Grand Theft Auto 2

"The jacking of cars may be fun...but it gets boring quickly"

Everyone wishes they could go around stealing cars and freely killing people. Sadly, most of them are prevented by these blots of ink on a piece of paper called laws, unless of course you live in America, where people believe law does not apply to them, but lets leave that rant for another day. Grand Theft Auto could easily have been described as a law breaking sim, which it pretty much was. Now comes Grand Theft Auto 2, which adds gangs to the mix. The gangs all have another gang that they hate, so you have to pick a gang, do their bidding, complete their missions, and move on. Is this a good thing...or does it ruin what was once a good game?

My first run in with Grand Theft Auto came in 1997, when the original game arrived. 1997 was a year for violent games, with the release of Grand Theft Auto, and Postal (which was banned almost everywhere, probably not a bad thing, it doesn't play too well). Grand Theft Auto, whilst really quite fun, didn't have too much of a solid game too it. Complete missions, sell cars, break the law etc. until you have the required amount of points to go to the next level. Lather, rinse and repeat until you finish the game. Grand Theft Auto 2 was to follow in 1999, correcting some of the problems of Grand Theft Auto, but also introducing a slew of its own faults.

Note to readers: This game has been reviewed on 3 different PCs, A Pentium 233 with 128mb of RAM and a Diamond Monster 3D, A Pentium III-733 with 64mb of RAM (don't ask :P) with a Riva TNT2 32mb, and an Athlon Thunderbird 1333mhz with 512mb of RAM and a 64mb GeForce 2 GTS DDR Deluxe (sorry to brag).

Grand Theft Auto 2's graphics are a decent leap over that of the original, but are they really anything to be proud of? The original game had fairly sub standard visuals, which did the job. 2 years later, despite sharpening the resolution, and adding various lighting effects, the graphics look kinda stale. Everything is viewed from the same top down (bird's eye) perspective as the original game. All the characters are rather small and lacking in the detail department. The cars don't look too bad, coming in various models and colours, but thanks again to the perspective, they look a little small too. Get too many on the screen, and you're gonna see some chuggin'. The environments are probably the best part of the graphics. But even then, they're pretty average, mainly consisting of long highways, and row upon row of buildings. The only thing to have dramatically improved since Grand Theft Auto was the explosions. Explosions look great now. If you blow one car up, the explosion is fairly small. Two, and it gets bigger. Plant a bomb in the car, and you'll see a massive explosion. Don't queue up too many explosions, it's gonna reap havoc on your framerate. Depending on the PC you have, Grand Theft Auto 2 will run at varying speeds. If you want it to run really damn fast, uncheck the frame rate limiter box at the GTA2 Manager screen. The game supports Direct 3D and Glide.

My major complaint with the graphics department was DMA/Rockstar's decision to go against moving to a 3D Engine (which thankfully, they have with Grand Theft Auto 3). Now, it was mid to late 1999 when this came out. Carmageddon 2 proved successful using low poly models on the pedestrians, which moved around in packs of about 20. I don't see why Grand Theft Auto 2 couldnt have just employed a low poly 3D engine, and given us a lesser version of the game we are now getting as Grand Theft Auto 3 (without all the extra AI, and time stuff). I was slightly disappointed when reading the first previews that they stuck with 2D.

Sound is probably one of the better parts of the series (for those who have the original CD, scumbag pirates usually lose game soundtracks in the various rips). The game features various different radio stations, with wise cracking DJs. Hopping between cars will usually change the radio station. The stations play various genres of music; rock, pop, hip-hop/rap, country, techno, and so on. Sound effects are quite good. The guns are all accurately represented. Explosions sound extremely sweet. If you have a decent subwoofer setup, you'll really feel the explosions. Pedestrian screams are more varied now. Then there's the various sirens and things. All sounds are absolutely crystal clear. The voices on the radio sound like real police radio too, a nice additional touch. All sound cards which support playback in Windows are compatible.

The story is almost a non existant entity in the Grand Theft Auto series. The aim of the game is to become a made man. You start off as a lowly street thug in the industrial area, doing all the scumbag work for the various gangs. Basically, you must work your way to the suburbs, where you will get the better, more tougher jobs. More fun than it sounds.

Gameplay is definitely a highlight. The game is almost completely non-linear. You attempt the missions in any order you wish. However, you must still do the stages in order. As a common thug, you can hijack cars, randomly shoot people, run them over, do various missions, get the cops on your tail, kill the cops, and so on, to earn points. By earning the set amount of points, you earn the right to progress to the next level. Missions involve a different number of things, such as deliveries, planting bombs and doing hired killings. Be careful though, too much mayhem, and the cops will be on your tail. Become too naughty, and they might call the SWAT team. Mess up the SWAT team, and the Feds will come. Kill the Feds, and the National Guard comes. With tanks. The cars come in all shapes and sizes, with varying degrees of speed and handling. There are also 10 different sorts of weapons to get your greasy mits around. Find a garage, and you can fit weapons to the car, as well as respraying it.

Controlling the game is quite simple. Left and right arrow keys will rotate your character, and steer the cars. The Up arrow will make the character walk forward, and accelerate the car. The Down arrow will make the character walk backward, and use the car's brakes, and make it reverse. Space bar will make your thug jump, and use the hand break in the car. Control will fire the selected weapon. Z and X cycle between weapons. Tab will operate the horn, activate the siren, or allow you to move the turret.

While everything may sound all well and good, Grand Theft Auto 2 suffers a large setback when it comes to lastability. To be frank, its a muck-a-round game. Its more fun to muck around than it is to play the actual game. In fact, the standard path of the game is quite stale. However, the fun pretty much runs out after a week. The multiplayer modes follow close to the single player, sans the missions of course. Causing the most destruction, or getting the most frags is the game here. I don't really see that the developer could have done anything to prevent this lack of replay value, which is a shame in itself.

Onto the breakdown....

Graphics: 6.6

Suffering that slightly dated look, as it's using an engine which is merely a beefed up engine from two years ago. I am disappointed that they didn't move to 3D. Next time. At least the framerate is pretty good most of the time.

Sound: 9.0

The radio idea is simply brilliant. All other voices and sound effects are crystal clear. It doesn't get much better than hearing those blood curdling screams coming from under your tire (I'm sadistic sometimes ^_^).

Story: 4.8

There isn't really a story to speak of. Your aim is to become a made man.

Gameplay: 8.2

Causing death and destruction is the name of the game here. Blow crap up, get the required amount of cash, and skip town. Watch out for cops during your quest, they'll bust ya. Become wanted enough, and you might attract the army. Plenty of cars and weapons to use.

Control: 8.8

While you can set it up any way your little heart desires (it's a PC game remember), the default control method is quite satisfactory.

Lastability: 5.6

It gets lousy after a week, but before then, it's quite fun. Multiplayer might add to it a little, but not enough to save it from its predetermined fate.

Sequel-ability: 7.4

It's the original, with new cars, weapons and gangs thrown in. Grand Theft Auto had better missions however.

Pro's

- Non Linear
- Plenty of fun
- The radio is great
- Control is easy

Con's

- Dated graphics
- Storyline is dry
- Things get repetitive quickly
- Should have been in 3D

Does it belong in my collection? Depends

I'm not going to say yes, but I'm not going to say no either. You do need to play the game, just to experience the sheer mayhem of it all, but whether it deems a purchase or not is up to you. Download the demo, or con a friend into buying it if you have your doubts.

Overall: 7.1 (Adjusted to 7 for the GameFAQs rating system)

Generally, there were too many things that dragged it down for it to get any higher than this. Next time, the rate that the game gets boring needs to be looked at. Thankfully, for Grand Theft Auto 3, there's a new 3D engine. If you're looking for some cheap multiplayer fun, you might well find it here.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 08/28/01, Updated 08/28/01