GTA: 1 & 2 📽 Through the Lens

📢 GTA VI TRAILER JUST DROPPED! 📢

Might as well do a GTA series of articles then. 🥳

Yes! The GTA VI trailer was amazing. I know! I've watched it like a hundred times already. Too bad it's gonna come out on PC in like 3 years. 😅 But oh well! Let's take a journey down memory lane and explore each of these monumental games. Starting with the first two.

And so❗️ In this edition of Through the Lens 🎞, we'll be taking a look at Rockstar Games' top down criminal simulators from 1997 and 1999: Grand Theft Auto and GTA 2. ◀️

(figured we could cover both titles in one article, then continue with each mainline title as we see fit)

Roll it! 📽

🔷 UP TOP 🔶

GTA soundtracks have always been licensed music, rather than fully-fledged scores like in other titles. The tunes here are very much nineties, taking me back to my childhood days. Each game's soundtrack is pretty much the same thing - you'll love some tracks, you'll hate some tracks. Just like your real-life radio.

_{Compossed and compiled by Craig Conner}

I got so hyped by the amazing GTA VI trailer that I figured it's high time we covered each and every Grand Theft Auto on the blog. Yes, this franchise might be the biggest gaming property out there. So it would be a nice juxtaposition to see where it all started. With two janky @$$ top-down games for the PlayStation 1.

There are a lot of elements that both games share, and I'll make sure to point out the differences where needed. But first, we gotta cover the topic that has followed this franchise since its inception.

🔷 VIOLENCE 🔶

Grand Theft Auto was one of the first games to inspire the ire of the masses. Mostly moms that were angry their children were playing like a criminal. And there's no ifs, buts, or maybes about it. You straight-up play as a psychopath in these first two games. 😁

Whereas the other titles have protagonists with redeeming qualities and stories that center around anti-heroes. In these first two games you are a criminal. Full stop, end of discussion.

How RockStar managed to weather the storm time and again, with each title getting similar backlash from concerned parents, is beyond me. I wonder if the same will follow GTA 6. // by the attention it will get, and the sale it will make, you can bet on it

🔷 PERSPECTIVE 🔶

These games are a trip to come back to. And for most people, the camera is the first and final boss. And there's no way around it - it's bad. 😭

While the second game did try and make some improvements to it, the constant swaying, and zooming in and out of the camera, is just nauseating to most people. Who knows how many people gave up, or refused to give these games a try because of the warped top-down perspective?

For some people it is bearable, and those are the ones to tell the tale. I am one of them. I bid you welcome! Let me explain why these games aren't as bad as most people think.

For one thing, the game came packaged with 3 maps of the three prominent GTA cities: Liberty City, San Andreas, Vice CIty. Places almost every gamer knows. And believe me, you had to use these maps to progress. I know! Lunacy! Let's talk about it. 🤔

🔷 MISSIONS 🔶

The games work on a very arcadey, dare I say archaic system. You have a score system, and almost everything you do contributes to this score. Get enough score and you win and get to the next section - that easy.

Now, missions are the primary way to get points, and in the first game this is very unforgiving:

• In GTA 1 you have one chance at completing missions. That's it. You didn't read the two lines of text? Tough luck kid! 😂 You have to use the real-life map to navigate through the city, where most buildings look exactly the same.
• In GTA 2 they fixed these annoyences (thank God). You can now replay the missions as many times as you want, and they are a lot more involved than the previous game. Which were just: go there, take that, come back.

Regardless, you play these games to have fun in the open world, this has been true since their inception.

The second game has this cool gang system. Where you have to pick one of three gangs to complete missions for. If you kill members of the gang you have done missions for, your respect/level with them will decrease. You have to constantly play a balancing act with which gangs respect you. And that is such a cool concept.

That is such a cool concept for a game that I'm amazed RockStar has never tried it since. It's like if you could play as the Ballas from San Andreas. I love dynamic gameplay like that, and I am bummed we won't be getting it in GTA VI either.

🔷 MISC. 🔶

These games are brutal. I mean you can wreak havoc with no regard for human life. Not that you can't in future titles. But it's different when you know you're a criminal with no moral compass. 😅

The second game is set in a city known as Anywhere City and is canonically not really in the GTA verse (?) it hasn't been used or talked about since, so it's a fair assumption, me thinks.

The second game also had this nifty 10-minute short movie created for its promotion. RockStar hasn't done this since which is a real letdown in my books. 📚

The graphics of the second game are also leagues better than the first, as was expected for sequels of the time. This leap in fidelity would be even more enhanced with the release of GTA III. But before we dive into that game, let's conclude these two.

🔷 LEGACY 🔶

Remember, we are only talking about the first two games here. And in that aspect, I don't think their legacy holds up all that great. How many people go back to give these titles a try? Granted, it's hard nowadays, seeing as they are from a bygone age. But the problems with the camera were a very real thing. Then, and now.

They were successful at the time, of course. They sold enough copies that RockStar was willing to risk it all with GTA III. But out of all the GTA games that have come out since, the first two are the least recognizable. That is not meant in disrespect, as the biggest gaming franchise of all time started with them. So all props where due.

Thank you for reading, you rock! (and maybe roll) 👏👏👏

🖼️ Image Sources: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05 🖼️

Shout-out to the 🍕PIZZA🍕 gang, 🤙 gang. 🤙

Next up we got GTA III. This is gonna be a fun series folks! Seeing as how we got a bunch of games and history to cover. I hope you will all join me for the ride!

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I hope you are having an amazing week! 🙌