{{100th Review}}

Author's Rating:

Pros: Amount of freedom, variety of cars, mini games, the setting

Cons: Terrible control when using hand guns, graphics are average compared to GC and XBOX games

The Bottom Line: 
No matter what kind of game you are, you HAVE to own GTA3.

Author's Review
.:Grand Theft Auto III:.

_.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.The Essentials._.-._.-._.-._.-._-

System: Playstation 2
Players:1
Genre: Action (Action)
ESRB Rating: “M” for Mature


_.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.The Details._.-._.-._.-._.-._-._.

- Sequel to Grand Theft Auto II
- 81 cars
- Dozens of mob related missions


_.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.The Review._.-._.-._.-._.-._-._

I’ll go ahead and say this now, GTA3 (Grand Theft Auto III) will change the way you view video games. Imagine yourself living in Liberty City, the worse place in America, and your job is to work for the mafia, in where you do the dirty work. Your missions will vary to simply ending an opposing gang’s leader, to rigging cars with explosives for the sick entertainment of seeing flames burst through the openings as your target starts the engine. And if you get tired or frustrated with a certain mission, then go out on a full rampage of your choice and style. GTA3 lets you literally control the world in which you live in by doing close to whatever you want, when you, and how you want it. Want to steal a civilian’s automobile, go for it. Ever wanted to put that baseball bat to good use on a under paid prostitute, knock yourself out (pun intended). What makes GTA3 stand out from most video games is the sheer amount of freedom as to how you control your character. And I think Spider-Man’s classic one liner sums GTA3 best by saying “With great powers comes great responsibilities.”

When comparing the visuals from the previous Grand Theft Auto games to Grand Theft Auto 3, GTA3 blows them away. Gone are the days of viewing everything from a bird’s eye view (although you can activate it if you wish to) with dull graphics in a world that knows of only sunny skies. In GTA3, everything is 3D with real life shadows, a day / night system, and a weather structure. And while there was no contest to the vas amount of space given in the previous GTA games, GTAIII gives you more space then you could ask for. Moreover, the characters are designed with a mixture of realism and fantasy by looking somewhat cartoonish in a mature way of course with blocky figures and squared of heads while wearing highly detailed outfits with stitching, pockets, and wrinkles added for a sudden touch of realism. While it may sound odd at first, you won’t need to worry; it falls in with the environment. Speaking of which looks fantastic. Automobiles of all styles, models, and colors travel through the roads of Liberty City as pedestrians walk along the sidewalk where typical stores such as gas stations and car stores mound to a low level compared to the high and exceeded towers rest at, all in which create a phenomenal range of depth. My only gripe with the visuals is that it may not be everyone’s cup of tea, especially when comparing it do the visuals of Halo and Resident Evil (GC). Then again, the game does have an entire city packed inside, which is a good trade when you think about it.

Now trust me when I say this, but the strongest point in GTA3 is the sound. Yes the freedom is more then satisfying but no other game comes close to what GTA3 has to offer for sound. The most noticeable aspect of the sound in GTA3 are the radio stations; each automobile is equipped with one and depending who you hijack a car from, you’ll begin to recognize the difference of taste between gangs, the young, and elderly. There are a total of nine radio stations in which you get to choose from, these radio stations range from classical to hip-hop, and if your not much into bobbing your head to your favorite musical tune, your more then welcome to switch to radio talk shows and hear actual conversations being held live on the “air”. The radio goes far enough as to taking a time to stop playing music for the sake of advertising, which are all idiotic in a humoristic way. Furthermore, all the characters involved in the game’s actual plot (yes the game does have one) speak in voice dialogue. The conversations held between you and in game characters are pulled off quite well due to the talented cast of voice actors doing the voice for the near perfect lip-synced mob characters. So as for where sound goes, nearly everything is executed well from the sickening crunching sound of metal when crashing your car on god knows what to the catchy songs playing on the in car radio, GTA3’s sound really does make it so you are part of the game.

Now on over to a very important aspect to not just GTA3 but all video games, it is the control. When you first pop in GTA3, don’t be tempted to just hop into the first car you see, knowing the basics of being on foot is equally important. Being aware of knowing how to lose the cops on foot or handling a weapon properly (I’ll explain later on) is crucially important if you plan to survive in the mad world of Liberty City. However, once you’ve got that down, then it’s off to the cars. Each automobile handles in a unique sense by speed, acceleration, ability to quickly turn, endurance, etc. The larger, more slower cars such as city buses won’t do much when in pursue by the police, however it will be able to take more damage. Yet the smaller, more compact vehicles such as police cars enable you to quick speeds and smooth handling; however it is very sensitive as to touch and can easily be caught on fire when enough damage is inflicted on to it. Even the car physics show as for where velocity comes in when dealing with the randomly placed ramps goes. Now my biggest gripe in the games comes here, and that’s with controlling your weapons. Sure there are a large variety of weapons to choose from, starting with the basics with Molotov cocktails, to the powerful yet beautiful flame thrower, your showered with weapons. Yet controlling them is complex as hell, especially when you’re out numbered and your auto targeting function screws up by not even targeting your closest enemy. This results in deaths that could have been prevented if the control scheme for the weapons were tweaked a bit.

Overall, GTA3 is easily one of the best games in which I have played, period! The sheer amount of freedom alone will make you come back just so you can do the things you wouldn’t have the balls to do in real life, such as whopping a granny to death with a wooden baseball bat…come on, we all know we’ve thought about it at once. The missions are different in their own ways and don’t get to repetitive, and some require strategically planning as to how you’ll get in and out alive. Oh and then there are the mini games. Ever wanted to turn the other way and join the force rather then fight it? Go ahead by stealing a police car and enabling one of the game’s mini games. Other such mini games have you act out the role of a fireman, paramedic, taxi driver and more. Therefore, I recommend Grand Theft Auto 3 to any PS2 owner, who can of course handle and understand the content in which the game portrays. Because if you don’t already own a copy of this game, then you’ve been hiding in the caves with Osama Bin Laden for the past couple of month’s.


_.-._.-._.-._.-._.-._.The Verdict._.-._.-._.-._.-._-._

Graphics:(9/10)
+ Nice mixture of realism / cartoon style
- Nothing eye popping compared to other games

Control:(8/10)
+ Each car handles accurately from it’s size and accleration.
- Auto-aim feature could be better

Sound:(10/10)
+ The radio stations are a pure bliss
- Only 9 radio stations?!

Replay Value:(10/10)
+ Being able to do practically anything sure is nice
- Gee, I really can’t think of one, sorry.

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10 out of ten
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_.-._.-._.-._.-._.-.The Alternatives.-._.-._.-._.-._-._

1.) Max Payne - ”Even if it's a "kill everything that moves" kind of game, it's a damn good one. You owe it to yourself to play this game.” - *****

2.) Twisted Metal Black - ”Buy it now since it's available. I am sure that politics are dying to ban this game.” - *****