’s humid and hostile, like you’re actually in ‘Nam. Slower-paced, with sneaky flanks and sniper perches. The foliage lets you play Predator, but one wrong move and you’re eating an AK-47 burst. Perfect for tactical players who like a bit of stealth. Snipers and assault rifles shine, but watch for flankers with SMGs. Claymores are your best friend.
Launch: A Soviet cosmodrome with a rocket that actually launches mid-match. Big, open, and industrial. That rocket launch is a cool gimmick, shaking up sightlines. It’s a sniper’s dream with long lanes, but the side paths let rushers flank. Feels epic, like you’re storming Area 51. The rocket’s a distraction however, don’t get caught gawking.
Cracked: A war-torn Middle Eastern city with rubble, markets, and a big statue. Urban chaos at its finest. There lots of cover, destructible bits, and verticality. You can climb buildings or sneak through alleys. Feels like a real battlefield, but the layout’s forgiving for newbies.
Grid: A Soviet industrial complex with warehouses and open yards. Snowy and tactical. Great for objective modes—lots of choke points and a central building that’s a killzone. It’s balanced but rewards map knowledge.
Villa: A swanky Cuban estate with courtyards, a pool, and tight indoor areas. Fancy but deadly. It’s like crashing a drug lord’s party with an M16. The open courtyard’s a sniper’s playground, but indoors is a shotgun fest. Feels unique compared to the military vibes elsewhere.
Crisis: A Cuban military base with jungle edges and a central bunker. It’s got a good flow—open areas for firefights, jungle for stealth. The bunker’s a hotspot, but the map’s not as iconic as Nuketown or Firing Range. Solid, not spectacular.
Havana: Cuban city streets with colorful buildings, alleys, and a central plaza. Feels like a mini “Operation 40” from the campaign. Tight corners and rooftop routes make it a flankers’ paradise. The cars add cover but can explode GTA San Andreas style, so don’t get cozy around them.
Radiation: A Soviet nuclear plant with tunnels, conveyor belts, and an eerie glow. Creepy and industrial. The underground tunnels are a wild card—perfect for sneaky kills or getting ambushed. The open reactor area’s great for big team fights.
WMD: A snowy Soviet weapons facility, tied to the campaign mission. Big, with hangars and open fields. The snow adds atmosphere, but it’s a sniper’s map at heart. Feels epic but can drag if your team’s not coordinated.
Array: A massive Soviet radar base in the snow, with a giant dish and scattered buildings. It’s one of the biggest maps, built for snipers and vehicle cover. The dish is a cool landmark, but the map’s too spread out for my taste—feels like running a marathon to find a fight.

Zombie

Zombies mode was one of the more popular modes of the multiplayer. “Kino der Toten” is set in an abandoned cinema, with you and other players trying to hold the line at the theater while zombies swarmed like Black Friday shoppers. Then you got “Five,” where you’re playing as JFK and Nixon mowing down the undead in the Pentagon. Very absurd. “Dead Ops Arcade” was this weird top-down fever dream, like if Smash TV and a zombie apocalypse had a lovechild. Additional DLCs like Rezurrection just poured gas on the fire with more maps.

Versions

Xbox 360: The 360 version runs at 1040×608 but manages to maintain its 60fps framerate. This version is playable on the Xbox One, although It’s not enhanced to take advantage of the more capable hardware. A co-operative mode is supported with two controllers, allowing for split-screen play for multiplayer.

Multiplayer is still active on Xbox Live, and for the deathmatch and free-for all playlists you can often jump into a match, or wait a few minutes for matchmaking to assemble a team of players. You might run into hackers every now and then, sometime I’ve even landed on a mod menu by chance, you can often just leave the match and wait a few minutes before matchmaking again.

PlayStation 3: Compared to the 360 version, the PS3 runs at a lower resolution at 960×544 which makes it closer to an SD resolution. Like the 360 version, you can also have two players off the same console with split screen mode. Online play is still supported and is free, but there is an issue with stats not saving for newer PSN profiles, stats have also been reported to reset when your PSN profile name is amended.

Microsoft Windows: The Windows version uses dedicated servers via Game Servers, a which was much preferred over Modern Warfare 2’s peer-to-peer. This means better connection stability and less host migration grief, though server quality varies. You get mod tools and a developer console, letting you tweak settings or create custom content (especially for Zombies).

Mac OS X: The Mac version was ported by Aspyr and was released a few years later. The game was previously sold on Steam, although it was a separate product/licence to the Windows version. It also used different servers, which meant it was more difficult to find multiplayer games. Since it was a 32bit application, it’s no longer compatible with modern versions of macOS which can only run 64bit applications.

The port itself is semi decent, it ran OK on low setting for an iMac 2011 (with a Radeon 6750) though expect to see a lot of ‘Shader Warming’ messages.

Nintendo Wii: The Wii version is a lot more compromised for it to run on its less capable hardware. You do have the benefit of motion controlled aiming but this can be awkward to get used to, thankfully there is support for the Wii Classic Controller (Not the Gamecube controller) for those that prefer the traditional experience. Online play was previously supported but the official servers were discontinued. You can use Wiimmfi to restore online play, but the online populations are tiny and is often difficult to find a match. Sadly a lot of people wanting to play Black ops online will just use the more popular 360 or PS3 versions.

Still its an impressive port, but the motion controls can be an issue for some players.

Conclusion

Black Ops is a popcorn shooter with a side of political spice. The Cold War backdrop gives it that gritty “us vs. them” vibe, but it’s not afraid to show the U.S. getting its hands dirty. You’re not just fighting for freedom; you’re knee-deep in the CIA’s sketchy playbook, which makes you wonder who the real bad guy is.

Man Of Medan (Dark Pictures Anthology)

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Man of Medan—first game in this anthology series from Supermassive Games, dropped in 2019. You’re following these five college-age knuckleheads—Alex, Brad, Julia, Conrad, and Fliss—who are out on a dive boat in the South Pacific, chasing a WWII plane wreck. Things soon go south, Pirates show up, a storm hits, and boom, they’re stuck on an abandoned freighter, the SS Ourang Medan. Supposedly based on a real ghost ship legend.

Gameplay-wise, it’s classic Supermassive. You’re making choices, hitting quick-time events (QTEs), and praying you don’t get your favorite character killed The story branches like crazy—every choice feels like it could kill someone or save ‘em. You’re picking dialogue with this “head or heart” compass thing, which sounds cheesy but actually works for those clutch “do I trust this sketchy dude?” moments and is a new concept that has followed onto the other Dark Pictures games. The QTEs can be tense as hell. Miss one, and your character might die. They added some accessibility stuff later, like QTE warnings and easier controls, which is nice for folks who don’t have the reflexes or prefer for a more casual gameplay. The game pushes its branching narrative hard, but some choices don’t impact the story as much as you’d expect. You’ll stress over a decision, only to find it loops back to the same outcome or has minor consequences.

Still, the relationships the charicters have with each other is affected by your decisisions and reactions to certain events, Stronger relationships can mean characters are more likely to save each other in clutch moments. For example, if Alex and Julia’s romance is solid, Julia might risk her neck to pull Alex out of a bad spot. But if you’ve been a jerk, like making Fliss and Conrad beef over dumb decisions, they might not lift a finger when the other’s in trouble, leading to some brutal deaths. It’s a little silly since I doubt once character would abandon them over an argument they had earlier, but this is horror movie logic.

Multiplayer is where this game gets wild. You got Shared Story mode, where you and a buddy play online, controlling different characters, and you can totally screw each other over without knowing it. Then there’s Movie Night mode, where you pass the controller around with your crew.

The ghost ship’s got this grimy, claustrophobic vibe—think Dead Space but wetter and with more jump scares. The character models are pretty good, especially since they’re motion-captured by legit actors like Shawn Ashmore, who was previously in the Quantum Break game. The atmosphere’s on point, with flickering lights and creepy noises that’ll make you check over your shoulder. But, man, the pacing? It’s slower than me trying to get through a 5K. The first half drags like a bad PKA tangent about crypto—takes forever to get to the spooky stuff. Without spoiling, the big narrative reveals lean on horror tropes that feel recycled if you’ve seen movies like Ghost Ship or Event Horizon. The supernatural elements and the “is it real or not?” angle aren’t as clever as they think they are.

Overall, Man of Medan is a fun, spooky ride with your boys, especially in multiplayer, but it’s not topping Until Dawn. If you’re into interactive horror and want something to play while arguing with your friends, it’s worth grabbing on sale

Road 96

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Road 96 drops you into Petria, a fictional dystopian country that’s basically “Authoritarian Land: The Road Trip.” You play as a bunch of runaway teens trying to cross the border, hitchhiking and making choices that supposedly shape the story. It’s got this roguelite thing going on, where every run’s different, and you’re juggling energy and cash while chatting up a cast of NPCs. Sounds cool on paper, right? But let’s not get all starry-eyed yet.

The game’s big selling point is its procedural storytelling where it shuffles dialogue and events like a deck of cards. Sure, it’s neat that no two playthroughs are identical, but don’t let that number fool you—it’s not like you’re getting unique novels. A lot of it feels like variations on the same vibe: you meet quirky characters, make some choices, and maybe get arrested or die if you screw up. The core loop—hitchhike, talk, minigame, repeat—gets old faster than you’d expect for a game hyping itself as endlessly replayable.

The narrative’s got this heavy-handed political edge, screaming “oppression bad, freedom good!” I’m not saying it’s wrong, but it’s about as subtle as a sledgehammer to the face. You’re dodging cops and picking sides in a revolution, but the game’s politics feel like they were written by a college freshman who just discovered dystopian novels. It wants to be 1984 meets The Breakfast Club, but it lands closer to a Reddit thread about “the system.” The game tries to make every choice feel like you’re saving the world when half the time you’re just picking whether to steal a candy bar or not.

The game keeps track of your progress with different teenagers

The gameplay mostly sees you walking, talking, and playing minigames like pumping gas or bartending. Some of these are fun, like when you’re hacking a computer or dodging cops, but others feel like busywork to pad the runtime. The resource management—keeping your teen fed and funded—sounds intense but ends up being a minor annoyance. You’re not exactly strategizing like it’s XCOM; you’re just scrounging for bucks to buy a burger. And the “abilities” you unlock? Stuff like lockpicking or hacking sounds cool, but they’re just dialogue shortcuts, not game-changers.

The game’s story is set in 1996, which influences the world around you. Characters rock flannel shirts, ripped jeans, and chunky sneakers, with one of the main NPCs, Zoe, sporting a red bob and a rebellious attitude that’s pure 90s punk-grunge. It’s not over-the-top like a Saved by the Bell set, but it’s convincing enough to feel like you’re flipping through a 1996 zine. You won’t find super-specific references like Tamagotchis or Pogs cluttering the scenes, which might’ve added authenticity. It’s a bit sanitized, like the game’s afraid to lean too hard into the era’s weirder quirks. Still, the vibe works—it’s recognizable without being a caricature.

Petria’s authoritarian regime feels like a nod to the era’s dystopian sci-fi flicks (The X-Files was peak 90s paranoia), and the election plot echoes the political awareness that started bubbling up with stuff like Rock the Vote. Minigames and interactions also sprinkle in 90s flavor. You’ll play arcade cabinets, flip through cassette tapes, or mess with old-school tech like rotary phones. One sequence has you answering a quiz that feels like a warped version of a 90s game show, which is a nice touch. The game’s humor—sarcastic, a bit goofy—lands like something you’d hear on Beavis and Butt-Head.

Replayability’s a big claim here, and it’s got some legs. You’ll need at least six runs to see an ending, and choices do change how the election or characters’ fates play out. But let’s be real: after a couple runs, you’re seeing the same beats with slight remixes. It’s not Skyrim levels of freedom. If you’re the kind of guy who replays games to see every ending, cool, but I’m unsure most people will care enough to grind through all the permutations. Seven hours for the main story, maybe ten for completionists, and that’s if you don’t get bored.

Road 96 is a fun little road trip with some heart, but it’s not the masterpiece it thinks it is. If you’re into indie games and don’t mind some preachiness, give it a spin. Currently it’s on PlayStation Now/Plus Extra and was previously on Gamepass.