Smuggler's Run

Smuggler's Run arrived with the PlayStation 2 in October 2000: an off-road driving game built by Angel Studios, the team that would become Rockstar San Diego, and published by Rockstar Games. You play a smuggler moving cargo across three large open maps in dune buggies, rally cars and military vehicles, with the border patrol, the CIA and rival gangs trying to stop you.

What Is the Point of Smuggler's Run?

Get the cargo from a pick-up to a drop-off before the clock runs out, without being caught. Career mode runs 34 missions across three consecutive environments, a forest, a desert and a snowfield, roughly ten missions each. There are no roads to follow and no track to stay on: the whole map is drivable.

Why Did This Game Matter in 2000?

It was one of the first PlayStation 2 games to show off large, continuous outdoor terrain at speed, on a console that had just launched. That is a large part of why it sold well enough to join Sony's Greatest Hits range, the label reserved for PS2 games that passed a sales threshold.

What Else Is There Besides the Career?

A mode called Turf War, with three mini-games. Two are contests to move cargo while a rival gang tries to take it from you, and the third is a straight race. The game supports one or two players locally in its arcade modes.

Is Smuggler's Run Connected to GTA?

Only through its publisher. Rockstar published it, and Angel Studios went on to become Rockstar San Diego, the studio behind Midnight Club II, Midnight Club 3 and later Red Dead Redemption. The games share no story or setting.