GRAND THEFT AUTO (PS)
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Publisher: BMG Interactive.
Developer: DMA Design. Released: 1997. Genre: Sandbox. Other versions: PC. Posted 18th March 2013. By Chris Weatherley © 2013 |
At regular intervals throughout the gaming generations, controversial titles crop up to receive either hysterical praise or universal dismissive chastisement. I can think of many at both ends of the gaming spectrum, from the awful vulgarity of Custer’s Revenge or the ultra-violence ridden realm of Manhunt. However, some of these divisive titles make an important statement and occasionally change the face and perception of video gaming. For the nineties generation, the Mortal Kombat and Grand Theft Auto franchises have proven two of the most prominent, and are still thriving into the second decade of the 21st Century. With the latest instalment of the GTA series nearing release, let’s wind back fifteen years to see what caused such a stir when the very first game was unleashed onto an unsuspecting public.
In many ways vastly different to its modern day relations, the first game gave you the freedom to do whatever you wanted in a sprawling cityscape; the essence of sandbox. To achieve its notorious reputation, it implemented the use of suggested wanton violence, criminal tendencies and bad-taste dialogue as the driving force behind the game. All of this was for entertainment purposes of course, and thus kick-started a big shift into adult-orientated gaming. The top-down view means it partially resembles early adventurer Gauntlet, whilst the driving style draws similarities to Cyber Spin or Micro Machines. The full scope of the game wouldn’t be realised until GTA3 placed it in a 3D world, which in turn took inspiration from DMA’s earlier N64 hit Body Harvest. DMA were no stranger to risky or debatable themes, having released Blood Money in 1989 and of course the massive suicide-ridden puzzler hit Lemmings. In Grand Theft Auto, you play as a criminal for hire; carrying out the dirty work for gangs and other criminals to accumulate points to progress to the next stage. You control the actions of your chosen yob, with the capability of accessing almost anywhere on the map; answering payphones, collecting weapons packages and other illicit paraphernalia, and of course, attacking Joe-public.
The primary hook of GTA is the ability to steal vehicles, mostly by car-jacking, to get your missions completed or to travel around quicker. This provides the core satisfaction; a vast array of vehicles with a variety of attributes at your disposal. Because you merely have to achieve a target score to progress from each stage, you don’t have to do the missions it gives you in any particular order, or even at all. If you chose, you could wander around the city simply causing mayhem and committing murder, just for the hell of it. The best example of this would be senselessly (but comically) mowing down a line of Hare Krishna monks to gain a quick bonus. Completing missions however increases your score tally exponentially quickly by adding score multipliers, so it is a good idea to at least try a few. The freedom to play any way you want is the reason behind GTA’s initial success and infamy, and although this has diminished slightly with the transition to the 3D landscape, it still remains today.
It's easy to love a game that rewards you for being a reckless driver
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Say what you want about Travis, he doesn't stoop as low as hijacking
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When you first pick up and play a game with such hype surrounding it, you expect some serious fireworks, but on first impressions, GTA is highly underwhelming on a graphical level, or at least that’s how it seems. My personal memories of a first play reminded me of Sim City, with its basic buildings, blocky stick figure characters and bold colours. It is however more complex that that. The variance of buildings is huge, the map arrangement happily puzzling and with a massive selection of vehicles to use and abuse, it doesn’t get boring quickly. The PS version obviously lacks the carnage of the multi-player option the PC gave us, so this does wane the interest a touch. We are however presented with a fine and faithful environment to cause havoc, but there are some major issues.
Your character sprite is small as are all the other city dwellers, so the game uses an auto-zoom function so you can see things more clearly. This can be very irritating due to it being rather haphazard and jerky, sometimes zooming in to the action when you need to see what’s going on around. It also produces a side effect of very blocky buildings and vehicles which is not what you would expect from the PlayStation. The PC version was far smoother and sharper, and didn’t cause as much annoyance. Also, your man and all the people inhabiting this world are difficult to differentiate between; you can’t always tell who you are supposed to be killing, or picking up, or running from… etc. Over time, this becomes less of a problem, but it’s a part of this game that I always disliked with a passion. It’s fair to say the visuals could have been better, however the speed is rapid, the scrolling is good and the use of bright colours is wonderful and makes things all appear bright, happy and engaging. Something of an ironic contradiction given the subject matter.
One of GTA’s biggest highlights is its comprehensive soundtrack. With a catchy main hip-hop title theme, a muted background track and the various radio stations in the cars, it really adds a depth to the game. The range of genres is brilliant, as is the reproduction; from cheesy pop to redneck country to heavy metal, the tracks are well-placed and incorporated in the game. Several of the tracks are original, some are real-life songs, and it’s an impressive range of music and sounds that really has become engrained into the GTA ethos even today. There’s no fault with the effects either, with some lovely, deliberately-stereotypical voicing, big explosions, engine noises and tyre squeals. It’s all good in the sound department and a major boon for the game as a whole.
Your character sprite is small as are all the other city dwellers, so the game uses an auto-zoom function so you can see things more clearly. This can be very irritating due to it being rather haphazard and jerky, sometimes zooming in to the action when you need to see what’s going on around. It also produces a side effect of very blocky buildings and vehicles which is not what you would expect from the PlayStation. The PC version was far smoother and sharper, and didn’t cause as much annoyance. Also, your man and all the people inhabiting this world are difficult to differentiate between; you can’t always tell who you are supposed to be killing, or picking up, or running from… etc. Over time, this becomes less of a problem, but it’s a part of this game that I always disliked with a passion. It’s fair to say the visuals could have been better, however the speed is rapid, the scrolling is good and the use of bright colours is wonderful and makes things all appear bright, happy and engaging. Something of an ironic contradiction given the subject matter.
One of GTA’s biggest highlights is its comprehensive soundtrack. With a catchy main hip-hop title theme, a muted background track and the various radio stations in the cars, it really adds a depth to the game. The range of genres is brilliant, as is the reproduction; from cheesy pop to redneck country to heavy metal, the tracks are well-placed and incorporated in the game. Several of the tracks are original, some are real-life songs, and it’s an impressive range of music and sounds that really has become engrained into the GTA ethos even today. There’s no fault with the effects either, with some lovely, deliberately-stereotypical voicing, big explosions, engine noises and tyre squeals. It’s all good in the sound department and a major boon for the game as a whole.
Slow vehicles can be embarrassing in chases. Note: doesn't apply to tanks
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It's like Frogger's worst nightmare...
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The free-roaming characteristic of the game is true to its word, within the confines of the map you can go mostly anywhere you want. This can be overly expansive, at times becoming tedious as your actual actions can be limited, but discovering a new mission, a hiding place, a shortcut or power-up is always something to keep the interest going. Honestly, you could spend ages roaming around not doing very much, but the vehicles make it all worthwhile. With different performances, looks and handling, it’s one of the great parts of the game that provides seemingly endless fun merely just zooming around pissing the locals and the police off, or stealing a sought-after speedster that rarely crops up. With fairly good responsiveness and a high difficulty on the later stages, GTA can haul you in quickly and urge you to commit that extra crime to achieve your goals. Some of the secret missions border on the impossible, whilst the accuracy of your shooting given the graphical discrepancies can be tough to get right all of the time, and even taking into account the unusual and sometimes awkward control system, on the whole it’s a pleasing title in the gameplay stakes.
Many critics dislike the GTA’s simplicity, but the freedom it gives the player to terrorise a city your way is genius, and is a source of great amusement. Political correctness whining over the suspect language and themes is irrelevant for me, the visuals do not depict the violence it suggests with any realism and firmly keeps things in the cartoon realm, with a little bit of near-the-knuckle dark humour, with tongue firmly in cheek. Put simply, Grand Theft Auto is just a humorous and extremely enjoyable adult game. Today it probably wouldn’t even turn a head, but it was something of a ground-breaker and makes the list of classic games for me. The PC version is better, but the PS edition remains an excellent game that’s only let down a bit by sluggish graphics. Still, it doesn’t stop you wanting to cap off the next poor innocent that crosses your path. Kiiiillll Frenzy!
Many critics dislike the GTA’s simplicity, but the freedom it gives the player to terrorise a city your way is genius, and is a source of great amusement. Political correctness whining over the suspect language and themes is irrelevant for me, the visuals do not depict the violence it suggests with any realism and firmly keeps things in the cartoon realm, with a little bit of near-the-knuckle dark humour, with tongue firmly in cheek. Put simply, Grand Theft Auto is just a humorous and extremely enjoyable adult game. Today it probably wouldn’t even turn a head, but it was something of a ground-breaker and makes the list of classic games for me. The PC version is better, but the PS edition remains an excellent game that’s only let down a bit by sluggish graphics. Still, it doesn’t stop you wanting to cap off the next poor innocent that crosses your path. Kiiiillll Frenzy!
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Visual: 6/10
Audio: 10/10 Gameplay: 8/10 Longevity: 9/10 OVERALL: 8/10 |