4 Games From Rockstar That Are Nothing Like Grand Theft Auto

When you think of Rockstar Games, the first thing that probably comes to mind is Grand Theft Auto. Maybe after that your mind jumps over to Red Dead Redemption, which could be thought of as a Grand Theft Auto game set in the wild west. But Rockstar has done plenty of other things as well. In fact, the massive team has been responsible for all kinds of games over its long and illustrious history. Check out these games that Rockstar has produced that are nothing like GTA.

Thrasher Presents Skate and Destroy

In case the title of this game didn’t give it away, this is a skateboarding game. It came out shortly after Tony Hawk Pro Skater, and as such, not many people played it. It’s too bad though, because like almost anything with the Rockstar Games brand attached, it’s actually pretty solid.

What makes this difference from the Tony Hawk franchise is the emphasis on realism. It features a far more complicated control scheme that other skate games, which prevented it from catching on in the mainstream. It’s actually more like EA’s SKATE series than Tony Hawk. Still, while it might be nothing like Grand Theft Auto, it’s another game that reminds that Rockstar is more than just an open world crime game studio.

Oni

This is actually a Bungie game (you know, the people who made Halo), but Rockstar’s Toronto studio make the PlayStation 2 version. So while it can’t take credit for actually designing the game, it’s still a game made by the company that is nothing like GTA except for the fact that’s it an action game played in a third-person perspective.

So what is Oni? Basically, it’s one of the first games to mix third-person shooting action with hand-to-hand combat. It takes place in a dystopian future (a setting that wasn’t nearly as overused when the game first came out), and it’s quite fantastic. It’s not a huge leap from GTA to Oni in terms of gameplay, but the presentation, story, and speed of combat is not at all similar. It’s definitely worth a look.

Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis

This was a game that showed us just good video games could look on the Xbox 360, and it’s just a simple table tennis simulator. The whole time I was playing I kept waiting for the competitors to pull out guns and shoot each other, but they never do. Instead, it’s just a really fun and simple sports game.

I don’t think I really need to explain in what ways this game jumps from the GTA style. It’s a table tennis game. No one dies. There is no drug use. There are no police officers. It doesn’t even have a story. The only thing it shares with GTA is the fact that it’s a really great game, and one that any sports fan should play, in spite of the shock of it being made by the Grand Theft Auto people.

Rockstar Games and Timbaland Present Beaterator

Calling Rockstar Games and Timbaland Present Beaterator a game is kind of a stretch, since it’s technically a program designed to let you make your own beats. Timbaland, for those who don’t follow the rap world, is a prolific producer of beats for all kinds of artists as well as his own albums. He put some of that knowledge into co-producing this “game,” and it shows in the final release.

Game or not, this is a quality piece of software that’s a lot of fun to mess with even if you have no desire to spit your own raps. Just creating something that resembles a professional beat with little or no music knowledge is really cool, and that fact that it’s available on both mobile and home consoles offers lots of options to would be buyers. Of course, songs can be uploaded to the Internet, so you can show them off others. I’m not which is a bigger move from GTA, this or Table Tennis, but both are huge reminders that there is nothing Rockstar can’t do.

Your Favorite Rockstar Game?

What’s your favorite game released by Rockstar? Are you a GTA (and the other games like it) fan, or do you prefer Rockstar’s other releases? Hit the comments section below and let us know!