Hold
the horses, Grand Theft Auto 3.. isn’t that a race car game
about mugging people and running from cops? Err… yeah. What is
it doing on JustAdventure? Good question, because it is not an adventure
game. Truthfully, it isn’t a pure action game either, it is not a
sim, not a sports title, not a racing a game, its not a shooter. Ok,
I take that back, it is all of the above. Truthfully, GTA 3
is whatever you make it out to be. The design and the game is so open
ended, it will appeal to anyone who plays it, and I swear, I know,
and will show you at the end of this review.

What the Hell is he talking
about? I know you are asking yourself that question. Grand Theft
Auto and Grand Theft Auto 2 weren’t really that fun to
play, certainly nowhere near perfect. That’s my opinion too. I hated
them both, trust me. Grand Theft Auto 3 is nothing like the first
two.

What
makes this game so special? Ever start up a new game and think “that
is amazing, wow”? After a couple hours of play, the novelty wears
off on you, and you are left with a good game. You start thinking
things like, wouldn’t it be cool if they added this, or wouldn’t it
be nice to have a little bit more freedom to do other things. Every
time you boot up GTA3, you find out something else that they
have done in the world. You will play this game for hours at times,
having so much fun just exploring that you don’t even play the missions.

Still
don’t understand what I am saying? Let me give you examples. Grand
Theft Auto 3 is about stealing cars. Steal a taxi, and you can
pick people up and drop them off for fares. Steal a cop car; you can
go bust people on vigilante missions. Steal a fire truck, and you
are off to put out fires. Some cars that you take are good for racing,
or stunt obstacle. See that shiny new sports car on display in the
store? No problem, drive your truck through the front window, and
make off with your new convertible.

The
city you play in is large, divided into 3 sections. You can walk around
the city for hours. You don’t even need a car to make good money,
get a gun or a bat and go for muggings. Secret bonuses are found all
over the city, and you can walk into different stores and actually
do some shopping. People will say things to you, often rude, as you
pass by.

Then
it is off to steal a car. Just walk in front of one, they may or may
not stop. Throw the driver out, and hope he isn’t the mafia with a
machine gun waiting to take his car back. Step on the gas, and you
are off to the races. You can go get missions, which there are way
too many to count, and do nice things for the community such as; driving
prostitutes to the police mans ball, stealing peoples car and wiring
them with explosives, performing hits or just racing mayhem.

Graphics
are visually pleasing, although the limitations of resolutions on
console systems still come into play. While I have seen more detailed
cars and characters in the past, I have not seen them in an environment
one-tenth this size. The graphical scope of the city is remarkable;
you will feel like you are driving through a real city, not just down
a rail track. Weighing the awesome scope of graphics versus the good
quality, I can only conclude they are amazing.

The
sound is surprising. Top quality voice actors contribute to the game.
What is even more astonishing is the music. When you get into the
car, you can adjust the radio stations to your tastes. There are several
hours of quality music and talk radio that you can listen to, and
it is good talk radio. I would sometimes stop just to listen to the
outrageous commentary, it is that good.

Now, for the warning. This
game is not for children. If you let your children play this game,
you should not be allowed to keep them. The game involves offing people,
dealing with prostitutes and many mature themes. The game offends
me at times, and I used to be a criminal lawyer. Be careful, and realize
that the game does include many mature themes.

Here
is where I normally conclude my articles by repeating the major points
of the article. Well, I’m not going to do that, instead I am going
to leave you with a story. My father never played games while I grew
up. I went up to visit a few weeks ago and brought my Playstation
2 with me. I loaded up the game and after a few minutes of watching,
he took the controls. Without ever using the controller, in a few
hours he was running fire truck missions and power sliding corners.
Before I left, he mentioned how much he liked the game. It is really
that good.

Final Grade: A+

System Requirements:

Playstation
2 version:
Playstation 2

PC Version
(coming soon):