Betrayed, screwed over, and left to take the bum rap by the woman you once proudly called the love of your life, you're now seeking sweet, sweet revenge. No, it's not a game based on my first love, it's Rockstar Games' Grand Theft Auto 3; now back on the PC where it rightfully belongs…and it's going to rock your world all over again.
GTA 3, more than any other game, set the tone for the direction that the gaming industry is headed in. This review will assume that you have not been living under a rock for the past year, and are somewhat familiar with Grand Theft Auto 3 in all it's goodness. To sum it up for those not in the know, (i.e., heathens) in GTA 3, you're a thug for hire, and you can do anything you want to. You can kill, you can maim, you can slaughter, and you can run people down, all at your convenience. You can pick up and pay prostitutes for "extra health", only to beat them down with a baseball bat and take your cash back once the deed is done. You can make extra money by trying your hand at being an ambulance driver, fireman, taxi driver, or bounty hunter, all of whose segments could easily have been packaged as a separate game on their lonesome. You can do all of this, and not even touch on the main quests, which requires that you work for various criminal organizations. But alas, even these can be done at your own pace, or not at all.
Fellow editor Sam Dornan did a superb job of explaining what makes GTA 3 so enthralling in his review of the PS2 version, so read that, or the listings of the countless magazines and websites that have named GTA 3 "Game of the Year" if you still need convincing. This review will focus mainly on how the PC version does the impossible: improves on it.
The first notable improvement over the PS2 original is one that could not be helped due to the limitations of the console hardware. Though absolutely stunning on both platforms, it's on the PC that GTA 3 truly shines graphically, provided your system has the muscle for it. Vehicles and character models are much better detailed with higher poly counts. Remember the signs scattered around town that you couldn't read due to the blurred textures? Thanks to the increased resources of the PC platform, dedicated players can drive around looking for all the signs scattered around the city such as "Monica's fine cigars", and "24 hour orgy, free buffet". While the PS2 was limited in what it could do, the sky's the limit on the PC, with "sky" being a synonym for "your graphics card and CPU".
GTA 3 adds a couple of features that take advantage of the PC's storage capabilities and, while relatively minor, these added bonuses definitely add to the overall experience. You can now make your own custom radio station by adding any music files you have on your computer to the "mp3" folder in the game directory. Modders can easily create custom skins by editing the main player skin in any commercial paint program. As of now, at least 100 skins are available on the web, ranging from Eminem to Spiderman. Sadly, the much-hyped modding tools are nowhere to be seen, at least straight out of the box.
While custom soundtracks and skins are all well and good, the greatest improvement over the PS2 game, and what makes the PC version of GTA the definitive one, is the refined targeting system: in essence, you now aim/look with the mouse, and run with the keyboard. Think Max Payne, or any PC shooter, and you get the idea. You now have complete control over your character, and can pinpoint an enemy out of a crowd from a good distance away without a sniper rifle or M16, while an onscreen crosshair removes any guesswork as to where your bullets will land…as long as the physics aren't off (Don't expect a pistol shot to land as far as a sniper bullet). As if to prove this point, Rockstar toggled hit-specific damage on by default: if you hit an arm, the arm will fly off. Hit the head at the right angle with a high-powered weapon, it too will come off. Even with the "gore code" on, the console version never got this bloody. This new targeting system makes the game gorier than its console brethren, which provides yet another incentive to pick up the PC version, even if you've played the PS2 original. Perhaps the only flaw to be found in the game is the fact that it takes a while to get used to driving with a keyboard and mouse. But even that is relatively easy once you sit down and play for a while. GTA 3 truly remains "easy to learn, hard to master".
Politicians, Christian groups, and parents alike have bashed GTA 3. But Rockstar Games has given them all the finger, and you should too, especially now that what some consider the greatest game ever created is that much closer to perfection. Just make sure your system's got what it takes, kid.
-George
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