When I set out to write this Grand Theft Auto feature, I didn't expect that the article's length would spiral out of control. I wanted to provide readers with real insight into the Grand Theft Auto series, not just another listing of the games in the series with a few pretty screenshots. Once it was apparent that we couldn't cut the content down without sacrificing the quality of the article, the Internode overlords afforded me the opportunity to have a special mid-week edition of the Warp Pipe in order to let the fans read all about the series before the release of GTA IV on Tuesday.

The first part of our retrospective covers from the conception of the first game through to the release of the second. Today's second part concentrates on the period following the release of Grand Theft Auto 2 up to the release of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Adding a New Dimension: A Grand Theft Auto Retrospective - Part Two

Some early GTA3 concept art

Despite the retail success of Grand Theft Auto 2, the Houser brothers were not pleased with the game, and swore to redouble their efforts. Sam Houser took a much more hands-on approach for the creation of the third game, assuming the role of Executive Producer. He wanted the team in Scotland to be ambitious – to create something unlike anything done before. They needed to bring Grand Theft Auto into 3D, but it would prove to be quite a challenge. The team at Dundee was reorganised and relocated to Edinburgh, and the guys who had just finished work on Space Station Silicon Valley for the Nintendo 64 formed the core of the GTAIII team. DMA's existing 3D technology, used in Body Harvest and Space Station Silicon Valley, was horribly out of date. Rather than developing a new 3D engine internally, DMA settled on using the RenderWare middleware, speeding up the development process considerably. GTAIII was originally intended to be on the Dreamcast, but DMA found the game lacked the power to pull it off, but the PlayStation 2 proved to be more than capable.

To effectively bring GTA into the third dimension, DMA could not just recreate the previous games in 3D; they would have to go a step further; create a whole new world. Dan Houser and James Worrall teamed up to create the world of Liberty City – not just the script and characters of the game, but hundreds of GTA world brands and ads. Merely dumping players in a city would not be enough; the world had to be believable. DMA knew the risks involved in developing such an ambitious idea; the freedoms involved in the original GTA sent the development time out of control, and moving into 3D had the potential to be an even bigger nightmare. DMA had experimented with free roaming 3D worlds in Body Harvest, but the scale and detail involved in making GTA III put it in a different league.

Hype for GTA III was subdued; fans of GTA2 awaited the game with great interest, but DMA was reasonably quiet, excusing a trailer at E3 2001. The press and most gamers were more interested in the other big hitters of Holiday 2001; Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty was the pick to dominate the charts, while Microsoft and Nintendo were prepping the launch of their new hardware. An early October date was chosen for unleashing GTA III onto an unsuspecting public. However, the September 11 terrorist attack caused the Housers to rethink some of the content that was in the game. The police cars were recoloured, children were removed, dismemberment was toned down, and the character Darkel, who handed out kill frenzy missions, was eliminated entirely. The game was pushed back to the latter end of October.

Grand Theft Auto III

Grand Theft Auto III took the series into new territory with its release on the PlayStation 2 in October of 2001. The first major change was the narrative focus of the game; no longer were you dumped in a city with a short explanation and a goal of making a couple of million dollars. GTAIII is a tale of revenge; the nameless player character (later known as Claude) is betrayed by his girlfriend Catalina in the aftermath of a large scale bank robbery. She shoots him and leaves him for dead in an alleyway, where he is caught by police and sentenced to jail. While on a routine prison transfer, our hero is freed when the police convoy is attacked during an attempt to kidnap another prisoner. He is offered the opportunity to work his way up the Mafia ranks in the hopes that he will be able to find Catalina and exact his revenge.

Did anyone really expect GTAIII to be the biggest thing to hit gaming in years?

GTAIII can seem condensed compared to the second game; players are initially restricted to one third of the city, the gang respect system is gone and missions are generally tied to a linear story. Despite the restrictions, it quickly proves that it is leagues ahead of its predecessor. Liberty City is the main factor which makes GTAIII seem so advanced. The city is alive; trains run to a schedule, there's a full day and night cycle, dynamic weather changes, people walk down the street shouting things at the player and traffic flows through the streets. The city has its own selection of radio stations, including an amusing talkback show hosted by Lazlow (who co-wrote all the radio dialogue with Dan Houser) and a classic rock station featuring the Scarface soundtrack. Radio stations don't just play music; each features a DJ with a unique personality and a variety of ads mocking everything from guns to video games.

What makes GTAIII truly great is the way it plays. Driving around just feels right, with many vehicles to choose from, each with its own advantages. If players get stuck on a story mission, they can do any number of side tasks such as collecting hidden packages, street racing, paramedic missions, cab driving, fire extinguishing and vigilante missions. Alternatively, players could just take a high powered rifle to the street and shower the innocent with lead. Story missions are worth the effort though, some are bog standard chauffeur and hired hit missions, while others were really amusing, such as destroying vehicles with toy cars packed with explosives or picking up illicit pictures of a gang leader and his favourite donkey. There are many memorable characters to meet such as the "legitimate businessmen" like Luigi, the loud-mouthed Maria or the greedy Donald Love.

GTAIII's quality was a surprise; nobody expected it to receive universal praise or its eventual average score of 95%. Once gamers found out how good GTAIII was, it became an instant hit. Out of nowhere, GTAIII became the top selling game of 2001, topping Metal Gear Solid 2 and the GameCube and Xbox's range of launch titles. It was even the second top selling title of 2002. Sony quickly snapped up exclusive rights to the series, though the deal was later amended to afford them a time exclusive. GTAIII has sold 14.5 million units to date.

In the aftermath of GTA III's success, DMA Design took on the name of Rockstar North. Their first game under this moniker was the Windows port of GTA III, which was released in June 2002. The PC version was lauded for enhancements including higher resolution graphics, more visual effects, custom soundtracks and new aiming system, but was generally seen as being unstable. In 2003, Rockstar Vienna shipped a further enhanced port of GTA III for the Xbox in the Grand Theft Auto: Double Pack, which was widely considered to be the definitive version of GTA III. A port to the GameCube was also planned, but eventually met the axe.

With Great Success Comes Great Controversy

All we want is an R18+ rating

GTAIII's content and subsequent success meant it was the new scapegoat for all of society's ills. The game's inclusion of prostitutes, who could have implied relations to the player and be killed in order to regain one's money, caused much controversy. The Australian media got wind of GTAIII, discovering that publisher Take Two Interactive had snuck the title out without officially submitting it for classification – an M sticker was just slapped on the case. Once submitted to the OFLC, the game was pulled from shelves, but not before a significant number of gamers had bought the title; auctions on eBay that weekend fetched upward of $AU300. GTAIII was refused classification, effectively removing it from sale over the lucrative Christmas period. An edited version was submitted in January 2002, approved and released for sale in February. While GTAIII was not the first game refused classification, it was certainly the one with the highest profile. The controversy around the game ignited a debate over the introduction of an R18+ rating for games, which has raged on for 7 years without resolution. GTAIII's unexpected success had a big effect on Rockstar's corporate parent Take Two Interactive, whose shares went from $7 in October 2001 to $20 by January. The company stated it would be revising its earnings reports, which caused the NASDAQ to suspend trading of the shares while the SEC launched an investigation. What it found was that in 2000, Take Two had been making illegal parking transactions i.e. recording returned sales as miscellaneous purchases, thus improperly recognising revenue. They were later issued a fine of $US7.5 million.

Gonna Go Back in Time

Vice City drew heavily from films like Scarface

Rather than responding to the controversy surrounding their game and parent company, the Housers urged on. The brothers kept a low profile, not wishing to take credit for what is a team effort. They had the hottest video game property in their hands; anything they did was almost guaranteed success. Many expected that they would move on to one of the other cities in the original GTA, and they were right – the next game was announced to be set in Vice City. What nobody expected was that the game would be the ultimate homage to the 1980s.

The team at Rockstar North reassembled and started work on Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Set in the middle of the 1980s, GTA: Vice City set out to recreate the atmosphere of mid-80's Miami – bright pink neon lights, big hair, bad fashion, synth-pop and hair metal, anti-communist attitudes and other features of the era. Thematically, the game would draw influence from Brian De Palma's Scarface and Carlito's Way, and Miami Vice. The increased profile of GTA gave Rockstar access to Hollywood voice talents and some of the biggest music acts of the 80s. Actors such as Ray Liotta, Dennis Hopper and Gary Busey signed up for voice work, and Rockstar secured the rights to music from Michael Jackson, Flock of Seagulls, and Blondie.

Vice City's development would not be as challenging as GTAIII, but the schedule was much tighter. In one year, Rockstar North had to build a new city, create characters, ads, brands, radio dialogue, pick music tracks and so on, as well as address many of GTAIII's issues such as load times, draw distance and frame rate. New features such as interior levels and motorcycles needed to be added. The third game's wild success also added the pressure of expectation; any GTAIII sequel was going to be hyped to death, and they needed to beat the fans' expectations. Rockstar stayed quiet on Vice City until August 2002, when the first trailer was revealed. The game was set for an October release.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

Vice City is an evolution of GTA with a drastically different tone. The story takes place in 1986, detailing the rise of Tommy Vercetti. Tommy is released after serving 15 years in prison for 15 hired hits for the Forelli family, which earned him the moniker 'The Harwood Slasher'. Sonny Forelli, fearing that Tommy's release would bring his family unwanted attention, sends Tommy to Vice City to get him to start setting up the family's drug connections. The first deal goes sour, resulting in the death of one of the dealers, and the Columbians getting away with the Forellis' money. Tommy is tasked with getting the money back, but decides instead to start a crime syndicate of his own.

The greatest homage to the 80s you will ever see?

Vice City is based heavily on Miami, Florida. It's a small archipelago, made from five islands, and is much larger than Liberty City. It takes the living, breathing city element from GTAIII, and adds a thick layer of 80s charm. A selection of radio stations is also available playing classic 80s tunes from a variety of genres. Two of the DJs from GTAIII, Lazlow and Toni, make a return as younger versions of themselves, while the perverted Fernando hosts a station playing love songs. Radio stations also have many ads parodying popular culture in the 1980s, including Rambo movies, anti-communist hysteria, second generation video game systems and American sitcoms.

Vice City plays like GTAIII, but features a number of notable differences. Tommy has a verbose personality, always expressing his opinion on a situation. Vice City is flatter than Liberty City, removing some of the excitement from car chases, but the addition of motorcycles and helicopters make up for it. Many minor changes have been made; players can dive out of moving cars, change clothes, purchase businesses and real estate, rob stores and perform new side jobs such as pizza delivery. Businesses act as fronts for the Vercetti Family's operations, generating cash pickups. Many new weapons and vehicles have been added, but are retrofitted to look like they're from the 80s. The story is filled with many amusing characters, such as Ken Rosenberg (a carbon copy of the neurotic lawyer Kleinfeld played by Sean Penn in Carlito's Way) and ageing glam rockers Love Fist, who need to be supplied with all matter of drugs, hookers and physical protection.

Critics and fans gave Vice City the same unanimous praise GTA III received. The game received average scores around the 94% mark, and sold out instantly. It was the best selling game of 2002, beating new entries in the Mario and Metroid franchises and the heavily hyped Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell. Its PlayStation 2 exclusive status secured another Christmas victory for Sony's console, giving it an insurmountable lead as the world's video game format of choice. There was the usual outcry about video game violence being the source of all of society's ills, but nobody was listening – they were all too busy playing the game. Vice City has now sold in excess of 17.5 million copies.

Vice City is available in a number of different versions. The Australian version, delayed for two months, limits interaction with prostitutes and removes scenes from a strip club. A second edition released in 2004 removes offensive references to Haitian gangs and fixes some minor bugs. Vice City was ported to Windows in 2003; the port was much better than GTAIII – it added many of the same advantages, but was mod-friendly, allowing players to add in new features such as multiplayer. The Xbox port followed later that year as part of Rockstar Vienna's GTA Double Pack, which due to its enhanced visuals is widely considered the best version available.

Bigger, Badder and Better

The thorn in the side of the games industry

GTAIII and Vice City proved to be very influential games, with their success spawning a legion of copycat games, not unlike the 'Doom Clone' rush experienced in the middle of the 90s. Games such as True Crime: Streets of LA and Driv3r rode GTA's coattails to moderate success. Other developers shoehorned open world concepts into existing genres; Spider-Man could swing through the Manhattan skyline in Spider-Man 2, while the world of Jak II was open for players to explore. No matter how hard they tried, nobody could match Rockstar North's efforts in sales, critical acclaim or fan following.

2003 saw a number of criminals blame their felonious activities on GTA games. In February, 15 year old Dustin Lynch murdered fellow teenager JoLynn Mishne. Lynch, a runaway who had been staying with the Mishnes, had allegedly been playing GTAIII religiously before the incident. In June, 18 year old Devin Moore killed two policemen and a dispatcher after being arrested for possession of a stolen vehicle; the defence in the trial claimed he was inspired by Vice City. Later in the month, teenage brothers Josh and William Buckner fired on passing traffic with a rifle, killing one member of the public and wounding another. They told investigators that they were inspired by GTAIII. Florida lawyer John B. "Jack" Thompson has become involved in each of the cases, as well as trying to draw Take Two, Sony and other video game manufacturers into litigation. Thompson is currently facing sanctions from the Florida Bar for inappropriate conduct.

Industry expectations pinpointed the release of the next Grand Theft Auto game for late 2003, based on the city of San Andreas, the as-yet-unused locale which featured in the third game. The boys at Rockstar North focused on the equally, if not more, controversial title Manhunt for 2003. The game was a moderate success, but would be banned in many parts of the world for its grisly content. Take Two management revealed that the next Grand Theft Auto title was planned for Holiday 2004, but remained mum on the subject. To throw fans off the trail, Rockstar trademarked 10 different possible titles for the new Grand Theft Auto game. Eventually, they announced that the new title would be called Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, but it would not be set in a city. San Andreas would be a state.

GTA: San Andreas would be set in the early part of the 90s, drawing heavy influences from the West Coast rap and hip hop culture of the time, and movies such as Boyz n the Hood. Rather than continue the series Mafiaso themes, the Housers decided to make the player control a young black man. Funnily enough, this actually caused a bit of hysteria on internet video game forums, showing that gamers are not quite colour blind. The continued success of GTAIII and Vice City meant Rockstar once again could gain easy access to Hollywood talent and license the best music. Actors such as Samuel L. Jackson, James Woods, Peter Fonda and Ice T provide voices, while music comes from performers such as Guns 'n' Roses, Run DMC, N.W.A. and Tom Petty. San Andreas would be released in October 2004.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

San Andreas is the GTA series' epic, a huge world packed with new features and endless content. It follows the attempts of Carl "CJ" Johnson to rebuild his life following his mother's murder and his return to Los Santos. His neighbourhood has been ravaged by crack and his gang, the Grove Street Families, is in disarray. As he brings the families back together and begins recovering territory from rival gang, the Ballas, CJ is betrayed by his two loyal friends, Big Smoke and Ryder. They set a trap to help the Ballas ambush CJ's brother, Sweet, resulting in his arrest by crooked cop Officer Tenpenny. CJ, forced to do Tenpenny's bidding, hatches a plan to free Sweet and take his revenge on the crooked cop and his former friends. Many characters return from GTAIII and Vice City, such as Catalina and Kent Paul, while new characters such as the paranoid hippie The Truth and know-it-all government agent Mike Toreno are introduced.

San Andreas is an epic experience

San Andreas is divided into three counties, with three cities, twelve towns and a lot of wide open country, covering an area of 36 square kilometres. CJ is initially restricted to the Los Santos area due to Tenpenny pinning him as a suspect in a homicide; leaving Los Santos before completing certain missions will result in an instant four star wanted level. Los Santos, San Fierro and Las Venturas are based on Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas respectively, each featuring a number of real world features altered to fit into the GTA world, including the Hollywood Sign, Golden Gate Bridge and The Strip. Radio stations are plentiful, with a stations focusing on rap, hip hop, rock, house, country music and more. There is also a bunch of new amusing ads and brands, parodying everything from high fashion to the legal system.

Extra development time provided Rockstar North with the opportunity to add tons of new features. CJ is a fully customisable character; his abilities and appearance will vary based on how you play the game. He can eat food, do weights, swim, climb, ride bikes and use parachutes. CJ's skills will develop as you play the game, though schools and gyms can be used to enhance abilities faster. Better driving abilities mean better handling, while firearms proficiency results in higher accuracy and dual-wielding. Money plays a much bigger part in the game; players need to keep CJ fed, and can spend it on a variety of things including car enhancement, gambling and real estate. Many new mini-games and missions are added. Burglaries can be made for some quick money; but make too much noise results in the homeowner calling the police. Gang wars can be fought in Los Santos – the more land the Grove Street controls, the more money appears at CJ's house. New vehicle missions such as pimping, deliveries and freight train were added. Players could date a number of different women CJ meets throughout the game – wooing the right girl gives you certain advantages such as keeping your weapons after death or arrest. San Andreas features over 200 vehicles, from standard cars and motorcycles to the vicious Harrier Jet and bizarre jet-pack. The most important thing is that the game plays like a dream. San Andreas is so rich in content that someone could play for a hundred hours and still not have seen everything it has to offer.

San Andreas received the greatest praise of any GTA title to date, with an average score in excess of 95%, and sales of over 2 million copies in its first week of sale. GTA: San Andreas has sold 21.5 million copies to date. 2004 was expected to be the biggest holiday season in gaming history with big guns such as Fable, Halo 2, Half-Life 2, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and Super Mario 64 DS all launching in a similar time frame. San Andreas wiped the floor with them, becoming the top selling game of 2004.

Like Vice City before it, San Andreas saw a number of different releases for the PlayStation 2. The patched version was released in late 2005, alongside a special edition which contained a half hour movie detailing the events leading up to CJ's return to Los Santos. Windows and Xbox versions of the game were released in June 2005. Unlike the previous two games, the Windows version was generally considered to be the best version; the Xbox game did not receive the level of optimisation that the Double Pack enjoyed, meaning that the PC version's better graphics, frame rate, lighting and modability went a long way.

Up Next

Join us on Sunday as we wrap up the Warp Pipe's Grand Theft Auto Retrospective with a look at the Hot Coffee controversy, the portable GTA games and the future of the series.

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The Warp Pipe Grand Theft Auto Retrospective Part 1: Fast Times in Liberty City - Grand Theft Auto / Mission: London 1969 + 1961 / GTA2 Part 2: Adding a New Dimension - GTA III / Controversy / Vice City / Jack Thompson / San Andreas Part 3: GTA In Your Pocket - GTA Advance / Hot Coffee / Liberty City Stories / Vice City Stories / GTA IV