Grand Theft Auto 2

"A worthy update to a classic game."

People can die in a variety of interesting ways, can't they?
Some of these ways come to mind fairly quickly: they can be shot, blown up, electrocuted, drowned, set on fire, pushed off high buildings, run over, squashed, assassinated, and punched into a mushy pulp. All of which happen on a fairly regular basis to the innocent (and not-so-innocent) pedestrians of Grand Theft Auto 2, just as the increasingly large puddle of blood surrounding the latest victim of my stolen Jaguar's tyres of justice is demonstrating. Among my past victims are policemen, gangsters, SWAT teams, people out for a walk, an amazingly large selection of motorists, members of the FBI and army soldiers, all of which have either attempted to stop my illegal yet oh-so-irresistible antics, or have fallen victim to them. Usually both.

I enjoyed the original Grand Theft Auto very much. This was a shame, because I was, and still am, under eighteen years of age, and thus was playing the game illegally. By rights I should have been averting my eyes from such atrocious filth, except that it was such a good game I couldn't really ignore it. As of yet, as far as I know at least, I haven't felt any uncontrollable urges to run over people in their own car or mow down the police using a submachine gun. Or even swear much, to tell you the truth.

And now the sequel is here. This is a good thing, both for us, the games-playing public, and for those at cheesy tabloid newspapers, who are now given another great excuse to scream ‘ban this filth now, for the children's sake!' in the largest font of their PCs' word processors will allow them to use, before proceeding to type up page three.

But what other people think is possibly the most overrated thing in the world, and GTA2 knows this. DMA (Doesn't Mean Anything) Design and Rockstar, joint developers, have put time and effort into making GTA's sequel as much as fun to play as possible.

Like its predecessor, GTA2 asks you (or threatens to force you to) to wander around one of three massive cities in an unusual top-down view. You are able to hop on the train, catch a taxi or simply take a walk. You are also able to hijack cars and use an impressively large arsenal of weaponry (including flame-throwers and hand grenades) to cause as much carnage as possible for points or, if you're aiming for the big smackeroonies, attempt to complete missions for the local underground gangs, around which the main proportion of the game focuses. Each massive city, you see, is split into four ‘sectors': neutral, gang one, gang two, and gang three. Should you venture into these areas you'll find several telephone booths, within which holds the key to starting a new mission. Depending on which gang turf you're in, the missions will range from stealing bank vans to picking up ‘undesirables' in a taxi and depositing them in a car crusher. The more missions you successfully complete, the more money you will be rewarded and the higher your Respect-O-Meter will soar.

And here's the catch: the gangs hate each other. Complete a mission for one gang and their respect for you will increase, whilst their most hated of enemy gangs' respect for you will drop. Should a gang begin to really hate your guts, they'll fire at you on sight. On the other hand, gangs you've managed to please will help you by shooting at the law, should you get on the wrong side of it.

Oh, yes. The law. Should you commit too many crimes for their liking, the pigs will begin to take an interest in you, pursuing you in their slightly-futuristic police cars and forcing you off the road, before leaping out to yank you out of your own car and slap those handcuffs on. Should they fail in their endeavours, however, they'll set the heavily-armoured SWAT teams after you, followed by the FBI (silenced submachine guns galore) and the impossibly-difficult-to-avoid army, arriving in tanks and armed jeeps.

As with the original game, GTA2 is has more secrets than a drunk vicar. Kill Frenzies— power-ups that reward a short period of mindless violence with pots of cash— can be secreted away in each city, as can tanks complete with manually-aimed rocket launchers and highly desirable sports cars which may be traded in at dodgy-looking second hand motor shops for big bucks. There are some truly wonderful touches, such as being able to aim and fire the water nozzle on the fire engines and pick up weary pedestrians in taxis and earn a dollar a second in the process (they make a hasty exit, however, if you crash too many times or perform some other slightly unnerving action).

It's a shame, then, that despite all this new-found loveliness, GTA2's engine seems to retain much of its original value. While it's been redone from scratch and given a whole new set of toys to play with, who would not welcome the ability overturn cars or send them cart-wheeling into the air, or even just a simple curved road or two? And a map/vehicle editor would have been nice (although this is more or less a pipe dream).

But never mind those insignificant little mutterings of mine. GTA2 combines the best elements of its older brother with impressive graphics, extra game elements, the world's best in-game music (complete with highly believable and often hilarious in-car radio channels), and more secret stuff than could be reasonably expected. What's left is a fine game that will impress just about anyone who plays it. Except your grandparents.

Rarely has a game been as much fun— which makes me wonder why, really.

8/10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 03/22/00, Updated 03/22/00