August Reviews: Action
	Grand Theft Auto III Overall Rating: 9.9 Gameplay: 10 Tilt: 9 Sound: 9 Graphics: 9 Value: 10

Review:  Like the two previous Grand Theft Auto games, GTA3's main selling point is that it allows you to completely run around within what appears to be a fully functional city. The biggest difference is that this latest installment features a more visually appealing 3d engine. All of the popular aspects from the two former GTA titles--car jacking, police chases, etc--have returned in similar fashion.

Among the new 3d engine, there are also many new improvements. With the addition of the mini-map, the cities actually make sense and the value of this feature, which was absent from previous GTA titles, quickly becomes apparent. Another excellent addition is the introduction of side-missions which allow you to earn extra money by stealing cars such as Fire trucks, police cars, or Taxis and doing the subsequent missions that follow. The voice acting is typically good and the cut-scenes help to drive the story of the gangs along pretty well.

Although the game is certainly enjoyable, there are several flaws as well. Visually, the graphic engine does not warrant the steep system specs required for decent performance. It's unfortunate that the novelty factor, introduced by the highly illegal crimes you can commit, quickly loses its appeal. The convention used for saving your game is also disappointing. Some of the missions are very difficult and it can become frustrating when some freak accident causes you to fail and, consequently, replay it from the start.

The police AI needs to be totally redone. First of all, they don't seem to have a care in the world when it comes to driving laws. Aside from running over a pedestrian in front of a cop, you can pretty much break every single traffic law without any police resistance. Another problem is how the Wanted Level functions. Once your Wanted Level increases to two or more stars, the only way to decrease it is to get a new paint job or to collect small powerups scattered across the map. It's disappointing to see that you can't lose the police by ducking into a small, out of sight alley and changing vehicles. Surely that should be, at the very least, equivalent to a paint job.

However, even with all of these flaws, it's still a great, innovative game that will provide many hours of play. The size of the world, the number of cars, and the amount of missions available are truly impressive. This is a very easy game to recommend and I would advise everyone to pick it up regardless of any faults you may hear of.
 

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