Grand Theft Auto V hit stores not too long ago. Like most people out there, I was extremely tempted to get out and pick up a copy for myself. One afternoon I almost gave into this urge, but while en route to the store one important thing occurred to me: why should I buy the newest installment in the GTA series when I've never beaten any of the other games? Now, that's not to say that I don't own any of the other games... in fact, I own all of them (well, GTA:IV got lost in the move). So basic Back-Blogging logic prevailed on my trip to the store and encouraged me to head home instead and finish these prequels before embarking on the fifth title of the series.
Ah, GTA:III... you bring back such memories. I never actually owned this game when it first came out, but just about all my friends did. So, I got a fair amount of playtime in. It was mostly just toying around in the cars, though. Exploring the city, shooting up innocent civilians, seeing how long you could survive when you earned a full wanted level. Good times. Even experiencing all this, I never had the opportunity to beat the game until I got the GTA:III and GTA: Vice City combo pack for Xbox a few years later. (Can't even remember how I came into possession of these games anyways? Something tells me Luke Scanlon, but I really have no idea.). Long after acquiring the games, I finally beat the first one.
Even as dated as the graphics are, it was still a lot of fun. Solid driving mechanics, fun gameplay, but there's not much in terms of character development. You're just some degenerate criminal recently sprung from the clinker who gets passed around from crime family to crime family until the game has nowhere else to go. It's not a big problem, but it's definitely something the future games in the franchise have improved upon. The game is also fairly challenging. I would be lying if I said I didn't use any cheats... but I did use them quite a bit, in fact. In the end, I think that's something really endearing about the game. It has cheat codes! Can't remember the last time I played a game where I could punch in some random combination of buttons and all of a sudden a tank would appear in front of me. Miss stupid shit like that.
The one thing out of the whole game I enjoyed the most - and the one thing that I still remembered clearly after all these years from when I first played the game - are the radio stations. All those songs and wacky ads. I don't know how or why, but I could instantly recite along with all the radio shows even though it's been at least seven years since I've last played this game. Crazy.
Anyways, I'm sure reviewing this game any farther would just be an exercise in futility as I bet I'm the only one on the planet who's never beaten it... Well, until now.
Next up, Vice City.
Ah, GTA:III... you bring back such memories. I never actually owned this game when it first came out, but just about all my friends did. So, I got a fair amount of playtime in. It was mostly just toying around in the cars, though. Exploring the city, shooting up innocent civilians, seeing how long you could survive when you earned a full wanted level. Good times. Even experiencing all this, I never had the opportunity to beat the game until I got the GTA:III and GTA: Vice City combo pack for Xbox a few years later. (Can't even remember how I came into possession of these games anyways? Something tells me Luke Scanlon, but I really have no idea.). Long after acquiring the games, I finally beat the first one.
Even as dated as the graphics are, it was still a lot of fun. Solid driving mechanics, fun gameplay, but there's not much in terms of character development. You're just some degenerate criminal recently sprung from the clinker who gets passed around from crime family to crime family until the game has nowhere else to go. It's not a big problem, but it's definitely something the future games in the franchise have improved upon. The game is also fairly challenging. I would be lying if I said I didn't use any cheats... but I did use them quite a bit, in fact. In the end, I think that's something really endearing about the game. It has cheat codes! Can't remember the last time I played a game where I could punch in some random combination of buttons and all of a sudden a tank would appear in front of me. Miss stupid shit like that.
The one thing out of the whole game I enjoyed the most - and the one thing that I still remembered clearly after all these years from when I first played the game - are the radio stations. All those songs and wacky ads. I don't know how or why, but I could instantly recite along with all the radio shows even though it's been at least seven years since I've last played this game. Crazy.
Anyways, I'm sure reviewing this game any farther would just be an exercise in futility as I bet I'm the only one on the planet who's never beaten it... Well, until now.
Next up, Vice City.
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