Rockstar’s breakout title Grand Theft Auto III is officially 24 years old today.
Where Does Grand Theft Auto III Stand In Video Game History?
Grand Theft Auto III has made an indelible mark on the video game industry, very much like Space Invaders, Tetris, Super Mario 64, Street Fighter II, Halo, BioShock, etc. etc. But how do we exactly weight that impact? Is it just because the game’s still popular with gamers, or should we look into it more deeply?
The Sales Juggernaut
First off, it was one of the best-selling games in its time. After launching as a PlayStation exclusive on this date in 2001, it sold 2 million units by February 2002.
After releasing on Windows, it would hit six millions units in a full year. It would then be bundled with Grand Theft Auto: Vice City for the Grand Theft Auto Double Pack, that would come to the Xbox alongside Windows and PlayStation 2. This bundle was also a best seller on Xbox, hitting 1.59 million units sold.
Overall, it sold 11.6 million units sold on the PlayStation 2, and 14.5 million units by March 2008.
The Industry Innovator
Each of the games we mentioned above delivered an innovation that showed the industry what was possible and changed the way games were made. So what did Rockstar accomplish?
Rockstar successfully set the template for how to make a fully 3D open world game. While there were earlier attempts at making 3D worlds, some made by Rockstar themselves, this game showed pushed the envelope on what was possible.
For one, this was a giant sprawling world that Claude could freely explore, with no loading screens in the way while you were traveling that world. On top of that, the game gave the impression of a living city that could have existed without the player.
A lot of this came down to minor details that players would take for granted, such as the amount of recorded dialogue to meet any potential scenario, the heavy use of motion capture (that the studio couldn’t really afford at the time), all the radio stations, etc.
And one additional layer was how Rockstar built their own version of New York in Liberty City, as something of a parody of the city. Dan Houser and co-writer James Worrall were both inspired by the living worlds of Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda games, as well as New York inner city movies like The Warriors, Taxi Driver, Payback, Goodfellas, etc.
Do You Want To Play This Game Today?
As you well know, Grand Theft Auto III is part of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition. The common consensus is this is a poorly implemented remaster of these games. But this shouldn’t turn you off from trying out these games completely.
For one, Rockstar relisted their 2005 remaster of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy on the official Rockstar PC store, and you can buy them here. You may also find this version on PlayStation or Xbox store, depending on region and other limitations.
And then, there’s the Netflix version of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition on mobile. This is said to be a much improved version of this remaster, and should be a candidate for another rerelease on consoles sometime down the line.
But the other question is would you really want to play this game? If you’re a younger gamer, you may not find it easy to return to the earlier versions of this kind of game, before the many QOL and game design improvements that you may take for granted today. Maybe reading and watching videos about Grand Theft Auto III will teach you more than actually playing the game.
In any case, Grand Theft Auto III stands in history as a title that changed the course of video game history, and created a juggernaut in the video game industry to this very day.
