The COMPLETE History of GTA on the Eve of San Adreas (Grand Theft Auto (PC))

Member Name: colin.lawson

Product:	Grand Theft Auto (PC)
Date:	22/10/04 (1408 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Superb Games, They just keep getting better, What modern games should be like

Disadvantages: When will the bubble burst?, Loss of contact with family, No sleep until it is complete

Grand Theft Auto – The Story Right up to San Andreas…

***Intro***
This opinion you are reading began life as an introduction to a review I am preparing for Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, possibly the most anticipated game in the history of gaming.

The opinion soon took on a life of it’s own and serves as a broad overview of the games that have preceded the latest instalment. It quickly became clear that this topic warranted it’s own review so that anyone unfamiliar with the whole Grand Theft Auto (GTA) franchise could read all about the humble beginnings of a game that would become a leading title in modern game playing.

On the Eve of the realise of GTA San ANdreas this seemed like a perfect time to release this oppinion.

These days GTA is a licence to print money for the producers at Rockstar Games. The usual combination of fresh ideas, irreverent humour, quality, hard work, and sheer balls has made GTA arguably the hottest title on the PS2.

It has not always been this way of course; they had to build the legend first.

***GTA - The Beginning***
Way back in the foggy past of 1997 (a life time ago in gaming terms) a new title came on the market called Grand Theft Auto for the PC (The PS2 was merely a twinkle in Mr Sony’s eye at this time). The game had a 2-D top-down perspective more akin to Sim City than the GTA games we have come to know these days.

The game was produced by little known computer house DMA, now the infamous Rockstar.

One thing was clear from the start though; this game would infuriate parents, teachers and moral spokespeople the world over while many players would love it. The premise was one of building up a criminal career based around car theft and murder. A novel idea in ‘97 when most players were engaged in more sedate pleasures such as building piles out of blocks in Tetris and building Cities in Sim City.

GTA wanted you to destroy for your own selfish gains rather than build for the common good. Love it or hate it the game was an instant hit and based firmly in the mature market for games. Of course the kids got their hands on it but Rockstar forced the game to mature with its audience.

Based in Liberty City the original GTA contained over 200 missions, every vehicle in the game was accessible by the player and offered a radio station to switch on and listen to – all heady stuff in the late 90’s.

You could do just about anything you wanted and the payphones were there for you to pick up your missions. GTA sold in the millions and stayed on the UK videogame top twenty for two years.

If you have never played it, get it for the PC – it’s a bit dated and not what we are used to these days but still a lot of fun.

***GTA (not quite) 2***
In May 1999 the company Take Two formed Rockstar Games and produced GTA- London. A spin-off from the success of the original GTA. The same engine as GTA but set in 1960’s London rather than modern USA styled Liberty City.

The game had a 1960’s Brit-pop soundtrack to match the visuals. One reason the game was similar to GTA was the fact it was an add-on disk so you had to have the original GTA to play it.

***GTA 2 – More of the same***
In October 1999 Rockstar produced the imaginatively titled ‘Grand Theft Auto 2’ on the PC and the highly successful Playstation (we now call it the PS1 but then it was all there was). The game was similar to GTA1 but it had a tweaked storyline based around drugs, moonshine, mafia style executions and gang warfare. Once more the social conscience of the moral majority was pricked and they guardians of social welfare crapped in their pants at the premise for this game.

This game failed to live up to the success of the original with the top-down perspective by now being rather dated. Critics and game players, on the whole, shunned it but it was a minor success. There was clear potential but it had to be revised, what could Rockstar do to save the future of the game?

***GTA 3 – Time to kick some butt***
October 22nd 2001 came around and since the release of GTA2 things in the world of computer games had changed.

The PS2 had been born and the bar for quality games had been raised with Rockstar’s own titles such as ‘Midnight Club’ and ‘Smuggler's Run’. Even on the PS1 a game called Driver had stolen the show. It allowed a more advanced movie style perspective with the game physics to match. It was fresh and exciting.

When GTA3 was released it had grown up to meet the style and quality of Driver on the PS1 and then surpass it on the new PS2 format. It was no longer 2-D and top-down it was new and improved, 3-D and in your face.

This added appeal for a new segment of gamers and turned them on to the sordid but exciting world of GTA. It contained all the irreverence of the originals but brought them to a previously unattained plane. The game was simply a revolution in game play.

This was when I got involved with GTA big time. Before GTA3 I had played the original GTA but it didn’t really float my boat too much. It was a good way to kill some time but nothing more. A friend told me about the forthcoming GTA3 and after much convincing I decided to pre-order. Once it was inserted into my PS2 I discovered that this game was something else, something amazing and something that made me say WOW!

The GTA3was of such quality it was the first game to really take you into a film storyline and allowed you true freedom to explore. No longer where you confined to the car, you could leap out and cause some personal violence using your fists or more frequently an arsenal of deadly weapons with the gore to match.

The game was not so linear and you could spend hours just driving around, killing people for no reason and, to the joy of many, have sex with prostitutes (well it certainly aint making lurve). A satisfying rocking motion to show you were giving that lady the time of her life accompanied the sex going down (oo-er missus) in your car. This caused gasps by the moral majority, if not the prostitutes, together with and giggles and titters from game players. Heads began to explode around the world, as the events happening in this game became common knowledge to the none-game playing public. Oooh they were annoyed!

After much elicit sex and cruising in the game you could move on to the wonderful missions. The game had so much depth that it would be a long long time before you would even think about being bored with it.

Of course there was one further thing that sealed the fate of this game - the soundtrack!

You now had a real radio with a selection of stations, which you could listen to, and they would actually entertain you. They were no longer just a background noise that became infuriating very quickly and caused you to turn the sound on your TV down. You could listen for hours and this allowed you to think, “Hell this is real.” Liberty City now had it’s own sounds.

The game sold like crazy and was recognized as the benchmark for producing revolutionary games for the PS2, it filled a different niche to Gran Turisom A Spec, the other PS2 staple, so they were not in any way rivals although they were both loosely classed as driving games.

Everyone wanted GTA3, they played it and then, unavoidably, the hype really started with the anticipation for the next instalment.

***GTA Vice City – Miami Nice***
This new instalment came on October 29th 2002 with the release of Grand Theft Auto Vice City (GTAVC). Not so much a sequel but more of a prequel because it was set in the 1980’s world of Vice City. It was a lot like Florida a’la Miami Vice complete with radio stations and crap fashions to match – yes you really could choose to wear a suit in a putrid pastel shade. This was a refreshing change form the 1990’s New York Style of GTA3.

On a more mercenary note – Rockstar could have produced a right load of tat and made a killing because following on from GTA3 pre-orders for Vice City were reputed to be in the 4,000,000 mark. Yes four million copies were sold before the game even reached the shops. To put it into perspective 4 million times £40 (about the UK selling price) equals £160,000,000 - £160 million!!! – That’s one hell of a round of drinks. Luckily for us all the game was great so the pre-orders for any further games are expected to be just as high.

Rockstar took this opportunity to fix some of the problems that had cropped up in GTA3 (yes it had some problems). The weapon aiming systems was more stabilised so it was easier to shoot the bad (or good) guys, the radio stations were improved upon with more licensed songs, you could blow out tyres, you could ride motorcycles, there were a ton of weapons to choose from, more buildings and businesses were accessible and could be purchased, and, wait for it, you could fly helicopters and planes. The missions were a lot more fun too plus you could even change your clothes (GASP!) and leap from moving vehicles (EEK!). It was awesome!

Along with all of the artificial intelligence of the Police was improved and now they were more difficult to evade and shake off. Some people thought this was a bit of a pain while others relished the added challenge this gave to the game. The AI was cleverly done and very quickly you could learn to evade the police as easily as ever.

Aside from the main game and it’s fantastic missions, the chance to explore was enhanced because GTEVC was twice the size of the already enormous GTA3 and there were a whole lot more vehicles to steal from mopeds to helicopters and everything in between.

GTAVC also saw the coming of age of computer games. Respected voice talent was lining up to take part in the new game.

Sure, Michael Madson (Reservoir Dogs) and Kyle MacLachlan (Sex and the City, The Flintstones Movie) amongst some other more minor celebrities had made an appearance in GTA3 but GTAVC saw names adding their talents to the franchise. Talent such as;

- Ray Liotta of Goodfellas and Hannibal fame (now, for the first time, the main GTA character had a voice and Mr Liotta did a damn fine job by movie standards let alone the usually dubious video game acting standards.)

- Dennis Hopper (Speed, Easy Rider)

- Jenna Jameson (a real porn star playing a GTA porn star called Candy Suxx with hilarious and titillating results)

- Gary Busey (Lethal Weapon, Under Siege)

- Danny Trejo (Con Air, From Dusk ‘til Dawn)

- Lee Majors (The Six Million Dollar Man, The Fall Guy)

- Debbie Harry (Lead singer of Blondie)

- Burt Reynolds (Striptease, The Mean Machine)

The game was now more mainstream and more big bucks than ever. Video Games now had some street cred. in Hollywood.

GTAVC once again raised the bar. It was a huge and enjoyable hit but the one thing it could not do was to reinvent the wheel. Many players were expecting something as revolutionary as GTA3 but this was simply not possible. GTA had reinvented itself, and the face of gaming with GTA3 and if it tried too hard to do it again GTAVC could have been a massive disappointment due to lost focus which was a mistake made by many a game franchise before it.

Rockstar made the wise choice to keep with the trusted formula and Vice City was a welcome break, but not a total departure from, Liberty City in GTA3. The quality and fun shone through.

GTAVC was based solidly around gangster movies of the time and many scenes were ripped unceremoniously right out of Goodfellas and Scarface but this mattered very little. The game producers had remembered one important thing. They remembered the one thing a lot of ‘clever’ software houses forgot in their attempts to make new games – it was bloody fun to play!

So where to next? After Vice City where could the wonderful people at Rockstar take us?

After much speculation and rumour the answer eventually arrived – 1990’s SAN ANDREAS… …I will review Grand Theft Auto San Andreas just as soon as Dooyoo and time allows me (the review is already in production).

Thanks for reading :O)

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