Although Rockstar haven’t released a full installment of Grand Theft Auto (the open world love child of cars and guns) in almost 4 years, it is a title that has recently been on everybody’s lips. Late last year, Grand Theft Auto III celebrated its tenth anniversary, and with it came a commemoration of its pioneering leap to an open 3D environment. Along with this, the announcement of Grand Theft Auto V has been enough to bring a generation of men weak at their knees. But just what is it about a new Grand Theft Auto release that is so appealing? To find out, I decided to embark on a trip down memory lane, to play a game I probably haven’t played since I was 13 (no sir, I was 18, I promise!). This is of course GTA III, a definitive benchmark in gaming history.
GTA III was released back in 2001, and was the first of the series to include a 3D game engine. This gave the player a forward viewing perspective as its primary angle, differing from the 2D bird’s eye view we had been used to from previous entries to the series. The game also gave you free roam of an entire city to do with as you please…
The player takes on the role of Claude, (a name which you don’t find out until GTA: San Andreas) who has just robbed a bank with two accomplices, one of which is your girlfriend Catalina. She however, is a bit of a loose cannon and decides to shoot you and leave you to die in an alleyway (you sure know how to pick ‘em, Claude). You survive this malicious attack, but only to later be arrested. It would be a bit of a boring game though if you were only confined to your prison cell, alas, an intervention is staged, and you escape the police van and are now free to roam the city. And you really can do whatever you please from now on. If you choose to follow the path the game sets for you, you will rise to the top of the mafia ladder, resulting in a reunion with your estranged girlfriend Catalina. Of course you murder her (why wouldn’t you after her betrayal?), and the game is over.
Obviously the story doesn’t unfold quite as quickly as that; there are plenty of hours of enjoyable gameplay to be had, and some challenging missions. But that’s not why I played GTA III, no, I played to roam around Liberty City, tearing the place up! Now don’t get me wrong, I tried my best to keep to the storyline, but the lure of running people over who just walk out into the middle of the road is far too much to resist. I mean, who just walks out into the road? Everyone apparently, in fact, if I hadn’t run anyone over I think I’d deserve some sort of ‘giving back to the city’ award because come on, it’s just too damn easy. Inevitably, a bobby on the beat will see this and bam, first wanted star. Now the game has changed. Should I hide out and try to get the police off my back or drive and find a lucky star that’ll do it for me? Nah, I’ll just hitch my car up onto the pavement and plough through everybody I can find, let’s make this a six star job eh? I want the army involved. The sound of sirens and helicopters are ferocious in my ear, but it just drives me to keep going. Now you think I’ve caused enough mayhem. My wanted level is at 6 stars, Liberty City will be talking about me for years. Then I see a tank rolling down the street to put an end to this. At this point you’d think I’d give up. There’s not a lot more I could achieve here… unless I steal the tank… Now the game has just begun, and it’s time to really let loose.
I could keep up this mayhem for a while longer, as driving through a police blockade in my tank doesn’t ever get old, but it’s time for a change. I’ll get out of the tank, be shot down, wake up outside the hospital and hey ho, it’s like it never happened…
There are other side missions to embark upon. Steal a taxi and you can pick up some fares to earn a few bob. Steal a police car and you can go catch the criminals. My personal favourite however, is to steal an ambulance. The typical ambulance mission is that someone is bleeding on the side of the road, (probably a result of my previous endeavours) so out come the sirens and I’m on my way to pick this guy up and bring him to hospital so he can be fixed up good and proper. Now I’ve dropped him off, I reverse outta there and *squelch*… Ahh, sorry sir. I appear to have made your wound slightly worse. But I’ll steal the cash you left on the floor. Another ambulance will be along shortly…
Clearly, this game was controversial. The sheer violence and suggestion of sexual activity was enough to send parents and critics raging about how this game would destroy the youth who play it. I like to think I turned out ok though, and by no means have urges to drive on the pavement in my regular day to day activities, or indeed to drive a tank around London. I even remember that I’m English from time to time, and we drive on the left.
One thing I would say about this game is how well it has aged. I have enjoyed playing it in these past few days just as much, if not more so than I did as a teenager. The graphics aren’t up to par with a modern day standard, but it by no means looks terrible, and the size of the city is still fairly impressive. I do find myself going around in circles far more than I remember, but if the rumours for GTA V are true, we can expect something far greater in size than both GTA III and IV. So if you need to fill a gap between now and the release of GTA V, GTA III will remind you of just how good the series is, and hell if you have a copy on your old Playstation 2, why not whip it out and have some fun tearing up Liberty City. If you don’t have a copy, you can buy it from Steam, on iOS or Android. It’s only about a fiver, and for the amount of fun you’ll have playing it you won’t regret the decision.
Grand Theft Auto III
Pros
- Fun Gameplay
Cons
- Graphics are a Little... Dated
