Grand Theft Auto III is one of the greatest and most impactive video games in the industry to date. Fortunately my job here is to explain how and why this came about, as I know arguing otherwise would be most futile and pointless.

Unbeknownst to many, the 'III' in the title does indeed signify the existance of two predecessors. The original GTA titles still sported buckets of violence, gangsters, action and humor but with the top-down 2D engine of old, ambitious elements such as gun based gameplay and precise hairpin driving were vastly hindered by the technology on offer. Shooting from a birds eye perspective was terribly difficult, and cruising at high speeds can be often run short by a sudden wall, of which vision was impeded due to the fact that your view just simply couldn't extend that far.

This doesn't make the first two Grand Theft Auto games bad. Not at all. Just limited. It wasn't until the transition to 3D could Rockstar truely begin to introduce elements in GTA that, coupled with the charm of the series, built a game that stood itself up and told other games how to improve.

Grand Theft Auto 3 Retro Review

by Jordan Miller from

It was all about improving. Rockstar had already established a repertoir of creative genius sprouting forth wonderful writing and characters, the dismissive attitude towards the instant uproar the violence of GTA caused in the media proving another testament to Rockstar's continual attention to quality and improvement, and this is how it all started.

A lot of my fondness towards GTA III stems from a similar vibe Coxster expresses in his opinions of Vice City, the aesthetical values in GTA III are most memorable, established by a wide array of unique content. Everything in GTA III works well together, it's stylized blend of audio and visual integration to create a true feel to the city. Some of my most fond and significant personal gaming memories are with GTA III.

The concept behind GTA III is a story of deceit and betrayal, with the subsequent uprising of our voiceless and nameless anti-hero spacing out a great plot filled with quirky characters and rewarding progression. As the player continues the story, newer weapons and areas of the city will be opened, assuring continual rewards as our player rises from a nameless nobody to a Yakuza associate armed to the teeth and beyond in a quest for ultimate vengeance.

Spending a Sunday cruising through the gritty underbelly of Liberty City to the sounds of RISE FM, watching the Yakuza and the Mafia gang war is certainly a mesmorising experience. Driving around aimlessly was never a bore or chore, which is fortunate when appropriated with GTA III's open sand-box style missions. The large variety of cars and weapons are also more than suitable amongst the even larger city and hordes of civilians.

Several re-occuring characters of the series are introduced, such as Liberty City Stories main protagonist, Toni Cipriani; or the demolitions expert, 8-Ball. I love the gangs involved, from the respectful Yakuza and their speedy Stingers, or the rambuncious Triad's and their fish marketing ways (Spank, anyone?).

The main revelation for GTA III is the improvement of technical gameplay elements to create a much more solid and serious experience. Everything could suddenly be done with so much more skill in GTA III it became a blend of genres none could define. The first games were like a mash of basic elements across a few game styles. Shooting, driving, and erm, shooting, put together it was fun. With GTA III, suddenly each gameplay element became so much more controllable, sophisticated and apparent that it blended several genres together. The driving side of GTA was so advanced at the time that it surpassed other racing games alone with it's combination of speed, realistic city driving and large array of vehicles. Then factor what else this game has to enjoy as a shooter and adventure and you're left with a valuable package like no other.

The third person perspective did wonders for the gunplay in GTA III. Suddenly long killing spree rampages were quite managable with a controllable aiming reticle. Now I can lock onto enemies (see - civilians) as well as take cover, jump etc.

The radio stations are numerous and lengthy, who can forget the lovable tramp Lazlow and his Chatterbox talkback radio station? It's not just the radio stations either, overall the audio package in Grand Theft Auto III is impeccable. The dialogue is brilliant, with convincing voice acting supporting memorable characters.

Grand Theft Auto III just generally took everything great from the first two titles and pushed it into a whole new 3D world. A tad ambitious on paper, when truly considered it becomes apparent how easily Rockstar could have really screwed this one up and bit off more than they could chew, which can rarely prove true. It's not a perfect package, with an ambitious engine suffering minor clipping, rendering and mobility issues but these are so minor when compared to the rest of the game that it's near un-noticable.

GTA III was, is, and will always be a brilliant game. It defined an era, ushered in the new and pushed technology to all new limits. It showed other developers that with the proper time and care projects like GTA really can be pulled off. It's all about getting the balls to make something like this, and who else but Rockstar?