Grand Theft Auto III

Grand Theft Auto III

North American cover art for Grand Theft Auto III, which features a style that became the standard for all regions with future games.
Developer(s) DMA Design[lower-alpha 1]
Publisher(s)
Distributor(s) Take-Two Interactive
Producer(s) Leslie Benzies
Programmer(s)
  • Obbe Vermeij
  • Adam Fowler
Artist(s) Aaron Garbut
Writer(s)
Composer(s)
  • Craig Conner
  • Stuart Ross
Series Grand Theft Auto
Engine RenderWare
Platform(s)

Release date(s)
Genre(s) Third-person shooter, action-adventure
Mode(s) Single-player

Grand Theft Auto III is an open world action-adventure video game developed by DMA Design and published by Rockstar Games. It was released on 22 October 2001 for the PlayStation 2 console, on 20 May 2002 for Microsoft Windows, and on 31 October 2003 for the Xbox console. It is the fifth title in the Grand Theft Auto series, and the first main entry since 1999's Grand Theft Auto 2.

Grand Theft Auto III is played from a third-person perspective in an open world single-player environment, allowing the player to interact with the game world at their leisure. The game is set within the fictional city of Liberty City, which is loosely based on New York City.[lower-alpha 2] The story features a mute, nameless protagonist, although he is later referred to as Claude in his cameo in the prequel Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.[lower-alpha 3] Claude is a bank robber who is left for dead by his girlfriend, and quickly becomes entangled in a world of gangs, crime, and corruption.

Upon its release, the game was acclaimed by many reviewers who praised its concept and gameplay, which was coupled with the use of a 3D game engine for the first time in the series. However, the game's violent and sexual content has been the source of much public concern and controversy. It became the best-selling video game of 2001, and has sold over 17 million copies as of 2011. The game is cited as a landmark in video games for its far-reaching influence within the industry. The success of Grand Theft Auto III was a significant factor in the series' subsequent popularity; as of 2008, five prequels set before the events of Grand Theft Auto III have been released, particularly Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories which revisits the Liberty City setting just three years prior.

Its successor, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, was released on 27 October 2002, and also received critical acclaim. In December 2011, in celebration of the game's tenth anniversary, a mobile version of Grand Theft Auto III was released for iOS and Android. The game has also been ported to various other platforms and services, such as Mac OS X and the PlayStation Network. The video game along with Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas,and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City has been released for Playstation 4 and can be downloaded from the PS2 Classics section in the game store. Unlike the mobile version the games are very similar to the PS2 version with the same cheat codes, but there are trophies that can be earned. The price as of December 5, 2015 is $14.99.

Gameplay

Grand Theft Auto III inherits and modifies much of the gameplay mechanics from its predecessors, Grand Theft Auto and Grand Theft Auto 2, combining elements of a third-person shooter and a driving game in a new 3D game engine. The idea of using a 3D game engine in such a genre was however not new: the first game to combine elements of action, shooting, and driving various vehicles in a sandbox-style 3D world was Hunter, released in 1991 for the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST home computers.[4][5] The first developed by DMA Design was Body Harvest (1998), for the Nintendo 64. Publicly debuted in 1995 at Nintendo's SpaceWorld video game trade show, Body Harvest was revolutionary for its time, but despite above average reviews,[6] the game sold poorly.[7] Grand Theft Auto III takes the gameplay elements of Body Harvest and combines them with the open-ended game design of the Grand Theft Auto series to create a level of freedom and detail that was unprecedented in 2001.[8]

On foot, the player's character has the additional ability to sprint and jump (but is incapable of climbing or swimming), as well as use weapons and perform basic hand to hand combat; he is also capable of driving a variety of vehicles, (with the addition of watercraft and a fixed-wing aircraft).[9]

A screenshot of the game's protagonist, Claude, running with a pistol in hand

Criminal offences, such as carjacking, 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.[10] When the player character collapses from his injuries or is arrested, he will re-spawn at a local hospital or police station respectively, at the expense of losing all weapons and armour and an amount of money for medical expenses or bribes. While this is similar to previous Grand Theft Auto games, the player character is essentially offered unlimited "lives", as opposed to the limited number of lives in the original Grand Theft Auto and its sequel. This allows the player's character to "die" as many times as he/she pleases, and render it impossible to indefinitely lose in the game.

A major feature in Grand Theft Auto III's predecessors that allowed the player to obtain cash by committing petty crimes has been downplayed in the game, encompassing only car ramming, vehicle destruction and pedestrian killing. The amount of money in the player's possession is no longer a requirement to unlock new areas in Grand Theft Auto III. There are only two exceptions to this, which require the player to have a certain amount of money. Instead, the completion of missions and unfolding of the game's storyline are now responsible for this role. Additionally, the player is allowed to return to all unlocked areas of the city. However, as new areas open up, access to other, previously available areas becomes more dangerous or difficult to explore, due to hostilities from enemy gangs.

The interface of the game has been significantly overhauled. The player-centered compass is replaced by a separate mini-map that also displays a map of the city and key locations (safe houses and contact points) or targets. Armour and health levels are now indicated in numbers, and a 24-hour clock is added. Gang behaviour is no longer dictated by "respect" meters used in Grand Theft Auto 2; instead, the player character's progress through the story affects his view in the "eyes" of gang members. As the player completes missions for different gangs, rival gang members will come to recognise the character and subsequently shoot on sight.

Whereas multiplayer modes from previous Grand Theft Auto titles allowed players to connect through a computer network and play the game with others, Grand Theft Auto III was the first game in the series to ship with only a single-player game mode. As a result, third-party modifications were developed that re-extended the game with the absent network functionality through manipulation of the game's memory. One of these modifications became known as Multi Theft Auto and was developed alongside this title and future Grand Theft Auto successors.

Missions, non-linearity and narration

A common trait Grand Theft Auto III shares with the rest of the series is the considerably non-linear gameplay within the open world environment of Liberty City. Missions that are offered to the player primarily fall into two categories: storyline-based and side missions. While the game's linear set of storyline-based missions are required to advance the plot and unlock certain areas of the map, the player can choose to complete them at his or her own leisure. Additionally, many of them are not mandatory. Alternatively, it is possible to ignore the main missions and only play side missions. If the player acquires a taxi cab, they can pick up designated non-player characters as fares and drop them off at different parts of the city for cash; obtaining an ambulance allows the player to pick up injured non-player characters and drive them to the hospital for cash. Fire fighting and vigilante police missions are also available. Completing these side missions to a certain extent results in the player being rewarded in different ways. If the player wishes, he or she may avoid all missions and instead choose to explore the city, stealing cars, running over pedestrians, and avoiding or opposing the police.

Whereas its predecessors merely featured a short cut scene upon completion of missions in each city, Grand Theft Auto III significantly expanded this feature, triggering cut scenes after the player enters a contact point or during certain missions. The cut scenes serve multiple purposes: as a visual narration of the storyline, as formal directions for a mission, and as a visual assessment of a scene and objective. During gameplay, mission updates and messages are relayed through text-based instructions given in the form of on-screen subtitles, or on a few occasions, the player character's pager, similar to the original Grand Theft Auto game. Grand Theft Auto III also includes one-time tutorial directives to familiarise the player with the game's controls and features.

Weapons

A pre-release screenshot depicts the player character aiming for a drive-by shooting. The action, possible only by attaining a Micro Uzi and viewing sideways in a car, was a new feature in the series when Grand Theft Auto III was released.

The selection of weapons provided in the game consists of firearms, explosives, and two forms of mêlée attacks (hand to hand combat and a baseball bat). The weapons themselves are largely similar to the selection of weapons from the original Grand Theft Auto and its sequel, such as the M1911, the Micro Uzi, an AK-47 and an M16A1, and the sniper rifle, the rocket launcher, and the flamethrower, which are based on similar weapons from the original Grand Theft Auto, and the shotgun and thrown weapons (Molotov cocktails and hand grenades) from Grand Theft Auto 2. The porting of Grand Theft Auto III into a three dimensional environment also allows access to a first-person view, making the inclusion of the sniper rifle and first-person aiming of the M16A1 and rocket launcher possible. In addition, it becomes possible in the game to perform drive-by shooting using the Micro Uzi, while the inclusion of magazine-based weapons introduces the need to reload weapons after a magazine has been depleted. Additionally, wielding certain weapons restricts movement. Weapons may be purchased from local firearms dealers and businesses; retrieved for free from certain dead gang members, mission-specific characters, and law enforcers; or picked up in certain spots in the city.[11]

All versions of the game allow the player to auto-aim using a gamepad with the push of a button, holding human targets at gun point using most firearms, with the exception of first-person aiming for the sniper rifle, M16 and rocket launcher, which are aimed using the analogue stick or mouse as the player presses the same auto aim button. The Microsoft Windows version includes the additional ability to look around and aim freely with a mouse while on foot; these control differences are seen in the console and Microsoft Windows ports of Vice City.

Synopsis

Setting and characters

Grand Theft Auto III takes place in Liberty City, a city on the East Coast of America, which is loosely based on New York City.[12] Altogether, the city and surrounding areas take up about three square miles.[13] Throughout the series, there are three versions of Liberty City: a previous rendition was featured in the original Grand Theft Auto (1997); the version in Grand Theft Auto III was also used in Advance (2004), Liberty City Stories (2005), and for one mission in San Andreas (2004); the latest rendition was used in Grand Theft Auto IV (2008), its episodes The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony (both 2009), and Chinatown Wars (2009).

Several of the characters featured in Grand Theft Auto III return for later games in the series, including Catalina, 8-Ball, Salvatore Leone, Maria Latore, Donald Love, Phil Cassidy, and Toni Cipriani.

The voice cast for the game's characters features several established actors. Notable voice actors include Frank Vincent, Michael Madsen, Michael Rapaport, Joe Pantoliano, Debi Mazar, Kyle MacLachlan, Robert Loggia, Lazlow Jones and late rapper Guru.

Plot

While robbing a bank in Liberty City, ambitious criminal Claude is shot and betrayed by his girlfriend and accomplice Catalina. Although he survives the wound, Claude is arrested and sentenced to ten years in prison. While being transported in a prison van, Claude and fellow prisoner 8-Ball are inadvertently freed after an attack on the police convoy, and escape to a safehouse. 8-Ball later introduces Claude to the Leone Mafia crime family; Sex Club 7 owner Luigi Goterelli, Don Salvatore Leone, his Capo Toni Cipriani, and the Don's son Joey Leone. During work for the family, Claude finds himself fighting the Colombians, who are being led by Catalina in proliferating a new drug. Meanwhile, Salvatore's trophy wife Maria begins to take a liking to Claude. Salvatore grows suspicious and betrays Claude into luring him to a death trap, but Maria saves him just in time and they both flee.

Claude then begins working for the city's Yakuza and its leader Asuka Kasen, Maria's close friend, who has Claude assassinate Salvatore and get his revenge. This cuts off all of Claude's ties with the Leone family, who are now against him. Claude's work leads him to allying himself with other criminal sources, such as corrupt police detective Ray Machowski, an enemy of the Cartel. Claude later saves him from Internal Affairs and the CIA by helping him flee to Vice City. Claude also meets charismatic media mogul Donald Love, who maintains a huge media front. In an effort to start a war between the Yakuza and Cartel, Claude and Love organise the death of Asuka's brother Kenji Kasen and blame the Cartel. Later, Love asks Claude to rescue a man who was kidnapped by the Cartel in the prison truck that Claude was in. While on an errand, Claude finally confronts Catalina, who narrowly escapes. Asuka abducts Catalina's partner Miguel, believing him to have knowledge of her brother's death.

With the war with the Cartel intensifying, Asuka and Maria learn of Claude's history with Catalina and order him to attack many Cartel operations. Eventually, his exploits attract the attention of Catalina. As a result, the Cartel abduct Maria, murder Asuka and Miguel, and demand Claude to pay $500,000 in exchange for Maria's release. When Claude confronts Catalina, she attempts to have him killed, but he escapes. In the resulting firefight, Catalina attempts to flee in a helicopter and makes a final attempt on Claude's life. After killing the remaining Cartel members and rescuing Maria, Claude shoots down the helicopter, effectively killing Catalina. As they are leaving the scene, Maria complains to Claude about the kidnapping, particularly the state of her clothes and nails. During the credits, a gunshot is heard, and Maria's voice is silenced.[lower-alpha 4]

Development

Radio stations and other media

The game's radio stations feature music specially written for the game (as well as various songs originating from the original Grand Theft Auto and its sequel), but also includes licensed music, some of which were excerpts of several actual music albums; this combination differs from those of the game's predecessors, which featured entirely original soundtracks. One of the stations is a full-length talk show, and many of the callers are actually characters from the story missions, often demonstrating the same views and eccentricities that become apparent to the player during the missions. Another station, "Flashback FM", features music from the film Scarface, which had heavy influence on the game's sequel, Vice City.

Additionally, an online format of the fictional Liberty Tree newspaper, dedicated to events that took place within and outside Liberty City between February 2001 and October 2001, was made available months ahead of the release of the game. The website, working in tandem with the official map-based website and sub-pages, also served to provide a back-story to Grand Theft Auto III, while evoking a sense that the reported events had actually taken place in real time, releasing monthly issues in its nine months of activity. The site also includes articles on criminal activities in the city and city development (i.e. delayed tunnel completion and the growth of Love Media in the city), and various advertising to fictional products. Pre-released screenshots of gameplay, the city's environment and characters were used as photographs for certain news articles.

Various commercials are featured on both the radio stations and the Liberty Tree website. Certain ads often referred to their advertisers' official websites, such as petsovernight.com. All of these sites actually existed; they were set up to tie in with the game. However, although looking very much like genuine online stores of the era, all links to purchase or order the products actually led to rockstargames.com.

Game engine

Grand Theft Auto III's new RenderWare game engine created by another British games company Criterion Games was a significant departure from its predecessors, most notably because it uses a forward-viewing perspective as the default view, similar to a majority of third-person shooters and driving games, and has much-improved street-level graphics. The game also offers several additional camera modes, including a cinematic view, and the top-down perspective prevalent in Grand Theft Auto III's predecessors (this last was omitted in following titles, making Grand Theft Auto III the last major console title in the series to include the top-down view). In console versions, the game runs in the display resolution dictated by the console, while the Microsoft Windows version permits resolutions of up to 1600 by 1200 pixels.[15]

Carjacking is a major feature in Grand Theft Auto III. Here, Claude is stealing a "Stallion" car from a driver.

The in-game environment is displayed through extensive use of level of detail (LOD), allowing areas directly surrounding the player to display objects in higher polygon counts (including vehicles, buildings and terrain) or minor props (e.g. street furniture), while areas far from the player are displayed with fewer polygons and less detail. As such, LODs aid Grand Theft Auto III in displaying a large environment with a further draw distance, while ensuring that the game's performance remains optimum. When travelling within the city, the game constantly swaps models of varied detail as the player moves from one area to another. However, when the player travels to another island, the game is required to load detailed models of the entire destination island, while also loading low-detail models for the island the player is leaving, requiring substantially more processing time; in the process, the game displays a "Welcome to..." screen for a short amount of time, before play resumes.

Like the environment, vehicles and pedestrians are depicted by full three-dimensional models, compared to flat top-down sprites used in previous games. Both vehicles and pedestrians are constructed from individual polygons with a central "core" (the engine, chassis and body of vehicles, and the torso of pedestrians). The damage system of vehicles represents the minor vehicle parts (doors, frontal quarter panels, bumpers and wheels) as undamaged, damaged or missing, based on collisions detected on the vehicle; the core of each vehicle remains visually unchanged despite heavy damage. As pedestrians in Grand Theft Auto III are made out of separate polygon parts (limbs, a head and a torso), it is possible to detach the limbs or head of a pedestrian (by using heavy firearms or explosives).

As the game runs a simulated 24-hour cycle, including changing weather, the game engine is also required to simulate day and night periods, as well as weather effects. This is done by adjusting surrounding visual effects and details in accordance to the weather and time of day. Other minor details are also present, like a rainbow and shiny streets after rain, and the sun moving from the northeast in the morning to the northwest in the evening.

Cuts, changes, and the 9/11 effect

Prior to the 2001 release of the final game, several modifications were made to Grand Theft Auto III. The changes were apparent as several promotional materials had previously displayed features that would be absent in the final version of the game. While cuts and changes are frequent during game development, the changes in Grand Theft Auto III were of note as they were made around the time when the September 11, 2001 attacks occurred; this led some gamers to speculate that at least some of the changes were motivated by the attacks. Few changes were made and when they were conducted, Sam Houser, the president of Rockstar Games (based in Manhattan, New York City), was quoted 19 September 2001 saying that a review would be carried out for Grand Theft Auto III, in addition to confirming the delay of the game's release by three weeks[16][17][18] (the original, rough release date was suggested by Houser to be on 2 October 2001):[19]

...our biggest games, including Grand Theft Auto [III], have been delayed slightly. This decision is based on two factors, firstly it has been a little difficult to get work done in downtown Manhattan in the last week since basic communications infrastructure has been intermittent at best, and secondly we felt that a full content review of all our titles was absolutely necessary for us in light of the horrifying event we all witnessed in NYC last week. As for Grand Theft Auto [III], since the game is so huge the review is no short process. So far we have come across certain small contextual references that we were no longer comfortable with, as well as a couple of very rare game play instances that no longer felt appropriate to us. We apologize to you and all the people waiting for this game to ship for the delays that have now ensued, but I'm sure you can understand our reasoning.
A comparison of the same present pre-release screenshot (as of April 2006) from GameSpot (top), among several gaming websites, and the official Grand Theft Auto III website (bottom). GameSpot's version depicts police cars resembling those of the NYPD pre-2000, while the official, edited version adopts a more generic black-and-white design used by many police departments such as the LAPD and SFPD.

Among the changes made shortly after 9/11 was the police cars' paint scheme. The old color scheme of blue with white stripes (seen in previews and the manual map) specifically resembled that of the NYPD. The new color scheme of the LCPD is modelled in a generic black-and-white design that is common amongst several police departments in the United States such as the LAPD and SFPD. Pre-release screenshots in the game's official website depicting police cars had also undergone modifications, around a week after 11 September.[20] Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and Grand Theft Auto IV saw paint schemes bearing likenesses to those of the NYPD's (past and present) returning, several years after Grand Theft Auto III was released.

Another cut is that of Darkel,[21] an in-game character, for the final version of the game. Mentioned in several early video game publications and websites, Darkel was to be a revolutionary urchin who vowed to bring down the city's economy. One mission involved stealing an ice cream van, using it to attract pedestrians, then blowing it up[22] (this mission would eventually be given by El Burro instead in the final version of game to kill a group of gang members). Darkel was also originally expected to give out Rampage-like missions,[23] and even had his voice recorded for this part.[24] Rockstar later decided that they would like to go back to the original system of giving out rampages as featured in Grand Theft Auto and Grand Theft Auto 2. Although Darkel and his missions were removed, the character remains listed in the manual's credits, as well as having a character texture retained in the game's data files.[25] Another reminder of Darkel's existence is an abandoned tunnel in the city, associated with the character in the official website, and includes four homeless people in a group wielding Molotov cocktails. Both the tunnel and the four homeless people are retained in the final version of the game.

The original artwork for the game, which was changed after the events of the September 11 attacks.[26] The artwork was used for some European versions of the game.[27]

The Dodo aeroplane, the only flyable aircraft in the game, was also a point of discussion; the wings of the vehicle were significantly short, while an uncontrollable full-winged version has been seen flying around the city. However, the plane had a short wingspan, as evidenced from a preview in Game Informer (Issue #95), which indicated that the plane was to be used in a (now abandoned) mission to loft the plane high enough in its brief flight and reach new areas of the city.[28] The Dodo is considerably difficult to control, usually resulting in short flights (although it is possible to fly the plane continuously around Liberty City when properly trained[29]).

Other changes included stopping the selection of certain character models when using cheat codes, removing the aforementioned ability to blow limbs off non-player characters in only the PlayStation 2 version of Grand Theft Auto III (though this can enabled with a cheat code), and the removal of elderly pedestrians with walkers, school children as pedestrians (from GameSpot UK's beta preview [30]) and a school bus (seen in eight screenshots[31]).

When asked about how much was changed from the original version, Rockstar stated that it's "about 1% different", and that they only removed one mission that referenced terrorists and changed a few other "cosmetic details" - such as car details, some pedestrian comments and radio dialogue. They stated that the biggest change was the cover art, which was changed into what would become the "signature style" for all Grand Theft Auto game covers. They stated that the original cover art (which was released as the cover of the game in Europe) felt "too raw" for them after 9/11.[26] They also denied any of the rumours with school children being in the game.[26]

Expanding on the cover change during an interview with Edge, Sam Houser said that the new North American artwork had been created in an evening and that they instantly preferred it to the originally planned cover.[27]

Reception

Critical

Reception
Aggregate scores
AggregatorScore
GameRankings(PS2) 95.19%[32]
(PC) 93.54%[33]
(iOS) 86.50%[34]
Metacritic(PS2) 97/100[35]
(PC) 93/100[36]
Review scores
PublicationScore
1UP.comA+[37]
Edge8/10[38][lower-alpha 5]
EGM9.33/10[32][40]
Famitsu8/10
G44/5[41]
Game Informer9.5/10[42]
GamePro5 of 5[43]
GameSpot(PS2) 9.6/10[44]
9.3/10 (PC)[45]
GameSpy94/100[46]
IGN(PS2) 9.6/10[11]
(PC) 9.4/10[47]
PC Gamer (US)92%[41]
PSM9/10[48]
PSM392%[48]
Awards
PublicationAward
GameSpotMost Innovative Game,[49] Best Action/Adventure Game,[50] Best PlayStation 2 Game,[51] Game of the Year[52]
IGNBest Action Game for PlayStation 2,[53] PlayStation 2 Game of the Year[54]
GameProEditors' Choice[43]
Electronic Gaming MonthlyGold Award[40]

Upon its release, Grand Theft Auto III received widespread critical acclaim. While minor problems and comments pertaining to graphics, performance and controls were noted, Grand Theft Auto III was touted as revolutionary by several game review websites and publications. According to Game Rankings,[32][55] the game won several awards, such as GameSpot's Console Game of the Year, Game of the Year from GameSpy and Cheat Code Central, and Best Action Game of 2001 by IGN. The game's average review score of 97% on Metacritic[35] ties it with Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 for the highest ranked game in PlayStation 2 history. It was also inducted into GameSpot's Greatest Games of All Time list.[8]

Eurogamer stated "A luscious, sprawling epic of a game and one of the most complete experiences I have ever encountered. If this is what I've waited a year to see on my PS2, then I would have waited ten. Magnificent".[56] Official PlayStation Magazine called the game "The most innovative, outlandish, brilliant video game I've ever seen".[57] Allgame commented "From the eight professional-style radio stations to the variety of mission objectives and hidden goodies, GTA III is packed with high production values and oozing with addictive gameplay".[58] Game Informer noted "The environments of Liberty City are stunning in scope and detail, dwarfing anything I've ever seen, and your choices are endless."[59] While GameSpy cited "A fantastically designed and fun game that's one of the most absorbing, entertaining titles released in a while. It gets better and better with every single day, as you continue discovering new little features here and there."[46] Of the iOS port, Mark Brown of Pocket Gamer noted that it was "a largely successful port of an iconic game, and it's still massive amounts of fun to evade police, pull off jumps and complete missions".[60]

Sales

Grand Theft Auto III unexpectedly emerged as a smash hit and became the highest-selling video game of 2001 in the United States. Later discounted as part of Sony's "Greatest Hits" program, it continued to sell well and went on to become the second-best-selling video game of 2002, behind only its sequel, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Grand Theft Auto III was bundled with Vice City for the Xbox Double Pack, which saw strong sales in December 2003, even though Grand Theft Auto III was two years old. The Double Pack's success for Xbox was due to several factors; the critical acclaim and controversial game content for the games, the graphical improvements specifically for the Xbox, and having two games in one, which led to GameSpy giving it their Best Value Award.[61]

Through September 2007, Grand Theft Auto III had sold 12 million units according to Take-Two Interactive.[62] By the following March, Grand Theft Auto III had sold 14.5 million units according to Take-Two Interactive.[63] As of 2011, Grand Theft Auto III sold over 17.33 million units.

Legacy

Although the Grand Theft Auto series had been an underground hit prior to the release of Grand Theft Auto III, it was this game that first brought the series mainstream success and widespread accolades. The success of the game resulted in two console and Microsoft Windows sequels (Vice City, San Andreas), both of which were able to build upon Grand Theft Auto III's success, as well as three additional titles for handheld consoles (Grand Theft Auto Advance, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories). The next generation in the series, Grand Theft Auto IV, released on 29 April 2008, also achieved a critical and commercial success. The first instalment in the fifth generation of the series, Grand Theft Auto V, was released on 17 September 2013.

In 2007, GamePro called Grand Theft Auto III the most important video game of all-time, explaining that the "game's open-ended gameplay elements have revolutionized the way all video games are made".[64] Similarly, IGN ranked the game among the Top 10 Most Influential Games.[65] In 2009, Game Informer placed Grand Theft Auto III 4th on their list of "The Top 200 Games of All Time", saying that it "changed the gaming landscape forever with its immersive open world sandbox".[66] GamesRadar named it 'the most important game of the decade'.[67] In November 2012, Time named it one of the 100 greatest video games of all time.[68] Due to its success, video game critics and players have used the term "Grand Theft Auto clone" to describe subsequent video games released with similar mechanics and gameplay as Grand Theft Auto III.

Grand Theft Auto III: RAGE Classic is a fan made release for Grand Theft Auto IV which was released on 16 December 2012.[69][70]

Controversy

Grand Theft Auto III was and remains controversial because of its violent and sexual content. One noticeable feature of Grand Theft Auto III is the ability to have "sex" with an in-game prostitute where the player character gets more health.[71]

It was due to the notoriety of Grand Theft Auto III that the Wal-Mart chain of retail stores announced that, for games rated Mature ("M") by the ESRB, its staff would begin checking the identification of purchasers who appeared to be under 17.[72]

GameSpy, which named Grand Theft Auto as "Game of the Year" in 2001, also gave it the title of "Most Offensive Game of the Year". GameSpy noted the difference between Grand Theft Auto III and other ESRB Mature rated games, saying "Counter-Strike is merely Cowboys and Indians writ large. When you get right down to it, deathmatches are just elaborate games of Tag. [Grand Theft Auto III] is a [t]hug [s]imulator... [Grand Theft Auto III] is absolutely reprehensible. This is a game that rewards you for causing mayhem. This is a game that is about causing mayhem. It's a game that rewards you for killing innocent people by the dozen."[73]

After its initial release in Australia, the game was banned for a period and a censored version of the game was to be released in its place.[74] A key reason why this course of action was taken was that Rockstar did not submit Grand Theft Auto III to the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC), the body that, among other things, rates video games according to their content in Australia. Then lacking a suitable adult R18+ rating (the highest rating being MA15+), the game was "Refused Classification" and banned for sale (including to adults) because they felt that the game was unsuitable for minors. The PC version though was reported to be uncut with an MA15+.

While the Australian version of the prequel Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was censored by Rockstar (it was later rerated uncut retaining its MA15+),[75] the next sequel Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas was not, despite featuring more "mature" content (although, later, San Andreas was once given a Refused Classification rating amid the "Hot Coffee" controversy but retained its MA15+ once edited worldwide).

On 20 October 2003, the families of Aaron Hamel and Kimberly Bede, two young people shot by teens William and Josh Buckner (who in statements to investigators claimed their actions were inspired by Grand Theft Auto III) filed a US$246 million lawsuit against publishers Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive Software, retailer Wal-Mart, and PlayStation 2 manufacturer Sony Computer Entertainment America.[76][77] Rockstar and its parent company, Take-Two, filed for dismissal of the lawsuit, stating in US District Court on 29 October 2003 that the "ideas and concepts as well as the 'purported psychological effects' on the Buckners are protected by the First Amendment's free-speech clause". The lawyer of the victims, Jack Thompson, denied that and is attempting to move the lawsuit into a state court and under Tennessee's consumer protection act.[78]

Ports and remakes

Six months following the initial PlayStation 2 release,[79] Grand Theft Auto III was ported to Microsoft Windows. Released on 21 May 2002, the port supports higher screen resolutions and draw distance, and features more detailed textures, a customisable player skin, and a custom option for MP3 playback in cars.[80] The port was criticised for performance problems, which was due to technical issues; the game engine rendered everything within the draw distance, including objects behind buildings and trees, while later ports only render instantly visible objects.[81]

Postponed from early 2002 to December 2003 due to an exclusivity contract with Sony, the Xbox version of the game was bundled with its sequel Vice City in a compilation titled Grand Theft Auto: Double Pack.[82] The Xbox port features custom soundtrack support as well as improved audio, polygon models, and reflections over the previous ports.[83] Double Pack was later bundled with San Andreas in a compilation titled Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy, released in October 2005.[84]

A Macintosh version of Grand Theft Auto III, created using Cider, was released on 12 November 2010.[85][86] For the game's 10th anniversary in December 2011, War Drum Studios ported Grand Theft Auto III to several iOS and Android devices. The port is almost identical to the Windows version of the game, in addition to enhanced textures and models and touchscreen controls.[87][88][lower-alpha 6] Grand Theft Auto III was released on PlayStation 3 on 25 September 2012 in its original PS2 format.[90] On the 5th of December 2015, a PlayStation 4 version of Grand Theft Auto III was released via the PlayStation Network. The port includes 1080p graphics and other new features.[91]

Following the game's success, Rockstar developed further titles in the series. Vice City and San Andreas are set in their titular locations in 1986 and 1992, respectively.[92][93] In 2004, Grand Theft Auto Advance, initially intended as a Game Boy Advance port of Grand Theft Auto III, is set in Liberty City roughly one year before the events of Grand Theft Auto III.[94] Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (2005) takes place three years before the events of Grand Theft Auto III in the same rendition of Liberty City.[84] A completely redesigned version of the city was later used in Grand Theft Auto IV (2008),[95] The Lost and Damned (2009),[96] The Ballad of Gay Tony (2009)[97] and Chinatown Wars (2009).[98]

References

Notes
  1. ↑ After the game released for PlayStation 2, DMA Design was reformed into Rockstar North and was credited as such in future releases. Rockstar Vienna ported the game to Xbox,[1] and War Drum Studios ported the 10th Anniversary Edition to iOS and Android.[2]
  2. ↑ Games in the Grand Theft Auto series are grouped into distinct fictional universes, which share interconnected plots and characters. The "3D universe" consists of Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City (2002), Advance (2004), San Andreas (2004), Liberty City Stories (2005), and Vice City Stories (2006). The Liberty City in Grand Theft Auto III is different from the rendition in Grand Theft Auto IV (2008).[3]
  3. ↑ Players have also discovered that the name Claude exists internally within the text files of Grand Theft Auto III.
  4. ↑ The sound of a gunshot, and the silencing of Maria's voice, has led to speculation that Claude killed Maria. Rockstar has refused to confirm this.[14]
  5. ↑ Edge first scored the game a 6/10, but then amended the score to an 8/10 on the next issue claiming a "printing error".[39]
  6. ↑ The game's mobile version can be played with a keyboard, and the cheat codes are compatible.[89]
Footnotes
  1. ↑ Sinclair, Brendan (11 May 2006). "Take-Two closes Rockstar Vienna?". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  2. ↑ "Grand Theft Auto III". War Drum Studios. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  3. ↑ R*Q. "Grand Theft Auto III: Your Questions Answered – Part One (Claude, Darkel & Other Characters)". Rockstar Games. Retrieved 23 November 2013. Rockstar: "The “universes” are the worlds interpreted at different definitions, 2d, 3d and high definition, so we felt brands and radio / back ground characters would exist in both, but 3 dimensional characters would not."
  4. ↑ Hare, James. "Amiga Classic Reviews: Hunter". Reality Glitch Online. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
  5. ↑ Fahs, Travis (24 March 2008). "IGN: The Leif Ericson Awards". IGN. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
  6. ↑ "Body Harvest Reviews". Game Rankings. Retrieved 14 October 2006.
  7. ↑ "Extreme M&A – Part One". www.gamesinvestor.com (first appeared in Develop). June 2007. Archived from the original on 6 October 2007. Retrieved 22 September 2007.
  8. 1 2 "Greatest Games of All Time: Grand Theft Auto III". uk.gamespot.com. Retrieved 22 September 2007.
  9. ↑ Perry, Douglass (13 May 2002). "The Cars of Grand Theft Auto III - PC Feature at IGN". IGN. Retrieved 27 September 2011.
  10. ↑ Marriott, Scott. "Grand Theft Auto III - Review". Allgame. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
  11. 1 2 Perry, Doug (22 October 2001). "IGN: Grand Theft Auto III Review". IGN.com. Retrieved 30 June 2008.
  12. ↑ Goldstein, Hilary (28 March 2008). "GTA IV: Building a Brave New World". IGN. Retrieved 23 April 2008.
  13. ↑ Paul Tassi (7 May 2010). "A Size Comparison of Massive Open World Video Game Maps". Unreality Magazine. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  14. ↑ R* Q (December 15, 2011). "Grand Theft Auto III: Your Questions Answered – Part One (Claude, Darkel & Other Characters)". Rockstar Games. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
  15. ↑ Blevins, Tal (27 May 2002). "Grand Theft Auto III (PC) Review". IGN. Retrieved 24 September 2007.
  16. ↑ "Take-Two to revise and delay two PS2 games". GameSpot. Retrieved 13 May 2006.
  17. ↑ "Release Delay Confirmed". GOURANGA!. Retrieved 6 May 2006.
  18. ↑ "Playing the Sensitivity Game". Wired News. 28 September 2001. Retrieved 6 May 2006.
  19. ↑ "R* Clarifies Release Date Reports". GOURANGA!. Retrieved 6 May 2006.
  20. ↑ "GrandTheftAuto3.com & L-Tree Updated!". GOURANGA!. Retrieved 6 May 2006.
  21. ↑ Tilemaxx (26 October 2008). "Hidden beta characters have been found in GTA3". unseen64. Retrieved 29 September 2011.
  22. ↑ "Grand Theft Auto: How Smart is the AI?". IGN. Retrieved 6 May 2006.
  23. ↑ "Grand Theft Auto 3 Information (based on early pre-release game publications)". GOURANGA!. Retrieved 6 May 2006.
  24. ↑ Bill Fiore at The Internet Movie Database. URL accessed on 13 May 2006.
  25. ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions for GTA III". GTAForums.com. Retrieved 16 July 2006.
  26. 1 2 3 "Grand Theft Auto III: Your Questions Answered – Part Two (9/11, The "Ghost Town", The Dodo and Other Mysteries)". Rockstar Games. 5 January 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  27. 1 2 "Liberty City stories - Edge Magazine". Edge-online.com. 15 December 2011. Archived from the original on 19 May 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  28. ↑ "New GTA3 Details In Game Informer". GOURANGA!. Retrieved 25 October 2006.
  29. ↑ "How to fly with the Dodo in GTA III PC and PS2 (Explained with video annotations)". YouTube. 3 December 2008. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
  30. ↑ "GameSpot UK preview". GameSpot UK. Archived from the original on 11 June 2001.
  31. ↑ "Features, Vehicles & Weapons". GOURANGA!. Retrieved 4 April 2007.
  32. 1 2 3 "Grand Theft Auto III Reviews". Game Rankings. Retrieved 1 July 2008.
  33. ↑ "Grand Theft Auto III for PC". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
  34. ↑ "Grand Theft Auto III for iOS".
  35. 1 2 "Grand Theft Auto III (ps2: 2001): Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 1 July 2008.
  36. ↑ "Grand Theft Auto III for PC Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
  37. ↑ 1UP Staff (1 January 2000). "Grand Theft Auto III Review for PS2". 1UP. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  38. ↑ Edge Staff (29 November 2001). "Grand Theft Auto III Review". Edge. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  39. ↑ "Raiden DX". World of Stuart. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
  40. 1 2 Hsu, Dan "Shoe" (January 2002). "Electronic Gaming Monthly" (150). Ziff Davis Media Inc.: 206.
  41. 1 2 "Grand Theft Auto III Reviews and Articles for PC". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
  42. ↑ Helgeson, Matt. "Game Informer Online". Game Informer. Archived from the original on 14 June 2009. Retrieved 30 June 2008.
  43. 1 2 "FOUREYEDDRAGON" (29 October 2001). "Review: Grand Theft Auto 3 for PS2". GamePro. Archived from the original on 8 May 2008. Retrieved 30 June 2008.
  44. ↑ Gerstmann, Jeff. "Grand Theft Auto III for PlayStation 2 Review". GameSpot. pp. 1–3. Archived from the original on 13 March 2010. Retrieved 30 June 2008.
  45. ↑ Kasavin, Greg (20 May 2002). "Grand Theft Auto III Review for PC". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 8 August 2010. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
  46. 1 2 Alupului, Andre (31 October 2001). "PlanetPS2 - A Member of The GameSpy Network". GameSpy. pp. 1–3. Archived from the original on 6 April 2008. Retrieved 1 July 2008.
  47. ↑ IGN Staff (27 May 2002). "Grand Theft Auto III". IGN. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
  48. 1 2 "Grand Theft Auto III Reviews and Articles for PlayStation 2". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
  49. ↑ "GameSpot's Best and Worst of 2001: Special Achievement Awards — Most Innovative". GameSpot. Retrieved 15 August 2007.
  50. ↑ "GameSpot's Best and Worst of 2001: Genre Awards — Best Action/Adventure Game". GameSpot. Retrieved 15 August 2007.
  51. ↑ "GameSpot's Best and Worst of 2001: Platform Awards — Best PlayStation 2 Game". GameSpot. Retrieved 15 August 2007.
  52. ↑ "GameSpot's Best and Worst of 2001: Top 10 Video Games of the Year". GameSpot. Retrieved 15 August 2007.
  53. ↑ "IGN: Best Action Game of 2001 - PlayStation 2". IGN. Archived from the original on 17 January 2002. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
  54. ↑ "IGN: PS2 Game of the Year". IGN. Retrieved 16 August 2007.
  55. ↑ "Grand Theft Auto 3 Awards". Take-Two Interactive. Retrieved 6 May 2006.
  56. ↑ Bramwell, Tom (30 October 2001). "Grand Theft Auto III - Review". Eurogamer. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
  57. ↑ Jan 2002, p.126
  58. ↑ Marriott, Scott (23 October 2001). "Grand Theft Auto - Review - allgame". Allgame. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
  59. ↑ Dec 2001, p.87
  60. ↑ Mark Brown (15 December 2011). "Grand Theft Auto 3 Review". PocketGamer.co.uk. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
  61. ↑ "GameSpy: Grand Theft Auto Double Pack Preview". Xbox.gamespy.com. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
  62. ↑ "Take-Two Interactive Software at Piper Jaffray Second Annual London Consumer Conference" (Webcast: Windows Media Player, RealPlayer). Thomson Financial. 26 September 2007. Retrieved 29 October 2007. Grand Theft Auto III launched in 2001 and sold over 12 million units. We then shipped another sequel in 2002 which sold over 15 million units, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. And then in 2004 we shipped Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which sold a remarkable 20 million units...
  63. ↑ "Recommendation of the Board of Directors to Reject Electronic Arts Inc.'s Tender Offer" (PDF). Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. 26 March 2008. p. 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 April 2008. Retrieved 1 April 2008.
  64. ↑ "Feature: The 52 Most Important Video Games of All Time (page 8 of 8)". GamePro. 24 April 2007. Archived from the original on 7 June 2011. Retrieved 26 August 2011.
  65. ↑ Ryan Geddes and Daemon Hatfield (10 December 2007). "IGN's Top 10 Most Influential Games". IGN.com. Retrieved 10 December 2007.
  66. ↑ The Game Informer staff (December 2009). "The Top 200 Games of All Time". Game Informer (200): 44–79. ISSN 1067-6392. OCLC 27315596.
  67. ↑ "The top 20 most important games of the decade". GamesRadar. 1 January 2010. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
  68. ↑ "All-TIME 100 Video Games". Time (Time Inc.). 15 November 2012. Archived from the original on 15 November 2012. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
  69. ↑ OnlySP * (6 August 2012). "Mod Brings Back GTA III To RAGE Engine". OnlySP. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  70. ↑ * (16 December 2012). "GTA III RAGE CLASSIC". GTA4-Mods. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
  71. ↑ "Comparative Media: Prostitution". Brett's Footnotes. Retrieved 11 December 2006.
  72. ↑ "IGN presents the history of Grand Theft Auto".
  73. ↑ "GameSpy.com - Game of the Year Awards - 2001". Archive.gamespy.com. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  74. ↑ "Australian GTAIII ban upheld". GameSpot. Retrieved 6 May 2006.
  75. ↑ Rockstar North. "Classification Database - GRAND THEFT AUTO: VICE CITY (MA 15+)". Classification.gov.au. Retrieved 11 February 2011.
  76. ↑ "Lawsuit filed against Sony, Wal-Mart over game linked to shootings". CNN. Archived from the original on 3 May 2006. Retrieved 6 May 2006.
  77. ↑ Calvert, Justin (22 October 2003). "Families sue over GTAIII-inspired shooting". GameSpot. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  78. ↑ Calvert, Justin (11 November 2003). "Rockstar seeks to dismiss GTAIII lawsuit". GameSpot. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  79. ↑ "PlayStation 2 release dates". GameSpot. Retrieved 8 August 2006.
  80. ↑ "Windows release dates". GameSpot. Retrieved 8 August 2006.
  81. ↑ "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Graphics Q&A with Aaron Garbut". GameSpot. Retrieved 16 July 2006.
  82. ↑ "Xbox release dates". GameSpot. Retrieved 8 August 2006.
  83. ↑ Boulding, Aaron (4 November 2003). "Grand Theft Auto Double Pack". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  84. 1 2 Surette, Tim (23 October 2005). "GTA gets trilogized, San Andreas special edition". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  85. ↑ "Macintosh release dates". Take-Two News Release.
  86. ↑ R* Q (12 November 2010). "Grand Theft Auto Trilogy Now Available for the Mac". Rockstar Newswire. Rockstar Games. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  87. ↑ "Grand Theft Auto III: 10 Year Anniversary Edition Coming to Mobile Devices Next Week - December 15th". Rockstar Games. 6 December 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  88. ↑ "GTA III coming to other iOS devices "in the future"". VG247. 15 October 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  89. ↑ Walton, Mark (22 December 2011). "Grand Theft Auto III Review". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  90. ↑ R* Q (26 September 2012). "Grand Theft Auto III Now Available in the PlayStation Store". Rockstar Newswire. Rockstar Games. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  91. ↑ Nunneley, Stephany (5 December 2015). "GTA 3, Vice City, Mark of Kri, Dark Cloud out today for PS4". VG247. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  92. ↑ Walker, Trey (21 May 2002). "E3 2002: Grand Theft Auto: Vice City announced". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 24 September 2014.
  93. ↑ Calvert, Justin (1 March 2004). "Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas confirmed and dated". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  94. ↑ Harris, Craig (17 September 2004). "Grand Theft Auto Advance". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  95. ↑ Torres, Ricardo; Shoemaker, Brad (25 July 2007). "Grand Theft Auto IV Update - A Day in Liberty City". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  96. ↑ Ramsay, Randolph (22 January 2009). "Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned Hands-On". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  97. ↑ Thorsen, Tor (22 July 2009). "GTAIV: Gay Tony coming out Oct. 29". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved 25 September 2014.
  98. ↑ Fahey, Mike (15 July 2008). "GTA Coming To The DS With China Town Wars". Kotaku. Gawker Media. Retrieved 25 September 2014.

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