Even Rockstar’s Worst Games Are Still Pretty Great

There is no game developer more revered today than Rockstar Games, and that’s saying something, because the industry has seen a ton of developers skyrocket to stardom in the last decade. Even so, none can compete with the company that effectively created the open-world genre as we know it today, and then continued to refine it to perfection over the ensuing quarter-century.

Rockstar doesn’t have a perfect track record, though, with a few critical flops and some strange detours from their open-world mastery, particularly in the 2000s. However, even those “bad games” are still pretty great, even if they’re completely out of left field when compared to the developer’s typical projects. They may not meet Rockstar’s nigh-unreachable quality standards today, but for their time, they were still a ton of fun to play.

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Beaterator

Don’t Call It A Mix Deck

In a surreal collaboration between Rockstar Leeds and Timbaland, Beaterator is a PSP and iOS “game” that, on the surface, looks like your standard DJ mixing software. To be fair, that is what inspired the idea, as the whole thing is based on a free release from Rockstar back in 2005 that used Adobe Flash to create a rudimentary music mixing tool. However, Beaterator has a lot more going on under the hood.

Beaterator features three game modes, each for a different purpose. There’s Song Crafter, which is more suited to audio refining and mastering for long-term projects, Studio Session, which is great for practicing live mixing, making mash-ups, or recording mixes for release online, and Live Play, which is pretty self-explanatory. Is it a video game? Kind of. It uses video game methods to make its systems more accessible, and it’s not as feature-rich as more professional mixing software, but it’s also just fun to play around in, and that’s what video games are all about.

Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis

So Much Better Than A Table Tennis Game Has Any Right To Be

The announcement of Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis was met with confusion, shock, and a bit of curiosity. No one had even tried to make a robust table tennis game before, so for the industry’s top developer to take the lead on a project like this was completely unexpected. This is how Rockstar was following up San Andreas? While it’s no GTA, this table tennis simulator is shockingly deep, loaded with features, and, for the time, it had some pretty astounding graphics. ​​​​​

On the surface, it’s a relatively simple game. Players can aim their serve and choose the strength of their shot. Then, when the ball comes back their way, they have a variety of options to return it, from putting spin on the shot to hitting a smash, doing whatever it takes to make their opponent miss. The more you play, the deeper the game becomes. Every shot can be varied in terms of its power, direction, and spin. Playing against the in-game AI is fun in itself, but going up against a second player, either in person or online, is where Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis really shines.

The Warriors

Come Out To Play

The Warriors is another game that shocked a lot of people when Rockstar attached its name to it. This game acts as a companion piece and pseudo-prequel to the 1979 cult classic movie of the same name. Much like Table Tennis, The Warriors came on the heels of the smash hit Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which many expected would skyrocket Rockstar into gaming superstardom. Then they follow it up with this? Well, sometimes you need to trust the process, and in this case, The Warriors is one of the great beat-em-ups of the 2000s.

There are nine playable characters in The Warriors, although you can only choose one at a time, while the rest are AI-controlled. Most missions involve moving in on a rival gang’s turf, beating them up, and then tagging the turf to either claim it for The Warriors or to insult the previous occupants. However, a handful of missions are flashbacks that detail how each character joined The Warriors, which does a lot to elevate the film as well, enriching an already great story with some additional character development.

Red Dead Revolver

The First Steps Towards Greatness

Released just half a year before San Andreas, Red Dead Revolver is the first entry in what is now an iconic western video game franchise. It’s not exactly easy to go back to today, especially if you’ve played either of Rockstar’s open-world Red Dead games, but for a first attempt, it’s pretty great. It even gives justification for why this series is titled “Red Dead”: the lead character in Red Dead Revolver is a bounty hunter named Red, and a bunch of outlaws want him dead. Mystery solved.

Unlike the later entries in the series, Red Dead Revolver is a linear third-person shooter. Each mission involves tracking down a bounty, which represents the boss battle at the mission’s end. Killing the boss earns you cash, which you can then spend on new weapons and throwables before starting the next mission. While the entire game may not be open-world, the hub area of Brimstone can be freely explored, with NPCs to chat with and shops to visit. There are actually multiple playable characters, although they aren’t available for every mission. This was also the first appearance of the “Dead Eye” mechanic, but it’s definitely less refined that what Rockstar implemented in later Red Dead ​​​​​​games.

Manhunt 2

Controversy Meets Criticism

Generally considered to be the weaker game in the duology, Manhunt 2 is the follow-up to the massively controversial stealth action game Manhunt. It’s a stealth-first game, which means combat usually involves one or two quick attacks rather than taking on a bunch of enemies at once. Unlike the first game, you also have access to a wider array of weapons, including firearms and environmental “dangers,” including everything from manhole covers to toilets.

Because the Manhunt games take place in the midst of a twisted reality show, you are rewarded for killing enemies in the most brutal ways possible (this is where much of the controversy around these games stems from). To this end, you’re given three levels of stealth execution, with the lowest being quick and quiet but largely unspectacular, while the highest level (called “Gruesome”) is exceptionally violent, but also loud and slow, which threatens your stealth. While the shock value is slightly dampened due to it being a sequel, and the story isn’t as tight as the first game, Manhunt 2 is still a really fun stealth game that will satisfy anyone’s desire for some especially brutal combat.

Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition

The Low Point Of An Underappreciated Racing Franchise

During the all-out dogfight that was the 2000’s racing game scene, the Midnight Club series was largely overlooked when compared to titans like Gran Turismo, Need for Speed, and Burnout. Rockstar’s franchise was much more of an arcade racer than a racing sim like Gran Turismo, but it still features detailed licensed cars and a massive soundtrack of nearly 100 licensed songs from a variety of genres.

Midnight Club 3 was not the last entry in the franchise — that title belongs to Midnight Club Los Angeles, which was actually well received by both critics and fans. However, Midnight Club 3 was easily the most mixed Midnight Club game, mostly due to its PSP port. While it may be considered a low point for the franchise, it’s still a top-tier arcade racer. It features three open-world cities to explore — Atlanta, Detroit, and San Diego — five race types to compete in, and nearly 70 cars to drive, customize, and tune to perfection. The REMIX edition pumps up all those numbers, boosting the number of cars to 94 and the number of licensed songs to 124.