Grand Theft Auto III
is a 2001 action-adventure game developed by DMA Design and published by Rockstar Games. It is the first main entry in the Grand Theft Auto series since 1999’s Grand Theft Auto 2. Set within the fictional Liberty City (loosely based on New York City), the story follows a silent protagonist, Claude, who, after being betrayed and left for dead by his girlfriend during a robbery, embarks on a quest for revenge that leads him to become entangled in a world of crime, drugs, gang warfare, and corruption. The game is played from a third-person perspective and its world is navigated on foot or by vehicle. The open world design lets players freely roam Liberty City, consisting of three main islands.Grand Theft Auto III
North American cover art
Developer(s)DMA Design[a]Publisher(s)Rockstar GamesProducer(s)Leslie BenziesProgrammer(s)
- Obbe Vermeij
- Adam Fowler
Artist(s)Aaron GarbutWriter(s)
- James Worrall
- Paul Kurowski
- Dan Houser
- Craig Conner
- Stuart Ross
SeriesGrand Theft AutoEngineRenderWarePlatform(s)
Release22 October 2001
- PlayStation 2Microsoft WindowsXboxMac OS X
- WW: 12 November 2010
- WW: 15 December 2011
- WW: 15 May 2014
Genre(s)Action-adventureMode(s)Single-player
Development was shared between DMA Design, based in Edinburgh, and Rockstar, based in New York City. Much of the development involved transforming popular elements from the Grand Theft Auto series into a fully 3D world for the first time. The game was delayed following the September 11 attacks to allow the team to change references and gameplay deemed inappropriate. It was released in October 2001 for the PlayStation 2, in May 2002 for Microsoft Windows, and in October 2003 for the Xbox.
Grand Theft Auto III received critical acclaim, with praise particularly directed at its concept and gameplay. However, the game also generated controversy, with criticism directed at its depictions of violence and sex. It became the best-selling video game of 2001, and has sold over 14.5 million copies since. Considered by many critics as one of the most significant titles of the sixth generation of video games and a landmark game in the open world concept, it is often listed among the greatest video games. It won several year-end accolades, including Game of the Year awards from several gaming publications. Since its release, it has received ports to many different gaming platforms. An enhanced version of the game was released on mobile platforms in 2011, for the game’s tenth anniversary. Its successor, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, was released in October 2002, and two prequels, Advance and Liberty City Stories, were released in 2004 and 2005, respectively.
Players may run, jump or use vehicles to navigate the game’s world.[7] In combat, auto-aim can be used as assistance against enemies.[8] Should players take damage, their health meter can be fully regenerated through the use of health pick-ups. Body armour can be used to absorb gunshots and explosive damage, but is used up in the process.[9] When health is entirely depleted, gameplay stops and players respawn at the nearest hospital, at the expense of losing armour, weapons, and an amount of money.[10]
If players commit crimes while playing, the game’s law enforcement agencies may respond as indicated by a “wanted” meter in the head-up display (HUD). On the meter, the displayed stars indicate the current wanted level[11] (for example, at the maximum six-star level, efforts by law enforcement to incapacitate players become very aggressive).[12] Law enforcement officers will search for players who leave the wanted vicinity. The wanted meter enters a cooldown mode and eventually recedes when players are hidden from the officers’ line of sight.[11]
The game lets players control the mute criminal Claude.[13] During the story, Claude meets various new characters from gangs. As players complete missions for different gangs and criminal organisations, fellow gang members will often defend players, while rival gang members will recognise players and subsequently shoot on sight.[14] While free roaming the game world, players may engage in activities such as a vigilante minigame, a fire fighting activity, a paramedic service and a taxi cab service.[11][15] Completion of these activities grants players with context-specific rewards; for example, completing the vigilante mission allows players to bribe police after committing a crime.[16]
Players use melee attacks, firearms and explosives to fight enemies. The firearms include weapons such as the Micro Uzi, an M16 rifle and a flamethrower.[6] The game’s three-dimensional environment allows a first-person view while aiming with the sniper rifle, rocket launcher and the M16 rifle. In addition, the game’s combat was reworked to allow players to commit drive-by shootings by facing sideways in a vehicle.[4] The game gives players a wide variety of weapon options—they can be purchased from local firearms dealers, found on the ground, retrieved from dead enemies, or found around the city.[9]
In 2001, small-time criminal Claude is betrayed by his girlfriend Catalina (voiced by Cynthia Farrell) during a bank heist outside Liberty City. Left for dead, Claude is arrested, but escapes during his transfer to prison when members of the Colombian Cartel ambush his transport to abduct another prisoner. During his escape, Claude befriends fellow convict and explosives expert 8-Ball (Guru), who gives him a place to stay and introduces him to the Leone Mafia family for work. After assisting them with various operations, including winning a war against a local group of Triads, he earns the respect of Don Salvatore Leone (Frank Vincent). Learning that the Cartel are manufacturing a new street drug to fund their expansion into Liberty City, Salvatore orders Claude to destroy their floating drug lab, which he does with 8-Ball’s help.
Later, Salvatore instructs Claude to deal with a minor problem, but his trophy wife Maria (Debi Mazar), who took a liking into Claude, reveals it to be a set-up. Claiming that Salvatore has become paranoid and wants to kill Claude because she lied to him that they were having an affair, Maria leaves with Claude for Staunton Island to avoid Salvatore’s wrath. After assassinating Salvatore to cut his ties with the Leone family, Claude finds new employment for the Yakuza, led by Maria’s friend Asuka Kasen (Lianna Pai) and her brother Kenji (Les J.N. Mau). Later, he also begins working for corrupt LCPD detective Ray Machowski (Robert Loggia), whom he eventually helps flee the city, and media mogul Donald Love (Kyle MacLachlan), who hires Claude to assassinate Kenji under the guise of a Cartel attack to start a gang war that will allow him to obtain real estate for his businesses. During another job for Love, Claude encounters Catalina, now the leader of the Cartel, at a construction site, but she escapes from him.
Blaming the Cartel for her brother’s death, Asuka has the Yakuza seize the site, and tortures Catalina’s partner Miguel (Al Espinosa), whom she left behind, for information on the Cartel’s operations, which Claude subsequently hits, earning Catalina’s wrath. In retaliation, she murders Asuka and Miguel, and kidnaps Maria, ransoming her for $500,000. When Claude meets with Catalina to hand over the ransom payment, she double-crosses him once again, and leaves him to be killed, but he escapes from the trap and pursues Catalina, eventually shooting down her helicopter. With Maria saved, she and Claude flee the scene, though as she begins to complain about what happened to her, a gunshot rings out, and Maria’s voice is silenced.[b]
GAME LINK https://apkaward.com/grand-theft-auto-3-game
Channel link
Extreme Gaming Blog - Extreme Gaming 