10 Banned PS2 Games Too Controversial For Their Time

Developed by Volition (who’d go on to make the Saints Row series), The Punisher saw players as titular antihero Frank Castle hunting down members of the Russian mob, mafia, and yakuza to enact some bloody justice. The game even featured cameos from other Marvel characters Black Widow, Iron Man, Matt Murdoch, and Nick Fury.

Despite selling over a million copies on release and being received positively by critics, it was the game’s interrogation sequences that sparked controversy. Giving players the ability to utilise an assortment of brutal means to torture enemies to gain information before killing them (with notable mentions including a power drill, rhino, and a shark), the game almost never saw the light of day in the US and UK.

Initially earning an Adults Only rating by the ESRB, meaning it couldn’t be released on Sony’s platform, these sequences were changed to black and white in order for its rating to be reduced. Similarly, the BBFC in the UK also required the camera to zoom out at these points for the game to pass with an 18 certificate. And in Germany the game was placed on a list which marked it harmful to young people.

Rockstar are no stranger to controversy. While they and their publisher, Take-Two Interactive, have been targeted by a number of lawsuits over the years (plenty of which have been ridiculous), arguably none of their array of titles have been as controversial as Manhunt 2, especially given the outcry met by its predecessor for its graphic violence.

In the sequel to the game that was banned in New Zealand and found itself wrongfully linked to a murder in England, Manhunt 2 sees players as Daniel Lamb, an escaped asylum patient and amnesiac attempting to piece his past together. Much like the first game's protagonist James Earl Cash, Daniel will spend most of his time hiding in the shadows waiting for an opportunity to execute someone in some truly horrific ways. It’s this excessive violence that saw the game come under heavy fire just days after its announcement.

To receive a release in the US and UK, the game had to undergo severe cuts by removing the scoring system and blurring executions, resulting in it releasing a year later in the UK. Nevertheless, Manhunt 2 was banned outright in Germany, Malaysia, and South Korea. It wasn’t even submitted for classification in Australia.

From the likes of Silent Hill 2, Project Zero, and Resident Evil 4, the PlayStation 2 is home to some of the most influential horror games in recent memory. However, not every horror game received the same warm reception. One that wasn’t as lucky was cult J-horror title Rule Of Rose, which was pulled from UK retailers by publishers 505 Games following media backlash.

Playing as timid 19-year-old Jennifer, the game sees players, with the help of adorable canine companion Brown, explore the nightmarish world she finds herself in, completing tasks set to her by a cruel society of young girls. While the game was panned for its atrocious combat, it was praised for its thoughtful narrative and effective psychological horror.

Prior to its release, this game sparked moral panic when rumours of its alleged violence against children appeared in an Italian magazine, causing Rome’s then mayor to call for the game to be banned. These rumours were picked up in the UK media where it was accused of including “overtones of lesbianism and sadomasochism” and “underage eroticism”. Despite these claims being refuted as blatant nonsense, the damage was already done. The game is still unavailable in the UK today.

Alongside its vast selection of innovative titles, Sony's second console was also the place to find a host of trivia games such as the Buzz! franchise that were the definition of fun for the whole family. One quiz game that you certainly wouldn’t want to play with your family on Christmas was The Guy Game.

While the game didn’t have any of the hyperbolic violence that tends to cause controversy, The Guy Game nevertheless raised plenty of eyebrows for its other adult content. Containing live-action video footage of scantily clad girls on Spring Break, the game would voyeuristically reward players for getting enough questions right by having one of the students flash their breasts.

Unbelievably, this wasn’t the most problematic part of the game either. It turned out that one of the women featured in one of the videos was only 17 at the time, making her a minor in US law and therefore unable to give legal consent to her actions.

While it couldn’t be released as a game, the developers got around the problem by releasing it as an interactive DVD titled The Guy Game: Game Over. There was even an edition that came with a t-shirt.

With his films often finding themselves at the centre of debates surrounding violence in media, auteur filmmaker Quentin Tarantino is no stranger to controversy. And it all started with his 1992 debut film Reservoir Dogs, which was initially banned on UK home release for two years despite being a critical and box office success.

Even 13 years later the notoriety lived on when a video game adaptation was released in 2006. Seeing the return of Michael Madsen as Mr Blonde, the game expands on the events of the film as different levels fill in how the colourful bank robbers escaped from the botched heist. While the game plays like a third-person shooter, a rating system (ranging from psychopath to professional) actively encouraged players to kill as few people as possible and instead use strategic crowd control and hostage taking to disarm and pacify enemies.

Regardless of these mechanics, though, the game was still refused classification in Japan, Germany, and Australia. Likewise, owning this game was made illegal in New Zealand where it was deemed “objectionable” by the Office Of Film And Literature Classification for featuring “infliction of extreme violence and cruelty… for the purpose of entertainment”.

The early 2000s was a time when extreme sports games like Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series and SSX Tricky were riding high. However, one game that’s best forgotten is the catastrophic BMX XXX.

While this subgenre of games never took itself too seriously to begin with, this entry took things to a whole new level of schlocky ridiculousness by including strippers, prostitutes, adult humour, and a whole lot of nudity by allowing players to create topless female characters, as well as view live-action footage of real-life strippers.

In the years since, we’ve seen plenty of nudity in the likes of The Witcher series whereas Saints Row and Grand Theft Auto have provided a lot smuttier content. At the time, though, the adult content was a big deal. Not only did it result in a lawsuit between developers Acclaim and BMX rider Dave Mirra, who accused them of sullying his name after the studio took his licensed series in its smutty new direction without his knowledge.

While the game wasn’t banned outright, PlayStation 2 versions had to be censored to get a release while the nudity was completely removed in Australia.

While BMX XXX was eventually able to launch in Australia with a heavily censored version, one game that proved to be too raunchy for the country’s classification board was Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude.

Set in a semi-open world, players take on the role of college student Larry Lovage, nephew of previous protagonist Larry Laffer, as he attempts to get on a dating show. However, to get on the show he must prove he’s eligible enough by earning tokens of affection from girls he’s successfully seduced. To receive these tokens, you’ll spend a lot of your time completing a series of repetitive minigames.

While the series was never exactly what you’d call family friendly to begin with, the seventh game in the series replaced the surprisingly tasteful humour of its predecessors with more explicit jokes that were more inline with American Pie than a Carry On film. With the developers sending flavoured condoms and pornography along with review copies of the game, it’s no surprise this game came under fire.

Though releasing uncensored in Europe (and eventually in the US), even the edited version of Magna Cum Laude was refused classification in Australia.

From Medal Of Honour to Call Of Duty, historical shooters are undoubtedly some of the most popular games to hit, not just the PlayStation 2, but gaming in general. And while these games have faced many controversies for their envelope-pushing content (Modern Warfare 2’s “No Russia” mission being a prime example), one game that was banned in Australia was Vietnam shooter Shellshock: Nam ’67.

Following the typical formula of these games, Nam ’67 took players to the titular war where they took on the role of soldier Caleb “Cal” Walker, engaging in a series of missions with their squad. While the game was initially marketed to showcase the notorious horrors of the war, the effect was rather the opposite. With reviewers panning the game for its tasteless representations of violence (and its poor gameplay in general), the game was initially refused classification in Australia for its high-impact violence. However, after it was resubmitted in a form that recontextualised its more questionable content (though it’s unclear what these aspects were exactly), the game was granted an MA15+ rating.

Unfortunately, the sequel Shellshock 2: Blood Trials, which released for the PlayStation 3, was banned outright for its violence.

Set in the futuristic dystopian city of New Radius, Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure hit PlayStation 2 and Xbox in 2006. Playing as amateur graffiti artist Trane, this ambitious title brought to us by the combined might of The Collective (Indiana Jones And The Emperor’s Tomb) and Atari saw our hero battle rival gangs and use his art as a means to protest against the city’s Orwellian government.

Unsurprisingly, it was this game’s heavy focus on graffiti that sparked outrage. In the UK, for example, the game was met with heavy criticism by Anti-Graffiti Association for supposedly encouraging vandalism prior to its release. However, in (you guessed it) Australia there was a different story.

While the game was initially granted an MA15+ rating, their decision was overturned shortly after. The OFLC stated that, after some more consideration, the game “promotes the crime of graffiti” and contains “detailed instructions” for a crime.

Likewise, the board also took issue with the game including a selection of real-life graffiti artists sharing techniques with the player alongside players being rewarded for tagging public buildings.

With a sequel reportedly in the works since 2013, only time will tell how it would fare under today’s standards.

Of course, no list about controversial or banned video games would be complete without mentioning the Grand Theft Auto series.

With each iteration in the franchise sparking new debates about video games and violence, Rockstar’s flagship series has had a rocky relationship with Australia’s OFLC for quite some time. Grand Theft Auto III was banned outright, Vice City required censoring to acquire certification, certain retailers refused to sell GTA V. The choice for this list, however, goes to San Andreas, which saw the game temporarily banned in the territory for the notorious Hot Coffee segment.

If you’re unaware of this story, Hot Coffee was a cut minigame found in the game’s files where protagonist CJ could be seen having sex with his chosen girlfriend. Despite only being accessible through mods and console hacks, many took issue with the removed content, resulting in the OFLC retracting the game’s certificate, effectively banning it.

Thankfully, though, there was a happy ending as new copies of the game were released with the code removed. There was even a Cold Coffee patch released that would crash the game of someone who tried to access the naughty content that was never intended to be seen in the first place.