Grand Theft Auto
Since we’ve seen the most successful and most recent offering of this historical game series, it’s best if we take a peek at the one that started it all. Reverse to approximately 11 years ago, when the Sony Playstation was the hottest console on the planet. Pop in one of the most controversial games of all time, and start some criminal rock and roll in the virtual world of Grand Theft Auto.
Originally meant to be named Race N Chase, Grand Theft Auto was developed by Rockstar Games – which was originally named DMA Design. In this game, you take on the role of a small-time criminal who wants to make it big. The way to do it here is to hook up with one of the big bosses and do jobs and missions for them. These include stealing cars, dealing drugs, and of course, killing specific targets. There are more than 200 different tasks at hand in the original Grand Theft Auto, and they take place in three key cities. There’s Liberty City which is a virtual rendition of New York. You have Vice City, which looks an awful lot like Miami. Then there’s San Andreas, which is actually San Francisco. All these cities are strewn with crime syndicates, street gangs, organized crime, and corrupt police forcers. It’s truly a sandbox for any criminal wannabe in GTA. What really set this game apart from its contemporaries is the freedom it presents to the players. Grand Theft Auto players are free to roam and do most anything they wish in the towns. Of course they have missions to help them along.
In terms of weaponry, there were only four to choose from – but that was enough to satisfy any late 90s shooter player’s thirst for virtual blood. You can handle the pistol, a flamethrower, a machine gun, and even a rocket launcher. That’s great firepower for any shooter game. What’s a little jarring though is the top-down view of the game. It zooms out when you’re in a car, to give you vantage point of the road while you speed along it. This is not so handy for those who are accustomed to first person shooters. The controls were subjected to criticism as well. Navigation also proved to be a problem. Though an arrow indicator was onscreen to guide the player, it just gives the general direction, so encountering roadblocks and dead-ends was frequent.
An upside to this original game, which became a tradition that was carried on, is its hip and happening soundtrack. With a plot that’s this streetwise, you can only expect a superb music track to go with the gaming attitude you need. The collector’s edition PC port even included a separate soundtrack CD. The sound effects are also something worth mentioning. For a 1998 game, what they lacked in graphics, they made up for in terms of audio.
Of course, being a game wherein you have to play a gun-toting car-jacking police-dodging crook wannabe, it can’t go without controversies. Think of it this way, it’s just an R-18 action movie. The only difference here, in this one, you control the main character.
