Grand Theft Auto 2

The Good
The Graphics arent exactly groundbreaking for 1999 but a lot of games from the early days of 3d havent aged all that well so i can say GTA2 has aged alright in terms of graphics, it will never get old seeing myself shooting a rocket launcher at someone and watching them fly into the air and then crash back down! The soundtrack is a bigger highlight though, full of eclectic oddball choices like a fuzz box drenched 50's rock&roll type song, an actual licensed hardcore punk song about taxi drivers, some Nu Metal/Industrial Hip Hop song thats repetitive but catchy "lemme show you how its done" and even an electronic worship dance song about jesus. Thats just some of my favorite tracks but there is a lot of variety in this game that fits the retro-futurist Y2K vibe of this game perfectly. And i really enjoyed the "Respect" system [ Basically if you gain favor with 1 gang you lose respect from their rivals gang ] it lets you choose your own path if you truly want to and i think its an interesting system, i also enjoyed the driving controls a fair bit, very buttery smooth which oddly is nothing like the game boy color port of this game but yeah if you played that one the windows and home console versions are the opposite of that, also i liked how the maps were designed and the atmosphere, i'd love to see an actual remaster of this game really.

The Bad
The difficulty might be seen as bad to some, and spoilers to not get "nice try" at the end of the game you must 100% all districts which could take some time and honestly the missions in this game can get SUPER BRUTAL and to save the game you need 50,000$ and head to the spawn church building which means you might wanna conserve your saves which could be too much for some people, hell even as a kid i never got to the second district til i was about 15. And as much as i liked the driving controls and even my personal taste on the on foot controls [They're okay] i do think it should have used the mouse for aiming instead of doing some kind of tank controls to turn/aim on foot, its like playing a topdown version of the original doom games, without strafing, and honestly mild one when you look at the future games, the story isnt really much of anything its just "do this" and "do that" until you do every mission and then you SPOILERS kill the 3 bosses in the district til you make it to the end of the game, but this might not matter seeing as this game is way more arcade-like than future installments but for those looking for a story, you might not find much here

The Bottom Line
this game is great, but at the same time it's pretty flawed. For those that love havoc and a challenge this might be for you. But if you're looking for a crime sim with a good story and dont wanna rip your teeth out at some missions, steer clear!

The Good
Rockstar made a number of improvements with GTA2. There's an added police threat, as your wanted level goes up you'll be chased by F.B.I. agents and eventually the army. The new concept of respect within the rival gangs works well at times, if you're really respected within one group, for example, they'll attack any the those pesky police officers attempts to catch you. The introduction is great to watch. To be honest it's one of the best features of this game. It's just what GTA would be as a movie really. As always the soundtrack to the game is above par. While the music might not be up the standard of the first game, it is the advertisements that you're bound to remember. Where else can you hear about "Orgasmo bars" or the burgers at "Crazy Cj's"!

The Bad
The missions for GTA2 are pretty weak when compared with the first game. Expect no surprises really. The idea of having rival gangs is a good one, but the fact is that that there are no real differences between any gang's missions. There's no improvement on the graphics. Usually a sequel attempts to improve on the standards set in the previous game. Sadly with GTA2 this is not the case.

The Bottom Line
Really when it comes down to it, this game is just a repackaged GTA. If you're a huge fan of the original or if you want to have the complete GTA series, it's worth a look. Just don't expect to be surprised.

The Good
Grand Theft Auto 2 is the sequel to DMA Design's 1997 hit, and it is even better. For those who haven't played the original, you control one of several protagonists and go on many exciting missions to earn money. You can also have the option of participating in a high-speed police chase, go on a killing spree, and much more. The graphics and sound were amazing at the time, and there is plenty of replayability there as well. It was so successful at the time that players demanded more, and DMA delivered two years later.

In regards to GTA2, the developers took what made GTA great and expanded on it. The sequel features more advanced AI and more missions. If you commit enough crimes, not only are the police involved, but SWAT teams, secret agents, and the military. The game also introduces gangs who you do missions for (with the Zaibatsu commonplace). If you successfully complete a mission for a certain gang, you'll gain a higher respect for them but your respect for their rivals also decreases. I like the way they start shooting at you repeatedly if you drive around a gang's territory while you have low respect for them.

The higher your respect is with the gang, the more missions that you gain from them. Missions are split into three categories: green, yellow, and red. Green missions can be accomplished easily enough, but red missions are far more challenging, especially if they involve you driving into a territory of a gang whom you have lower respect.

There are thieves to look out for, including muggers and car thieves. Stand in an area for too long and you will get mugged. When I am playing the game, I'l let them mug me the way they do normal pedestrians, but as they walk away, I'll execute them in front of other people.

There are new radio stations to listen to, and there are a couple of DJs that I enjoyed listening to. Out of all of them, I enjoyed listening to Dean Frantz because at least I can relate to him, especially when he mentions the cops. I am glad that the developers chose to remove the option that allows you to turn on constant ratio. It didn't make any sense in the last game to be listening to radio stations while you were out walking around.

GTA2 provides a day and night setting. Some of the missions require you to blow up things, and the resulting explosions look spectacular at night, as do the buildings that have their signs lit up. There are several weapons that you can use on your enemies that cause these types of explosions. Two of my favorites include the flamethrower. Once you set people alight, they scream and run in the opposite direction. But that is nothing compared to the rocket launcher. If you use it too close to your target, you'll end up flying through the air and come back down hard on the ground.

Another thing I must point out is the nice save feature, where you can enter a church to save the game, as long as you get at least $50,000 and are not on a mission. This save feature is a step away from the draconian save method in the previous game, where you are limited to saving in between cities.

Cheat codes can be entered into the game if you keep failing the missions. The cheat codes include invincibility, maximum cash, full ammo for all weapons, and more. There are a few cheat codes that alter the game mechanics. I like using the one that involves all pedestrians turning into thieves. No matter where you go, you hear them fighting, and one of them has a go at you if you get too close to the action. Another cheat involves turning vehicles into the game into mini-cars. When you use this cheat, you can also listen to different radio stations in “chipmunk speed”.

The Bad
If I have to say anything negative about this game, it would have to be the fact that the aforementioned $50,000 requirement for saving games is a little bit hefty, and should have been much less. With this requirement, you need to successfully complete at least two missions, and then you can then save in-between each mission if you want. I am glad that the money requirement is left out for GTAIII and onwards.

The Bottom Line
In conclusion, Grand Theft Auto 2 is a much better game than its predecessor as the game mechanics are much better. There are new radio stations you can listen to while you are driving around, and also thieves and gangs to deal with. As I said earlier, completing missions for a certain gang earns you a higher respect with them, but lower respect with their rivals. As a result, the rivals will deal with you the moment you enter their territory.

As the game says, “And remember: respect is everything.”

The Good
The Entire Feel of the game is cool, violent, and mature (well, somewhat). The Music is simply awesome with perfect timing. The weapons are fun and different from a normal game. The controls are generally solid. The cities are huge with really nice looking buildings and streets. The Cops have good AI, There not to tough nor are they easy.

The Bad
The View you could say is outdated (epically since its on a 6th gen console). I'm fine with the "tank" movement, but a full 3D behind the back view would have been nice. The lack of a map makes it pretty difficult to find the phone, so your gonna do a lot of walking.

The Bottom Line
Overall, this is one of the coolest games you'll ever find. Despite its view, its still a cool looking game that doesn't seem to disappoint.

The Good
Everything. I actually liked everything about this game. Brilliant music, brilliant graphics, brilliant gameplay, great sound effects, and to top it all, well designed levels (not as much of those nasty dead ends they had in GTA). This is one of those action games that I always enjoy playing because there's nothing wrong with it (others include Krakout, Carmageddon, and... well, there really aren't that many perfect games). Even if you don't feel like completing the missions, just squishing and gunning down pedestrians and cops and generally raising hell is a great way of getting rid of stress. Now you can even save your game at any time (although at a cost), which is a great improvement from GTA (although I've only played the PS version of that, so I don't know if you could do that in the PC version).

The Bad
You can't play the soundtrack on a CD-player. That's about it.

The Bottom Line
Now this is your basic top-down car-jacking, cop-killing, tank-driving, elvis-squishing action game containing three playing fields (city districts) with different missions, rival criminal gangs, hidden weapons and vehicles, and all the usual stuff. For those of you who haven't played a game of this type (which would include GTA and GTA2 and not much else) you basically walk or drive (you can hi-jack cars) around a 3D city with rival criminal gangs, causing general mayhem or doing jobs for the gangs. There's no linear plot and no rules, but loads and loads of fun for the criminally inclined gamer.

The Good
The GTA series has always aimed to offer total freedom, and GTA 2 continues this perfectly. You can wonder around anywhere in the city, killing civilians, hijacking cars... The guns and cars are some of the best points of this game. There may not be many more than twenty weapons to use, but they are all a good laugh to use. The cars are equally as good, and it is good to experiment with different types of car since some handle better than others. The music which you listen to when you enter the car - presumably to simulate a radio - is good. The controls are simple to use (if positioned in odd places such as Select to get in/out of cars) and the cities you play in are gigantic. It's not just killing which is fun, either. Just simply nabbing a car and seeing how well I can drive it is enough to keep me enthralled.

The Bad
The view of the game is slightly irritating. It's top-down, meaning that you can only see your head and everbody else's head. Driving - while on the whole good - can be slightly difficult to control at times. The AI is alright; when you fire a gun people will run away from you and the driving of the AI is alright, but the rest of the time it is just stupid. The coppers will try and catch you by walking up to you, but they just walk into anything in between you and them. The same applies for cops trying to get to you in their cars and people trying to shoot you. Also, there is no save function, and I cannot work out the password system. Therefore, I have not been able to advance any further than the first city.

The Bottom Line
Despite its many major flaws, GTA 2 is still a great laugh to play. These flaws might be profoundly irritating, but at least the core principal of the game - the freedom - remains unscathed.

The Good
Well, the gameplay is exactly the same as the first GTA, which in this case is good, the radio stations are better in my opinion, plus you can change the radio station when in a car, that's a good thing, plus you can take pedestrians in a taxi for extra money, which is a extra. and fun to do, there are added weapons, and a people flying in the air physic, plus there are car theif's, and pick pocket guys, but that's where the good ends.

The Bad
That seems like a lot of added features, but the game missions and secretes are the same, and the respect thing is just annoying, also the game get's too hard in the mission structure.

The Bottom Line
bottom line... rent, only rent.