Even now, lovers of PC gaming remember the platform's action adventure heyday with nostalgia. With the system's development taking center stage, many outstanding games began to grace the PC in the early 2000s.
At the beginning of this extraordinary decade, PC games were on the rise. From fantastic first-person shooters to realistic-looking action adventure games with a proper storyline that was a mainstay of PC gaming to some incredibly inventive action adventure games that expanded the frontiers of the gaming experience.
Regardless of your taste in game genres, even the most adamant gamers might be won over by these action adventure games because of their reputation and high caliber.
Since the beginning of time, the PC has been one of the most widely used platforms for gaming. However, most people will contend that this platform took off in the early 2000s when many incredible games were made available.
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Note: This article is subjective and reflects the author's opinion.
Here are some of the best action adventure games of the 2000s
1) Project I.G.I.: I’m Going In (2000)
- Platform(s): PC
- Release date: EU - December 8, 2000; NA - December 15, 2000
Project I.G.I. (titled Project I.G.I.: I'm Going In in North America) is a tactical first-person shooter action adventure video game. It was created by Innerloop Studios and published by Eidos Interactive in December 2000.
The game garnered mediocre reviews owing to flaws such as badly built artificial intelligence, the lack of a mid-game save option, and the lack of multiplayer capabilities. It was commended, however, for its sound design and visuals, which were aided by the usage of a proprietary gaming engine previously utilized in Innerloop's Joint Strike Fighter.
The player will take on the role of former British SAS agent David Jones, who was dispatched by the Pentagon to Tallinn, Estonia, to track down and rescue kidnapped Estonian arms dealer Josef Priboi.
Priboi has important information about the recent theft of an American W-88 nuclear warhead from a storage station in Germany. Jones pursues Priboi's trail across multiple military facilities, aided by his Pentagon handler Rebecca Anya, and ultimately finds him.
2) Max Payne (2001)
- Platform(s): PS4, PC, iOS, Android, PS2, Xbox, Kindle, GameBoy Advance
- Release Date: July 25, 2001
On a harsh, chilly, urban night, Max Payne is a guy with nothing to lose. A wanted undercover officer who was framed for murder and is now being pursued by police and the mob.
In this action adventure video game, you take on the role of Max Payne. Max is a guy waging a struggle he cannot win. Max Payne, an NYPD officer, arrives home one day to discover his wife and young daughter slain by drug users high on the manufactured narcotic Valkyr.
After three years of working on the case, Max and his closest buddy Alex went undercover to break a V-deal. However, things go wrong: Alex is assassinated, and Max is falsely accused of his murder.
The action adventure game sets out to discover the secrets surrounding his family's death, despite being pursued by cops and driven by a desire to avenge his family.
3) Hitman 2: Silent Assassin (2002)
- Platform(s): Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox
- Release Date: October 1, 2002
Who wouldn't want to take on the role of a silent and deadly assassin in the Hitman 2 Silent Assassin's action adventure video game? Enter Agent 47's mind, a genetically designed assassin who kills with lethal efficiency when it is most required.
Lured back into a worldwide web of deception by a sick Russian criminal leader, he must kill not merely to make a livelihood but also to survive. This time it's more than simply business; it's personal.
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin combines the greatest parts of its predecessor and improves on them, resulting in top-tier stealth, action adventure video game with a compelling plot and seamless gameplay.
Each task is meticulously designed, and the amount of intricacy allows the player to forge their own route to finishing each assignment in the manner that appears most appropriate.
The objective in this action adventure game is quite simple. A massive arsenal of weaponry and devices gives you all the tools you'll ever need, but your strongest weapons are still stealth and deceit, which you can't buy. What you do and how you do it is totally up to you, and the client is satisfied as long as the target is dead.
4) X2: Wolverine's Revenge (2003)
- Platform(s): PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox, Microsoft Windows, Game Boy Advance
- Release Date: April 15, 2003
'Snikt!' The sound is undeniably distinct. It's the sound of vengeance. The sound of bloodletting. If you have done something to enrage the mutant known as Wolverine, this is the sound of your demise.
And it's a sound you'll hear a lot if you own X2: Wolverine's Revenge. This excellent action adventure title was Activision's first step into the universe of Logan, the adamantium-laced buzzard.
Wolverine's Revenge lets you do everything you've ever wanted to do in an action adventure video game, including slicing, dicing, prodding, ripping, and lacerating everything in sight. Did we mention that you get to kick a lot of supervillains in the shins? You do, after all. Wolverine's Revenge, however, isn't all blood and bruises.
5) GTA San Andreas (2004)
- Platform(s): PS4, Xbox One, PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Mac, iOS, PS2, Android, Xbox, Kindle, Windows Phone
- Release Date: October 26, 2004
Carl Johnson left life constraints in Los Santos, San Andreas, five years ago when the city was torn apart by gang violence, narcotics, and corruption. Where movie stars and billionaires do everything they can to dodge drug dealers and gangbangers.
It's early 1990s now and Carl must return home. His mother has been slain, his family has disintegrated, and his boyhood buddies are all on the verge of tragedy.
When he returns to his area, two unscrupulous officers frame him for murder. CJ is forced to embark on a quest that spans the entire state of San Andreas in order to save his family and seize control of the streets.
6) Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005)
- Platform(s): PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Nintendo DS, Microsoft Windows, Game Boy Advance, and Xbox 360.
- Release Date: November 11, 2005
Need for Speed: Most Wanted is a 2005 open-world racing action adventure video game and the ninth edition of the Need for Speed series. In the same year, Need for Speed: Most Wanted 5-1-0 was launched for the PlayStation Portable.
This action adventure game focuses on street racing-oriented gameplay, including a variety of events and racing circuits found inside the fictitious city of Rockport.
The primary plot involves players taking on the role of a street racer who must battle against 15 of the city's most elite street racers to become the most sought-after racer. The game's plot also involves seeking revenge against one of the gangs who stole the player's car while building a feud with the city's police department.
7) Saints Row (2006)
- Platform(s): Xbox One, Xbox 360
- Release Date: August 29, 2006
Saints Row is an action adventure video game franchise developed by Volition and distributed by THQ and Deep Silver. The story follows the 3rd Street Saints, a fictitious street gang that originated in the Saints Row neighborhood, thus the series' namesake.
This action adventure video game includes an open environment where the player may perform quests to advance the primary plot as well as indulge in different side activities.
Most of the gameplay is focused on driving and shooting, with some role-playing aspects thrown in for good measure.
Since early entries were classified as Grand Theft Auto clones, the creators set out to create a more distinct experience. Starting with the third action adventure video game, with a significant emphasis on over-the-top gameplay, popular culture homages, parodies, and self-referential comedy.
8) Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (2007)
- Platform(s): PS3 and PS4
- Release Date: November 19, 2007
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is a 2007 action-adventure game developed by Naughty Dog and released by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is the first action adventure video game in the Uncharted series, and it was published in November 2007 for the PlayStation 3.
The video game features Nathan Drake, a reputed descendant of explorer Sir Francis Drake, as he seeks the hidden wealth of El Dorado alongside journalist Elena Fisher and tutor Victor Sullivan.
The development of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune began in 2005 and saw Naughty Dog change their approach to production.
The devs tried to produce a unique humanized action adventure game from their previous entries, settling on an action adventure game with platforming aspects and a third-person perspective.
9) Fallout 3 (2008)
- Platform(s): PC, Xbox One/360 , PS3
- Release Date: October 28, 2008
Fallout 3 is a 2008 role-playing action adventure video game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and released by Bethesda Softworks. The third major chapter in the Fallout series is the first action adventure game produced by Bethesda after purchasing the franchise's license from Interplay Entertainment.
This action adventure game marks a significant departure in the series by employing 3D visuals and real-time fighting, as opposed to the previous versions' 2D isometric graphics and turn-based gameplay.
The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic, open-world setting that includes a large region known as the Capital Wasteland, which includes the ruins of Washington, D.C., as well as most of the countryside to the north and west of it.
Players took control of the residence of Vault 101, one of the numerous underground shelters built during the Great War to safeguard about 1,000 people from nuclear fallout. They are compelled to travel out into the Capital Wasteland to rescue the character's father after he mysteriously departs from the Vault.
They find themselves attempting to finish the character's father's work while battling the Enclave, the corrupt remnants of the previous United States Government who desired to utilize it for their own ends.
10) Batman: Arkham Asylum (2009)
- Platform(s): PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, macOS, Classic Mac OS
- Release Date: August 25, 2009
Batman: Arkham Asylum is a 2009 action adventure video game developed by Rocksteady Studios and released by Eidos Interactive in collaboration with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.
Arkham Asylum, based on DC Comics superhero Batman and penned by renowned Batman writer Paul Dini, was inspired by the long-running comic book mythology.
In the primary scenario of this action adventure video game, Batman confronts his archenemy, the Joker, who hatches an intricate plan to gain control of Arkham Asylum, confine Batman inside with many of his jailed adversaries, and endanger Gotham City with concealed explosives.
The majority of the game's main characters are voiced by performers who have previously starred in DC Animated Universe-based media; Kevin Conroy, Mark Hamill, and Arleen Sorkin reprised their roles as Batman, the Joker, and Harley Quinn, respectively.
Did we miss out on some of your favorite action adventure PC games? Let us know in the comments section below!
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