Above: The boxshot from the original Grand Theft Auto.
The first title arrived in October 1996 and was played from a top-down perspective. The game had you receiving jobs through anonymous men calling on pay phones. Completing a mission enabled you to move onto the next city. The three cities in the game were Liberty City, San Andreas and Vice City.
Grand Theft Auto featured over 6000 miles of road, freeways, alleyways and dead ends, 20 different car types per city and over 60 minutes of current music (as of 1996). Kill frenzy’s featured in the game and were similar to rampages in the current version of Grand Theft Auto. Rampages in their current form also existed. The four weapons in Grand Theft Auto were the Pistol, Machine Gun, Rocket Launcher and Grenade Launcher.
Above: The boxshot from the first GTA expansion pack, Grand Theft Auto: London 1969.
Set in London in 1968, the first mission pack for Grand Theft Auto was released in 1999. Titled GTA: London, the only map featured in the game was, interestingly enough, of London, which was more than large enough. The extension featured London entirely recreated, including Big Ben and the London Tower.
Over twenty new car types featured in the game and blood was even more gruesome than before. Strip clubs, bars and Parks were included in the game and the music was once again updated to reflect the current time.
Above: The boxshot from the second GTA game, Grand Theft Auto 2.
Grand Theft Auto 2 still included a top down view point, disapointing the masses who were expecting Grand Theft Auto 2 to signify the transition to 3D. The game was set in one immersive city divided into three parts,: Downtown, Residential and Industrial. A Gameboy port was made but was extremely sub-par and ignored by everyone.
Grand Theft Auto 2 featured over forty cars, the militia, a stellar soundtrack and 6 massive gangs, each featuring their own missions. No longer did players have the police to fear, but they had to fear the onslaught of the militia.
The biggest evolution for the Grand Theft Auto series was Grand Theft Auto III. Scoring an amazing 9.5 on this very site, Grand Theft Auto III was one of the first “must have” titles on the Playstation 2. The plot of Grand Theft Auto III centres around the main character, who was left to take the blame when his girlfriend took off with the goods from a robbery.
Grand Theft Auto III[i] revisited Liberty City - but this time, the experience was in full 3D. The topdown viewpoint was included as a nice touch, but wasn't overly practical. [i]Grand Theft Auto III was originally banned in Australia (About a mouth after release, for some reason) for sexual violence and was re-released after alterations were made to the game.
Liberty City is loosely based on New York City. The police even drove blue and white police cars until September 11th, 2001, when Rockstar saw it as fit to make appropriate changes to the game.
Grand Theft Auto III[i] is very interactive, with a huge, open ending gaming environment and real-time weather effects. The music was fantastic, featuring hours of music (and the steller talkback radio station) available for the listening just by scrolling through the radio stations. Weapons were upgraded, with a variety of instruments introduced to wreck all kinds of havoc. [i]Grand Theft Auto III was released early this year on the Xbox with an graphical upgrades and custom soundtrack support.
A year later Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was released. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was a huge expansion upon Grand Theft Auto III, featuring more weapons, larger cities and a fantastic 80’s soundtrack that has set the standard for game soundtracks since. Ray Liotta lent his voice to the main character and Vice City quickly became a favourite title among gamers.
Coming later this year is the third Grand Theft Auto title, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. San Andreas will feature an entirely new storyline, new character, new weapons, new control system and a new city. The main character's name will be Carl Johnson. The story is nothing overly special - Carl returns home to San Andreas after serving five years in the Liberty City jail. His mother has been killed and his family is falling apart. Carl is framed for murder by some corrupt cops and is sent across San Andreas as a fugitive.
Rockstar revealed last month that Grand Theft Auto III is still in development for the Gameboy Advance. So far no details have been made available, but it remains to be seen whether Grand Theft Auto can make the successful transition to a lower powered handheld.
PALGN will have more information on both of these titles as soon as it becomes available.
Above: The upcoming Grand Theft Auto 3 GBA Game?
Grand Theft Auto Timeline:
Grand Theft Auto: PSX / PC (1998)
Grand Theft Auto: GBC (1999)
Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 (1999)
Grand Theft Auto 2: PSX / PC (1999)
Grand Theft Auto 2: GBC (2000)
Grand Theft Auto 3: PS2 (2001)
Grand Theft Auto 3: PC (2002)
Grand Theft Auto Vice City: PS2 (2002)
Grand Theft Auto Vice City: PC (2003)
Grand Theft Auto 3 / Vice City: Xbox (2004)
Grand Theft Auto 3: GBA (2004)
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: PS2 (2004)
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