Grand Theft Auto Double Pack

"Grand Theft Auto comes to the X-Box!"

One of the most popular PS2 game series is Grand Theft Auto. It’s freeform gameplay, good graphics, and involving storylines have captivated PS2 owners since Grand Theft Auto 3 was released in 2001. A year later, Rockstar games unleashed its highly anticipated sequel, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. These two games have been one of the strongest selling points of the PS2, since they were exclusives to those systems. But then in 2003, Rockstar’s contract with Sony expired and Rockstar North released both of these games on the X-Box in one convenient package: the Grand Theft Auto Double Pack.

Grand Theft Auto 3 followed the story of a nameless thug who was betrayed by his gang during a bank heist. The protagonist, Catalina, shot our hero and left him for dead in a pool of his own blood. He survived and was arrested. On his way through Liberty City to where he would serve his sentence, gang members seeking to free one of his fellow prisoners attacked his transport. They freed everyone and blew up the bridge he was traveling across. With the help of another freed inmate, 8-Ball, the Nameless Thug made contacts in the underworld and slowly started to ascend the criminal ladder. The player guided him through this, taking on transports, assassinations, drug trafficking, and various other illegal activities in his quest for power and vengeance.

But aside from crime, the Nameless Thug could do other things as well. He could drive a cab earning money through fares, rescue people in ambulances, put out fires with a fire truck, and even solve crimes by hunting down criminals. Each of these side quests had special benefits that you unlocked once you achieved a certain number of them. For example, once you delivered 100 passengers in a cab you unlocked a special high performance cab to drive at your leisure. Not all cars drove the same, so special vehicles like this were a bonus with their better handling and top speed. Of course the game also contained the requisite number of gunfights, car chases, boat rides, and fistfights, making for a rewarding experience.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City followed the story of Tommy Vercetti, a man recently released from prison who never made a deal or gave up his friends in exchange for a reduced sentence. The mob in Liberty City want to reward him, but they didn’t want him hanging around Liberty City and causing trouble. So they sent him south to Vice City to establish a drug trade. Tommy arrives in Vice City and is immediately ambushed during the deal. He escapes without the money or drugs, setting up a quest for vengeance and redemption.

Vice City took the concepts one step further and set the whole game firmly in the 1980’s. Several classic songs were licensed to serve as music on the radio stations, and everything was done in a Miami Vice style setting. The combination helped draw players firmly into the eighties setting, but Rockstar didn’t stop there. They also added the new Pizza Delivery missions on top of the cab driving, criminal chasing, and ambulance driving of the original game. Also, they added motorcycles to the mix to help increase the enjoyment of the driving missions.

However, the most impressive gameplay tweak was the ability to gain and own properties. Instead of just working for various people through the game, you actually got to set yourself up as the big man in town by owning such businesses as a Car Dealership, Boat House, Movie Studio, Print Works, and a Taxi Cab company. Each of these assets had missions of their own to complete, which helped them bring in money and extended the playtime of the game.

Despite the fact that the gameplay content is the same, everything else about the game has changed, particularly the graphics. The X-Box version has had every conceivable graphical upgrade the game engine could handle. Some cars now look new, with a coat of wax that accurately reflects the city around it. Water effects are more realistic, and the draw in distance has been increased. That doesn’t sound like a lot until you see the towering skyscrapers fill the background during a serious rainstorm. Facial animations look much better, characters actually have fingers instead of solid hands, and the weapons have been redesigned. If you think the game is identical to the PS2 version, let me assure you when I say the X-box version even manages to look better than its PC counterpart.

Sound has always been one of the GTA series strong points. Back in the original 2D GTA, the game had several radio stations with an eclectic mix of techno, rock, and hip-hop. Both GTA and GTA: VC continued this tradition with outstanding soundtracks and humorous talk radio stations. Every one of those stations has made the jump to X-Box and they sound better with the Dolby Digital 5.1 support. As an additional feature, X-Box owners receive a car based CD player (or Tape player for GTA: VC) that allows you to use your custom soundtracks for music. This feature is much appreciated, but has a glitch of sorts, which makes the volume on custom soundtracks very low. The only way to resolve this problem is to lower the sound on everything else, and max out the sound of the radio stations. Oddly enough, the normal radio stations match the volume of the custom ones when you adjust the volume.

Both GTA and GTA: VC had their share of glitches, but this new glitch in GTA: VC tended to anger a lot of X-box owners. If you save the game then exit a building, sometimes the civilians in the game would stop talking. To fix his issue, you basically had to get a few of them screaming (an easy task, all you have to do is throw a few Molotovs at a few random civilians), and the dialog comes back. Considering the time spent on the graphical upgrades on this game, this audio glitch seem confusing.

Its accurate to say that the X-box has the best controls of any version of GTA or GTA: VC. While driving a car, the L and R triggers handle Break/Reverse and Acceleration respectively. This makes the game more in line with recent driving games. Left Analog steers, and Right Analog looks around. Drive-by shootings are all handled with the Right Analog. As you look where you want to shoot at, click the thumbstick button to fire. Although awkward at first, drive by shooting becomes much easier with practice. These simple changes make driving much easier than the PC/PS2 versions. While on foot, things have changed for the better. You lock on a target with L-Trigger, fire with the R-Trigger, and cycle thru enemies with the Right Analog. This simple set of tweaks makes surviving gunfights a matter of skill instead of luck. Still, despite all the advances, they haven’t fixed getting off a boat, which is still a risky proposition at best.

If you haven’t played any GTA game before, then this is a must buy game. If you have both GTA and GTA: VC for PS2, and you want superior versions, then trade those in for a discount on the GTA: DP. These games have never looked so good or played so well on any system, and the Double Pack is an exceptional value for any X-Box owner.

Graphics – 8
+ Best looking GTA on any system.
- Which was top of the line a few years ago.

Sound – 7
+ Custom soundtracks!
- New ambient sound glitch. Custom soundtrack volume is low.

Gameplay – 10
+ All that GTA goodness optimized for X-box.

Controls – 9
+ Optimized for the X-Box joypad.
- Drive by shooting takes some getting used to.

Overall – 9
A Worthy purchase for any X-Box owner.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/01/04