Grand Theft Auto III is a 2001 action-adventure game developed by DMA Design and published by Rockstar Games. It is the first main entry in the Grand Theft Auto series since 1999’s Grand Theft Auto 2. Set within the fictional Liberty City, loosely based on New York City, the game follows a criminal named Claude as he attempts to exact revenge on his girlfriend for betraying and leaving him for dead, and quickly becomes entangled in a world of gangs, crime and corruption. The game is played from a third-person perspective and its world is navigated on foot or by vehicle. The open world design lets players freely roam the three islands of Liberty City.
GTA 3 Mobile was released in Dec 2011.
Development was shared between DMA Design, based in Edinburgh, and Rockstar, based in New York City. Much of the development work involved transforming popular elements from the Grand Theft Auto series into a fully 3D world for the first time. The game was delayed following the September 11 attacks to allow the team to change references and gameplay deemed inappropriate. It was released in October 2001 for the PlayStation 2, in May 2002 for Microsoft Windows, and in October 2003 for the Xbox.
Upon release, Grand Theft Auto III received critical acclaim, with praise particularly directed at its concept and gameplay. However, the game also generated controversy, with criticism directed at its depictions of violence and sex likeother GTA game San Andreas , Vice city . It became the best-selling video game of 2001, and has sold over 14.5 million copies since.
Considered by many critics as one of the most significant titles of the sixth generation of video games, and one of the greatest video games of all time, it won a number of year-end accolades, including Game of the Year awards from several gaming publications. Since its release, it has received ports to many different gaming platforms.
An enhanced version of the game was released on mobile platforms in 2011, for the game’s tenth anniversary. Its successor, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, was released in October 2002, and two prequels, Advance and Liberty City Stories, were released in 2004 and 2005, respectively.
Gameplay –
Grand Theft Auto III is an action-adventure game played from a third-person perspective. Players complete missions—linear scenarios with set objectives—to progress through the story. It is possible to have several active missions running at one time, as some missions require players to wait for further instructions or events.
Outside of missions, players can freely roam the game’s open world, and have the ability to complete optional side missions. Liberty City is composed of three boroughs: Portland, Staunton Island, and Shoreside Vale; the latter two areas become unlocked as the story progresses.
Players may run, jump or use vehicles to navigate the game’s world] In combat, auto-aim can be used as assistance against enemies. Should players take damage, their health meter can be fully regenerated through the use of health pick-ups. Body armour can be used to absorb gunshots and explosive damage, but is used up in the process. When health is entirely depleted, gameplay stops and players respawn at the nearest hospital, at the expense of losing armour, weapons, and an amount of money.
If players commit crimes while playing, the game’s law enforcement agencies may respond as indicated by a “wanted” meter in the head-up display (HUD).
On the meter, the displayed stars indicate the current wanted level (for example, at the maximum six-star level, efforts by law enforcement to incapacitate players become very aggressive). Law enforcement officers will search for players who leave the wanted vicinity. The wanted meter enters a cooldown mode and eventually recedes when players are hidden from the officers’ line of sight.
The game lets players control the mute criminal Claude. During the story, Claude meets various new characters from gangs. As players complete missions for different gangs and criminal organisations, fellow gang members will often defend players, while rival gang members will recognise players and subsequently shoot on sight.
While free roaming the game world, players may engage in activities such as a vigilante minigame, a fire fighting activity, a paramedic service and a taxi cab service. Completion of these activities grants players with context-specific rewards; for example, completing the vigilante mission allows players to bribe police after committing a crime.
PLOT –
In 2001, a small-time criminal named Claude is betrayed by his girlfriend Catalina during a bank heist outside Liberty City. Left for dead, Claude is arrested, but escapes during his transfer to prison when members of the Colombian Cartel ambush his transport to abduct another prisoner. During his escape, Claude befriends bomb expert 8-Ball, who then introduces him to the Leone Mafia family.
Working for various Leone family members, Claude ultimately earns the respect of Don Salvatore Leone who, after discovering that the Cartel are manufacturing a new street drug to fund their expansion into Liberty City, instructs Claude to destroy their floating drug lab with 8-Ball’s help.
Shortly after, Salvatore asks Claude to deal with a minor problem, but his trophy wife Maria reveals it to be a set-up. Claiming that Salvatore has become paranoid and intends to kill him, Claude takes her with him to Staunton Island. Maria introduces Claude to the Yakuza, led by Asuka Kasen and her brother Kenji, who assign him work after he assassinates Salvatore to cut his ties with the Leone family.
During this time, Claude also meets corrupt LCPD detective Ray Machowski, whom he later helps flee the city, and media mogul Donald Love, who has him carry out a hit on Kenji under the guise of a Cartel attack to start a gang war that will allow him to obtain real estate for his businesses. Eventually, Claude encounters Catalina, now the leader of the Cartel, at a construction site during one of Love’s jobs, only for her to escape.
Asuka has the Yakuza take over the site, blaming the Cartel for her brother’s death, and tortures Catalina’s partner Miguel, whom she left behind, for information. Under her direction, Claude starts dismantling the Cartel’s operations, including their drug distribution network, earning Catalina’s wrath. In retaliation, she murders Miguel and Asuka, and kidnaps Maria, ransoming her for $500,000.
When Claude meets with her to hand over the ransom payment, Catalina double-crosses him once again, leading to him escaping the trap and killing her when she attempts to escape by helicopter. With Maria saved, she and Claude flee the scene, though as she complains about what happened to her, a gunshot rings out.
Development –
The core development team of Grand Theft Auto III consisted of about 23 people at DMA Design in Edinburgh, who worked closely with publisher Rockstar Games in New York City. By early 2001, the team had designed the city, cars, and some weapons. An online multiplayer mode was initially planned for the game, but was ultimately dropped due to time and resource limitations. Producer Leslie Benzies described Grand Theft Auto III as a “crime simulation game”.
The game was released for the PlayStation 2 on 22 October 2001 in North America. When porting the game to Microsoft Windows, the team delayed it from the PlayStation 2 release in order to ensure quality, citing issues with the simultaneous platform release of previous Grand Theft Auto games.
Open World Design –
Grand Theft Auto III is considered to be the first 3D game in the series, using Criterion Games’ RenderWare game engine. When designing the game, the development team expanded upon concepts introduced in the previous Grand Theft Auto games. Benzies stated that the intention was to recreate the “freedom and diversity” of the previous games in a “living, breathing 3D world”, using the power of the PlayStation 2 to do so.
The console’s ability to use DVDs, an improvement over the PlayStation’s limit to CDs, allowed the team to store more data, such as animations, music and environments. Despite this, the team found it difficult to fit the game into the PlayStation 2’s 32 megabytes of RAM, due to the scale. The game’s size also created difficulties for the testers, due to the variety of options. Benzies felt that creating a living city was the “underlying principle” of the game’s concept during development. Executive producer Sam Houser felt that the game’s 3D element allowed the “chemistry of the team [to come] together perfectly for the first time”.
Sales –
Grand Theft Auto III was the highest-selling game of 2001 in the United States, selling over two million units by February 2002. The game was also the second best-selling game of 2002, behind only its sequel. Take-Two stock significantly increased following the game’s launch, and the game was included in PlayStation’s Greatest Hits selection. In the United States, the game had sold 5.35 million units by June 2004, and 6.55 million units by December 2007. The computer version accounted for 420,000 sales and $16.9 million in earnings by August 2006 in the United States.
It was the country’s 34th best-selling computer game between January 2000 and August 2006. In Japan, Grand Theft Auto III sold about 120,000 copies in its first week, and roughly 300,000 by December 2003. The number rose above 350,000 copies by January 2008. The game earned a “Diamond” award in the United Kingdom, indicating over one million sales; it was the first game to achieve this milestone in the region. By March 2008, the game had sold 14.5 million units worldwide.
Reception –
GTA 3 mostly received favourable reviews across all platforms. Players praised its gameplay, story, and challenging missions. But many criticsed the game for its violence, crime and sex scences. Let’s take a look at reception of game across all platforms.
GTA 3 Windows version –
When Grand Theft Auto III was released to Microsoft Windows in May 2002, it received similar critical acclaim. Metacritic calculated an average score of 93 out of 100, indicating “universal acclaim”, based on 20 reviews. It was the highest-rated Windows game on Metacritic in 2002. Reviewers liked the visual enhancements and control improvements, but criticised the port for its demanding system requirements.
The in-game features and controls in the port were generally well received. IGN’s Tal Blevins praised the higher precision of the mouse controls, finding the aiming mechanic more precise.
GTA 3 Mobile version –
To download GTA 3 on your android click here.
When Grand Theft Auto III was released to mobile devices in December 2011, it received generally positive reviews. Metacritic calculated an average score of 80 out of 100, based on 26 reviews. Reviewers liked the enhanced visuals, but criticism was directed at the touchscreen controls.
The touchscreen controls received a mixed response. Eurogamer’s Dan Whitehead appreciated the driving mechanics, but felt that moving on-foot is “a flaky way of navigating” the world, and criticised the “clumsy” shooting mechanics as most of the guns cannot be manually targeted.
To read about best GTA game GTA San Andreas for mobile click here
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