Grand Theft Auto III

"It is Indeed a Mafioso Masterpiece!"

Hopefully you are not already sick of running over pedestrians…

The Grand Theft Auto series, a series more or less about breaking the law, has just recently gotten the attention it deserved. However, the first two games, both with pesky perspectives, were always judged differently. One of the folks in the street will say that it is a good game, while another Internet buffo will say it is crap. They were judged pretty harshly, for the time being that is. When Grand Theft Auto 3 hit the PlayStation 2 console everyone was in tears after experiencing one of the most violent games ever. In a game did you ever get to boost a car then run over twenty pedestrians, while simultaneously having FBI choppers and city squad cars on your tail? Thought so. Grand Theft Auto 3 gave everybody an experience and for better and for worse I guess that everybody liked the game’s experience (hell spin-off’s are showing up. Titles like the Getaway and True Crime will never have existed without Grand Theft Auto 3). Now the game shows up on the PC. While one will need strong hardware to run a game of this kind, don’t worry because Grand Theft Auto 3 is, to put simply, one of the best experiences you can possible experience in your own computer.

The PC version is a direct port of its PlayStation 2 brethren. There are a few features not seen in the PlayStation 2 version (like the radio-MP3 deal), but mostly those features are few and far between, but really who cares? You have a great game in your hands and any person who never experienced the escapades of true crime in a highly populated city is at no miss with this game right here. It is, however, really hard to recommend such of a violent game—more so because my friend let me borrow his copy (so I never had to buy it, but I am recommending you to buy it). If your parents are ok with the decision of buying this game, then go ahead buy it. Chances are that you won’t be sorry with your purchase because you will be given an entertaining and perplexing game throughout. But forget this old, measly crap; let’s get down to the basics.

Grand Theft Auto 3 pits you as a young thug circling the streets looking for job opportunities and the like. As this thug you have a chance to go anywhere you please—from hearing the inside noise of the Sex Club 7 parlor from the outside, to hearing dramatic pleural noises coming from outside of a Shakespearean sort of play. Almost anything can be done in the huge three sprawling lands that circulate Liberty City, the place you are put in. Liberty City, as mentioned, has three huge lands circulating it. These three lands are: the Portland District, Staunton Island, and Shoreside Vale. Since the name of the title is Grand Theft Auto, you will also have many opportunities to boost or commandeer cars. Rockstar Games, the developers, have squeezed in a bunch of different cars to be available in this game. There is a cliché-looking taxi, to a station wagon, to even a huge fire truck. And the best part is that you can boost all these different types of cars and then do whatever you want with them. You can trash them in the trash depository, or even keep them in your garage for future use.

And that’s one of the best parts about this game; that you got endless opportunities almost anywhere. You can do whatever you want to do—whether it is to cause a huge blood ceremonial outside of a police station, or to pushing halfway-dead pedestrians into ambulances. There’s huge opportunity in every corner and that is one of the reasons I like this game so much. However, your fun could lead to your death in this game. One mistake could have the Liberty City police in your team, to soon even having the army on your tail. It can be really hard at times, but nevertheless it is also really fun. And this is where I think Grand Theft Auto 3 really shines.

While one can simply enjoy this game for its do anything anywhere-anytime shtick, this game is more focused on its missions, which are given to you by people who work with organized crime in that specific area. Your first boss, Luigi, works for the Mafia. Luigi is one of those black-suit wearing rich guys who own his own strip bar (isn’t that everybody’s dream). After doing 4-5 missions with Luigi you will be introduced to Joey, the son of the boss of organized crime in Portland, Salvatore Leone. After doing a few missions with Joey, then you will be haplessly introduced to Tony. Tony is like a regular dude—whose mom practically controls his life, and he’s the one who hates the Chinese crime group, the Triads. After killing a few Triads here and there the leader of the Mafia will introduce himself. Salvatore Leone takes no crap from anybody. If you mess up on anything, then the Mafia will be all over you.

After finishing up Triad and Mafia business in Portland you will go to work for the Yakuzas in Staunton Island. The same type of business works here. You get missions from people who want the best of you, and if your job isn’t done to its maximum well… then you’re dead. The same goes in the third area, Shoreside Vale. Many faces await to give you jobs in all of Liberty City and the ones you see in person aren’t the only ones who want you to succeed—some missions can be done through doing escort and chase sequences, while others are done through the telephone. Through the telephone you will get jobs to compete in drag races down the street, or even retrieving back a pair of XXX magazines. The other missions are done when you boost a certain type of car that gives you ‘special’ missions. The cars include taxis—where you escort people from place to place—to even Liberty City ambulances—where you must find near-dead bums and then you must save them. All of these missions are rewarding, and this is the overall experience one will ever need to simply enjoy Grand Theft Auto 3.

Also lurking throughout the city—other then cars and Mafia leaders—are the city’s very own pedestrians. These silly pedestrians are your basic tools of actually having fun with this game. You can run them over; hear their silly comments, gun them down, and even lay them down in your car so you can get ‘health’ from them. Pedestrians range from homeless bums, to rich businessman, and to enigmatic joggers, to yes even my favorite, the prostitutes. Many pedestrians don’t do much of anything. They mostly just stand there on the street minding their own business and just walking around and the like. Also some of the pedestrians have lots of money and weapons so once you kill them all of their goods would be yours. As mentioned, some of the pedestrians would hop in a car with you (I’m not talking about the taxi missions, here). These pedestrians, however, are prostitutes and these young girls are here to help you. Once they get into your car—they’ll mostly go inside the valuable cars like a Diablo or a Mafia Sentinel—money will start to be depleted at the top part of your screen. Now if you drive your car to an area with not a lot of supervision you’ll be able to get it on. The car will start shaking and all of a sudden your health will be given back to you. This is most definitely great, INDEED.

The control in this game is pretty much as adequate as the PlayStation 2’s, except this time the control here feels a little more comfortable and a little bit more dejected. Walking around the street and such is all well fitted for the normal PC gaming game. However, I do find it a little transverse and perplexing when driving around in a car. The kind of surreal car physics make driving cars around a pain (and these were just some of the times when I felt I really needed the Dual Shock 2’s analog stick just to control the cars in this game. Don’t let that minor circumstance get in the way of you playing this game, though, because Grand Theft Auto 3 has pretty engaging and satisfying control throughout. Even aiming your weapon is a lot easier done now (thanks to the mouse and the keyboard).

In terms of graphics, however, this game both shines and disappoints. It disappoints because this game needs a really strong and compatible PC and video card so you can fully run this game. If you don’t have a powerful video card (like a GeForce 3, for example) then prepare for massive slowdown and frame-rate issues to commence in this game. This problem can even affect the way you play the game (it’s kind of like taking those adrenaline pills, except now they last for the entire game). However, this game will easily please those with the strong and really needed power. The 'true' graphics are expertly crafted and they make Liberty City act like a true living-breathing city overall. You can even play this game in a 1600x1200 resolution, with 32-bit textures and colors. The amazing weather effects, explosions, and solid car designs even add to the amazing graphics (with well-done environments to boot).

Audibly, this game is yet again a winner. On the PlayStation 2 I was impressed, but with the PC version I am incredibly impressed. And this is because of the MP3 thing that is available in this game. Now you can hear your favorite downloaded MP3’s whenever you’re inside your car, and this my friend just amazes me to full lengths of praise. Other then the MP3 feature, there is also other stuff that seems to impress me. The sound effects from explosions and to even rain effects are very skillfully done, and then there is the voice acting. The voice acting is very creatively done—and with bright faces like Kyle Maclachan and Michael Madsen. And then there is the radio, which is implemented in every car in Liberty City. The radio stations are all different—one is like a talk show, while the other plays classic pop rock tunes. There are 9 stations and they are: Head Radio (plays pop tunes), LIPS (also plays pop tunes), Double Clef (plays classic opera-like music), Game Radio (plays suburban hip-hop music), Chatterbox (airs commercials and has daily talk shows with different people; my favorite station), K-Jah (plays Jamaican-like tunes), MSX (plays pop rock kind of tunes), Rise FM (plays Trance music), and Flashback (80’s style pop). Each station is very well coordinated and each station is almost better then the last.

Overall, Grand Theft Auto 3 is definitely a game that you must own, more so if you haven’t played the PlayStation 2 version yet. Grand Theft Auto 3 provides an experience never before seen in a game before, and for this reason it is a game that is worth a try. While the PC version does have robust requirements in order to play—all in all, however, this game would be worth that extra $100-150 spent on a video card. And with patches and mods to be released within the coming months who knows what Rockstar Games would add to this game (I’m still praying for multi-player options). Grand Theft Auto 3 is indeed a must-own for all PC fans.

Gameplay: 10
Presentation: 10
Graphics: 8
Audio: 10
Multi-player: N/A—was scrapped at the last minute
Replay: 9
Lasting Appeal: 10
Final Score: 9
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Please run me over…

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/27/02, Updated 09/03/02