Grand Theft Auto 2

Review

by Anthony Baize

If nothing else, the Grand Theft Auto series is original. The 1999 release in the series, Grand Theft Auto 2, closely follows the original as an experience of greed, violence, and total anarchy.

Grand Theft Auto 2's visual presentation will turn some people off. Its overhead view can be difficult to deal with, especially when a character is trying to navigate busy city streets in a speeding car. Still, I think the overhead view works for this game. It allows gamers to see more of what is going on in the city, and allows them to look ahead to other cars, weapons, and power- ups. A first-person perspective would not allow gamers playing Grand Theft Auto 2 to have as many options.

Graphically, Grand Theft Auto 2 is decent, but not great. There are many details present in characters, cars, and backgrounds, but everything is so tiny that the nuances are often lost. I don't have any suggestions on improving the graphics, because I think the overhead view has predicated their size. Therefore, I cannot criticize the graphics too harshly. In my gut, I think they should be better, but my brain cannot conjure a way to improve them without radically changing the game.

One of the truly great things about Grand Theft Auto 2 is its ingenious use of sound. Each car a character steals has a different sound. Some drivers were listening to country, others rock, while still others love contemporary Christian music. The sound adds quite a bit to Grand Theft Auto 2. Apart from the music, there are good samples for car noise, gunfire, and sounds in the urban landscape.

The only flaw in the sound I found in Grand Theft Auto 2 was the jumbled squeaking on payphones when gang leaders offer characters jobs. There are other times in the game where human speech is used. Why not here?

When a character is on foot, players can have him belch and make other rude gaseous noises. This seems slightly juvenile to me, but then again, I don't have to press the button that makes the character do those things. There is also quite a bit of obscenity used in Grand Theft Auto 2, so parents may want to use some discretion before allowing younger gamers to take a crack at it.

The action in Grand Theft Auto 2 is very intense. Stealing cars and running from the cops are two of the most dangerous things any person can do. Because Grand Theft Auto 2 does such a good job of drawing you into this world of thieves, the exhilaration seems real.

Grand Theft Auto 2 also keeps you enthralled by diversifying the kinds of missions that the gangs give you. There are drug deals, bank robberies, deliveries to chop shops, and other criminal acts that can earn you big bucks. Oh yes, Grand Theft Auto 2 is a game of moral depravity, but it is fun.

While Grand Theft Auto 2 does glorify violence and stealing, it also does make an attempt -- although a weak one -- to show the consequences of criminal behavior. Player characters are arrested, beaten, and sometimes killed for doing what they do. So, while Grand Theft Auto 2 is game of bad morals, it's not totally morally bankrupt.

Overall, Grand Theft Auto 2 is the kind of game you play when you want to experience life as a member of the bottom of the criminal food chain. You don't ever want to find yourself living like one of these guys, but it's fun to visit for a while.

If you like intense action, mindless violence, and total chaos, then Grand Theft Auto 2 is a game you want in your collection.