Take-Twois a publisher with an interesting history. Initially finding success making FMV games in the 90s, they would gradually splinter into a family of smaller publishing labels. Of those labels, three exist today: the primarily indie-focused Private Division, their home for AAA games and sports titles 2K Games, and finally the juggernaut that is Rockstar.
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Not every Take-Two game got to enjoy the success ofGrand Theft Auto,BioshockorCivilization, however. Take-Two’s history is full of games that didn’t quite get the acclaim they may have deserved. That includes small-scale releases that didn’t get enough attention, live service titles that didn’t reach a wide enough audience to keep alive, or simply games lost to time as technology has moved on. Many of them are still worth a revisit, however.
10The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom
Before Private Division arrived and gave the worldits first hit inKerbal Space Program, 2K’s first ventures into supporting indie creators came through their casual label 2K Play. One of those games wasThe Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom, released in 2010 for Xbox Live Arcade.
A puzzle platformer that served as designer Matt Korba’s graduate thesis, the game saw the player collecting pies in a surreal silent movie environment as the titular P.B. Winterbottom. Its inventive gameplay centered on cloning Winterbottom to operate switches and throw himself at pies. It received rave reviews at the time of release, but it slipped under the radar and has been largely forgotten today.
9Hidden & Dangerous
Before going on to create theMafiafranchise, Czech developers Illusion Softworks gave the world a pioneering tactical FPS in the form ofHidden & Dangerous. Taking the role of a four-man British SAS team, players took on a series of missions in World War II.
While reviews of the time admitted it wasn’tone of the greatest shooters ever made, its devotion to realism and deep tactical gameplay earned it critical acclaim. However,Rainbow Sixlaunched around the same time and stole most of the attention, leavingHidden & Dangerousas a forgotten gem.
8Evolve
It’s tough to launch a successful live service game. For those who succeed, the result is a game likeFortnitethat prints money, but for those who don’t, it can be a costly endeavor.Evolvewas one of the unlucky ones that saw decent initial sales but saw its player base drop dramatically after launch.
It was a shame because it was well-received by critics, who deemed its asymmetric gameplay concept of a monster vs a team of monster hunters inventive and fun. 2K attempted to revive the game with a free-to-play release, but when this failed to reignite interest,Evolvewas closed in 2018, and developers Turtle Rockwent off to developBack 4 Bloodinstead.
7Smuggler’s Run
Rockstar have a lot of great games under their belt. While the phenomenal success ofGrand Theft Autogoes without saying, games likeRed Dead Redemption,Max Payne,Bully,andManhunthave also helped Rockstar gain a reputation for high-quality gritty action games.
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A game that doesn’t tend to get talked about much isSmuggler’s Run. A launch title for the PS2, it was a driving game where the player delivered contraband in an open world using a variety of off-road vehicles. While the world wasn’t quite as detailed as Rockstar’s open worlds would soon become, it offered a great deal of arcade fun that would be great to see again in some form.
6Rockstar Presents Table Tennis
If someone was asked to picture a Rockstar game, there are a number of recurring elements that define their catalog. A lot of violence, a plot centered on criminal activity, generally set inan open world of some kind. What likely doesn’t come to mind is table tennis, and yet, in 2006, that’s exactly what they released for the Xbox 360.
Mostly an experiment to show off their then-new RAGE engine,Rockstar Presents Table Tennisnevertheless received acclaim for being a solid simulation of table tennis. It had excellent physics, looked great, and was simple to pick up and play a few rounds. Not the most exciting Rockstar title, but a superb sports title that many may have forgotten about.
5The Darkness
Based on a comic from Top Cow,The Darknesswas a moody first-person shooter set in a gangster-riddled version of modern-day New York. The twist is that the protagonist, Jackie Estacado, is possessed by a demonic spirit known as The Darkness which gives him brutal powers.
The Darknessgot generally good reviews, as the mixture of standard FPS weaponry with spooky powers was a lot of fun, and the story was widely praised, particularly with the depiction of the relationship between Jackie and his girlfriend Jenny. However, while the game saw a sequel a few years later, the series has largely disappeared since, with no sign of ever returning.
4Space Station Silicon Valley
It may be hard to believe, butSpace Station Silicon Valleywas developed by DMA Design, the same developer who just a year earlier had released the firstGrand Theft Autoand would later go on to become Rockstar North. This cutesy N64 title full of quirky British humor was developed alongside the franchise that would come to define the developer yet failed to achieve the same level of success.
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Players controlled a robot named Evo on a space station full of robotic animals who the player must take control of to solve a range of challenges. It received universal acclaim on release, with reviewers calling it innovative and charming. However, this failed to turn into commercial success, andSpace Station Silicon Valleyhas largely been left in the 90s.
3Sid Meier’s Pirates! (Remake)
WhileCivilizationis a great series, it’s not the only franchise devised by Sid Meier within Take-Two’s catalog of IPs. TakeSid Meier’s Pirates!, which began life as a Commodore 64 title back in 1987, before getting a remake in 2004, developed by 2K’s own strategy masters Firaxis.
As the title suggests,Sid Meier’s Pirates!was a strategy game built around building a crew, sailing the seven seas and becoming one of the most renowned pirates in the world, in whatever manner the player chose. With the success ofSea of Thievesand the impending arrival of Skull & Bones, it’s clear that pirates are in right now anda modern revival ofPirates!would be perfect.
Usually, the first game that comes to mind when hearing about a “Tycoon” game is theRollercoaster Tycoonseries, but that’s not the only series out there. There’s alsoRailroad Tycoon, another series originallydesigned byCivilizationcreator Sid Meier, that is now owned by Take-Two.
Railroad Tycoonis about railway management across history, from building tracks to making sure trains are running on time. The series also requires management of finances as the player decides which industries to transport goods for. It’s a fun, complex management sim series, but hasn’t seen a new entry since 2006, so it may be time to give it a revival.
1Prey (2006)
The 2006Preyis a game with a rough history. Initially conceived in the 90s by 3D Realms as a shooter that heavily used moveable portals as a gameplay mechanic, years beforePortalwould happen, but fell apart when the tech of the time couldn’t handle this. After changing hands over most of the next decade, the game’s eventual release would be handled by Human Head Studios and published by 2K.
The final game would still feature portals, but they were now static and part of the level design. The original mechanic was replaced with a feature where the protagonist could separate his spirit from his body and a dark sci-fi story involving a deadly alien spacecraft. While it received praise at the time, it didn’t reach a large enough audience and a sequel was canceled. Eventually the rights to the game would be sold to Bethesda, who effectively replaced it with anentirely different reboot under the same name, meaning the original concept is unlikely to ever return.
