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17 out of 20 people found the following review useful: One of the most enjoyable games I've ever played (views may vary), 13 April 2002 Author: MisterWhiplash from United States
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
6 out of 7 people found the following review useful: Awesome beyond belief!!, 7 January 2002 Author: Rattrap007 from Evansville, IN
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
5 out of 6 people found the following review useful: Liberty justified!, 9 June 2005 Author: au_law2001 from Philippines
This is one of the most entertaining and controversial, yet wonderful games out there. Though it received heat from parents everywhere and other countries tried to ban it, it is without a doubt one of the best, and one of a kind out there(Do they think younger ones would play this? This is for older ones). Well it may not be for everyone, due to the violent content, grammar, and sex, but hey it is a satire of everyday life, but mostly depicting a grimy, rough city, supposedly this is supposed to be New York, where you control a nameless(we shall learn his name in GTA:SA!) and speechless gangster who's been wronged by the gang he worked for, now he goes freelance in the Pulp Fiction-esquire environment of Liberty City, where you work for different gang factions, just to do their dirty work. But that's not it, you can also walk around steel a car, and do whatever you will, it's non-linear! And because it is, you don't have to do some of the missions, though most of them are part of the story. This is one of the best and it is the first game of it's kind I played. If you like this play also Mafia(more like a 1930's GTA to me), GTA Vice City, and GTA San Andreas, thank you Rockstar, it's good, see.
5 out of 6 people found the following review useful: Grand Theft Auto 3 is the very idea of what a great game should be, 17 August 2002 Author: MovieAddict2009 from UK
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
4 out of 5 people found the following review useful: Just awesome, 21 April 2002 Author: Ivan Ravenous (IvanRavenous@hotmail.com) from California
To put it simply, Grand Theft Auto 3 is one of the very best video games, or any form of entertainment for that matter, ever made. You've probably heard about how graphically violent this game is, and there's certainly no denying it. People (criminals, gang members, cops, pedestrians, etc.) can be murdered in a variety of entertaining ways, but GTA3 isn't about mindless mayhem. The game is actually story driven, and that, combined with awesome gameplay (driving being a main factor of course) is what really puts it over the top. It's quite an experience as you rise through the ranks from petty Jack-of-all-trades thug-for-hire to a millionaire. Chock full of tons of fun missions, from carjacking to assassinations to body disposal and anything else your employer needs you to do.Enough of my pretentious praise though. If you haven't played Grand Theft Auto 3 yet, what are you waiting for?!
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful: Best GTA Hands down!, 23 June 2009 Author: derbyrams-1 from United Kingdom
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
This is the best GTA hands down. The other GTA's were good but this one beats them and I'll tell you why. This game has a very easy storyline to follow which is built on strong characters. It's so well put together and the voice-acting is brilliant. This game is short and sweet but has a lot and I mean a lot of replay value for hours and hours of fun. I love the idea of going around Liberty city by trains. Yes, this one hasn't got all the stuff Vice city and San Andreas has like motorbikes, helicopters and so on. I just find this one the most enjoyable as I feel it has a lot of replay value. For example: the taxi missions. I've done like almost 2000 fares. That's how much I love it. The island I do them on is Staunton Island. Love that island. What I also like a lot about this game is that it's a good, reasonable size. San Andreas is just too big. It's great for a while but soon after it's gets really annoying and tedious as it's 5 times bigger than Vice City. The GTA's go in this order: 1. GTA 3 2. GTA: Vice City 3. GTA San Andreas 4. GTA Liberty City stories 5. GTA Vice City stories 6. GTA IVI do think all of them are very good but they all have their flaws as good as they are. GTA Vice City is pretty flawless, not as good as GTA 3 though. I think Vice city is too small. GTA 3 was a good size. San Andreas has a very good story but not as good as GTA 3 but almost. It's very complicated and if you're not paying attention whilst playing San andreas it can become too much. A lot of it's features are great, the gym,parachute, getting airplane tickets and so forth but I think it's all a bit boring after a while. It's really good but it's kind of silly, some of it like the taxi missions. They suck! I couldn't stand the tip thing. That was so annoying. It was kind of cool having nitro but it got boring after a while. The eating thing got annoying too, having to eat and eat up to a certain point. I think with this one they decided to put in as much as they could and with GTA IV they decided to put a few new things in like watching TV, going on a computer and so on but they took a whole lot out. Basically, they rushed it. I think GTA IV is like a work in progress in a way. It's very good but I'll be honest I can't stand the following: *The story *The realism *It's Liberty City again! *Not a lot of weapons they're quite basic in terms of how much they varied in the past GTA games] *No Firetruck missions *No Ambulance Missions *No tanks When you look at it logically the only saving grace of this game in terms of how long it takes to finish compared to past GTA games is the story. The story is very long and when you've done that there's not really much replay value like in GTA 3. I could just complete GTA 3 100 times. I think the radio kind of sucks in GTA IV, the chatshows in particular. There's nothing particularly hilarious or all that funny as in Vice City and GTA 3 like VCPR and Chatterbox. I think the radio stations are really apart of the game with GTA 3, it really makes it fun. It adds to it. I do think it would be cool if they re-made GTA 3 with the graphics of GTA IV and added in some of the cool features from Vice city and San Andreas like helicopters, motorbikes and so on. I know they did this with Liberty City stories and Vice city stories but I just didn't feel it. Playing it on a tiny PSP. It wasn't the same and I'll be honest I prefer GTA 3 by a truckload! I do think if you're a fan of these games you have to play all of them to get the links. I hated how they weren't any links in GTA IV. I thought that was a big no no. It's really interesting how in this one, which is set in 2001. 9 years before San andreas takes place Claude is hated by Catalina and in San andreas she falls in love with him. Interesting to see how it all plays out. I really dig the cut-scenes in this game. It feels like a real movie. I just love how it's all been done. It's so epic! I especially love the opening.Overall: 10/10 This is easily the best installment in the series. The graphics are still pretty good now, for the time and to look back at now. There are a few little flaws with the graphics but they're pretty good overall. Everything has little flaws. This game is pretty perfect but it does have it's flaws. I don't like how when you die or get busted you lose all your weapons and have to start over again. The cops are really annoying. If you're not lucky, they can kill you pretty quickly! Plus your guy has no personality, he doesn't speak and just takes orders. And that's about it. I think this is the most dynamic and impressive GTA all in all. Highly recommended game.
2 out of 3 people found the following review useful: Pretty Good Fun, 7 January 2005 Author: jofitz27 from Liverpool, England
I was introduced to Grand Theft Auto III a short while ago, and soon, completed it. I found it fun; a star above the rest. You were allowed freedom, a choice in which path to take. It was great.Surrounding the game, however, was a massive wave of controversy. I, quite frankly, do not see why. Compared to more recent efforts like "The Getaway" this was nothing. There were a couple of drug-references and a lot of violence, but other than that, this game was not all that bad. I wouldn't say it's one of the greatest games ever, but it's pretty fun for a while. The main reason I loved it so much though was the voices, including Michael Rappaport and Michael Madsen. A fun, entertaining tongue-in-cheek game, Grand theft Auto is likely to be your cup of tea.
3 out of 5 people found the following review useful: Brilliant; One of the biggest improvements in a video games series, 10 December 2003 Author: AmericanMan101
Great cops and robbers video game about a criminal who is left for dead. When he is lucky and gets a jail break, he returns to Liberty City, USA to work for different crime rings, and to take revenge on the people who betrayed them.A huge improvement over Grand Theft Auto and GTA 2, Grand Theft Auto III is one of the best Action/Crime games in recent history. There are good voice-overs and a wonderful story. Games don't usually get any better than this. Also play Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. 5 out of 5.
3 out of 5 people found the following review useful: Nice one!, 24 July 2002 Author: smirre44 from Norway
This game had me hooked right away. The missions are cool, storyline is good, and the fact that you can take a break from the missions and just go/drive around the city doing work on your own to earn money is also an excellent feature. This game is highly recommended. Just don't let your kids play it, it's a bit too violent.
A Magnificent Game, 22 May 2008 Author: TheGame2k2 from United States
Rockstar Games brings the first of the new generation Grand Theft Auto games.The Grand Theft Auto series before GTA III was a modest success while on the PS1 and Dreamcast. However, this game, while keep the formula very similar to its previous installments, expands that formula, gives it 3D graphics and puts it in a free-roam environment. This game is 10x better then its previous installments.The story takes place in Liberty City (obviouly a spin-off of New York City), which was one of three cities from the first game (the others being Vice City and San Andreas, which would appear in the next two installments).Unlike previous installments, this game takes place in a third-person view, and the graphics are highly updated, giving it a 3D environment. Liberty City looks absolutely gorgeous in this game.The story for the game is about a man named Claude who has escaped going to jail and now is working for several mob bosses. That is pretty much it, the game doesn't really have any real plot to it like later installments in the series and the character you play doesn't say anything throughout the game.The control scheme is very simple and these controls would stick with the rest of the series.There are only two real negatives about this game. The first one being no multiplayer, a game with this big of an environment would be great for multiplayer but it doesn't have, nor would Vice City or San Andreas. Another small negative is not being able to go into any buildings, like you can in later installments, that kind of makes the gameplay get a little boring after a while after you have finished the game.Overall, a very good game that is definitely worth playing.
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