• Platform:   Windows 98 / NT / Me / XP
• BBFC Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over. Not for sale to persons under age 18. By placing an order for this product, you declare that you are 18 years of age or over.
• Media: Video Game

This PC version is even better looking than the PS2 one was, with even more opportunity for flashy lighting effects, over the top explosions and beautifully rendered mayhem. This is silky-smooth stuff and the graphical details are truly awesome as you'll see the first time you carjack a taxi and take off like a lunatic, mowing down the innocent.

Sonically, GTA 3 cannot be beaten; in-car tunes are provided from one of nine radio stations, each with its own distinct feel, and the sounds of the city are all here too; walk around for a while and you'll hear far-off police sirens, motorists abusing one another and general chit-chat as people go about their business.

The game is very open-ended. Its major focus is the mission-based goals--start out as a convict accidentally sprung from jail and work your way up to become a shining light in one of the city's controlling gangs. If that gets dull, hijack a cab, police car, ambulance or fire engine and carry out missions suitable for your mode of transport, and if all else fails, find the ludicrously dangerous-looking ramps and hit them hard for some big air and big cash bonuses.

It has to be said that GTA 3 fully warrants its 18 certificate, dealing as it does with mob warfare, indiscriminate murders, auto crimes, prostitution and more. The language gets a little "fruity" from time to time and you can't help but wince as you watch innocents get in the way of a good firefight. At the end of the day, though, this is a game and nothing more; thankfully, it's a good game, a very, very good game in fact, so buy it now. Or we'll send Luigi and the boys round.--Chris Russell