GTA 3 is a great game that would have been almost perfect if it hadn't been so sadistically hard.
User Rating: 8.2 | Grand Theft Auto III PC
After playing this game, it's easy for me to see why it has become so legendary, and why it has spawned two massive, high-selling sequels. This is the ultimate immersive video game simulation. Liberty city looks, sounds, and feel so life-like, and this game offers a level of open-ended, emergent gameplay that only exists in maybe 5% of the games that have ever been made. But, I never quite fell in love with this game, and there's one major reason for that. It's IMPOSSIBLE. Well, almost. This is among the two or three hardest games that I have ever played. This game gave me some of the greatest feelings of frustration that I have ever experienced playing games. I can't believe that I actually finished it. The frustration level is compounded by the game's extremely unforgiving save system, which frequently forces you to replay 5 to 10 (or more) minutes of a mission before you get to one extremely hard part. This game desperately needed more save points, or perhaps auto-save points in the middle of a mission. It's impossible to play this game without getting on edge. Other than that, this game perfectly accomplishes what it sets out to do. What Grand Theft Auto 3 does is create a massive living, breathing city and let you turn it into your virtual playground. You can essentially go anywhere you want at any time, exploring every nook and cranny of the streets and alleyways. You take various missions for nefarious organizations throughout the game like the Yakuza and the Mafia, and you can Do you know that satisfying feeling that you get when you solve a problem in a creative way, as if you "outsmarted" the game? This game gives you that feeling repeatedly. Experimentation is not only encouraged, it is necessary if you want to beat the game. Having trouble winning a big race? See what happens when you park a big bus or a truck in front of your opponents at the starting line. Having trouble shooting some guy by killing him? Try a car rigged with a bomb. One of the things that makes the game so much fun to play is the way that it provides such brilliant satire on the American way of life. Rockstar shows that they can match shows like The Simpsons and South Park when it comes to poking fun at the nuances of our culture. You can sense this everywhere, especially on the game's radio stations, which mix some great music in with funny talk and amusing commercials. Liberty City is a treat to the eyes. About the only unfavorable feature in the graphics is the short draw distance and the "pop-up" that occurs. Other than that, the city looks every bit like a real city should. The skyscrapers in the downtown area contrast appropriately with the run-down buildings of the red light district and the rolling hills of the suburbs. The game is loaded with graphical eye candy, from the huge variety of vehicles in the game, to the variety of scenery in every location. Value? Easily a 10. Grand Theft Auto 3 is one of those exceedingly rare games that has more content than you could ever hope to discover in two months. The game is loaded with areas to explore and surprises to find. The game also rewards this exploration by giving you money every time that you find a little secret, and it tracks your progress as you go. The city is huge. By the time that you finish exploring one of its three islands, you might have already finished most of the action games out there. Grand Theft Auto 3 is arguably the most influential video game of the past five years. Nowadays, there are so many imitators to the Grand Theft Auto freestyle gameplay. Very few imitators can actually succeed. This probably would have been my 2002 game of the year pick for the PC if the game's fun factor had been so frequently spoiled by its nearly impossible missions.
