The PlayStation 2 is the best-selling system of all time. Developers were already falling all over each other to put out new games on the console, and then Rockstar Games released Grand Theft Auto 3, showing players what was possible with open-world games. That opened the floodgates, and developers released dozens of GTA knock-offs. Some have become beloved, nearly joining GTA in players’ hearts and minds. Just below that level are the forgotten open-world games that were awesome, but aren’t as fondly remembered by fans these days.
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Here are the six best open-world, PlayStation 2 games that you likely forgot about.
6) The Getaway
The Getaway drew heavy inspiration from GTA, but it also owes a lot to classic British gangster movies. This one is set in London, giving players a captivating take on the famous city, and fulfilling the wishes of many Grand Theft Auto fans to take the series overseas. That said, The Getaway lacks some of the polish and scope of Grand Theft Auto, but that doesn’t necessarily make it a total clone.
One of the big factors separating The Getaway from Rockstar’s fan-favorite series is that it brings real-world cars and firearms. That adds a bit of realism to the mix. That’s by design, as the developers really tried to make The Getaway feel like a movie. There’s no HUD or map system either. That annoyed some players, but it is a neat addition to the formula. The Getaway spawned two sequels, a 2020 TV show, and a 2022 graphic novel. That’s not a bad haul for a game that got relatively middling review scores.
5) Gun
Neversoft pretty much only made Tony Hawk Pro Skater games in the early 2000s, but the one time they were let off the hook, they created one of the best Western-themed games we’ve ever seen. Basically, this is Red Dead Redemption before Rockstar decided to make the seminal Western video game.
It’s not as impressive as Red Dead Redemption, but there is so much to do. There’s a compelling main story, and a host of minigames, including poker, cattle herding, bounty hunting, and more. Unfortunately, the THPS mines came calling soon after launch, and Neversoft was never given the chance to build on this first game.
4) Scarfare: The World is Yours
Scarface: The World is Yours is a very strange game because it is a sequel to the classic film. If you’ve seen that movie, you might be wondering how that is possible because, spoilers for a 40-year-old movie, the lead character, Tony Montana, dies at the end of the film. In the game, Tony somehow survives and gets right back into conquering Miami.
It is absolutely a Grand Theft Auto clone, but that doesn’t make it bad. In fact, there are a few ways it improves on the GTA formula. Most notably, Scarface features much better gunplay, thanks in part to tighter aiming and the Blind Rage mechanic that adds bullet time to the mix. There were some plans to turn it into a series, but those were ultimately scrapped.
3) True Crime: Streets of LA
In True Crime, you flip the script from most Grand Theft Auto-likes, putting you into the shoes of an LAPD police officer. Don’t get me wrong, it still shares a ton of elements with Grand Theft Auto, as it was technically the first non-GTA open-world action-adventure game to launch after GTA 3.
That said, True Crime does make a few important changes to the formula. One of the most notable updates is that failing a mission doesn’t always require a restart. Instead, the story will often continue, adding a branching path to the story. Plus, hand-to-hand combat is much more of a focus. It’s not perfect, but it’s much better than GTA. Unfortunately, True Crime: New York City was a major dud. It isn’t all bad news, though. Sleeping Dogs is technically part of the True Crime series, and that game rules.
2) Total Overdose: A Gunslinger’s Tale in Mexico
Now for something a little different. Total Overdose is a parody of Robert Rodriguez’s Mexico Trilogy. That means lots of guns, big explosions, and more slow-motion than pretty much anything else in the genre. You’re running around the open world and racking up a ridiculous body count.
Total Overdose is kind of like playing Grand Theft Auto, but you’re always in Rampage mode. Using several different special abilities, you can take out just about anything and do it with style. Granted, it was underwhelming graphically and has a nonsensical story, but the combat is a blast. Sadly, a planned sequel was cancelled.
1) Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction
Mercenaries took a different approach toward building a compelling open world. The developers at Pandemic let players loose in the massive sandbox and let them do whatever they want on their quest to take out the leaders of warring factions. You can go in loud or use disguises to infiltrate a base while you hunt down your target. There is so much combat variety that it almost feels impossible that this game existed on the PlayStation 2.
Toss in beautiful visuals, the ability to blow up pretty much anything, and one of the densest open worlds of the era, and you have a game that went far beyond the GTA clones. A sequel, which is also worth checking out, launched in 2008. There was another Mercenaries game in the pipeline, but it was cancelled when Pandemic was shut down in 2009.
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