Around the Christmas of 2001, there was a bit of a rivalry brewing
between the PS2 and the new Xbox. Both systems had a high-profile game
coming out. The PS2 had Metal Gear Solid 2, and the Xbox had Halo.
But a lesser known game came out of nowhere to far more commercial
success than either, a 3D sequel to a kitschy top-down driving series.
It was GTA3, and it was a lot of fun. I remember playing it for the
first time and being amazed by what I could do. It was the first true
open-world game of its kind. The freedom was incredible. Going anywhere
in the city, getting into fights with the different gangs, uncovering
street races or secret jumps, listening to the hilarious talk radio
station.
Of course, what we ended up doing a lot was just
causing mayhem, recklessly plowing through pedestrian traffic with a
semi truck and getting as many cop cars as you could to chase you. It
was a revelation when we realized the best way to rack up stars on your
wanted level was to attack people on foot instead of just running them
over. And of courses, you could pick up prostitutes to heal you in
exchange for money, and if you so chose, kill them afterward to get it
back. Money was never an issue in the game, it was just a darkly
humorous way to beat the system. Unfortunately, this single aspect of a
huge, often quite intelligent game was focused on by media watchdogs
and overzealous parents. They warped it, trying to make the game out to
be training kids to be brutal killers, with the mistreatment of women
in the forefront. Never mind that the series has never once instructed
you to harm a prostitute, or any other person who could be considered
an innocent bystander. It just allows it, letting you make yourself
into any character you wanted. The game also allows you to use an
ambulance to deliver people to a hospital and rewards you for doing it
well, but I guess that doesn't sell newspapers as well.
Beyond
the sandbox mayhem, the game also started the series' trend towards
interesting storylines set up by very professionally handled cutscenes.
The main character never spoke, but you still felt sympathy for him
when he was betrayed and wanted to help him set things right. Working
your way up the ladder, interacting with all the different movers and
shakers in the criminal underworld, and having a hand in the direction
the city takes was a hell of a lot of fun. Everybody latches on to the
primitive technology and unsatisfactory weapon targeting now, but it
wasn't that big of a deal back then, when you had so much choice in how
you took care of things. Other games let you decide between picking off
foes from a distance or getting in their face and making them explode,
but few let you set up a barrier beforehand and block off their escape
route. It started the trend of making the last couple of missions in
the game a little too difficult, when you're faced with tons of guys
with automatic weapons and the bad targeting really rears its ugly
head, but finally getting it done is all the more satisfying. There
were too many technical flaws, but when you just consider the scope of
it and what it did for gaming as a whole, Grand Theft Auto III was a
masterpiece.
