Only the strongest will survive in Liberty City!, 25 Oct 2003

By	The Nocturnal Aerial™ (Leeds, England) - See all my reviews

I haven't played the previous games in the Grand Theft Auto experience but from what I've heard, GTA3 is similar to earlier versions. The fictional city of Liberty City is one of the most dangerous places to live in America. The designers of the game are actually British which gives the game a more witty and sarcastic outlook on American life. The game is set in three districts of Liberty City - Portland, Staunton Island and Shoreside Vale. All three are bursting with life, violence and cars! In the game, you can do just about anything you want to. The graphics are simply mind-blowing - weather effects can go from clear and sunny, to foggy and rainy. The detail gone into all the vehicles is stunning, as is the surrounding, overall feel of the city in which you are situated. The sound effects are also worthy of high praise. As you walk the streets, you'll pass other citizens going about their daily lives. They get into fights and follow you around. They're always shouting at each other, too. Some of the best phrases you'll hear from the public are, "Young man!" and, "You can sail the seven seas!" The quotes from the many prostitutes that roam the streets are hilarious too.

Perhaps one of the most enjoyable factors of the listening experience on Grand Theft Auto is the range of nine radio stations to program on your radio in the car you have stolen - with the exception of cop cars, fire trucks and ambulance vans. They consist of Double Cleff FM, Lips FM, Chatterbox FM and the best - FlashBack FM! This superb radio station features "All the songs you were tired of 20 years ago!" and is "For people who just...can't let go." The songs are not really my style, but the commentary from female DJ Toni is hilarious, especially after "She's On Fire" finishes. She says, "Whoa! She's on FIRE! But thankfully I've never been...I mean, I've done a lot of crazy things, I can tell you that...but I've NEVER been on fire!...At least not to my knowledge." The advertisements in-between songs are also superb - highly effective and stupid, taking the mickey out of American life. The advert for "Pets Over Night" is brilliant, but the "Liberty City Survivor" advert is the best. Criminals are released from prison and sent on missions to kill each other all over Liberty City. "I was grabbing a sandwich at the Happy Blimp, when all of a sudden these guys bust through the window and started shootin' at each other! I was so excited, I didn't even noticed I'd been hit! From then on, I was hooked on "Liberty City Survivor" - I watch it every day in the hospital!" says a brainless victim of the TV show. Hilarious! How many gaming makers do you see putting so much effort and detail into their games, down to the last minor detail of a radio station choice?!

The range of vehicles is absolutely amazing. From cop cars, taxis, fire trucks, coaches, ambulances, rubbish trucks, sports cars, mafia cars and a wide range of other American cars, it really is an impressive list. The fastest cars (and the best to be in on cop-chases) are the black mafia cars and the cop cars. Both for obvious reasons, they can pick up speed in a very short time and run over many helpless victims easily, but are faltered in the power facility. You can drive at top speed and crash into an oncoming cop car and not really send it very far. The vehicle you'll need for power is the fire truck. It doesn't go as fast as the cop cars, but going down a hill and crashing into an oncoming cop car can do a LOT of damage. At the right angle, the cops will literally go FLYING through the air as they bounce of the front of the fire truck, spinning a dozen times before landing upside down, setting on fire, and blowing up. The sports car are concealed in quiet areas, and the best one is the one situated in a garage with glass windows. Smash the glass, steal the car and drive off. The sports car is incredibly fast, and perfect for driving over ramps. When seen by the cops for running over a poor victim, steal their car and race off. Soon you'll have a massive number of cop cars hunting you down, complete with ambulances chasing up the dead victims you leave in your wake of mayhem and destruction - try running over the ambulance guys too, so they can't help the victims! Larger cop vans also block the roads, to try and stop you and helicopters will chase you around and even cause the dust on the ground to rise if they get close enough. Loudspeakers from the cops in the helicopters telling you to stop adds to the excitement. When trying to escape the clutches of the cops, it's one of those situations where all your body goes numb and all you care about is your survival.

The only downfall about being in any form of transport is that if it tips upside down, you can't get back the right way around and it will set on fire in a matter of seconds. An explosion is inevitable, so you must exit the vehicle as swiftly as possible and look for other means of transport. The cop chases are not only exciting and addictive, but highly amusing. All rules of human civilisation are thrown out of the window when you drive on the paths instead of the roads, just for the sakes of squishing innocent people. The cops go CRAZY when trying to catch you. They run over all the people themselves and just don't seem to care about all these people on the streets! It's hilarious to see a cop car crashing with another, as they desperately try and catch you, probably reflecting the state the world is in at the moment; no co-ordination or control. Watching them flip upside down and explode as you race off is the highlight.

OVERALL GRADE: 10/10

I now consider Grand Theft Auto III the greatest PlayStation game in the history of....well, video games! Oops, wait - I haven't played Vice City yet, so that could well change my opinions. But for now, if you don't have this superb, addictive, gripping, hilarious, enthralling, exciting and downright perfect game, then why not?! It is the perfect example of how a game should be made, covering all aspects in the spectrum of what entertain us as a "civilised" nation. Don't hesitate, buy it now!