10 years since Grand Theft Auto III

[TheCracker]

After reading an article on IGN celebrating a decade since the release of Grand Theft Auto III, i thought it would be an appropriate time to have a retrospective thread here allowing other GTA fans an opportunity to give their thoughts on what kind of impact GTA III had on their 'gaming lives' at the time, what they thought of subsequent GTA titles, and what they think the future holds for GTA and it's spin-offs.



GTA III had been out for a good few months before i got my mits on a copy. My PS2 time was likely consisting purely of Gran Turismo III back then, having come out only 4 months previously. It was only on the recommendation of a friend that i bothered to rent it. I was totally overwhelmed when i began playing it, the graphics, the intuitive controls, the soundtrack and of course, the vast sand-box playing area were like nothing else on a console at that time. Games like Tomb Raider or Driver offered a peek at these elements, but nothing had combined them all or allowed such freedom to roam. It was a gaming revolution.

Subsequent GTA III titles, Vice City and San Andreas, improved on the original in both scale and variety of main story missions and sub-missions. GTA IV brought us back to Liberty City but with next-gen graphics and online multi-player capability. By this time things had moved on in the gaming world and for me, GTA IV was starting to feel a little stale, i'd seen it all before. Although Red Dead Redemption very much followed the GTA game style, i found it's atmosphere refreshingly different enough that it's still a game i'll happily slot into the PS3, even though i'd long since finished the main and most of the sub-storylines.

I've not read much about future GTA games, so i don't know whether they'll be Vice City or San Andreas-like takes on GTA IV, or whether we'll skip straight to GTA V, possibly on the next next-gen consoles.

 

[F1 fan]

Wow. It's been 10 years? To be honest, GTA3 came out with a little fanfare. Having been disappointed with GTA1 and 2, I didn't really pay any attention to it until someone recommended it to me.

Without wanting to get into the whole age debate, I was 14 when GTA3 came out. I can still remember the late night advert for it. Anyway, my parents were going on holiday for a fortnight and my sister and I didn't want to go, so we stayed at our grandparents' house. My mum offered to bring something back for us. I asked her to buy me GTA3 before she went and she did.

The game was a league ahead of everything else at the time and part of me still considers it to be the best in the series. Then I can remember the long countdown to vice city. Despite Vice City being (arguably) the most popular in the series, I didn't really like it. I had a good time, but it was a bit of a let down to me. Mostly because I thought the map was terrible. It did have some good characters and missions though.

Next up was San Andreas. Again, I desperately awaited the release and I wasn't disappointed. The scale was amazing. The game world was huge and had such great variety and great characters. If GTA3 isn't my favourite, then San Andreas definately is.

Next up, episodes from Liberty city. I waited an age for the ps2 port, and it felt so good to be back in Liberty City again. The characters and setting was familiar and an absolute joy. I'm amazed it was a psp game.

Next, episodes from Vice City. This was a good game, but frankly I still had the same feeling I had with the original Vice City.

Next up was GTA4. I awaited this game impatiently. I even took two days off work when it was released. Part of me was disappointed as I didn't think they showed enough of the "seedy underbelly" of New "liberty city" York. I imagined rooftop chase scenes, rooftop sniper battles and back alley drug deals. They did a great job with Liberty city, but I can't help but feel they didn't utilize it as well as they could have. Plus the constant need to keep your friends happy was annoying. Add in The Ballad of Gay Tony and the lost and the Damned, and it was a great package overall, but I expect more from the next in the series.

Frankly, I'm a little surprised that one of the gaming world's biggest franchises has been "in limbo" for so long. I can only hope that they have been working hard on the next game in the series, which will be a day one purchase without a doubt.

 

[TankAss95]

I remember playing that game until I knew the city like the back of my hand.
Never got to the third island though.
GTAIII as you have said totally moved console games on. It gave a sense of freedom which no other game could provide. Most games at the time were so linear. I really cannot believe that it is 10 years old now. That's a really scary thought.
It goes in my top PS2 games along with GT4 and Jack and Daxter (1).
They just don't make em' like that anymore. lol

 

[RocZX]

Ten years, I still remeber playing this game. This was the first game a bought for the PS2. I was only 13 years old and this game changed every thing I know about video games. I loved GTA III and loved everyone since and going still love all the new ones.

 

[Crumpet]

How I miss that game, I was playing it when I was 6 all the time.. The fun of driving a car off the big ramp at top of the enormous hill on the first island, and the Banshee hidden in the car dealership. I also found myself using the cars on water cheat, in order to visit the second island and bring back an Infernus as I was too young and thick to unlock the second island.

 

[TankAss95]

How I miss that game, I was playing it when I was 6 all the time.. The fun of driving a car off the big ramp at top of the enormous hill on the first island, and the Banshee hidden in the car dealership. I also found myself using the cars on water cheat, in order to visit the second island and bring back an Infernus as I was too young and thick to unlock the second island.

Haha I remember the Banshee! It caught on fire really fast though when damaged.

 

[Crumpet]

Yeah, I learned that the hard way

 

[land sea air]

I knew of the older gta games and had played 2 enough to decide it wasn't my thing so I originally had little interest in gta3 when I started reading about it and seeing ads on tv. A friend and I had the habit of renting games to play for a whole weekend and semi-against my wishes we decided to try out gta3 since I was at a temporary lull in gt3 interest after playing it so much.

BEST WEEKEND OF GAMING EVER! We didn't even get into the first mission for hours and hours as we realized how open the game was and just goofed off. I have many fond memories from that first experience and I was truly hooked on the series from that point on.

After hearing that there would be a new gta this would be the first time that I actively followed a game before it came out and when it finally arrived I wasn't disappointed. The same was true of San andreas which I still play often.

With GTA4 I was following the game well before the location was announced and although the game didn't hold the same replay value for me after the fact I still loved the story (best so far IMO) and the level of detail allowed by the new tech.

Now the cycle starts again with V.