Grand Theft Auto III

The Good
Okay kids, set the wayback machine for late 2001.

A somewhat nascent PS2 had been available in the United States for about a year, and while some major titles had been released already (Final Fantasy X, for example) the platform had yet to see a truly revolutionary title.

Enter Grand Theft Auto 3.

Your nameless character, wandered the tough streets of Liberty City, taking jobs from various underworld bosses, all the while trying to take out the partner who (metaphorically) stabs you in the back at the beginning of the game.

Those of us who had played the PS1 religiously saw this one coming from a mile away. Back in the summer of 1999 there were three games constantly spinning in the PSs of the world, Grand Theft Auto 2, Driver, and Syphon Filter. Grand Theft Auto 3 was a combination of the best features of all three of these, inside of a car, the game was basically an update of Driver; your action on foot was almost identical to that of Syphon Filter; finally, the whole thing was tied together by the open ended, kill-em-all, gangster/gangsta style of Grand Theft Auto 2.

It was a veritable wet dream for PS1 fanatics; and a defining moment for the PS2 platform.

Part of the success of this game is due to the fact that back in 2001, open ended (or “sandbox”) games were virtually unheard of; they just were not as popular or technologically feasible as more linear games. This game changed all that, not only was the mission structure non-linear, but the missions themselves almost without exception, totally non-linear. Instead of the player completing a mission by following pre-determined paths or utilizing a highly rare resource at the exact moment the programmer desired, the player could play through a mission HIS way.

This carried over to the rest of the game; you could play through the mission structure in the order you preferred, using whatever tools you happened to find.

It was new, it was fresh, and everyone ate it up. The success of GTA 3 made “sandbox” games an industry standard, and a slew of them followed, for every type of platform and every type of situation; but it all started with GTA 3.

The Bad
Okay, back in 2001, when this game was first released, the only real complaints that one could have about this game were because of the 1) shoddy camera system and 2) the shoddy targeting system. Even 4 years ago these systems were hard to use/control and glitchy.

Circa 2005, however, there are a whole host of complaints one could make about this game.

Graphics: This game looks pretty ugly by modern standards, the graphics are only slightly better than what one could expect from a PS1. Textures, resolution, etc. all bite the big one, and just can not compete up with anything released in the last 2 years.

Sounds/Music: Unlike modern games or any of the later GTA games, the music in this game is generally pretty awful. Most of the tunes in this game were created in-house at Rockstar/DMA and do reach the standards set by the soundtracks of Vice City or San Andreas.

Control: As mentioned above, the camera and targeting control in this game was bad back in 2001, it is HORRIBLE by today’s standards. You will constantly fight against these systems during this game.

Story: This game has a very thin storyline, nowhere near as developed as later GTA games. I believe that DMA purposely created the game this way to accentuate the open-endedness of the gameplay, but it is lacking nonetheless.

Gameplay: This is the one category where GTA 3 matches up with later games. You can do basically whatever you want, to whomever you want, wherever you want. As long as you don’t want to fly a helicopter, the gameplay is almost identical to Vice City.

The Bottom Line
This game was an instant classic when released. It has become a bit dated in the following years as newer games have refined and revamped it's basic formula.

The Good
Everything about this game is amazing, the 3d graphics (A first for the series), the sound and music, the missions (A real storyline this time around), great AI, a real sense of a living city...to cause havoc in, addictive gameplay, the list goes on and on. Rockstar and DMA have put a lot of work into this one, and it shows.

The Bad
Well, nothing much really, just that some of the missions are difficult, very difficult.

The Bottom Line
An amazing next generation game. This is one game you HAVE to play.

The Good
You know what the great thing about arcade style gameplay is? If it's done correctly, it can prove to be terribly addictive. There's often little to no story and the gameplay is repetative but you just can't stop playing to see if you can top your last game. Games like Crazy Taxi are a perfect example. And do you know what's great about plot driven long term titles? You have a story to play out that unfolds as you progress through a game that often takes tens of hours to finish. Grand Theft Auto 3 manages to blend the best of these two worlds into an extravagant cocktail of murder, mayhem and assorted carnage as you once again reprise the role of street thug and get up to all manner of law breaking activities. If you've played the original GTA games then you'll know the setting but the third outing is so much better in every conceivable way that it's a whole new experience. It's so good in fact that it's almost... dare I say it, criminal. There is so much to do in the game, beginning with a plot driven mission based game in which you have to complete tasks such as assasinations, robberys and high speed chases for various gang leaders. This alone is loads of fun but the game is so open ended that it allows you to just go and explore as much or as little as you want to. Also on offer are such activities as finding hidden packages around the utterly HUGE city, mini games in different vechiles such as chasing down criminals in the cop car, putting out fires in the fire engine and in true Crazy Taxi style, picking up passengers in the cab (Although I must point out that this sub game is no substitute for the real Crazy Taxi.) and just causing general carnage or racing around the city doing stunts which is always great fun thanks to the fantastic car physics models. Sports cars zip along, vans are heavy on top and can roll easily while beaten up bombs don't do a lot of anything. While inside a car you can listen to the brilliant radio stations that the game contains, each one has a different musical style and unique DJ as well as a boot load of hilarious commercials. GTA3 depicts a very dark subject matter but is also very funny. For once in a game the black humour is much more than excessive violence (although that does play a big part) and most of this comedy comes through the radio stations. Of course even though each station has loads of stuff on it, it's going to repeat eventually and that's where the MP3 player comes in. This new PC only feature allows you to put your own MP3's into the game which is a simple yet great idea that works perfectly. Another great addition to the PC version is the aiming system. On the PS2 you locked onto enemies with most weapons. This usually resulted in you being killed because the lock-on didn't do what you wanted it to. In the PC version you aim and shoot much like a first or third person shooter. This makes the on-foot aspect of the gameplay infinately better than it's PS2 counterpart. Rounding out the PC updates are better textures and some improved weather effects such as some very cool fog.

The Bad
Some of the missions are very frustrating. You'll often find yourself cursing the person who came up with the mission as you once again end up a splat on the sidewalk. The PC version is a very faithful version of GTA3, IF you have a very fast system to go with it. Sadly the requirements on the box are highly inaccurate and are way below what you actually need. You'll want a very fast video card to enjoy this game at all. I had a system that was above the recommended requirements on every level let alone what was required and the game chugged at the lowest of the low detail settings in a state that was unplayable. However I later upgraded the video card to a Geforce 3 128 meg Titanium and suddenly everything was running perfectly. Once again, if you don't have a very high end system then don't even bother getting this game. It breaks my heart to say this as it is such a brilliant title but you really won't have any fun with it chugging along at 10 frames a second.

The Bottom Line
If you have an interest in games at all, are not offended by over the top digital violence and have a high end computer then run, drive, hitch, whatever just make your way to your local software store immediately and buy this game. One of the greatest and most addictive games ever made it's just a shame that the requirements are so steep.