The PlayStation 2 era was one of experimentation, of boundary-pushing antics that saw numerous iconic games released and, for the briefest of times, dominate the industry. For every conventional title released on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, there were several other far weirder games that dared to dream a little differently, to offer unexpected experiences and, as a result, were incredibly fun. These titles warped genres, pushed for groundbreaking or innovative visual styles, or simply threw everything at the wall in a uncontrolled bid to see what would stick. It was an immensely enjoyable era that I sorely miss and very much wish we could return to.
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Among those aforementioned weird PS2 games was a title that bizarrely chose to blend Street Fighter with chess, a combination that, in theory, should not work, but, in practice, was executed with unfettered creativity. It is a game that has absolutely been lost to time, its trailer adorned with comments of people recounting how they vaguely recollected playing it during their childhood, an experience I share with them. That game was Wrath Unleashed, a title I hope sparks a pang of nostalgia in at least some of you, and it is one that I wish were still accessible today.
Wrath Unleashed Was A Bizarre Strategy Game Unlike Any Other
Every few years, I’ll suddenly remember Wrath Unleashed’s bizarre combination of hexagonal chess-like strategy and Street Fighter-esque combat and spend countless hours attempting to figure out what game I am thinking of. It is a title that I spent a considerable amount of time playing with my next-door neighbor on sun-baked, hazy summer evenings, one truly seared into my brain as much as my favorite game or even the title I played most recently. It had such a profound effect on me, which is rather surprising considering the game’s rather lukewarm reception. There was something about that aforementioned combination of ill-fitting gameplay mechanics and its striking visual style that lured me in and held me captivated for so long.
For context, Wrath Unleashed saw you select a god to play as, each of which commanded a unique elemental type. You’d then take it in turns with your opponent to move various unit types across a hexagonal board, and, should your piece land on the same space as your foe’s, the game would switch to an arena in which you’d each control your unit and duke it out in real-time, Street Fighter-esque combat. Hence, Street Fighter meets chess. As stipulated at the start of this article, it is a combination that feels inherently at odds with itself, the constant switching between turn-based grand strategy and real-time action combat disrupting the flow of each game, while also requiring two distinctly unique skill sets, of which I doubt most people have.
I was absolutely abysmal at the Street Fighter-esque combat, and frequently found myself losing to my friend, despite my overall strategy on the hexagonal map proving to be far more effective. In the hands of a better player, I would have won, which, especially as a wee lad of just 10 years, was a frustrating prospect. However, despite Wrath Unleashed not being the very best strategy game available, even at the time, its combination was rather charming, and I found both aspects to be rather robust, even if I was terrible at one of them. Conquering the map took real strategy, as you had to best place each unique unit type in the right place so as not to lose them to a stronger opponent. Similarly, battles were a legitimate test of skill as opposed to simply button-mashing your way through, as each unit had its strengths and weaknesses that could be exploited by a skilled player, who, we’ve established, was not me.
Sadly, as Wrath Unleashed is completely unavailable on modern platforms, I cannot attest to how well it has held up over time. My physical PlayStation 2 copy has long since vanished, lost in one of the endless moves I’ve embarked upon, and my once beloved PS2 has since stopped working. However, even if it transpires that Wrath Unleashed is actually a terrible video game and my fondness for its gameplay is unwarranted or undeserved, I still believe that it was aiming for something far greater than itself, attempting to push the boundaries of what was expected of the genre at the time, and its mash-up of genres was fascinating, even if my recollection is wrong and it was executed badly. Simply put, Wrath Unleashed represented that aforementioned brave and bold era of gaming, and I wish we saw more games like it today.
I Wish We Got More Unique Strategy Games Like Wrath Unleashed
As much as I’d love to see a sequel to Wrath Unleashed happen in 2026 and beyond, short of a miracle, it is highly unlikely, if not practically impossible. The studio responsible for this forgotten PS2 gem, The Collective (best known for its licensed video games like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Indiana Jones and the Emperor’s Tomb, and Star Wars Episode 3 – Revenge of the Sith), no longer exists as it was folded into Double Helix Games in 2008. That developer, who you may know for its work on the Battleship video game and Killer Instinct, was later turned into Amazon Games Orange County in 2014. It went on to make New World, which was shut down in 2025, and the studio suffered mass layoffs. Amidst all the reshuffling, layoffs, and rebranding, I suspect any passion for a Wrath Unleashed sequel was likely lost. It’s just a hunch, but I’d wager the only person rooting for the continued success of this critical and commercial failure from 2004 is me.
That being said, I’d take any game that attempted something as novel as Wrath Unleashed did over two decades ago. It isn’t as if there is a complete lack of innovation in the gaming industry today, nor that the experimentation of yesteryear has been abandoned. Rather, games like Wrath Unleashed are few and far between as a consequence of the AA market having shrunk significantly due to the rise of the indie scene and the inflated cost of game development. It was in that space that we got some of the weirder games, as there was just enough budget to pull off something commercially viable and deliver a creatively-driven experience players hadn’t seen before.
It seems like an unachievable dream now to return to such an era of gaming, especially considering a significant portion of smaller studios, the kind responsible for creating bizarre mash-ups like Wrath Unleashed, have been swallowed up by the bigger publishers, only to be shuttered years later. I think that’s why there’s so much nostalgia for the PS2 and Xbox era. It isn’t exclusively that people fondly remember their favorite games, although I suspect that plays a rather big role. Rather, I think people miss a time when developers took enough risks that games could actually be bad. Nowadays, the worst a game can be, usually, is average, and something only really achieves that status when it isn’t aiming to be more than expected.
Without risk-taking, something only possible in an era in which game development was affordable, we’re left with iterative sequels and a plethora of seven out of tens. As aforementioned, the only way you get a game that mixes Street Fighter with chess is if you take risks. I long for an era in which you could grab any video game off the shelf and have an experience either so great you were profoundly moved, so terrible you’ll laugh about it for days, or so unique you’ll remember it long into adulthood. Wrath Unleashed, as seemingly inconsequential as it was to the gaming industry and culture as a whole, to me, represents that lost art of extremes, of risks, and of experimentation. I sincerely hope, one day, we’ll get more games like it that reach for the stars, dare to be different, and offer an experience, good or bad, that will stay with you forever.
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