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

the first two are kinda fun if you only expect it to be as good as certain flash games.

I loved GTA III. Then I was like WOW re: Vice City. THEN I was like WOWOWOWOWOO re: San Andreas. This has all happened within the past 6 months, however, so I might be biased juuuuuuuust a bit.

I would like to know the ways in which the previous versions gobbled the cock.

gta3 had awful controls/camera, and i missed all the refinements of gameplay that andreas brought to the table. san andreas was monstrously challenging at times, but you always sensed the difficulty originated in the challenge before you. there were challenging scenarios in gta3, but most of the game's obscene difficulty was due to it just being very hard to play. putting it next to san andreas makes it seem awfully bland and barren as well, i wasn't particularly stoked about the radio stations or the silent protagonist.

vice city was the easiest in the series. i actually just got 100% on it last week, which is what prompted me to walk down memory lane like this. vc felt very slight next to the other games - for all of gta3's faults, it's a very large game and you get your money's worth. there weren't that many story missionsand as those are usually my favorite parts of these games i was pretty disappointed. the "meat" of the game didn't feel proportionate to all the extra horseshit i went through to get 100%. it was just kind of small and boring with no sense of place or adventure to it. great music tho.

sa literally delighted me from beginning to end. even the hardest tasks, some of which were more difficult than any other game i'd ever played, ultimately were worth it to me because of the elation i felt after finally wrapping them up. it was a perfect fit for my ADD-having ass - i literally just CANNOT WAIT for most games to end bcz i tire of them after a few hours. games that know when they've worn out their welcome are just amazingly rare. but i feel like i could play this same game for years. the repetition that repels me from most games - repetition of action, setting, atmosphere - is completely absent. any time you're tired of one milieu or challenge you can move onto one that's just as fun or interesting. that's what the previous games really lacked, they had the ambition but not exactly the artistry to see it all the way through. and those games were probably necessary to refine it all down to what we have now. it's the most immersive game i've ever played, if not by design then by dint of what it evoked for me. there are a lot of other 'immersive' games that leave me absolutely cold, but this shit is like baby bear's porridge: just right.

I played GTA III on the PC, but bought it as part of the 3-pack w/ VC & SA - I was thinking about going back to it, as I never finished it (& missed a lot of stuff - I didn't even know about the Rampages until I read an FAQ!), but I'm afraid I'll be sorely disappointed.

I'm also a sucker for how everything came around full circle in SA - I said this on the Liberty City Stories thread, but when Toreno told CJ his last mission for him was to go pick up Sweet, now that CJ's gone from disrespected hood rat to a guy rolling in dough in his own mansion, I got a little choked up!

BTW, suggestions on how to defeat that mothertrucking "steal 4 police bikes & drive them onto that stupid truck that's always on the side of the city opposite where you're at, and oh by the way don't mind the 15 cop cars on your ass" mission would be much appreciated. I've tried stashing the mobile bikes in 1 spot, and then driving them onto the truck one @ a time once they're acquired, but that doesn't work.

The bike missions - all I can think of is to anticipate where the truck will be (it moves) rather than to go straight towards the blip. Parking the bikes in the same place will be pointless if the truck is nowhere near that place. I didn't have a problem with it, sorry.

The PS2 games do seem to be dissappointing if you don't play them in the GTA3 - VC - SA order. I started with Vice City and loved it, but could never get into GTA3.

I wonder how well any of the GTA soundtracks sold.

and remember where every pay n spray is and abuse them thoroughly. --- Yes, definitely that, too.

Fugging around with the riot cheat turned on (and definitely not saving anything) helped a lot with stuff like being chased by four-stars of cops and copters. Once you play for awhile where pedestrians are shooting rocket launchers at you, stealing a pig's bike ain't really all that.

I still haven't finished GTA3. I started playing after GTA:SA, so maybe it never stood a chance in comparison. And to hell with swimming, not being able to climb over a two-foot barrier is the thing that pisses me off more about the first two.

I'm playing the Warriors right now. Kinda weird playing a rockstar game where you can't walk up to someone in the street and completely blow their head apart like a melon. I'm digging on the "quaintness" of it all.

this is kinda standard for many games, shitty tho it is, like in FPS

I should probably give it a go during nighttime, instead of noon time.

ahaha. Yeah, if you just compare the changes made there's probably a small percentage of a difference between SA and the other two games. but those changes are SO crucial that they impact the rest of the game profoundly - swimming is a biggie, no more pissing my pants when i try to hop into a boat (which is freakishly hard because of the shitty camera and platformer mechanics) (those were improved too though) and the weapon aiming stuff is BIGBIGBIG as well. being able to independently aim any weapon (allowing you to, say, shoot down a helicopter with a handgun) is tremendous, and the way the new auto-targeting system tracks, its range, and its very intuitive camera set up (ie. if you target something the game makes sure it's in frame, and if you change targets it'll swivel around, looking sort of RE4-ish) is massively helpful. also being able to move while crouched is great. just tons of little things that confounded me playing the other games, that when included suddenly open up a new world (for me) of potential.

also in SA's favor: way funnier than the other two games.

I suppose it's a matter of individual standards and thresholds. I enjoyed all three games immensely, but I agree that the improvements tilt towards favoring SA the most. Still, none of the other games are such that I accuse them of the high crime of choad chomping.

still, what is good in some contexts is not in others; the metaphors don't extend fully. while such acts as the blowing of phallus and the eating of ass can be fully commendable things, you don't necessarily want your $49.99 game to toss that salad.

While you may want Candy SuXXX onscreen to do the rusty trombone, you do not want the gameplay involving Candy SuXXX to.

yet you did this twice!

The pathetic thing is that I know exactly what building you're talking about.

VANISHING PATRIOT #1: I drive the fucking dirty cop to the airport, & drive to his garage to pick up the booty. However, I didn't realize I'd get a CAR along w/ all the kewl weapons; hence, I drove my car down the garage path, thereby blocking the Patriot. So, OK, no prob, I'll just back out and go get the Patriot. So I back out. And run back to the garage. AND THE CAR IS GONE.

VANISHING PATRIOT #2: The one where I park to go shoot folks @ the construction site on drugs, then return to where I parked. AND THE CAR IS GONE.

Exactly what happened to me.

Vice City shines for me still, it's like GTA3 gone on holiday. The music is fantastic and is the best out of all 3 games, as well as the hilarious talk show stations. I think I prefer the graphics on VC to any of them, especially the beach front at night time. Missions were slightly easier than GTA3 but only just, and the whole purchasing property and working your way up the ladder of the city was genius. There was something genuinly slicker than GTA3 when you first played VC, the improvements were obvious and life felt good.

SA was the easiest of the lot, finished it in less than half the time as the previous two. Sure they improved the control system for shooting when on foot but then this just made those types of missions a doddle, no challenge in them whatsoever. Lots of unused map areas, surely they could've put that space to better use. Awful awful radio stations, I turn it off most of the time. Dreadful pop up of graphics on PS2 and Xbox when in flight or driving fast. Nice idea to include the change of clothes feature, gives the game at least some variety but the eating and other character development feature is totally flawed and pointless, I never go to the gym and my muscle stat is maximum. Physics on SA seems to have taken a dump too, car upside down rolling down a hill? get out and watch it stop dead (??) No rampages? Explosions were way less satisfying, collisions with other vehicles were drab and lacked impact. There some minor HUD annoyances too ie fonts, health bar design rushed, irritating radar blue blips difficult to see, wanted level stars don't flash clearly when you reverse into a cop car out of the pay'n'spray.
On the plus side, it looks great most of the time, the swimming is a god send as is the climbing fences. tons of vehicles to choose from. I've still yet to find a couple of tags and some horseshoes, other than that I've done everything. The side missions had some meat to them, more so than the main game which again was just soooo bloody easy. I enjoy the gang warfare sometimes, though it's a little frustrating when your zones are invaded but you miss the tiny message the comes up (due to being in another battle or something) in the corner of the screen. Cops aren't as brutal as GTA3, meaning longer 'being-on-the-run' shoot outs.

SA is a great game don't get me wrong, I still play it and enjoy myself. But in comparison to the previous two, it just doesn't hold a candle and I just wanted to some things off my chest.

Anyway, all 3 games - CLASSIC
I might even go so far as to say the very first two top-down viewer ones were great, GTA London was just awful though.

a)nobody ever came there to pick a fight with or
b) on the beachfront ones the baddies respawned like 100 yards out from shore and got trapped underwater? I tried many things to kill these underwater baddies, such as dropping lots of package bombs down there and hoping for the best, or even sinking boats atop them, but nothing seemed to work. Ideas?

The only area i had trouble picking fights with was at the corner of the road at the far east beach, where there's a small pipe sticking out of the sand. But I managed to get this one last night funnily enough.

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

haha tbf i did mostly get carried through because i thought the script/characters were pretty good and i loved the soundtrack and the feel of the game - its def not using the open world much (although its fucking gorgeous). part of the reason i finished it is that it really is pretty on rails, and half the problem i have wrt gta stuff is that i can make it through like half a mission and then get frustrated and try to like jump off an embankment and get jacked up and restart or whatever. but at the same time lots of the stuff that maybe should have bothered me more here were pretty much game destroying aspects when it comes to la noire

xpost did you ever try the saboteur

I quit playing Saboteur pretty quickly. I didn't like how it handled.

xp no, what's it like?

it's got a fairly low metacritic score and the publications i sort-of trust (1up, game informer) didn't like it much

back to mafia: do you ever use the ww2 military weapons again at all? it was a neat thing opening the game as a soldier in sicily, seems like a waste to not have that equipment show up again

i dont remember whther the ww2 stuff comes back or not

saboteur def scratches the just cause 2 itch, and while its definitely not a triple A game it was way way underrated, to the point where i was kind of confused when i finally got it. id be curious to see what the neg reviews are saying because i dont see any real reason to complain that much? idk

saboteur is rad b/c it's Paris! with building climbing! & nazis!

I see Bully is on Wii. Is that the closest game I can get to GTA:SA on Wii?

yeah pretty much - i never played it on wii but i cant imagine they motion controlled it to death or anything

saboteur is rad b/c it's Paris! with building climbing! & nazis!

I grant you that the setting was awesome, and I thought the voice performances were good.

But the climbing paled in comparison to Just Cause 2 or Assassin's Creed 2, or Lara Croft, or etc., and the combat was sort of terrible? And the driving was awful, I thought. Paris feels very empty and sterile, even if it looks amazing.

Paris is like the one city in the world that I know super-well so playing it in was terrific for me, whereas I've spent like 48 hours in NYC & so GTAs there leave me cold. I agree that the climbing is worse than in AC.

I wish I had like even a slight bit of aptitude at these types of games

agree that the climbing is worse than in AC.

worse how? like, clunky and bad gameplay? or just less crazy and slow?

i ask cos the climbing in AC is both dead simple (hold A = do everything) and kung-fu movie nuts

it's simple to do: just jump onto the building & push up & mash a button when you reach a ledge to hop onto it, but it feels less fluid than AC. also Paris has relatively few places much higher than the rest of the city so you rarely get that "whoosh" feeling like you do in AC atop a minaret, except on the Eiffel Tower, which is kinda too high for that.

worse how? like, clunky and bad gameplay? or just less crazy and slow?

Slow, tedious, clunky, boring, poorly animated, etc.

It lacks the fluidity of motion of something like, say, Prince of Persia. And since it's a major part of the game, it's kind of a drag.

saboteur: lol this game. i will play any gta clone it seems, cos this is Not That Great and i am into it.

perfect summation is the horribly vo'd vamp sex interest, the only posh englishwoman from the 40s named... skylar

ha! that sounds dreadful!

I remember enjoying this game for the $5 I got it for from an Amazon sale. Worth a try, at least.

strangest quirk i've noticed in it: the enemies are called "nazis," "krauts," and i think "jerries" but not "Germans," ever. i know there are laws in .de about presence of swastikas etc in media, is this a choice related to those restrictions? or sensitivities, or something?

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