Grand Theft Auto III

"A game this special only comes along once a lifetime."

Grand Theft Auto III was released in October of 2001 for the Sony PlayStation 2. GTA IIII was developed by DMA Design Limited and published by Rockstar Games. GTA III brings the series to a place it has never been before, the third dimension. All previous editions of the game have taken place from a 2D, top-down viewpoint, but this game changes all of that, while leaving it identical at the same time. GTA III gives you the chance to play the game from the top-down viewpoint, all you have to do is hit the “Select” button during gameplay. GTA III places you in the role of an unnamed criminal who is willing to do anything for anyone who asks, as long as they pay up. His willingness to gain money will place him in the presence of some of Liberty City’s most notorious mobsters, as well as some hookers thrown in for good measure. He will be asked to do anything from knocking off an enemy of a crime boss, to steal a car, with all kinds of elicit activities in-between. These elicit activities range from beating someone up, to assassination. Be forewarned, this game is not for children, or for the faint of heart. This game wears it’s “M” rating like a badge of honor, and it wears it well.

GTA III’s gameplay is a perfect blend of both non-linear and linear styles. The linear aspect of the gameplay takes place as a part of the mobster/criminal storyline throughout the game, and the non-linear part takes place at any point in the game. If you don’t feel like tackling your latest mob-ordered job, you don’t have to. You can do anything you want. Among the most entertaining of the non-linear gameplay aspects is the ability to hijack any vehicle you want. All you have to do is go up to the car, beat the crap out of the person in it (you can just steal the car if it’s not occupied), and drive away. The best part of this is that each vehicle takes on a life of its own. If you hijack a taxi for example, you can go out, and collect fares, all the while collecting tons of money. If you were to hijack a police car, you can go out and chase criminals, the irony in doing this is amazing. You can also steal a fire engine, and put out fires, doing this is surprisingly fun, as well as original. Each aspect of the gameplay is fine-tuned to near-perfection. The only chinks in the armor of the gameplay are the slowdown, which occurs occasionally, and the pop-up that can obstruct your view of what’s going on. The game also has some camera problems, the main one occurs while you are running to-and-from hijackings, or assaults for that matter, the camera gets right behind your back, which obstructs most of your viewpoint. This can be corrected, but it’s still annoying nonetheless. Don’t let the camera and pop-up issues prevent you from playing the game. They don’t hamper the gameplay all that much, and you can find ways around some of them. The gameplay in all other aspects is spot-on perfect, the game’s engine is wound up as tight as a two-dollar watch, and that’s a good thing.

One of the best things the game has going for it is the tremendous atmosphere throughout the game. As you begin the game, you will have a feeling of urgency, a feeling that says you have to succeed, or you’ll be SOL. You’ll feel tension with each move you make. This trend will continue on as you progress through the game. As you move from boss to boss, you’ll feel tension and apprehension on the part of your new boss, and you can feel the disgust that your former boss has for you, even if you haven’t seen them since you went to a new boss. The game’s environment is as such that each and every alteration to the world, has an effect in some manner on the player. When you, say, kill a certain number of people, you might feel empowered, or proud, or disgusted. This sense of feeling, the sense of attachment you make to your character, is something special. Each character in the game, no matter how small, adds to the atmosphere of Liberty City. This atmosphere can give you freedom, it can also give you sorrow depending on how you take a situation. The atmosphere is something created by the game, and the player, in equal parts. The game gives you stimuli to create an atmosphere, it’s up to the player to use that stimuli in a way that they see fit. The player can make every mission in the game personal, based on attachments they’ve made to the characters. Or, they can simply do the missions to get them done. They can choose to forsake any attachment in an effort to make the game easier on themselves in some way. This sense of freedom is truly special. Few games have ever given the player this much freedom in a game. DMA Design should be commended for making this game so open to interpretation.

The freedom doesn’t stop with the atmosphere of the game. It goes on to the aforementioned free roaming gameplay. GTA III allows you to take the game at your own pace. After you complete the first mission, you can do whatever you want in the first island, Portland. You can go on killing sprees, you can crash into cars, you can put out fires, or do whatever your heart’s content. When you’re ready to move on, you can simply complete the Portland missions, and move onto the next locale, and repeat the cycle. Or, you can mix it up. You can make completing the missions your primary objective, and then go crazy afterwards. This sense of freedom continues on throughout the game. It’s a never-ending cycle of personal freedom that gives the player complete control over their destiny.

The control is GTA III is about as perfect as one could expect. The control is responsive, and the button configuration makes sense and actually works with the player, unlike most games. The controls are split up depending on what you’re doing in the game. If you’re fleeing on foot, you’ll have a different control scheme than if you were driving in a vehicle. Some of the vehicles, such as the police car and the fire engine, even have their own control schemes. No matter what you’re doing in the game, the controls won’t get in the way. The game makes full use of the PS2’s controller, there’s nary a wasted button in this game, and that’s a very good thing.

GTA III’s graphics are bursting with realism. The game has a dark and gritty look that really helps place you in a crime-filled metropolis, it really enhances the mood of the game. The graphics, on a more aesthetic level, are just as amazing. Everything in this game is chock-full of detail. The game’s many vehicles are packed with details (such as the way the car falls apart as you damage it), the same can be said for the buildings in the game.. Even the clothing on the characters is finely detailed, as are the many, many weapons you’ll use throughout the game. On the next layer of visual goodness, you have the subtle graphical touches that do an amazing job at complimenting the atmosphere for the game. Touches like reflections off of rain on the road add a sense of danger to the game. The same can be said for the fog which will give the player so little visibility, that it will scare them at first. Once the player comes to grips with the loss in visibility, they’ll be forced to make use of what little visibility they have. All the while not knowing what lurks beyond the next turn. Sometimes, the fog can become so dense, that you can’t even tell there is a turn coming up. The on-screen map can save you, but, at the same time, it might not. You’ll have to learn the map to get through the fog, or else you will risk certain peril. The graphics in the game are amazing but they are not, by any means, perfect. They suffer as a result of the aforementioned pop-up and camera problems, as well as poorly constructed character models. However, given the sheer number of characters on-screen at any given time, as well as the game’s huge level layout and vehicles on-screen, the character model problems are forgivable. They might not be the best graphics ever ,but they are some of the finest graphics I have ever seen,.

The sound in GTA III is some of the most inspired in recent memory. First off, is the music in the game. There’s a virtually limitless supply of it thanks to the series’ trademark “radio stations.” You see, when you steal a car, it will be set to a radio station, you can change the station in any of the game’s vehicles to suit you. There’s an opera station, a top 40 pop station, and even a radio station with a stereotypical radio show replete with idiotic callers and snide comments in regards to those callers from the host. The attention to detail in the music department is simply astounding. Believe me, your jaw will drop, and you’ll bust out laughing when you turn to the radio show, it’s a great satire on a staple of pop culture that you must hear for yourself to appreciate. The game’s use of sound effects is equally amazing. Each and every sound effect in the game, from the fire of a gun, to the sound of water spurting from a firehose, sounds authentic and showcases the attention to detail that DMA Design placed on the sound. The game’s aural aspects don’t end with the sound effects, the voice acting in the game is the icing on the cake. DMA made great use of professional voice actors, who do an amazing job at conveying the feelings of each character in the game. The voice acting really sucks you into the seedy underworld of Liberty City. The sound in the game provides a stunning, and at times, startling satire to the on-screen mayhem. Hearing a caller on the station Chatterbox’s call-in show talk about their problems, which seem minute next to the mayhem you’re currently causing to the very city the caller lives in, provides an amazing departure. It’s almost as if the callers live in an alternate universe, a Bizarro-world if you will, in which they are the only ones who exist. Then, just when you think the radio station is in a Bizarro-world, you are treated to commercials that keep up with the game’s tongue-in-cheek stylings. You’ll hear commercials for Liberty City Survivor, and Pogo the Monkey, and realize that you’ve been sucked into a world so much like our own, yet not quite just like it, that your jaw will drop. You’ll be sucked in, and you’ll realize that you’re a puppet in DMA Design’s show, and you’re more than happy to come along for the ride.

Grand Theft Auto III contains nearly limitless replay value. You’ll get as much out of the game as you, the player, choose to. If you want to go full-boar into the game, and throw caution to the wind. If you want to allow yourself to be sucked into the world of Liberty City, then you’ll never put your controller down. You’ll never have a reason to. You’ll get every last bit out of the game that you can get, and when all is said and done, you’ll be fulfilled. On the other side of the fence, you can just complete a few missions, not do too much extracurricular stuff, and call it a game. The choice is up to you. I chose to get sucked up into the atmosphere of the game. It isn’t often that a game comes along that gives you so much freedom, so I decided to take advantage of this rare opportunity, and get the most bang for my buck.

Overall, Grand Theft Auto III is one of the finest games to come to the PS2, and it’s one of the most original games in recent memory. Few games have been able to mix so many different gameplay styles, and do them as well as this game does. This game has a better driving engine than most driving games, and features a better 3D fighting engine than most 3D fighting games. DMA Design should be commended for their painstaking attention to detail, how they managed to do what they did is simply beyond me. They showed that they are willing to do what it takes to create an amazing game, and raise the bar in gaming as a whole. While the game does have some kinks to work out, on the whole, the game is amazing. You’ll be stunned the first time you play the game, and you’ll be in for a wild ride that never stops. Well, not for about 80 hours anyway. This game is long, and never gets tedious. GTA III gives you plenty of bang for your buck, and never gets dull.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 10/26/01, Updated 03/28/02