Grand Theft Auto 3 for PS2

The third entry in the Grand Theft Auto is a landmark for the series. Now presented in a full 3D world, the game places you into an open city environment as a criminal on a mission. DMA Design and Rockstar Games bring a new meaning to the definition of “free roaming” in GTA3, a game which you are able to do nearly anything you imagine. You play as a small part criminal in Grand Theft Auto 3. On your way to the jail house in a prison van, the van is suddenly attacked and disabled on the highway. You make your escape with a buddy and hide low in a safe place in Liberty City. After the game begins and you succeed on your first mission, the game basically turns you loose into the city, unbound and free to go. Although the main purpose of the game is to earn money, there are several different ways of obtaining it. You can go to various crime lords to sign up for missions which could be something as simple as transporting gang members across the city to taking out rival criminal bosses. You can steal a taxi and ferry passengers around for a quick buck (which is almost like Sega’s Crazy Taxi contained within a game). You can also steal fire trucks, ambulances and police cars to masquerade as city officials and make money by performing their jobs.

Whether you choose to be a small criminal, professional bounty hunter, pseudo city worker or homicidal maniac is up to you, but the consequences and rewards vary depending on your actions. If you hijack a freighter truck and mow over crowds of people in a huge massacre, the police will notice immediately and chase you through the city. If you become especially bad the F.B.I. and US Army will join the manhunt as well. You are not invincible or superhuman in GTA3 either, so be careful with your life and how you complete missions. For example, in one mission I was assigned to eliminate a group of the Italian Mafia’s rivals, so when I found them I got out of my car and opened fire on their vehicle. They quickly got out and mowed me down with machine guns. I tried the mission again, but this time I carjacked a large fishing truck to do the job. When I hunted the enemy down on the radar I floored the truck’s accelerator and slammed it into the gang’s small car and crashed them against a wall. When they got out to shoot, I simply plowed them over with the truck and went back to the Mafia headquarters for my next assignment. Mission succeeded. Such missions are commonplace in GTA3, and there are nearly hundreds of them available.

Grand Theft Auto 3 is powered by the RenderWare engine, which is mostly used for PC-style code on the PS2. Despite being un-optimized for the PS2, DMA Design kept the framerate within the 30 fps range and gave the game a relatively smooth look. The game is shown through up to nine perspectives, including the classic Grand Theft Auto overhead view, a third person view and an inside-car view. The city looks lively and ambient with the time of day and changing weather conditions. Character and car models aren’t the best, but they are sufficient for a game with such massive scope and scale.

Ambient audio accompanies the graphics to soak you into the surroundings. GTA3 succeeds where most other games of its type fail: it successfully suspends the disbelief and gives the feeling that you are in a real city. If you bump into people on the sidewalk, they usually throw an insult your way. Block up traffic and the horns will start blaring at you. The voice acting is excellent and sounds professional, giving the characters a lot more life than any amount of polygons could. In addition to the ambient sounds, the cars in GTA3 have all kinds of radio stations playing as you drive. They range from modern music to hilarious parodies of today’s advertising clips and radio stations. The sound in GTA3 is all about immersion in a different reality, and succeeds admirably.

Grand Theft Auto 3 is not a children’s game by any means. It is gritty and violent, and the possibilities are endless. Fans of the Mel Gibson film Payback will thoroughly enjoy the idea of playing as the bad guy. The game is expansive, interesting and most importantly, fun. GTA3 will last a long time because of its broad gameplay and possibilities.

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