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Grand Theft Auto Retrospective

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the garaaaanga dept.

Sadkey writes "In light of the release of Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories for the PSP, UGO has posted a retrospective around the GTA games. "Come take a trip through time, and see how a franchise went from a cult hit to a cultural phenomenon, set the tone for an entire generation, and made open-ended gameplay a buzzword of the early 21st century. It's a long, bumpy ride, but at the end, Grand Theft Auto stands tall as the game that changed everything.' ." I remember playing the top down GTAs and just loving it. Great games.

4 of 292 comments (clear)

  1. Re:The real question is... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Someone already did that, it was called Mafia.

  2. If you really miss top down that much... by wo1verin3 · · Score: 5, Informative

    GTA 1 and 2 are free downloads now from RockStar...

    Grand Theft Auto - Free Download

    Grand Theft Auto 2 - Free Download

  3. Re:What I'd Like To See by nicky_d · · Score: 4, Informative

    if it was as influential as the article states, then why are the only games I can find now that are vaguely based off the GTA formula horribly inferior ripoffs with the same criminal motif?

    Because very few developers are as good as Rockstar - it's hardly Rockstar's fault that their imitators lack the necessary vision and inspiration...

    The Fast & Furious game idea you mentioned could actually be played out within GTA: San Andreas, which features many street racing events and car modding - all you'd have to do is ignore the rest of the game. Admittedly it's only a sidegame, so the depth isn't that great, but it's there, and it's a great example of why the GTA games are to be celebrated. There are two separate rhythm action games in San Andreas (one based around dancing, one around car hydraulics). There are casinos. Paperboy-style delivery missions. Shooting galleries. BMX stunt courses. Articulated truck simulations... the list does go on. This is what the imitators can't match, and it's why GTA's cities are a lot deeper than Shenmue's, if you give them a chance - and I love Shenmue (thanks to Shenmue, I can't walk past a forklift in GTA without going for a spin).

    You're absolutely right that the copycats are by and large atrocious, or at least dull, because they're copying what's on the surface of GTA and missing the depths completely. But that's no reason to criticise GTA itself; if fifty percent of developers/publishers cared as much about making a decent game as Rockstar clearly do, we'd be in a true golden age.

  4. Respect is everything by Andy+Gardner · · Score: 4, Informative
    If I remember correctly in GTA2 the Hari Krishnas were replaced with Elvis impersonators. But I also remember hearing it in the first one?

    Incidently for those that may have missed the 'original' series. Rockstar released updated versions (support for recent hardware) of 1&2 some time ago as free downloads. Enjoy!