Grand Theft Auto III is an 2001 action-adventure video game developed by DMA Design and published by Rockstar Games, released for the PlayStation 2, Microsoft Windows, Android, Mac OS X, iOS, Fire OS, and Xbox.  It is the fifth title in the Grand Theft Auto series, and a sequel to 1999’s Grand Theft Auto 2. Set within the fictional Liberty City, based on New York City, the game follows Claude after he is left for dead and quickly becomes entangled in a world of gangs, crime and corruption.

Campaign: The plot follows a criminal named Claude who is shot and left for dead by his girlfriend and accomplice, Catalina, after a bank robbery.  Claude escapes prison and gets himself caught up in the world of crime as he seeks revenge for her betrayal.  There’s a lot to do in the world and the story is extensive with a lot of twists. The campaign is played in a non-linear, single-player fashion, allowing the player to explore the open world of Liberty City at their leisure.  Liberty City is composed of three boroughs: Portland, Staunton Island, and Shoreside Vale.  

Claude is an awesome character and a favorite of the franchise, but the decision to make him a silent protagonist was dumb.  I can perfectly understand the need to make the game about the player, but it ultimately makes the character feel empty compared to protagonists like Tommy Vercetti (Grand Theft Auto: Vice City), Carl Johnson (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas), or Niko Belic (Grand Theft Auto IV).  Despite my gripes about Claude the game has a diverse cast of great, memorable characters especially the antagonist Catalaya. (3 out of 5)

Design:   There’s a lot to appreciate about the graphics but there’s a lot to gripe about. First, it deserves praise for making the leap from 2D to 3D in much the same way Ocarina of Time took The Legend of Zelda to the next level. One of the best things about the camera angles is the different view perspectives.  There’s the over-the-shoulder (which is my personal favorite) and the distant, top-down look. I do like the variety to the pedestrians.  They have varying looks to them to simulate a city population.  Male, female, fat, skinny, bald, varying types of hairstyles, different clothing, just everything to make them look less repetitive.

Liberty City is massive, consisting of three large urban areas, consisting of the commercial, suburb, and industrial areas.  The city has a lot of great detail and variety to its structure.  There are several great locations, and the topography is diverse.  There is a day and night cycle with weather (fog, rain, etc.) conditions. The graphics are dated.  The character and car models are detailed but are blocky and lack definition.  Many of the building, grass, road, and water lack texture.  The cutscenes are hilarious with how poor the quality is but it does manage to have a certain charm with the characters and storytelling.

There’s a lot to appreciate when it comes to how great this game sounds.  The music is golden and thumbs up to the artist and their awesome tracks.  Hell, next to transportation or running people over the radio is the best reason to steal…I mean acquire a car. The voice performances are of the highest quality and provide a good deal of depth for the characters.  I still say that the choice to have Claude as a voiceless idiot is completely idiotic. The sound design is of the best production value.  There’s no denying how great the world sounds, the weapons and cars sound unique.  (4 out of 5)

Gameplay:  This is an action-adventure game played from a third-person view.  Players complete missions to progress through the story but can freely roam the open world. Missions increase in difficulty as the game progresses though I’ve always personally hated the time missions.  Completing missions’ awards players with cast which they can buy homes, weapons, and cars. There are a crap ton of weapons in the game that can be either found in certain locations across the city or purchased at a weapons store.  My personal favorites are the sniper rifle, Molotov cocktail and the flamethrower.  Weapons feel unique and are handled differently and players are able to hold up to 11 different types.

There are paint-and-spray garage locations around the city that allow players to change their car colors to throw off the cops when things get dicey or to repair their vehicle.  Players save their progress at their “home”.  There’s a small map/radar which shows colored icons to distinguish important areas. There is a crap ton of cars, each having their specific strengths and weaknesses, which are handled differently with their own speeds and maneuverability.   The gameplay is handled well enough, and it is easy to see why this game is so groundbreaking for the series. 

Games like Grand Theft Auto III provide the highest in terms of replayability with all its side missions and exploration.  The city is filled with tons of side missions and hidden content to find.  Instant stunt jumps, health power ups, cop stars, weapons, frenzy icons, and slowdown pills.  There are 100 “secret packages” located across the city as well.  Exploration is good with a great sense of freedom, subways, buildings, and beaches.

Plenty of other characters in the game have side missions for players to get into.  Certain missions will have players racing through the city against other racers, some will have players going to retrieve certain objects.  My personal favorites are the hits and assassinations.  Tell me where to go and who to kill and I’ll be propped up on the building across the street with my sniper rifle waiting.

Carjacking certain cars will start certain missions.  Stealing cop Cars allow players to chase and bust criminals, taxis allow players to deliver people to their destinations for cash, ambulances allow players to rescue people in accident, and fire trucks allow players to put out fires. Basically, whatever you want to do the game lets you do it.  I personally like waging war against the cops, FBI, and military that I know will undoubtedly pursue me as I rain hell upon Liberty City and its citizens.  There’s just a lot to do. (5 out of 5)

The Verdict:  In the end, Grand Theft Auto III is a great game and a turning point for the series.  Really the biggest problem of the game is how shitty the graphics are.  They have not aged well.  Outside of that the game is solid.  The gameplay is fun, there are memorable characters, the score and music are good, tons of open world exploration, and tons of replayability.  Grand Theft Auto III gets 4 out of 5.