Grand Theft Auto - Review

Author: Diskboy3k Date: May 24 2004 - 23:52

Before releasing Grand Theft Auto in 1997, Rockstar Games was nothing more than a tiny developer trying to stay alive. Now, they are one of the top selling developers worldwide, with hit titles such as Max Payne and Grand Theft Auto III under their belt. This was the game that changed it all, that started a phenomenon in the gaming industry.

GTA is an infamous title and a landmark game for Rockstar Games and the world alike. If you haven´t played it, you don´t know what you´re missing, and if you have, why not take the old hoopdy for another spin around the block.

The gameplay in Grand Theft Auto gets the job done. The vehicles steering is on-the-spot, no issues there. However while on foot, it can sometimes be a bit difficult to tell which way you are facing, making your weaponry quite difficult to use. If you're being chased down by a cop and you need to shoot him fast you'll be shooting all around him because its very difficult to tell where you are aiming.

In certain situations, attempting to enter a vehicle can be annoying. Normally, when you hit enter, you automatically walk to the door and enter the car, but if another vehicle is blocking the car door, you will start moving around the car over and over, with a slightly glitchy feel. However, aside from these issues, playing GTA is quite enjoyable. Then again, quite enjoyable just does not cut it. This game is extremely enjoyable, I remember spending weeks and weeks at it, though sadly it bares little or no replay value after completion.

Hmm, I am focusing way too much on the little nick nacks of the interface and leading you to believe that GTA has a sub-par interface. On the contrair, the interface is simplistic, easy to use and good enough to keep up with the action. Besides a few little things here and there, the interface is nearly flawless and is effective during high speed chases and good old gun fights.

Seems like I forgot something... Oh yes, the game features a very nice pager which is often use to notify you of optional jobs with high rewards.

The graphics of GTA are excellent good (for its time, of course). The different cars are easy to distinguish, and the pedestrians are easy to spot. The blood and explosion effects are great and the animated cutscenes are very nice. The menus are easy to navigate, and the in-game mission text is easy to read. However, the level edges are quite unrealistic: nothing but a vertical drop into the ocean. The overhead view, usually a problem in other games, works quite well with GTA and all-in-all, Grand Theft Autos graphics improve the game considerably.

The sound in GTA is adequate. The cars engines, squeaking tires, and crash effects are nice additions as are the pedestrians remarks if you... punch one in the face, for example. The only issue I have with the sound is the repetitive, annoying, blabbermouth sound you hear while receiving mission objectives. I can understand why, back then, they could not add character voices to the game, but they could have at least chosen a better sound than they did. Still, as I said, the overall sound is still quite good and comes together nicely with the rest of the game.

The few controls that are in Grand Theft Auto are extremely easy to use and painless to get aquainted with. The standard arrow key movement scheme is tried and true, and the other controls are easily accessable, such as Enter to enter a car, and Ctrl to fire a weapon. Absolutely no problems here, though some interpretation of the mouse could possible improve the game such as using the mouse to aim while using the arrows to walk on foot as was done in GTA 3.

	Title / Type	Submitter	Date
	Review	Yoctobyte	Nov 07 2004
	Review	Diskboy3k	May 24 2004

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