Grand Theft Auto III

A REVIEW on the GAME: GRAND THEFT AUTO 3(2001)(4/5 stars)

With the voice talents of:

JOE PANTOLIANO MICHAEL RAPAPORT

In the game Grand Theft Auto 3, your character is a man who has been betrayed, and left for dead by a partner in crime in Liberty City, where the only dirty word is hope. Now, he must restart his life by doing jobs for the local mafia, and meanwhile seek revenge on those who betrayed him.

The main idea behind GTA3 is to provide you with a new experience. You are seeing your character with a third person view of Liberty City - a seedy area where anything goes. You can pretty much just steal any car on the street you see, as long as you can catch it. Some really good cars are hidden, for example, there's a car that's just like a jaguar hidden in a car shop and you must break in to get it. There's a hidden tank, and tons more fun, but the main idea is just to provide you with fun. Some people say this game is too violent, and after all I heard, when I played it the first time I expected tons of gore. But, it's not the most violent game I've seen. I have seen worse. It's really what you do in the game that counts. For example, you can walk over to someone walking on the street, and get in a fistfight, kill him or her, and steal his or her money. Or you could sniper out people with a sniper rifle, a weapon to choose from among the many you can get in the game. But with actions come consequences, because the more you do, the more `stars' you get-the most you can get being six. For each star represented, is a higher level of police after you. Eventually, you can get helicopters, snipers, and all trying to take you down. So if you play the game like this, it can be very bad for people affected by games. The whole basic idea of the game is revolving pretty much around mafia jobs so yes, I wouldn't recommend it to children. But you can also take taxi jobs, firefighter jobs, and police jobs, hunting down criminals like yourself. So with this in mind, you can also become a good guy. Depends what you want to be. Another fun thing, is with most car racing games and such, if you want a new car, you have to go to the start menu and choose a new car (games like Project Gotham Racing, and Twisted Metal). But in this game, if you blow up your car, or simply want a new one, you just run over and pull someone out of his or her car, and steal it. Yes, agreeing with some people, this is kind of bad for people who are easily influenced to see things, so I don't recommend it to anyone who might look at this and think to themselves, ‘I think I'll go hotwire cars!' :)

The graphics are very good, and the 3-D environment is very big for a game. You can travel by subway, car, plane, and more to 2 other cities near by (after you progress in the game). So just experiencing the environment is worth the price of the game. It's very realistic, and in some parts of town it's extremely seedy (you can guess what I mean). I think a few aspects like that could have been left out of the game, but I guess the publishers decided it would make it more realistic. Anyway, yes. I definitely do NOT recommend this game to children, for not only is there violence, but the jobs you do, and the city are both almost too realistic for any child to handle. But for older teens and above, the basic idea of GTA 3 is very fun. It's a great improvement on the previous games, and you can even change your third person view to the old above head view. The game's basically a mix between Max Payne, Great car games, The Sims, and The Godfather trilogy. It's simply one of the greatest game experiences I've ever had, and it is extremely addictive (thank goodness I'm not someone who can play games and lose track of time, I would probably still think it's the day I bought the game). Anyone who wants to experience this same feeling of a virtual 3-D world of sleek, stylish cars at your hands, taking out jobs for the mafia, and so many other fun things in this game, please play it. Just don't get too addicted, because beware-it's very possible.

Grand Theft Auto 3 is the very notion of what a game should be. The idea of a world where you don't really have to do anything- instead of having to crack levels by the same method (take most games for example, to beat the level you must figure out how to get to the bad guy, kill him, and win the game. And although you can choose how to fight them, you basically have to follow the whole level, the same way everyone else who plays the game does, left here, right there, watch out for that guy who pops out of the corner in 30 seconds, etc.) You can really explore Liberty City the way you want to. No standard level procedure. It's fully self-deciding on what you want to do, not what you have to do. That's what makes this game so enjoyable. Once again, GTA 3 is not a game for children but for adults. 4/5 stars. Play it, and I promise it will be one of the most enjoyable game experiences you've had in a long, long time.

JOHN ULMER-sk8boarder1088@aol.com

Grand Theft Auto 3 is a violent, no holds barred (with cheats of course), racist and audacious video game. While people who have a taste for these video games will enjoy it more than others who don't, I think that's the point. But for all ages, big or small, tiny or large, black or white even, this is reccomended if you have PS2- worth it alone for the radio. A

Superior big game with real good graphics. The game has cons but this was one of the biggest games of its time. And its story is also real good mafia story. It may deserve 10 points but I thought 9 is better for this game. I'm but it has real gloomy air. It is good someways but with dark weather and blur effect it becomes a terrible looking visual.

Oh my god, so much nostalgia and lot of memories on this game. I remember the first game i ever played on my pc is this game. My first impression is how very amazing this game and looks so real. Until now i still loved this game and i never forget about the memories i had with this game.

What can I say, this game rocks.

The basic story is you are a criminal on the run. Your girlfriend and partner set you up after a bank robbery by shooting you and leaving you for the cops. You are busted but during the transportation to jail the Columbians (I think) bust out one of their men from the van, you and another convict (8-Ball) escape too. He sets you up with with Luigi and you start you work in the criminal underworld. The city is made up of three islands. But you can't just go from island to island right away. Yet the story makes sense why you can't. The bridge from the first island to the second is destroyed in the break out. So there is a huge gap in it. And the underground tunnel system project isn't finished yet either. But as soon as you've finished all the major missions on the first island, the bridge is repaired and part of the tunnel system is completed. (you hear it on the radio).

The story line has it all. Betrayal, little bit of love, violence, a little humor, lots of action, and more. This is by far one of the best made games I have ever played. It is so deep in gameplay. You choose when you want to take a mission by going to the proper place and get an assignment. Don't feel like taking a job at the moment? Just walk around the city if you feel like it. People pass you on the street and you hear lots of funny comments. I dub one guy "Village Person" type because he says lines like "There is a place you can go.." and a few other things that sound like lines from a Village People song. There are college students, gang members, Chinese Triads, Mafia, Spanish hoods, hookers, pimps, cops, and more! All the types have their own voices for that type and own lines of speech.

You can beat up people with a baseball bat if you like. Just don't it in front of the cops. They don't like that. Stand around and wait after you killed some one and an ambulance will come and heal that person. Hold off the paramedics for a while and the persons body disappears and a chalk outline appears for while. You can stick your gun in a person's face and hold them up.

All cars in this game can be stolen. Well some are locked so you are out of luck on them. But the car types also have their own driving styles too. Steal an ambulance and take a corner too fast at top speed and you may tip over. Steal a fast can and you may not be able to make the turn and you spin out a bit and hit a wall. Take a different can and you may not be fast enough to out run cops or keep up with the person you are chasing. This is great because cars do not simply have the same driving stlye like they do in games like Driver 2 and such. Plus this has a good physics engine. In some chases in Driver 2 I tried to ram a guy instead of just tailing him. It was like hitting a brick wall. I didn't do a thing to him but I was pretty much totaled. Not in GTA3. You hit them and they will feel it. Lots of cool cars are in the game even an ice cream truck and a small airplane, no wings but it still flys.

Next their is the voice acting. It is superb! Excellent cast! Also in the car you can listen to the radio. different channels to choose from. There is rap, ska, classic rock, opera, a talk radio (my fave), and more. The talk radio is a riot to listen too. There are calls such as one lady complaining about people on cell phones and is even in charge of an organization (ok there are three of them) called Citizens Raging Against Phones. Yes the organization is CRAP. Another guy wants to hire a nanny because he needs to be spanked. It even has guests on it. One is a pimp who runs Fernando's new beginnings and a self help guru/martial artist.

The cities are huge! It would take you a couple hours alone to walk the entire city. Plus their are more things to do in the game than just missions. There are 100 hidden packages scattered across the three islands that make up the city. Find them to have weapons created at your hideouts. Also their are places where you can ramp your car off of for uniqe stunt bonuses. This game is not something you will finish in a few short hours. This will take over 50 hours easily to finish.

This is my all time favorite game. I hope they make another one similar to this and add even more to it. 10/10