187 Ride or Die (PlayStation 2, 2005)

Released in 2005, 187 Ride or Die is an arcade driving game that looks at normal racing, says “cute,” and then shows up with car combat, gang rivalry energy, and the subtlety of a brick through a windshield. It’s more about attitude and chaos than clean lines and perfect lap times.

You’re tearing through urban environments while dealing with aggressive rivals, weapons-based mayhem, and missions that feel like they were designed by someone who thought “what if everything was a chase scene?” The driving is built for action first—boosting, smashing, and staying alive long enough to finish the objective without getting turned into modern art on the pavement.

Progression revolves around earning cash, upgrading rides, and unlocking more content so you can keep escalating the nonsense. It’s the kind of PS2-era time capsule that lives in that weird space between racing game and action game, which is either exactly what you want… or exactly what you want to show your friends just to watch their reaction.

Online play isn’t really the focus here, and PS2-era official online services generally aren’t active now anyway. This one is best treated as a single-player/couch-session chaos machine.

1. Arcade driving built around aggressive missions and action-first handling, not “realistic” racing lines.
2. Vehicle combat elements that turn races and chases into rolling brawls.
3. Progression with upgrades and unlocks that keeps the game moving forward as the missions ramp up.
4. Urban street vibe that leans hard into mid-2000s attitude and style.
5. Cool fact: the game became a bit of a cult curiosity because it mashed together street racing and combat in a very “PS2 era took risks” way.

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