Kentzz reviews | Grand Theft Auto III on PC | [ENG]

Since Grand Theft Auto III is undoubtedly one of the best all-around games ever made, this is definitely good news for those who have been patiently waiting for it. This is obviously shown by the success of GTA III for PS2 and, as a result, we will certainly see more similar games in the near future. Essentially, GTA III takes place as you in a gangster movie and lets you choose your own fate. As an aspiring thief in Liberty City, you've got to make your way up the crime ladder by doing favors to gang bosses, crooked cops, and others who need someone to do their dirty work. The plot is not complicated, but there are a few twists along the way. Initially, some of the occupations range from stealing a vehicle to building a car bomb. It's to pick up a particular lady friend from your new employer. As the game progresses, missions get even more challenging, risky, important, and as a result, they cost a lot more. They're risky jobs, so everyone has to do them, don't they?

Liberty City is divided into three distinct areas: Portland, an industrial zone, Shoreside Vale, a central business district, and Staunton Island, a suburban neighborhood. You start in Portland, but once you get to a certain stage of the game, you can take a tunnel/bridge to the other locations. Each of these areas is distinct in many respects, including the atmosphere, the gangs on the streets, and the vehicles on the roads. The on-screen map makes it easy to explore the area, but there's also a big fold-out map for the specifics that come with the game. There's a hiding spot in each field where you can store cars and lie low for a while to let things cool down. You can also save the game by going to these locations.

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Obviously, one of the main components of this game is car-jacking, which, while simple, is quite fun. Much of the time, when you're stealing a vehicle, the driver gets frightened and lets you get away with their car. But then they get angry and try to fight you, so it's still going to be more interesting. It is necessary for those missions to have an acceptable vehicle, and they have very different characteristics. Small, low-rise sports cars handle big things and even help you get out of bad weather, but they might not be able to take as much punishment as a larger truck, for example. Sometimes, you have to change vehicles based on the situation and state of the current vehicle. With the cops on your heels, often you get rammed or accidentally smash stuff enough that the cars get hit hard and then smoke and then blast. Harm modeling on vehicles is really realistic, and when the hood comes down, you can see the engine, etc.

What's great about this game is that it's non-linear. There is no fixed order to accomplish the missions, and there is no way for you to complete your unique goals. Basically, there are various bosses that turn up on the map, who live in different areas of the world, and when you win their confidence, you will avoid getting jobs out of them. You end up getting involved with planes, boats, rail, subway, and lots of road vehicles to complete these things, but even though the gameplay might not be incredibly diverse, it's still very fun. Although the PC version doesn't deliver any new quests or other extra gameplay features, it's still a blast to play through.

Also, there are several other elements of the game that are really different from the others that make you have extra fun while you're not on a task. For example, you can steal a bus, a police car, a fire truck, or an ambulance and turn on a sub-mission that allows you to play a taxi driver, a police officer, a firefighter, or a paramedic. In addition, you will clash with people on the highway, which tends to be the most fun for a lot of people. They're innocent, yes, but hey, that's just a game. These naive viewers are always hit during high-speed pursuits, and they're sickly humorous.

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In addition to the standard method of hitting and kicking, there are a variety of weapons in the game, including a baseball bat, handgun, Uzi, shotgun, M-16, AK-47, assault rifle, flamethrower, rocket launcher, grenades, and Molotov cocktails. Needless to add, a great deal of damage can be achieved after these guns have been bought, which can be accomplished by purchasing them from the nearest Ammu-nation supermarket. Not all of them, though, are available at once. You make money by completing the tasks and getting them from the people on the streets.

Grand Theft Auto III looks pretty amazing, despite a few hiccups, but this game looks pretty awesome. The vast deserts and all the moving objects are enough to leave you in awe. In contrast, disruption to cars, people, residences, and street items could not be more realistic. Owing to the number of individual objects and the overall land area that can be covered, the level of specificity is very high. Often, both the time of day and the temperature are graphically accurately described. The rain looks amazingly realistic, and the sunset sky looks exactly as it should be.

The GTA III sound is phenomenal, nothing has been lost in this department. Each component in this game produces a distinct sound effect. This includes all kinds of vehicles, weapons, objects, and characters. Muscle cars rumble as sports cars produce a cleaner exhaust note, the pistol doesn't sound like an attack weapon, both in terms of tone and level; and objects make very odd noises when you smash into them, depending on what they are. A very cool new feature in this game is a radio station that uses your own mp3 files to blend. This channel can be tuned in because, in a car, it's just like the other entertaining default channels, and it also helps break the monotony. Don't get me wrong, all the radio shows are funny and you should listen to all of them, but there's a stage that you've seen all this way too many times. This is where the mp3 station comes in handy. Also, unlike many other games, GTA III doesn't just play mp3s all the time without any thought about blocking out the other sounds.

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Another cool aspect that is only available in the PC version is the ability to save replays to a file. So if you pull off a terrific joke to get away from the sun or wreak an extraordinary amount of havoc in the city. You can also import custom skins into the game, so instead of having the standard skin, you can make your own skins.

At the end of the day, GTA III is really impressive. With upgraded graphics features, powerful 3D sound support, an mp3 radio station, and more, this game continues to reign as the top dog, and some will continue to be balanced against it.