Grand Theft Auto III

Playing Grand Theft Auto III today is an interesting exercise in gaming history. Having played the original PS2 release as a kid without ever engaging in the story, running through the campaign front to back in 2026 reveals just how much of the modern Rockstar formula was established right from the start. The game is largely a museum piece now, and its monumental impact on the industry is obvious given the countless clones it spawned. Still, pushing through the game today was mostly driven by my desire to finish the 3D trilogy and build hype for Grand Theft Auto VI, rather than playing the game on its own merits.

The story is fairly simple and barebones. Claude is a total blank slate of a protagonist, though there is some charm in his occasional unique animations, like bowing to Kenji or checking under bathroom stalls for a contact. The supporting cast, however, exists almost to a fault with or without the player. Characters tend to drop off the face of the earth without any fanfare or conclusion once their missions are done, and they severely lack meaningful character arcs or any real relationship with Claude. Ultimately, the overarching narrative is not enough to carry the game by itself.

Instead, Liberty City itself might actually be the game's strongest character. The world remains incredibly impressive for its time, acting as a brilliant time capsule of early 2000s New York City. Even in the Definitive Edition, Liberty City maintains a highly alluring vibe defined by its relentless grayness, deep fog, and constant overcast skies. Cruising through that gloomy, abstract atmosphere while listening to trance music on Rise FM perfectly captures a surreal era of gaming. While the map is small by today's standards and lacks the density of activities needed to encourage exploration in modern open worlds, its compact size and undeniable mood keep things relatively engaging. Side activities like the taxi, vigilante, and ambulance missions are present, but they are fairly basic and easily ignored after a short time messing around with them

Where the game does shine is in its open-ended approach to mission design, something future Rockstar games would unfortunately forget. A standout moment involved a mission in Chinatown to eliminate a target with heavy protection. After failing a direct assault when the target fled in a getaway car, the realization hit that the 8-ball garage mechanic could be weaponized. By stealing his escape car, rigging it with a bomb, parking it back in its original spot, and triggering his escape, the target unknowingly blew himself up for an easy mission success. The game only cares that the target dies, not how it happens, and that freedom is highly rewarding.

The world itself remains super impressive for its time, acting as a brilliant time capsule of early 2000s New York City. Cruising around listening to the trance music on Rise FM as you pass by shop windows adorned with actual photographs of actual storefronts from NYC perfectly captures that era and adds a surreal quality to the somewhat abstract design of Liberty City. While the map is small by today's standards and lacks the density of activities needed to encourage exploration in modern open worlds, its compact size keeps things moving.

Unfortunately, playing the Definitive Edition brings its own set of frustrations. While the widescreen support and cleaned-up HUD are nice improvements, the visual overhaul effectively butchers the original art style and atmosphere, making the lack of a legacy graphics toggle a huge missed opportunity. The quality of life updates also feel like they fall just short of actually being good. The addition of GPS navigation on the mini-map is helpful, but it arbitrarily stops working while on-mission. Furthermore, the map is highly inefficient at marking items, locations, and activities, often leaving you feeling like you are flying blind.

The core gameplay loop is heavily hindered by psychotic NPC behavior and clunky combat. As the story progresses, gangs take over more of the city and shoot at you on sight, while civilian drivers will turn for absolutely no reason just to ram your car and derail your journey. On foot, the combat improvements in the Definitive Edition are only fine at best. The lock-on aiming is far too sticky, making it difficult to switch targets, and it lacks the intelligence to prioritize a mafia hitman shooting from across the street over a cowering civilian right next to you.

The difficulty remains challenging in spots, though the Definitive Edition mercifully adds pre-mission checkpoints to save you from the dreaded walk-back and the loss of money and weapons if you fail a mission. However, dying or getting arrested while off-mission still strips you of your arsenal and drains your cash, which becomes a massive, annoying slog to recover from, especially in the later gang-filled territories. Despite all these aging mechanics and the visual missteps of the remaster, the game can be picked up cheaply on any console, making it a harmless gamble for curious newcomers or returning veterans alike.

Grand Theft Auto III is a revolutionary trip down memory lane, provided you look both ways before crossing the street so a rogue taxi doesn't send you back to the hospital without your guns.