The Most Controversial PS2 Games

Summary

• BMX XXX
  allowed players to create topless female characters, leading to controversy and poor reception.
• Bully
  received praise for storytelling but was criticized for glorifying bullying and was banned in many countries.
• Soldier of Fortune
  stirred controversy for its graphic violence, torture depiction, and received both praise and criticism.

Today, video games sit at the very top of the entertainment world, with numerous titles appealing to mass audiences across many age demographics. However, video games have also garnered their fair share of controversy, often raising a moral panic among conservative groups.

Some of the most notorious releases came on the PS2, where some games would find both commercial success and critical acclaim. Sony’s hugely successful console saw video games advance in both technology and complexity, allowing games to reach higher levels of sophistication. With these advancements in technology, games could depict graphic violence and nudity in much higher detail, causing outrage and, sometimes, countrywide bans. While some of these games have fallen into obscurity, others are all-time classics that pushed the boundaries of acceptability in a growing industry.

7 BMX XXX

Overtly Sexualized Women on Bikes

• Platform: PlayStation 2, Xbox, Gamecube
• Released: 2002
• Developer: Z-Axiz
• Genre: Sports

The early 2000s saw the widespread success of many extreme sports video games. These fun titles blended the sports, fashion, and music of the time. From the successful Tony Hawk series to the Rollerblading game Aggressive Inline, these games tapped into the youth culture of the moment.

BMX XXX took the style, mechanics, and music of these titles while allowing players to create topless female characters to play as. While controversy can often lead to strong sales, BMX XXX failed to find an audience. The game was criticized for its juvenile humor, poor level design, and lack of innovation. The game was originally developed as part of the Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX series. However, Mirra would eventually disown the title and sue the developers, stating the game damaged his image.

6 Bully

A Fun Open-World Adventure Through School

GTA Developers Rockstar Games would once again receive widespread criticism for this fun open-world game, where players take on the role of a school bully. While the game’s content leaned heavily on humor and exaggerated high school stereotypes, educational and anti-bullying groups criticized Bully before its release, stating it glorified bullying.

On release, Bully would receive strong critical praise for its storytelling and characters. The game is fun, silly, and addictive, with players controlling Jimmy Hopkins, a delinquent sent to a new school. Players must navigate the various student groups while participating in classes and performing missions. While the game is far from the controversial title some would claim it to be, it would still be banned in many countries, including Brazil.

5 Hitman: Blood Money

Cold-Blooded Murder

The Hitman series has become one of the more renowned video game franchises in history, spanning numerous sequels and even a pair of movies. Hitman: Blood Money was the fourth installment in the franchise and revolves around Agent 47 as he attempts to take down a rival organization called The Franchise.

Hitman: Blood Money was a critical and commercial success and one of the best games in the franchise. However, it would garner controversy during its marketing campaign, with posters that depicted murdered women stamped with clever captions. Many critics considered these in bad taste and claimed they glorified murder.

4 Soldier Of Fortune

Graphic Depictions Of Violence

• Platform: PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows, Linux, Dreamcast
• Released: 2000
• Developer: Pipe Dream Interactive
• Genre: Action, FPS

Solider of Fortune puts players in control of U.S. mercenary John Mullins. Together with his partner, he is tasked with stopping a terrorist plot after the terrorist group obtains nuclear weapons. The game takes players around the world, with missions set in New York, Tokyo, and Iraq.

The game caused controversy for its graphic violence that attempted to depict lifelike damage. Enemies have 26 damage zones, with some shots able to destroy limbs and even explode enemy heads. The game stirred further controversy for its brutal depiction of torture. Soldier of Fortune received praise for its action and mechanics and was followed by several sequels.

3 The Punisher

Marvel’s Ruthless Vigilante

In modern times, Marvel has grown to become a worldwide dominating juggernaut, with even the most obscure heroes becoming household names. However, in 2005, the MCU was not yet established, and their movies were not guaranteed box office hits.

Loosely based on the 2004 movie starring Thomas Jane, The Punisher was a no-holds-barred action game with Jane returning to the central role. The game follows Frank Castle as he continues his brutal quest against the criminal underworld. The game features extreme violence, torture, and gore that would cause controversy among censors. The UK Board, the BBFC, would censor many of the most graphic moments in the game, which included solarization effects and zoomed cameras to lessen the impact of violent scenes.

2 Grand Theft Auto 3

A Huge Leap Forward

GTA 3 was a turning point for Rockstar’s controversial landmark series. It turned the popular cult series into a major video game franchise, pushing technology and video game immersion to all new levels. In GTA 3, players control silent protagonist Claude as he navigates a huge open-world city, committing various crimes while escaping the police.

The game moved the series from a top-down perspective to a full 3D-rendered world played in third-person. This allowed players a huge amount of freedom in both exploration and actions. Players are free to cause total mayhem in the game, even killing innocent civilians in mass shootings. Criticism was especially aimed at its depictions of violence against women and prostitutes. While controversial, Grand Theft Auto 3 was a groundbreaking release that helped to popularize large-scale sandbox video games.

1 Manhunt

A Dark And Violent Classic

Manhunt stands as one of the most controversial games of all time for its graphic depictions of violence and murder. The developers, known for the classic Grand Theft Auto series, had a long-held reputation for controversial games, but none would garner the criticism of Manhunt.

Set in a fictional city named Carcer City, the game revolves around a man on death row who is forced into a series of murders to create underground snuff films. Players progress through twenty scenes using stealth mechanics and various weapons to kill their targets. The game’s ruthless depictions of violence and murder would lead to bans in numerous countries. However, the notoriety of Manhunt reached new levels when it was implicated in a real-life murder by the British media. While UK courts would quickly reject these claims, it ensured Manhunt’s status as a controversial classic.