c/d s/d: the GRAND THEFT AUTO series

Et tu, Ste? :(

If I start it all again from scratch can my pride be saved?

No but you were great for waiting so long! Which one was it in the end? Was it the very last one?

I don't like playing GTA:SA on the puter, but I've seen a controller in Game that's a near-exact copy of the PS2 controller, so maybe I'll buy it. But I'm not really that committed to playing on the computer just so's I can play Garth Vader on the radio and do the Hot Coffee thang.

I got the PS2 controller for PC and it was the best purchase ever! You can configure the buttons and there's auto-aim! BUY IT! The best part is for the sharp shooting you can switch to mouse which makes life easier x 10000000

It was at the south end of the strip, carry on across the freeway up the small grass verge and its just there at the back of a small house.

so how far are you in VC ?

Nah, I've demolished a building, done a few missions for Diaz (incl. that fantastic helicopter one) and a couple of the phone calls. I'm finding the driving a bit harder in this one but switching to first person in the car works well.

I had to turn the radio off, the random thing was a real pain.

lol i'm gobsmacked that you've turned the radio off, I found it far better than the San Andreas one.

i've lost count how many times i've replayed vice city, a blimmin lot. and GTA3, i remember once i loaded that sucker up on a saturday afternoon and finished it sunday evening.

god, wait till you have to do 'driver', there's a knack to it but if you don't know what it is the mission is a bloody nightmare.

i think my favourite missions were,
voodoo woman, the remote control planes dropping bombs
phil, right at the end of the game. stealing back the guns from the Walton vans and then having all those motorbike thugs chase you.
Sir, Yes sir. stealing the tank. so many ways to do this one.
the taxi one where you have to fight several over cabs and then finally the zebra striped one.
the sanchez mission in the stadium, the kickstart type one.
shooting all the shop windows in the mall
killing the jury people (telephone mission)
chasing the dude in the golf caddy
messin with the man, having to cause all that destruction
rescuing lance from the scrapyard
dropping the flyers from the seaplane

fuckit i loved them all!

Indeed!

Spoiler city above! Had to stop reading after first line. Soon I will be able to read them all, soon!

Once you stay in aim mode and keep your finger on the aim button the adrenalin pill NEVER wears off. a small bug thats pleasant to abuse, on ps2 anyway.

I know I didn't collect mine until after, but still, it's a habit picked up from the previous games where you got rewards for every 'ten' or so items found.

Besides I like the exploring part anyway, I just felt that I'd explored enough of Las Venturos and was actually beginning to think that a bug had eaten my last couple of horseshoes. thats why i cheated.

I use 'em because a) I likes getting shiny weapons b) I wouldn't have the patience to explore everywhere.

For the first time I think I'll do a gather before the missions and give myself the abovementioned edge! I'll see though, it would be a real pity to turn the game into a chore...

I bought a python last night. I love it. Also MP5, glad to have that bad boy back!

if i recall you purchase assets after you've reclaimed the mansion on Starfish island and completed the 3 missions after that which lie around the mansion property.

How much do the assets bring in? Which is the best order to go for them in?

What if you drive over those stars that are hidden all over the place? I bet if you get down to three or two stars it'll let you spray your car.

The bikini girls were a fucking nightmare though.

shooting the mall windows? hmm, i remember doing it sometimes on a bike but once you get handy with using most of the guns its not that difficult. the shotgun is probably best if you decide to do it on foot.

You jack Madd Dogg's rhymes on behaldf of your no-talent friend, but then you befriend Y U Madd Dogg and take over his crib?? I DON'T UNDERSTAND SUCH A WORLD YET I PLAY IT COMPULSIVELY.

It's weird starting GTA3 after just beating SA. Actually I've only just started - I think I just finished the 5th mission tonight - the first one where you have to wack a couple of guys and it was tough (the first four were extremeely easy tho). Kind of fighting the controls and the differences playing a (somewhat) less refined game.

For one thing - it's weird how quickly your cars break down and blow up (compared to SA). Also targeting who you want to shoot, so far, is a lot more difficult, because it's even a challenge to get the camera turned on 'em - and meanwhile they shoot you a few times and you're a goner. I'm hoping you build up your health as the game progresses? Or can at least buy some body armor or something???

The cops also seem a lot more agressive. It seems a lot easier to get them after you and a lot harder to escape. I already got stuck between my car and a wall with the cops on the other side and no way for me to get untrapped (had to reload).

And because I was having such a hard time shooting the two guys in the 5th mission before they did me in, I finally beat the mission by just ramming them with my car, quickly hoping out and running around the corner as the car exploded killing them both. Car bomb deluxe!

I 'm hoping as I get used to the differences between the games, this one will start to feel more natural, but right now it's definitely a fight.

yes III was notorious for having tough cops, those hour long seiges that you could perform in Vice and SA are almost impossible in III.

Most of the Namlook stuff I've heard is kind of a snooze, and the black hole that is Bill Laswell lurks behind these records. But Schulze is something of a wayward genius even if quality control isn't his strong suit. Besides, the idea behind this series intrigues me: epic analog texture-fests, composed on giant modulars by two generations of synth-heads.

I regret to say, however that what I've heard thus far (I, II and IV) tends far too much toward the ambient and not enough towards Moog-i-ness.

What say ILM of this eleven volume series with the cute Pink Floyd puns ("Obscured by Klaus" being my favorite)?

Faust Arp?

Bill Laswell! It's me, your cousin, Roman!

??

i'm going to talk about mafia II here because we don't have a mafia thread. it's a GTA-alike so why not.

i've been playing this (courtesy jjj) and after a few hours, my judgment is that it's a halfway decently made game and i totally hate it.

someone needs to write a big thinkpiece essay on how to make drama work inside an interactive environment. because i can't understand any of the gameplay or narrative choices in this game. everything that the game does well, it does stupidly. like, everything that is a slight improvement over the GTA template is given to you in the most pointless and un-fun way possible.

i really like all the actionable interior detail: lightswitches, doors, windows, faucets -- but, it's mostly pointless, and when it isn't pointless it's tedious. you have to open doors and climb three flights of stairs to save your game? every time?

the city is beautiful and feels very real and period -- but you don't do anything in it? you aren't free at all, you are always 'on' a mission, so when you wander around you always feel like you're playing hooky. there might be 'side' missions or moments of freedom but i haven't gotten there yet if so. there's no reason for the city to be there.

all the cars are really cool (though fake; i wonder what rockstar had to do to use real 40s cars in LA noire?) -- but why the fuck do you have to drive so much? just, to run these dumb errands? and when you finish a mission, yup, a nice ten minute drive home. i ran out of gas once? "realism", thanks assholes.

the writing, characters, motivations, plotlines, missions, and voice acting is all completely shitty. none of it makes any sense, or matters, or is enjoyable. say no to cutscenes in 2011.

so yeah, bad game.

sadface

man idk i finished mafia II and i never finished the last gta so - also its closest recent competition would be the godfather games (awful) and la noire (which i really couldnt hate more than i do) so in comparison, its a win.

The best non-GTA GTA game is still Bully.

i might soldier through anyway! i do with most games. i got to a mission last night that was a little more interesting (a stealth thing through a meat locker)

but of course it ended with some really dumb make-work -- drive to bar, watch cutscene, drive to clothing store, drive back to bar, watch end cutscene. 2k czech i hate you.

non-rockstar sandbox games i've really liked are far cry 2 and just cause 2