In late 1997 Rockstar Games released a simple, little, action adventure game on the PC (DOS and Windows) and Playstation. Few could have envisioned that from these humble beginnings this series would take the gaming world by storm. Two 2D GTA games would be released along with 2 expansion packs and a Gameboy version of the original game. In 2001 the series took the massive leap into a 3D world which is where GTA really came into its own.
GTA III was set in the fictional location of Liberty City (based on New York City), the new game engine allowed the player to freely explore the massive environment filled with numerous cars and people. The name Grand Theft Auto comes from the American police term for car theft and this is one of the abilities available to your character. You can run up to any parked car on the street, jump in and drive away. You can also stand in front of a car that is being driven and then when it stops you can pull the driver from the vehicle and speed off with his wheels.
The game follows the adventures of a small time criminal as he climbs the underworld ranks to become a crime boss. The game is split into various story missions and is also filled with numerous side-projects which can be undertaken to obtain new abilities, weapons and amass wealth. These side missions range from driving a taxi, ambulance, police car and fire-truck to finding ramps and jumps from which you try to pull off the craziest stunts you can.
Less than a year later Rockstar followed up GTA III with GTA : Vice City. Vice City is a location based on Miami and the game is set in the 80’s, the game built on the core of the original by adding motorbikes, helicopters and having a much larger playing area. Vice City’s storyline pays homage to the movie Scarface and also to the 80’s TV show Miami Vice. The missions are more varied than those of the previous game and allow for each mission to be approached in many different ways.
Three years later GTA : San Andreas was released. Yet again the map was expanded into what many thought was a dauntingly large area. Split into 3 cities (Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas) San Andreas follows CJ, an African American twenty something who returns to San Andreas after sometime in Liberty City to find that his mother has been killed. San Andreas is set in the early 90’s at the height of the LA gang wars and this atmosphere has been captured perfectly. New additions to this version are the BMX and other bicycles as well as the ability to modify your character’s body size, haircut and clothing.
Jump forward to 2008. April 29th is the worldwide release date for GTA IV. Initially GTA IV will be on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 with a possible PC release at a later date. I took 3 days off work following the release to allow myself to become fully engrossed in what is the most revolutionary game of recent times.
5 trailers for the game, as well as other videos and content are available for viewing on the official website www.rockstargames/IV/. The previous 3 GTA titles have all been built on the same game engine and were held back by the hardware limitations of the platforms of the time. The new title has been built from scratch for the current generation consoles and is able to utilise the massive processing power of these machines. GTA IV is built on the Rockstar Advanced Gaming Engine (RAGE) and incorporates the Euphoria Engine which controls how the player and other humans in the game move and walk. The story follows Niko, an Eastern European immigrant living in a redesigned Liberty City (very closely modelled on New York). The environment has become a full living and breathing world. Until now the NPCs (Non Player Characters) in the game would just walk or drive aimlessly around the city with no real purpose. Now the NPCs perform everyday functions such as using the ATM, shopping, using phones, eating, reading newspapers etc. which will help give the world a more realistic feel. The Police and wanted levels now operate differently too. No more trips to the Pay ‘N’ Spray to paint you car when you’re in trouble, now Niko will have to avoid a certain radius marked on the map (the higher the wanted level, the larger the radius) and change vehicles out of sight, in parking garages or other secluded areas. When on foot, the police will only use lethal force when Niko has committed serious crimes and when caught, will put his hands up and have a chance to run away before the handcuffs are slapped on. Another nice addition is that NPC civilians can now call the police on their cell-phones, if they see a crime being committed. So from now on you will have to be a bit more secretive about your criminal activities.
Another added feature is something all GTA players have always wanted, multiplayer. Yes, at last you can team up with other like minded individuals and wreak havoc on an unsuspecting city. Multiplayer games will be played out in the same huge city as the single player game and include the following game types : several varieties of deathmatch and racing, three different co-op missions, Mafiya Work (tasks are assigned and you must complete them before others do) and Cops ‘N’ Crooks (one team of cops pursues one team of crooks). This alone makes GTA IV a huge step forward from the games that have come before.
One complaint about previous GTA games has been that the targeting system was a little limited. Rockstar have addressed this issue by completely redesigning the targeting system which now lets you either, free-shoot, auto-target or even target specific body parts. A newly added cover system allows the player to easily slide into cover behind cars, buildings, walls and numerous other objects in the game. From cover you can then either blind fire or free shoot at targets with less chance of being hit by return fire.
With over 100 hours of story and side missions and then the added brilliance of multiplayer this is a game that will keep you entertained for months if not years to come, a good investment of £40 if ever I’ve seen one.
Before I finish, I want to touch on something that has been a big issue surrounding the GTA games since their inception. The media and politicians in the past have been quick to jump on the bandwagon of people who believe that games like GTA are somehow corroding the fabric of society by glorifying violence and anti-social behaviour. I am the first person to stand up and say that this game should not be played by children, it was not made for children and they are not able to purchase it. Long gone are the days when video games were made as a past-time for children, nowadays the majority of games are made by adults for adults. In a recent survey, the results showed that the average age of gamers is 27. As an adult I believe I have the right to do pretty much what ever I like (within reason) in a virtual environment, it doesn’t hurt anybody and unless you are already mentally unstable, I don’t think shooting cops in a game is going to inspire anyone to do it in the real world. Movies and television are mediums where violence has become an everyday part of entertaining us and if you don’t want to see it then you don’t have to watch it. Same goes for games, if you don’t want to play it then don’t, and certainly don’t allow your children to either. Okay that’s enough preaching from me, I’ll get off my soapbox now.
If you are a fan of the series and have a Next-Gen Console then you probably already have the game and are playing it right now rather than reading this blog, if you are one of the few people with a PS3 or Xbox 360 who hasn’t bought this game yet, then I can’t stress enough how good this game is. This is the game I have been dreaming of since playing the original 2D GTA and somehow Rockstar have managed to live up to the hype and surpass my expectations. As I’m writing this, I am watching the clock knowing that in 90 minutes I will have finished work and can get back to my second life in Liberty City. Its going to be a long time before I see daylight again.
