Grand Theft Auto Double Pack

"The ultimate version of the ultimate series of games"

Grand Theft Auto is a national obsession. Never in the history of games has a series done a 180 degree turn from being hated to being the most pre-ordered game ever (Vice City for PS2 had 3 million pre-orders). The fact is, GTA III was the game that changed the way we play games. Everything about the game offered a sense of freedom and exploration that nobody had dreamed of before. After winning numerous awards (and winning Game of the Year against some fierce competition) Grand Theft Auto III was presented with its totally superior sequel/prequel Vice City. Vice City sold more units in ONE DAY than most games would ever hope to sell, and set the bar of quality even higher by giving players the greatest soundtrack to ever grace a game. Not only that, but the main character, Tommy Vercetti, was so cool that people instantly forgot about GTA III's speechless thug. Two years after GTA III and one year after Vice City, both games arrive on Xbox in forms that make the old versions almost obsolete. Everything about the conversion is astounding. The graphics, sound, and even controls have been upgraded so much that playing the PS2 version feels..... incomplete. But on to the review.

Graphics

Its obvious these games weren't designed for the Xbox initially, but its also obvious that no other system could handle the graphics that the Xbox versions boast. The car models have been completely redone and look absolutely fantastic. The characters have fingers, their mouths move in synchronization with their speech, and even the AI of the pedestrians received a hefty upgrade. Gone is the interaction only with your thug. Now pedestrians will get into all sorts of trouble with each other, including car wrecks where both people get out of their cars and duke it out. Nevertheless, the graphics of both games have received an equal upgrade, and essentially have the same graphics as each other now. GTA III looks gritty, and Vice City looks glamorous, but both games look very very good.

Sound

Dolby Digital 5.1 audio is fantastic, and both games sport it. GTA III's soundtrack is well done, with some truly hilarious commercials and an incredible Talk Radio channel ''Chatterbox''. The addition of Custom Soundtracks really changes the mood that you get as you pile down the streets listening to any song you want. Vice City's soundtrack is so good that I wouldn't even want to listen to my own customized soundtrack. The voices in Vice City are fantastic as well, much better than GTA III's voices.
The shots, deaths, etc all sound like they should.

Overall

This is probably the best value on Xbox. Period. I can't think of a game that offers so much for the standard price of any other game. I highly recommend it to anyone who can handle the M rating.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/06/03