Is there anything better than PC gaming? Consoles have their own selling points — and controllers worth borrowing for a computer — but there’s no substitute for a well-built PC. Since the early days of the gaming industry, PC games have always been at the cutting-edge. There’s such a wealth of great games on PC that gamers have forgotten some of the classics that came out just a few decades ago.
There’s really never been a bad decade for PC games, but we have to admit the 2000s were particularly good. In the 2000s, video game developers were fully capitalizing on all of the potential produced by the best PC games of the ’90s. Devs of the time found ways to push existing genres to their limits, and they basically invented new game genres out of whole cloth.
When we were ranking the best games of the decade, we narrowed our search to games that were PC exclusive on release — though many of them are so good they were later ported to other systems. We also cut out one 2000s PC superstar, “World of Warcraft,” because try as you might, there’s no way to truly experience that game as it existed at the time. With that criteria in mind, here are the 5 best PC games of the 2000s.
5. Civilization IV
4X games are strategy games on steroids, where players oversee entire empires as they expand, go to war, and develop cutting-edge technology. The “Sid Meier’s Civilization” series has always been at the forefront of the genre, and in 2005 “Civilization IV” took 4X to new heights. Like previous entries in the series, “Civ IV” is a turn-based game with a single-player mode that can keep you engaged for hundreds of hours and a multiplayer mode that, with the right friends, could keep you hooked for several hundred more.
A typical new game in “Civ IV” starts players around the year 4,000 B.C. and gives them just a handful of resources and citizens to use as a start for their burgeoning empire. Players need to build out resources, research new technologies, and build up armies to defend their borders. As the game progresses, players encounter other civilizations built by the game’s AI or other human players. Actually winning the game means using a mix of diplomacy, military action, and economic expansionism to keep your own empire stronger than any other on the map.
“Civilization IV” won numerous Game of the Year awards and sold millions of copies. The game has a whopping 94 score on Metacritic, and though “Civilization” is still going strong, fans look back on “IV” with special affection. It’s a standout game in a series that’s defined one of the signature PC gaming genres.
4. Diablo 2
If you enjoy ARPG games like “Path of Exile,” then you owe a lot to Blizzard’s 2000 masterpiece “Diablo 2.” The game improved on its predecessor in just about every way imaginable and almost single-handedly created the modern ARPG genre that gamers know and love today. Fans have been playing “Diablo 2” for nearly 30 years, and the game remains so popular that Blizzard not only released a remastered edition with “Diablo 2 Resurrected” in 2021 but continues to support the game with new seasons, content, and new playable classes to this day.
“Diablo 2” has a dead simple and irresistible gameplay loop. Explore the world, kill enemies for loot, gear up, and head back out to look for a bigger challenge. Every quest and story beat in the game boils down to that essential pattern, but thanks to some of the game’s key features, that pattern never gets boring. The click-intensive combat in “Diablo 2” begs players to experiment with different class and skill builds, which encourages replaying the game over and over again.
Due to random map generation, exploring the world feels fresh even after thousands of hours. Most importantly, the wide variety of random loot drops means that nearly every enemy kill has a potential for build-defining rewards. “Diablo 2” is a pure dopamine rush that every PC gamer absolutely has to try at least once.
3. Half-Life 2
Valve is better known today for its work on Steam and the Steamdeck, but the company was also responsible for developing some phenomenal games. “Half-Life 2” is a game that took the FPS genre to new heights and inspired legions of fans who are still desperately awaiting news of a sequel. The game introduced some groundbreaking FPS mechanics that continue to influence the genre. Most notably, “Half-Life 2” had a physics engine that allowed players the ability to interact with the world in a more realistic way. The engine opens the door for some interesting puzzle sequences and lets players manipulate in-game items to create unique strategies or goofy moments.
Alongside its physics, “Half-Life 2” included all the other elements of an unforgettable FPS. The game offers an incredible array of weapons that are a joy to use. It has some vehicle sequences that will linger in your memory for months after you complete the game. It also has one of the most engaging sci-fi stories ever told, but that comes with some drawbacks.
New players are guaranteed to be hooked by the plot in “Half-Life 2,” but when they finish the game, they’ll join the legions of other fans who’ve been waiting decades for Valve to release the sequel. “Half-Life 3” might never happen, but no matter what, “Half-Life 2” is a PC classic that everyone should play.
2. The Sims
Anyone who’s spent time playing “The Sims” understands the game’s unique appeal. There really aren’t any other real-life simulators with such a profound level of depth. From the very beginning, “The Sims” allowed players to flex their creativity on multiple fronts. Players with an eye for architecture can spend hours designing the perfect house for their Sims. More relationship-minded players can spend their time coaching their Sims through dating, marriage, and starting a family. The franchise has been adding more features to its real-life simulation for decades, but the very first game in the series already had everything it needed to go down in PC gaming history.
In the year 2000, no one had heard of “The Sims,” but when developer Maxis released its new game, it quickly took the industry by storm. The game debuted to rave reviews, and gamers soon found themselves begging the devs for more. Maxis ultimately released more than half a dozen DLCs for “The Sims,” and the game itself sold over 50 million copies. Today the series is the best-selling PC gaming franchise of all time. The most recent “Sims” games are more feature-packed than 2000s gamers could have possibly imagined, but the original game still holds its charm.
1. Deus Ex
Eidos Interactive Corp.
“Deus Ex” was and is one of the greatest pieces of cyberpunk media ever made. The game’s story follows JC Denton, a special agent whose body has been modified with nanotechnology. Using his cybernetic implants to aid him, Denton begins a near-future cyber-noir investigation that slowly reveals the shadowy organizations that have been manipulating the world from behind the scenes. The story in “Deus Ex” is just as thrilling as it was over a quarter-century ago, and it’s arguably one of the best video game stories ever told.
The plot of “Deus Ex” would have landed the game on this list no matter what, but it’s the gameplay that puts it into the top slot. The game takes players to different locations filled with various NPCs and quests and lets players explore on their own terms. The semi-open world zones feel like real places, helping to create an unforgettable cyberpunk atmosphere.
The game also mixes in RPG elements to let players approach the world however they choose. Gamers can invest points into strength and give Denton combat-oriented implants for a true FPS experience. Or “Deus Ex” can be a sci-fi stealth game, where players use nanotech to sneak through levels and silently achieve their goals. “Deus Ex” isn’t one of the only near-perfect games but we’re comfortable calling it the best PC game of the 2000s
