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Crazy Taxi (PS2)
by RedFlag
It might just be me, but I think that games released years ago can more often than not be better than one's brought out today. Crazy Taxi, to a certain extent is an example of such a game. This game is famous for being simply brilliant and a great game for Playstation 2, especially when it was released way back in 2000, seems like a life ... time ago.
As formats go, this game is extremely simple, but dont take that as a disadvantage, as even though simple, it is highly entertaining. Basically, you play a taxi driver, and in order to collect as money money as possible, you must drive around, picking up fares, and dropping them off at their destination. Like I said, simple.
You are set against the clock which each character that you pick up. It is such a good game, but there is a mjor downside. I do say fun, but fun for while. The game becomes repeative, having only one goal to complete. Its not like you can start over with a new story or try things differently. Its basically driving around playing a taxi driver. For about an hour is great, but after that, slowly becomes boring and you can quickly loose interest. When I pay good money for a game, I wanted more than an hour of decent gameplay. Fun then, probably not now though. Thanks for reading.
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Grand Theft Auto 3 (PS2)
by m_illie
Grand Theft Auto 3, or III as it is actually shown on the cover of the game, is a game made for Playstation 2 in 2001. It is an open world adventure game which basically means that you as the player have the control to navigate a map and enter into 'missions' or activities whenever you choose.
With somewhat dodgy graphics at ... time, an inability to swim, jump fluidly or step foot in water without drowning, whats not to love! Of course I am being overly cynical as funnily enough, GTA 3 (as it is quite sensibly abbreviated to) was and remains one of my favourite Playstation games, one that I still consistently play and will continue to so long as my ancient Playstation 2 console holds out.
The basic premiss of the game is that you are hardman Claude, living in Liberty City, a fictional city loosely (and I mean very loosely) based on New York City. Claude escapes with 8-Ball (a fellow criminal) from prison once he is left for dead following on from a bank heist and subsequent time in prison, when the Callahan Bridge is blown up. This is how the story begins, with you led by actions in the top right of the screen that tell you to press triangle to open the car door for example, and briefly explain breaking and accelerating as you drive a getaway type car to a 'safehouse' location. Claude's name is never disclosed in the game and it is not until following games that you really find it out until Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, another game of the GTA franchise.
The gameplay is has components from driving games, as well as third person shooter games, especially in the main character's ruthless interaction with the public (who you may freely shoot or beat, a somewhat disturbing concept outside of the context of the game) and with enemies and mob bosses. Crimes, such as car theft, murder and theft will result in increasing levels of resistance from the authorities. If the player's "wanted" level reaches certain levels, the police, FBI, and army will respond accordingly. When I was younger, and sometimes even now, I was prone to purposefully increasing my wanted level to test how long I could survive a pursuit by the police with a huge number of squad cars, helicopters and even tanks following me.
It is possible to 'die' or collapse your from injuries as many times as possible although this does come at a price. The game itself doesn't end and there is no ominous 'game over' warning across your screen, but instead you respawn at a local hospital, with all of your weaponry (of which you can store and access by pressing the L2 and R2 buttons to scroll through a menu) taken and a large sum of your money gone.
To navigate the town you can walk, sprint, ride the monorail or steal a car that is either parked or perhaps stopped at traffic light, providing you are swift enough to speed away and avoid any police suspicion. As well as this, you are able to use weapons and perform basic hand to hand combat. As mentioned previously however, you cannot swim, and in my exploration of the city, I have found that if you step into a pool that may be present in some of the more expensive housing in one part of the city, the main character will simply stand about knee deep in the water, whilst the generic sound of water movement is heard.
You can obtain cash which helps with buying weaponry and houses (but this comes much later as huge sums of money are needed to do this) through completing a number of missions wherein you follow the instructions that appear on the bottom of the screen, or by listening carefully to a cut-scene. Missions fall into two categories, that is storyline based missions, and side missions. The latter are typically much shorter and have no real involvement in the progression of the plot, whereas the former can sometimes limit what you can do next if you fail to succeed, and it becomes necessary to re-do certain missions a number of times if you are not good enough to complete them. Additionally, you are also able to gain money through committing petty crime such as robbing a civilian
Weapons involved in the game include: the M1911, the Micro Uzi, an AK-47 and an M16A1, rocket launcher, flamethrower, shotgun and thrown weapons (Molotov cocktails and hand grenades). There is an auto aim feature that you can utilise by pressing a button, so that the character will automically follow a target across the screen. However, you must be careful with this as sometimes it can arouse police suspicion as some civilians in particular, are prone to running and screaming (understandably!) when they notice you are waving a gun in their direction!
Perhaps one of the most humourous aspects of GTA 3 as well as the other GTA games in the franchise, is the inclusion of radio stations which you can listen to in cars or on motorbikes. This was always a favourite aspect of mine, and sometimes I'd become easily distracted, particularly by the somewhat ridiculous chatshows you could listen to. The radio stations include, with a brief description:
Double Clef FM - classical genre, in the game, Double Clef FM is the favorite radio station of the Leone Mafia Family, and the DJ Morgan Merryweather is your typical pompous music snob.
Flashback 95.6 - plays 1980s pop music, and is hosted by "Toni", a fictional DJ who also features in the previous GTA fames.
Game Radio FM - hip hop genre, hosted by DJ Stretch Armstrong and Lord Sear (who are apparently real life DJs playing themselves)
Head Radio - A contemporary and soft rock radio station hosted by DJ "Michael Hunt".
K-Jah - dub genre (a branch of reggae) that features slower tempo songs, hosted by DJ Horace "the Pacifist" Walsh.
Lips 106 - a typically pop genre station hosted by "Andee", another station to feature in previous games
MSX FM - a drum and base channel hosted by MC Codebreaker and DJ Timecode (a real life UK DJ
Rise FM - This is a trance radio station hosted by Andre The Accelerator that features electronic dance music.
Chatterbox FM - Perhaps my favourite channel, hosted by a rude, back talking talk station host Lazlow, who belittles the callers in of his channel and interviews local 'stars' with subtle jabs made at their lack of success, which sometimes gets him into trouble. Lazlow is somewhat bitter at his fate as a talk station host and claims he is simply doing it because he "got kicked off the rock station". This is revisted in the following game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, (set 15 years previously) where he is the host of the radio station "V-Rock".
The game was an unexpected hit, and is a very marmite-like, in that there are people who love and swear by this game, and others who consider it much to violent or simply too poor spec. Regardless, it is undoubtedly entertaining, and there is always plenty to do, which is valuable as many games that are simply pushed out onto the market these days lack any originality and are simple to complete within a short time span, thus making them much less worth the money in my opinion. It is a game that for its time, excelled my expectations, and perhaps looking back is not as graphically excellent as I once thought, but it is easy to overlook this in terms of the variety of entertainment it offers.
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Grand Theft Auto III (PS2)
by WayneKWilkins
Grand Theft Auto 3 is one of the games that many people will remember as a controversial time for the PS2 console. When graphics were just progressing to look more realistic, out came GTA 3 and with it, its ability to allow the player to commit murder, car theft and other crimes; it was only natural that it was going to kick up a fuss ... with the censors and those game hating parents. Whatever. They lost and we won, because what we got when the controversy sank into nothingness was a game that laid the groundwork and the foundations for other GTA games that would come out years later. This, to many however, is a political stand-point and a crucial part in gaming history, and it still holds its own compared to GTA games of today also.
GRAPHICS
The graphics of GTA 3 are not as good compared to today's graphics, but they are still pretty decent. They perfectly illustrate the player's freedom and they are realistic enough to make the game a viable addition to the iconic series. Keep in mind, this is the first 3D GTA game in a time when realistic graphics were just emerging, so give it credit for being as realistic as possible at the time. The graphics are brilliant if you ask me.
MUSIC
The music is a big seller for GTA 3. You can listen to the radio stations, many of which have their own unique songs and broadcast personalities, but you can also get a great song-list from old-time classics to what was then modern hits. The music is one of the things that made GTA great way back when, so it is great to see it progress this far and GTA 3 does it brilliantly.
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay is phenomenal. It changed the way we look at games to say the least. You can control the main character as he roams through Liberty City. You can do what you like, when you like - within boundaries and nothing goes without consequence. Go ahead and kill a civilian that hurls abuse at you but if you do, you'll have the merciless Liberty City cops on your back and they will shoot you dead with ease. If you manage to get your star level to maximum, they will even send choppers and tanks after you - there is no escape!
The storyline is brilliant. Much like other GTA games, you start from the bottom and have to work your way to the top. Play and enjoy the brilliant missions which include killing rivals and working your way to super-stardom; but you will fall in love with the versatility of the gameplay and the general concept really is like nothing you have seen before. This gameplay model is what made GTA popular as a series today and when GTA 5 is released this year, people will still be thanking GTA 3 for what it did to make GTA 5 possible.
PRICE
GTA 3 is still fairly cheap. I always see them in bulk at my local CEX for under ten pounds and Amazon and eBay both reflect a similar price. It is well worth the money.
IN SUMMARY
From stealing cars, vans and trains all the way to laying waste with rocket launchers and tanks, not to mention, a phenomenal "scarface" style storyline, GTA 3 really did change the world of gaming. Give it credit and give it a play, because today, it still holds its own as a brilliant standalone game in the GTA series and it is very hard to not enjoy it.
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