History
In my opinion, there are currently three truly great producers of games who haven't been touched by EA. They are Valve, Bungie, and Rockstar. Out of all these, Rockstar come ontop simply for their sense of humour and willingness to break the boundaries of what is/isn't acceptable in gaming. So today, we'll be wondering how the Grand Theft Auto series rose from a little 7-meg game for the Windows 95, to the 3D-Gang-war-prostitution-driving-robbing-
shooting-gore-sextravanganza it is today!
I own every GTA game except GTA 2 (apparently shit) and Liberty City Stories, mainly because it's not currently out on PC. Though it may hopefully be in the future. Even though there is a subtle difference between a top-down shooter where one-shot killed and you couldn't save to the GTA games of today, I still think the original GTA is a classic. And still just as sweary-
"The shit's hit the fan. The cops are crawling all up my ass with flashlights lookin' for you."
How charming.
The original GTA also had many other fantastic features. As well as huge maps, hidden secrets and those brilliant bomb-rigged RC cars, they had the bonuses.
Now, as anyone who has ever played a GTA game will know, you can find Insane Stunt Bonuses. The value of these has varied through the games, but you generally have to do something absurdly dumb/suicidal/Texan, and as a reward you get cash. Assuming you survive (not guaranteed). But the original had 2 other bonuses : The Psycho Bastard Bonus - only avaliable once in the whole game, and I only got it by chance - and the Gratuitous Violence Bonus - some of the best words ever to appear on screen. I really think these should come back in GTA IV.
Now we will skip over GTA 2 like one might a turd.
Then they unveiled GTA 3, one of the most fantastic pieces of computer game engineering ever devised. A huge world, again with secrets, missions, yadda yadda. Basically, it rocked. And it featured a pair of bondage-obsessed Japanese lesbians.
Then came Vice City. Despite what a certain gaming website might say, it was NOT in any way the most innovative of the series. I think GTA 3 takes that particular trophy, seeing as it is 3D and all. Fools. Vice City is still good, but not at the same level as GTA 3/San Andreas. It lacked that fantastic feeling of the other two games, plus it had a crappy final mission. A final mission that was so crappy it somehow managed to crappify the rest of the game. Because it was THAT god-damned crappy. What a pile of crap. The only new thing for Vice City was a few changes of clothes and a few buildings you could buy. GREAT. San Andreas outdoes it in every way, apart from the Crappage Index.
Then came the peak of GTA brilliance, San Andreas. HUGE map, so damned much to do, and far more of a free-roaming aspect that GTA3 or Vice City. Picture below.
The game still manages to produce more to do every time you play it. The game engine is nicely built in a way that if you do the slightest thing unexpected, it doesn't collapse around you like so much NHS budget. I would post the huge list of things to do I once wrote up to disprove a foolish friend about how much there is to do, but it's too damned big. It seems to be self-replicating...
Now we wait on GTA IV. Make it good. And please, add Multiplayer and fewer moronic gang members. I would actually like them to help during gang wars, FOR ONCE.
Oh, and add another incredibly hilarious radio script please.
shooting-gore-sextravanganza it is today!
I own every GTA game except GTA 2 (apparently shit) and Liberty City Stories, mainly because it's not currently out on PC. Though it may hopefully be in the future. Even though there is a subtle difference between a top-down shooter where one-shot killed and you couldn't save to the GTA games of today, I still think the original GTA is a classic. And still just as sweary-
"The shit's hit the fan. The cops are crawling all up my ass with flashlights lookin' for you."
How charming.
The original GTA also had many other fantastic features. As well as huge maps, hidden secrets and those brilliant bomb-rigged RC cars, they had the bonuses.
Now, as anyone who has ever played a GTA game will know, you can find Insane Stunt Bonuses. The value of these has varied through the games, but you generally have to do something absurdly dumb/suicidal/Texan, and as a reward you get cash. Assuming you survive (not guaranteed). But the original had 2 other bonuses : The Psycho Bastard Bonus - only avaliable once in the whole game, and I only got it by chance - and the Gratuitous Violence Bonus - some of the best words ever to appear on screen. I really think these should come back in GTA IV.
Now we will skip over GTA 2 like one might a turd.
Then they unveiled GTA 3, one of the most fantastic pieces of computer game engineering ever devised. A huge world, again with secrets, missions, yadda yadda. Basically, it rocked. And it featured a pair of bondage-obsessed Japanese lesbians.
Then came Vice City. Despite what a certain gaming website might say, it was NOT in any way the most innovative of the series. I think GTA 3 takes that particular trophy, seeing as it is 3D and all. Fools. Vice City is still good, but not at the same level as GTA 3/San Andreas. It lacked that fantastic feeling of the other two games, plus it had a crappy final mission. A final mission that was so crappy it somehow managed to crappify the rest of the game. Because it was THAT god-damned crappy. What a pile of crap. The only new thing for Vice City was a few changes of clothes and a few buildings you could buy. GREAT. San Andreas outdoes it in every way, apart from the Crappage Index.
Then came the peak of GTA brilliance, San Andreas. HUGE map, so damned much to do, and far more of a free-roaming aspect that GTA3 or Vice City. Picture below.
The game still manages to produce more to do every time you play it. The game engine is nicely built in a way that if you do the slightest thing unexpected, it doesn't collapse around you like so much NHS budget. I would post the huge list of things to do I once wrote up to disprove a foolish friend about how much there is to do, but it's too damned big. It seems to be self-replicating...Now we wait on GTA IV. Make it good. And please, add Multiplayer and fewer moronic gang members. I would actually like them to help during gang wars, FOR ONCE.
Oh, and add another incredibly hilarious radio script please.
posted by Mkzrj at 7:51 pm
6 Comments:
GTA IV wishlist
I would like:
1: A map roughly the same size as San Andreas, preferably a little bigger, possibly with links to the previous cities if you book a flight or something(something you only get to do once in GTA: San Andreas).
2: The ability to go into any building at any time.
3: Off-shore islands so its not just something randomly popped in the middle of a huge ocean so that getting from island to island is a bit more than driving over a short bridge.
4: Better traffic AI so that they don't turn off the motorway from the inside lane at the last second, throwing you insane distances from your vehicle.
5: Better gang AI so having a "crew" or "posse" actually has some use.
6: Pedestrians that don't jump into the path of oncoming vehicles, thus eventually landing you with an undeserved wanted level(even if it is only one star).
7: A better draw-distance so that from somewhere like Mount Chiliad or in a plane you can see the ground more clearly.
8: Less graphical glitches like sudden pop-up so that it is possible to fly close to the ground without randomly exploding before the game loads a tree.
9: No gay missions like "N.O.E." or the one with the Red Baron for Zero and more missions like "Vertical Bird", "Black Project" and "End of the Line"
10: An even better sound track, and Double Cleff FM! And the return of Maurice Chavez and "Pressing Issues".
I agree entirely with all those points, and will now add a few of my own.
11. A random pedestrian generator. It annoys me when I see the same person on the street time and time again. If they had 30 different heads, body and legs that would be good. 27000 possible people...
12. For traffic to indicate. This is similar to the turning from the inside lane thing. It irritates me when I'm driving along happily, then the car in front suddenly changes lane and sends me reeling off the road, into the sea below. Argh.
13. Mid-sized towns or semi-importance. In San Andreas there were three major cities and that was about it. Angel Pine was perhaps a sort of important place, but not really. It seems a bit unrealistic to me.
14. Higher mountains. Mt Chilliad was nice and all, but I want to get higher (so that when I leap off, I can fall for longer :D). And a cable car going up one side. How cool would that be, to snipe people from a cable car, or to have a shoot out with people heading down when you're going up.
15. Better gun sound effects. GTA suffers from this quite badly in my opinion. There should be a real difference in sound between a shotgun and a silenced pistol, but alas, there isn't.
16. Longer radio stations. Each new game has managed to do this, and it should continue with the next. Even with San Andreas, I know recognise most of the soundtrack.
17. Co-op function. Multiplayer wouldn't work that well unless the game was specifically designed that way. However, in a specially designed world, it could be good. Where people choose a gang to join, and work for it, or whatever.
18. I'm going to repeat point 2, because I think its an important one. We really should be able to go into any building. I don't mind if the game world isn't made any bigger, in fact, if it is, it might prove to big, and dull to drive across, so use the extra space on buildings!!! PLEASE ROCKSTAR!
19. More intelligent police. If THEY crash into you, you shouldn't get a wanted level. Its just daft. They should give you money for it.
20. And my new idea, which ties in to the higher mountain. I want it high enough to have snow. So you can go skiing. And for there to be snowmobiles. And maybe even one mission could feature an avalanche, and you escaping. And a cliff on the mountain, with a sheer drop. And you go off in a snowmobile, and grab onto a helicopter. They must have that. If they dont, they fail.
21: I would like a proper in-car view, so that you see steering wheel and dashboard and the like. You get something like this when you look right, left and backwards from first-person in a car and I want to be able to drive almost properly. This view would also make driving bikes from first-person a lot easier.
22: An improved jetpack would be nice, one that actually has some use other than for 1 1/2 missions.
23: The return of the adrenaline pill to add coolness and a super-punch.
24: Tourists on top of mountains and tall buildings that you can throw off.
I have sent this wishlist to Rockstar. Let's see if they pay any attention to it.
*hopes*
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