I LOVE Grand Theft Auto… and I’m not talking about stealing cars . I mean its pretty much got it all- awesome gameplay , memorable characters , and of course plenty of ‘tude which has kept the series in my crosshairs since the beginning. Besides that, GTA’s revolutionary approach to accessible go anywhere-do anything gaming mechanics has made it a true bar-setter in the video game industry making it one of the most coveted new releases during the modern era. Everyone likes freedom after all! Even if it results in foregoing your current objective for the sake of raising your wanted level as high as it can get for a thrilling (and unproductive) police chase through the city streets. Now that’s a sandbox I don’t mind playing in!
To put Grand Theft Auto in its proper context, I have to go way back to my childhood long before it ever even existed. I can still remember having fun conversations with my friends about what would be the ultimate game. “Wouldn’t it be cool if you could go anywhere you wanted, make friends or enemies with whoever, and choose to be a good guy or a villain in a setting that resembled real-life?” we asked ourselves after a round of playing the linear games that we were used to. “Yeah, and there was no time limit, and you could make changes to the world however you wanted!” It was this yearning for imaginary freedom that served as a catalyst for not only myself but my entire generation as flocks of gen-xers grew up and began to shape the world to their desires.
Now to be fair, the sandbox genre (or open-world/free-roaming) had been around for some time long before GTA reared its ugly head. Titles such as Elite and Sid Meier’s Pirates (both released on PC in the 80’s) were games I remembered liking as a kid but were a little beyond my comprehension. Besides the steeper learning curve that they required (compared to the games that I was used to), they were also set in realms outside of modern reality which was cool but not exactly what I was desiring. Plus, I only recall having access to a computer at school or my dad’s work since we didn’t own one which severely limited my chances of diving into even more PC stuff on a regular basis. Regardless, I did play them some and was mesmerized by even the idea of the freedom that they offered which sort of fell in parallel with the fun thoughts that my friends and I had discussed before.
The earliest example of this style that I was able to really enjoy thoroughly was the first Zelda game which utilized a similar free-roaming formula to a rousing success (currently ranked #1 on my Top 10 Favorite NES Games of All Time list) which cemented my feelings of satisfaction towards exploration and progression at my own pace further than it had ever been before. Incorporating easy-to-pick-up controls with a rewarding adventure that encourages free-will discovery, The Legend of Zelda solidified the combination better than anything else that came before it and truly set the mark for accessibility among the action/rpg genre. Only problem is, the setting is still not based in the gritty harshness of our modern reality which still left me wanting a little bit.
Meanwhile as the 90’s continued, ‘tude became as prevalent in the lexicon of American culture as it had ever been before as video games began to steer towards more realistic storylines and settings resembling the action movies of the era (… an excellent time indeed !!!). My introduction to GTA was on the school bus as a friend of mine had played it the night before. “Dude, you can drive around a city, blow people up, do missions if you want to, and steal cars… it’s GREAT!!!” he ranted with joy which immediately made me want to try it despite the brief synopsis. Further research revealed that it was a crime-simulation and you could rob banks and perform assassinations at your leisure in addition to causing all the wanton destruction of your hearts desire at a moments notice. “I need to find this game.” I told myself.
Searching through my town like a mouse looking for cheese, I was stoked to find a copy of the very first Grand Theft Auto for the PS1 at a local rental store and dive in full-bore. Right away, I was mesmerized by the feeling of absolute freedom that was provided by trotting about a realistic city with an intelligent interface. Not only was the world alive with tons of NPC’s, but they acted like normal people by walking down the sidewalk, obeying traffic laws, etc. which (of course) made it all the better to forego pacifism and bring the mayhem like a sugar-rushed adolescent to these poor virtual souls ! I swear, there’s just something about rampaging in GTA that comes natural as plods of random computer controlled characters are put right in your path like lambs being lead to slaughter. Its as if your sole purpose for existence is to end theirs which is equal parts fun and distracting as mission progression is exchanged for self-corrupting criminal satisfaction (a recurring “problem” in the series).
Luckily, the game at least teaches a little about consequence as you discover that the same algorithm that governs the NPC cycle also controls “the law” as police are dispatched to put an end to your debauchery. At this point, your choices are simple- get busted, get wasted, or get away. Further insubordination by your character in any way will increase your “wanted level” which raises the attention that you’ll receive from the cops so the decision is yours as far as how far you want to take it which is awesome! This level of gaming liberation tickled my fancy right away and I had barely even touched the main objective yet. “Now we’re getting somewhere.”
Diving further into the game revealed incredible depth such as being able to drive a taxi and pick up fares for extra cash, stealing random cars and selling them for profit, and of course performing various missions for the local underbelly which is your main agenda. It was like Zelda mixed with Goodfellas and I knew instantly that this was at the very least encroaching on the fringe of the ideas that my friends and I had discussed before though it still had some growing up to do. Right away, the main culprit of criticism was the graphics, they were hideous! The grainy sprites were barely discernible as real people and the top-down perspective made driving at fast speeds a chore since you could never see far enough in front of your car. Clearly, the i.p. was on the right track but some adjustments needed to be made.
Subsequent sequels (Grand Theft Auto Mission Pack #1: London 1969 and Grand Theft Auto 2 ) expanded on the current top-down formula but many of the same problems persisted from before namely the fact that the 2-d viewpoint itself was “reality-breaking” and an instant pull-back from your gritty virtual surroundings. The obvious fix was for the series to go to 3-d but the idea seemed extreme at the time considering the sheer amount of processing power that would be required to run a living-breathing city in three dimensions. Fortuitously, a new console generation was beginning with the arrival of the PS2 which helped this endeavor and Grand Theft Auto III became a reality shortly after. Now you could score points, complete missions, and cause unsolicited destruction in a gloriously 3-D world ! “Getting warmer!”
A major turning point for the series, the jump in the dimensional department for Grand Theft Auto was not only necessary but smooth in execution as many other great contemporary game franchises had tried and failed to transition during this time (*Cough* Castlevania). Literally every single aspect of the gameplay had improved from the driving to the shooting to the recognizable characters who populated the city and brought everything to life. Now this was cool! The sprawling virtual metropolis was inundated with looming skyscrapers, stores, houses, etc. and dotted with somewhat intelligent NPC’s who were WAY more interesting to interact with than before. Time for some REAL rampaging!
With the enhancement into the three dimensional fray a monumental success, Grand Theft Auto III marked itself as the tone-setter for the series and maintained a “killer app” status for sometime during its generation however developers stayed vigilant in the brainstorming department as they worked on improvements to the existing formula. The following expansion, Grand Theft Auto Vice City , introduced a new locale to players while also coating the car stealing crime fest in a radical acid wash of 80’s awesomeness ! Not only was the new setting fun and appropriate, but the inclusion of tons of known Hollywood talent to the in-game dialogue (such as Burt Reynolds, Dennis Hopper, Tom Sizemore, and Ray Liotta as main character Tommy Vercetti) further increased the legitimacy of the Grand Theft Auto series as something much more than just a murder simulator. This same idea was expanded to farther reaches in the following release, Grand Theft Auto San Andreas , which increased the map size to ridiculous proportions while draping the world in a super-cool 90’s gangster style which fit the crime-spree gameplay like a glove . Now you could customize your characters look, play a ton of fun minigames, swim in water (finally), and a whole lot more in addition to performing missions and freely causing all the useless carnage that you’ve come to expect from the series. “This just keeps getting better and better!”
As the series progressed, new offshoots were introduced to the mix to help placate the loyal fanbase until the next major release. Grand Theft Auto Advance , the first GTA title designed specifically for a handheld system, brought gaming criminality back to its top-down roots to somewhat mixed results. Whether or not it was necessary to have this free-roaming romp on a free-roaming system was irrelevant because… hey… we got it! This continued with PSP/PS2 releases Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories both of which being more modern 3-d style GTA games. While these titles were worthy enough entries to the series overall, ultimately they felt like appetizers and the gaming community was startling to salivate for the main course as yet another console generation began to materialize.
With the arrival of the new PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 marking the next stage of gaming evolution, Grand Theft Auto IV came with it bringing the most alive and realistic characters/city to date. Combining incredible new visuals and physics with the already-fun recipe of do anything you want at anytime gameplay , GTA IV further catapulted the series to legendary status with a much more in-depth story than had been experienced previously. It was a little bit of a trade-off at first since many of the fun customizable options (such as changing the protagonists appearance, modifying your cars, etc.) from the last main entry (GTA San Andreas) had been removed but it turned out to be worth it as the dynamics of the new engine breathed even more life into the already very much alive series by adding the most eye-popping graphics and feels to date. In addition to this, GTA IV also brought new innovations like being able to go into comedy clubs, computers with access to a fictional internet, actually having to break windows and hotwire cars to steal them, televisions complete with ridiculous shows, and a whole lot more! Despite some initial criticism, the new improvements in the cosmetic and gameplay department yet again progressed the crime-simulator to new heights and Grand Theft Auto IV became the next standard-bearer for the ultimate sandbox title (at least for the time being).
As had become customary in the series, Grand Theft Auto came out with some expansions (and one more handheld title, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars ) in between main entry releases. In Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and the Damned , players get to take part in a motorcycle gang campaign which sort of hearkens back to the San Andreas days of appropriate environment for the game type. I mean, even though there has always been a huge variety of different things you can do in the world of GTA (some of them even healthy legal things like delivering pizza’s or taking in the sights of the surrounding landscape), going ape$&*# and disrupting the peace has always been the name of the game and it just feels more proper when your playing as a badass ‘tudey protagonist who fits the bill for this sort of thing. Meanwhile, Grand Theft Auto IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony brought even more to the GTA table by providing players with another excellent story centered around the glitzy nightclub lifestyle of Liberty City which (once again) fell in-line with the surrounding criminal chaos perfectly. Yet another round of successful “down-time” between giant releases as the momentum of Grand Theft Auto reached a new (and uncharted) pinnacle that continued to push the series closer and closer to the “ultimate game” that my friends and I had dreamed about as kids.
Just like Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto IV and its expansions did an amazing job of pushing the franchise to awesome new levels of fun and satisfaction keeping the masses busy and mesmerized the whole time however rumors began to swirl of the next big entry into the series which instantly got my attention. Going for a slightly different approach from before, developers decided to continue to utilize existing hardware instead of waiting for the next system jump and Grand Theft Auto V was brought out towards the end of the PS3/Xbox 360 lifecycle and then later released for the newest generation consoles (PS4/Xbox One) with some graphical enhancements. Right away, the game promised an action movie campaign centered around 3 main characters instead of just 1 that could be switched to on the fly which seemed like a super cool idea and it delivered in spades! Also, the move back to the San Andreas map was a welcome one for me since Grand Theft Auto’s fictional California setting is (so far) my favorite backdrop for this slayfest of a game. There’s mountains, beaches, city streets, desert towns, you name it, all fruitfully filled with awesomely dynamic and interactive NPC’s just begging for your cannon to be loose enough to give them the destruction that they deserve ! “Now we’re talking!”
A true gaming masterpiece, Grand Theft Auto V’s world is so amazingly alive and a marvel to behold that sometimes just avoiding its beauty can be a chore. Everything feels incredibly dramatic in scope as a literal full-fledged virtual city ebbs and flows with realistic precision. Even the nature around you feels close to real life as the sky blazes through a postcard-looking color spectrum of pure beauty above you and the ocean churns with an eerie unpredictability below. Best part is, both aren’t just for looking at as flying vehicles of all varieties make soaring through the skies a cinch while boats allow for tons of free-roaming about the rough ocean waters. Even below the depths is accessible (wasn’t expecting that) with scuba gear and a submersible which allows for further exploration and treasure hunting possibilities. “Well there goes all my free time.”
In addition to the amazing environment that can be found in GTA V, tons of fun new minigames have been provided for players to pass the time during their stay such as golf, tennis, watching movies, etc. while also giving back many fan-requested customizing options such as buying clothes, tattoos, modding your cars, and so on. The level of character manipulation jumps even further when playing online as gamers are able to create their very own GTA avatar and change their appearance to their liking while also buying cars, planes, houses, garages, etc. WOW! On top of that, players can join each other in a virtual hub city where all sorts of madness can take place upon multiple different criminal prospects striving for that brass ring of monetary success. There’s pvp deathmatches, intense co-op missions/heists, crazy races that have to be experienced to be believed, motorcycle gang opportunities, and so much more! The amount of content that can be uncovered here will cover 100’s of hours of gameplay easy catapulting the value tenfold as players continue launching the title long after they’ve already beaten the single-player campaign. Plus, with the new age of gaming allowing for regular comprehensive updates, expansions may be a thing of the past as GTA V’s online world can get tweaked and improved on the fly furthering the already grand title into the stratosphere of excellence! “Ultimate game perhaps?”
So that about covers the amazingly cool and envelope-pushing Grand Theft Auto series. From its humble top-down PS1 roots up to the current robust world of GTA V, The ‘Tude Dude has been there for it all and marks the series down as one of his favorites. Now that I’m older, I can see that the “ultimate game” could probably never exist since we as people never stop growing and yearning for more but I applaud the efforts of the incredible Grand Theft Auto franchise which seems to be closer to the ideas that we dreamed about as kids than any other game that I’ve come across. Clearly, my friends and I weren’t the only ones who had conversations like these as a new generation of game designers brought their ideas of imaginary freedom to the world which helped pave the road and set the tone for the modern sandbox genre. One thing I’ve learned, whether or not they ever achieve ultimate game status for one of their titles is irrelevant because I’ll always be excited to dive into the ‘tudey sandbox again and see how much closer they get with each new release. “Let’s go GTA VI!”
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