Hype-inducing trailers, midnight sales, and disgruntled Gamestop employees can only mean one thing: the release of a hugely popular, potentially ground-breaking game. On April 29th, 2008 that game was Grand Theft Auto IV. The series is known for being unapologetically violent and raunchy, and the latest game is the biggest and baddest yet. Fans were willing to wait in lines for hours for a copy, and I even know one person who took the entire day off from work just to play. But considering the game takes 100 hours to beat, you sort of need to devote a good chunk of your life to it. Not that it's tedious or anything: between car-jacking, drug smuggling, and setting up fake Internet dates with people and then killing them, it's hard not to immerse yourself completely in the virtual world of Liberty City. Here's a look back at Grand Theft Auto's past and the lowdown on the latest game.
Grand Theft Auto
The very first Grand Theft Auto game came out for PC's and the original Playstation way back in 1997. Setting the stage for GTA's to come, this one contained Liberty City, San Andreas, and Vice City. All levels took place in these locations, and they each required you to achieve a certain number of points to progress in the game. Even in this early edition of GTA, you had plenty of freedom to jack cars and terrorized civilians at your leisure. One of the most memorable parts of the game was a mission in which you had to trick people into boarding a bus en route to a meat processing plant. Unfortunately, primitive graphics didn't allow for the gory aftermath.
Grand Theft Auto 2
The second coming of GTA had the same bird's eye view as the first one, but was set in the ambiguous "Anywhere City" in an undisclosed year. You played as Claude Speed, a man who was recently released from prison and a cryogenic sleep, whose goal is to become "King of the City." Pedestrians and passing cars played became more important to gamplay, rather than just being part of the background. The game had a bit more character too, as the words "Elvis has left the building!" would appear after mowing down one of the many Elvis impersonators wandering the streets.
Grand Theft Auto
The very first Grand Theft Auto game came out for PC's and the original Playstation way back in 1997. Setting the stage for GTA's to come, this one contained Liberty City, San Andreas, and Vice City. All levels took place in these locations, and they each required you to achieve a certain number of points to progress in the game. Even in this early edition of GTA, you had plenty of freedom to jack cars and terrorized civilians at your leisure. One of the most memorable parts of the game was a mission in which you had to trick people into boarding a bus en route to a meat processing plant. Unfortunately, primitive graphics didn't allow for the gory aftermath.
Grand Theft Auto 2
The second coming of GTA had the same bird's eye view as the first one, but was set in the ambiguous "Anywhere City" in an undisclosed year. You played as Claude Speed, a man who was recently released from prison and a cryogenic sleep, whose goal is to become "King of the City." Pedestrians and passing cars played became more important to gamplay, rather than just being part of the background. The game had a bit more character too, as the words "Elvis has left the building!" would appear after mowing down one of the many Elvis impersonators wandering the streets.
irl
I bought a collector's edition of GTA 1, 2 and London a couple of years ago for £5.99 or some ridiculous sum like that, and I never ever worked out how to play it. I remember when it first came out everyone was raving about it, so there must be something good about it, but I found myself stuck in the first level, without even managing to complete one mission. The birds eye view really got me; the only ones I'd known before were the 3D ones that Richard (my boyfriend) played, and I was expecting the old ones to be the same.
Oh well. I have my playstation out again for the moment (I don't usually have a TV in my room because it makes it messy, so I only get it out for a couple of weeks now and then, mostly I play handhelds) so maybe when I finish Spyro the Dragon I'll try GTA again, see if I can work it out this time.