GTA III 📽 Through the Lens

📢 GTA VI TRAILER DROPPED YESTERDAY! 📢

Might as well continue doing a GTA series of articles. 🥳

We are back with our GTA series of columns. This time around tackling the very influential and very controversial third entry in the Grand Theft Auto franchise. A game that revolutionized the gaming industry, and yet remains largely unplayable today. We'll cover all of that and more.

And so❗️ In this edition of Through the Lens 🎞, we'll be taking a look at Rockstar Games' revolutionary third person, open world bahemoth: GTA III. ◀️

(boy is this game more of a proof of concept than anything else)

Roll it! 📽

🔷 UP TOP 🔶

The soundtrack of this game is what started it all for GTA titles. Arguably the best selection of tracks they've had, and that's saying something. The DJs, the radio stations, it is all put together with care and attention. One of the best compilation soundtracks out there, and a great playlist all around.

_{Compossed and compiled by Craig Conner and Stuart Ross}

GTA III put GTA on the map. It was a revolution when it came out. An open world like Liberty City was not seen back then. Sure, there were open worldish games out there, but nothing like this. GTA III walked so Vice City and San Andreas could run.

Or should I say GTA III crawled. Because this game, if you are not looking at it through tinket glasses - is not that good. 😅

It was a progenitor though, so shouldn't that cut it some slack? Well, it's more complicated than it first appears. Let's discuss.

🔷 PROGENITOR 🔶

We see this a lot in media. Not just gaming but: books, shows, movies, you name it—the first of a something - the progenitor - usually has a lot of rough edges. The formula has not been tested, you see. It is still in the lab and being developed. We cannot judge it by the same parameters we do already fully tested, licensed products. // I hope that analogy makes sense

With all of that being said, we are still gonna talk S$#!@ about this game. 😁 Because regardless of when you release something there are some flaws that are timeless, so to speak. For instance, this game is hella buggy. Like we talking Cyberpunk at launch levels of bad. And that just sours the experience.

We're talking you can fly a tank pretty easily. Now if that doesn't sound game-breaking I don't know what to tell you. 😂 A lot of the main missions you can glitch your way around. Explosions, body parts flying, and the mayhem in this game can be insane. Which, while fun, is a far cry from the 'realistic' sandbox GTA has become.

We have to put an accent on the fact that this game is still the bedrock upon which all future GTA games are built. That's saying something. Everything we love about these games is here: the goofy cutscenes, the world, the police, the open-world nature of the game, the mission style. I can go on.

🔷 GRANDADDY 🔶

With all that being said it is natural to come to 5the conclusion that "GTA III is the grandpa of all GTA games." Everyone knows 1 and 2 don't count! 😛

What I love a lot about this game is that the mayhem you do is the game. The missions and everything else are the side-content of the experience. That approach is just fun, and sometimes that's all games should be. Not everything has to be this grand statement, sometimes it's nice to just mess around in a GTA world. I know that's why we play GTA games mostly, but while buggy, this is still the same experience.

The protagonist is silent, which apart from the original two games is wholly unique to the series. This allows the player to imagine themselves as the playable character. At the same time, this character in particular is particularly vile to the core. One of the most evil guys that you will see, let alone play as, in GTA. Now that's saying something.

All in all, although messy af, you can still play and enjoy the grandaddy of all GTAs. Granted, you will have to use tens (yes, more than ten) mods to make it run as smoothly as possible nowadays. But hey, Grandpa is supposed to be tired and hard to deal with. 😁

🔷 LEGACY 🔶

This game sold like hotcakes. And above all other GTA games, this one's legacy is heavily associated with protests and unrest among the general public. I don't blame the worried moms, the guy you play is a serial killer.

This unrest is associated with GTA games nowadays, but there was nothing like it back then. On the other hand, the game is the s[ringboard upon which all GTA games are made, so the respect from the gaming side is there.

Of course will this be remembered as a good game? I'm not so sure. More and more people are recognizing that this was really unfinished to say the least. But the respect for GTA III will always remain.

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

🖼️ Image Sources: 01, 02, 03, 04 🖼️

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

Next up we are traveling to the in-world fictional Miami setting. Vice City. For another blockbuster GTA experience. 🌴

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I hope you are having an amazing week! 🙌