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Smuggler's Run for PlayStation 2
Smuggler's Run for PlayStation 2 is an off-road driving game in which you collect and deliver illegal cargo while border patrols and rival gangs chase you. You do not follow a closed circuit: you choose your own way across hills, through forests and past rocks to reach your destination. The direction arrow points the way, but a straight line is not always the fastest route. A steep slope or a bad landing can cost just enough time to miss a delivery.
You start with a buggy and an SUV and unlock more vehicles through the smuggling missions. Their weight, speed and handling on uneven ground differ, so you can make a different choice for each type of terrain. The areas range from forested mountains at the Canadian border to desert and a snowy northern landscape. On the way, you must not only steer but also account for opponents who want to steal your cargo. Collisions can damage your vehicle and quickly wipe out a lead.
Alongside the sequence of missions, you can explore freely in Joyriding or jump straight into a Turf War. Here you compete over cargo, deliveries and checkpoints. Up to two players can play locally at the same time in split-screen, each using their own controller. In Loot Grab, each commands a team of computer-controlled helpers. This gives the same open environment a different purpose: not completing a lap as neatly as possible, but securing your load while the other side gets in your way.
Region and language
Our PlayStation 2 games are PAL editions and come with a Dutch or English box, unless stated otherwise. By default, you receive the version for the European market. We note it in the product details if the region is different or the box is in another language. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.
Manual
Smuggler's Run for PlayStation 2 includes the manual unless the product title states otherwise. If the booklet is missing, the title says “No Manual”. This lets you see before ordering whether the game comes with a manual.
The manuals included with our games usually contain at least English and often around six European languages. The exact languages vary by edition, so Dutch is not always included. The booklet explains the controls and the main rules. You can use it to check how to control the game, which actions are available and how its different features work.
The history of Smuggler's Run
Angel Studios developed Smuggler's Run and Rockstar Games released it for PlayStation 2 in 2000. It belonged to the first generation of games for Sony's new console and appeared around the same time as Midnight Club: Street Racing, also by Angel Studios. Both games made choosing your own route important, but used different settings. Midnight Club chose busy city streets; Smuggler's Run often left paved roads behind altogether and built its missions around expansive landscapes that you could drive across.
The technology directly serves the chase here. You see a destination in the distance, look for a passage between changes in elevation and try to regain control after a jump. Having a smuggler as the main character gave those journeys a clear purpose: moving cargo and staying out of the hands of the authorities or competitors. Guidance Recordings supplied the music. This gave the driving its own sound alongside engines and sirens, without turning the structure into a collection of traditional circuit championships.
Smuggler's Run 2: Hostile Territory followed on the same console in 2001. That sequel developed the story and the options for shaking off pursuers further. The first game remains the starting point, with North American borderlands and the original cargo contests. In November 2002, Take-Two acquired Angel Studios and the studio was renamed Rockstar San Diego. That later name therefore appears on current Rockstar pages, whereas Angel Studios was the developer when this PlayStation 2 game originally came out.
Similar games for PlayStation 2
Smuggler's Run 2: Hostile Territory retains the collection and delivery of cargo across open terrain. The sequel moves the action to Russia, Georgia and Vietnam and adds vehicle-specific countermeasures such as oil and smoke. The first Smuggler's Run centres on North American borderlands and a simpler premise. In both games you must discover routes yourself, but the second ties its missions more strongly to characters and an ongoing story.
Midnight Club: Street Racing shares the freedom to choose your route and the chases, but moves the driving to New York and London. There you look for a fast connection between checkpoints through traffic. Smuggler's Run instead has you drive over unpaved slopes and through open countryside. A jump or a detour around a mountain more often determines the outcome here than a clever turn at a junction. Both are original PlayStation 2 games by Angel Studios.
Wild Wild Racing also uses buggies, changes in elevation and unpaved surfaces. Its events are mainly built around recognisable courses and championships, supplemented by challenges such as collecting letters. In Smuggler's Run, a cargo mission determines where you need to go and you choose your own line across a larger area along the way. Opponents also actively try to rob you of your load. The similarity lies in the bouncing off-road driving; the difference is why you are heading somewhere.
4x4 Evo also centres on off-road vehicles and finding grip away from the tarmac. You build a career through races, prize money, and buying and upgrading real trucks and SUVs. Smuggler's Run opts for fictional vehicles and missions involving cargo and pursuers. Escaping matters more here than carefully building a garage. Both games require attention to slopes and surfaces, but reward you for a well-chosen route for a different reason.
Colin McRae Rally 3, like Smuggler's Run, emphasises grip, bumps and the consequences of a collision. However, the rally game has you drive set special stages with instructions from a co-driver, where a fast time is the main goal. Smuggler's Run gives you greater freedom to leave a route, but counters that with aggressive pursuers. Here you mainly read the landscape and your rivals' movements rather than follow a sequence of announced rally corners.
