Grand Theft Auto Review

When it was first released, Grand Theft Auto was one of the most controversial games ever. Its creator, BMG Interactive were heavily criticised for making a game that encouraged cold-blooded murder, car hijacking, crime sprees and blowing up police stations, but despite outcries from police, parents and political pressure groups, the game was released and created a new gaming genre.

The game is reminiscant of the 2D Micro Machines games that were immensely popular in the era of the Mega Drive and SNES. You drive around an open area in a cartoon-like car doing outrageous stunts and skids. But GTA is much more than that; there are complex missions to complete, in any way you want.

There is no fixed track in Grand Theft Auto, each of the three cities has secluded shortcuts, alternative routes and different ways of completing your mission. You can even ride onto the rooves of high-rise buildings on motorbikes and kill people below by blowing up adjacent buildings with rocket launchers!

Grand Theft Auto has a fairly long lifespan. The game is packed with secrets. At some points in the game you can drive through recreations of New York, San Francisco and Miami in a gigantic tank that takes up two lanes of the road and fires rockets from a turret. Other hilariours bonuses include radio-controlled cars fitted with huge bombs, and flamethrower guns that you can use to set innocent citizens on fire.

For even more last-ability, the game boasts a selection of cheat codes, allowing you to have infinite weapons (including machine guns and rocket launchers) and have every cop in the city after you.

Grand Theft Auto is only a single-player game, which is a shame because a split screen 2-player mode could have added to this already fantastic game.

Graphics: 7/10.
Gameplay: 10/10.
Sound: 9/10.
Lifetime: 8/10.
Overall: 8/10.

This review was added on 28th July 2000 by Rupe Parnell.