| Product: |
Grand Theft Auto London, 1969 (PS) |
| Date: |
20/01/01 (206 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Look carefully : you can find whore houses
Disadvantages: Read the article. I mentioned them there
When this add on came out, I really wanted to buy it, but I never got round to doing it. Thanks God I didn't. Recently, freeloader.com, have allowed users to download it for free, and this saved me a valuable 20 quid.
The game is essentially the same as the normal GTA, even though the blurb of the game is always trying to convince you that they recreated the London of the 60's, however it just looks like any other GTA level just with different cars and characters speaking English!!!
I must admit the game is fun, and the levels rather entertaining, but on the long run, there aren't that many missions, and once you get the hang of the game, police hardly even pose a threat but just add some sound effects with their sirens. I finished the game in 2 days, and if I had spent 20 pounds on it, I would have felt robbed.
The handling and all other in game details are exactly the same as the other GTA, but it must be noted that some basic but vital improvements have been made. What really caught my attention was that finally you can see bullets as their colour has changed. They are no longer an invisible blue but a threatening red (shame however that the coppers hardly ever get their aim right!)
What also disappointed me was the public transport. Driving around London you will see so many tourist buses and simple double decker buses, but unfortunately you cannot enter any of these unless you "carjack the vehicle". Designers of the level seem to have forgotten that London has an underground train network commonly known as "the tube" which is totally ignored, yet I believe would have rendered the game much more interesting.
I must amend the efforts put in to enhance the importance of fists. In GTA London 1969, beating people up plays a vital role, and interaction with other characters and buildings is very important, an element not really present in the normal GTA. Some parts of the city are elaborate
d in great detail, but I still feel the city is too bare, lacking in secrets and "funny areas" which can act as getaway points etc. Throughout the game you will pretty quickly get sick of passing the same monuments and visual gathering points over and over again.
What seems strange is that where some parts of the city have been created in great detail some simple features have been totally unaccounted for. It seems stupid to have to enter a football stadium, having to kill a football team, and find that the stadium is just a square building and that the pitch just a lump of grass with no goals or lines on the pitch!!! (Lazy designers!!!)
What also got me rather narked was that whatever car you nick, it always seems that their value at the docks is the same. Obviously some cars are worth more than others, however the same car, but painted differently changes in value! How does that figure? Also there aren't that many docks either. Just two cranes for the whole of London!! It must also be noted that some missions are taken from the original GTA which, if you have already played it, does give a sense of: "oh not again!!!"
In the end the game is good, but could have been so much better. I feel quite disappointed with it. Especially with the ending, which I'm not going to reveal, but will say could have been decorated or hyped up a bit!!
Summary:
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