Grand Theft Auto: The Director's Cut

"Double Dose of GTA"

The Grand Theft Auto series has always been a controversial one. With the release of GTA3 last year, the series has also seen a growth in popularity. Grand Theft Auto: Director's Cut is a compilation of two of the games in the series, Grand Theft Auto, and Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 expansion disc. This is old school GTA at it's best.

Game Play
Unlike the 3D world of GTA3, Grand Theft Auto and GTA: London 1969 is in 2D with a bird's eye perspective. Between the two discs, there are four different cities to see and play in, Liberty City, Vice City, San Andreas, and London. The game is GTA at it's most basic. The game is basically steal cars, go on a kill frenzy, and complete missions. There are a number of cars to choose from, but not close to the number that is in GTA3. Each car has a radio station that best suites the personality of the car, i.e. the pickup truck usually will have country playing on the radio. There are also a few weapons in the game. There are your fists, pistol, machine gun, flame thrower, and rocket launcher. You will also meet with the boss between levels.

Story
I'm not real sure what the story behind the game is, or even if there is one. Basically, you complete missions until you beat the game.

Controls
The controls are different from GTA3. For one, in GTA3, moving the analog in any direction will make the guy run in that direction. In GTA and GTA: London 1969, the ''X'' button must be pressed in order to walk. This is the only thing I really don't like about this game. If you are walking and shooting, you have to hold the pad in the direction you are moving the guy, press ''X'' to walk and press the circle button to attack. It makes the controls a little cumbersome. The controls for the car, on the other hand, seem a little too touchy. With even the slightest press of the thumb pad, the car tends to slide a little.

Graphics
The graphics aren't anything special. They are your typical 2D, bird's eye view graphics. The cars look like toy cars pasted on a background. There is some attention paid to detail. When a car slides, or brakes hard, it does leave patches of rubber on the roads.

Sound
Once again, nothing special. The screams from the pedestrians sound alike, but you do hear people yelling different things to the effect of ''he has a gun''. Another thing of interest, is the radio stations. The songs can be funny, and as I mentioned before, the stations that play seem to fit the car you happen to steal.

Replay Value
There is a good deal of replay value here. Because the Director's Cut includes two discs, there is so much to do. You can complete the missions which usually involve dropping something off, stealing a car and taking it somewhere, blowing up a certain area, or killing someone. A player can find the Kill Frenzy icons located in the city, or they can just steal cars. There is a great deal of freedom in this game.

Rent or Buy
If you are a fan of the series, and you are looking to see how it all started, the Director's Cut is the way to go. For one price, I bought mine at $19.99 but I'm sure it may even be cheaper, you can get the original Grand Theft Auto, plus the expansion GTA: London, 1969. This in my opinion makes it a definite buy.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 10/23/02, Updated 10/23/02