Get A Sense Of Nostalgia With Grand Theft Auto 3, Now On iOS
Grand Theft Auto 3 ($4.99) by Rockstar Games is a full iOS port of the classic PlayStation 2 game that is now 10 years old (believe it or not!). This is the game that helped define the genre of open-world games.
Before we dive in to the details of the game, please be aware that this is a universal app, with a minimum OS requirement of 4.3. However, it has left out third generation (and under) iPod touches, so please be aware of this.
Once you load up the game, you’ll be hit with a sense of nostalgia (unless it’s your first time playing a GTA title). The game supports several save files, so don’t worry about that. The graphics look even better than the original, since they are now in HD quality. The music and radio stations that you’ll hear in vehicles also adds to the awesome-ness of the game.
When you start a game, you’ll find Claude left for dead at a bank heist in Catalina. He gets arrested, but then breaks free with a character named 8-Ball. And so your adventure in GTA3 begins.
Players can freely move Claude around with the joystick in the bottom left corner. This joypad isn’t only in one spot, which is nice. If you touch anywhere in the bottom left corner, the joystick will appear (it goes away once you aren’t touching the screen). In the top right corner, you’ll get information such as time, money, and your health. Weapons are displayed in the box, and you can change your weapons by swiping up and down on that box; if you have a gun, your current ammo will be displayed. Underneath it all, you will see your Wanted level (the more stars filled in, the more wanted you are by the police).
In addition to moving him around with this joystick, you will have a plethora of different buttons on the right hand side of the screen. If you’re near a car, a button for carjacking appears, and you can take that car and do whatever you want with it (my favorite part). You can also walk up to other people and attack. A brake and accelerator button are there when you’re in a vehicle (steer left or right with the buttons on the bottom left corner), and the camera view can be changed anytime (regardless if you’re on foot or in a stolen car).
The top left will show a mini-map of your location and surroundings, and any missions that require a certain location or target will display a colored dots to help you navigate. Tapping on the mini-map display will bring up a full map of Liberty City, with a key to help guide you. As you play the game, it would be best if you remember the map and find shortcuts, because the police will likely be on your tail a few times (or more!).
The Home button under the mini-map will pause your game and take you to the main screen. Please keep in mind that this is not the way to save your game. For an actual save, you will have to navigate to the “home” marked on the map – park a car you like in the garage, and then walk through the door – ta-da! Your game is saved, once you pick a save file.
If you steal certain vehicles, such as ambulances or taxis, then you will have access to special missions that are specific to that type of vehicle. These can be accessed with the button underneath the Home button underneath the map.
The regular missions throughout the game will be obtained from the characters you meet, such as Luigi and Joe. The mini-map will display their location, and when you go in the blue light outside their buildings, the mission is automatically obtained. Missions will have various tasks, and some are timed; but they are always crazy and fun.
As you play, you will encounter many items, such as guns, baseball bats, and health. To pick up any item, just walk over it; Claude will pick it up if it is usable.
If you’re like me, you’re probably going to get busted a few times by the police. If this happens, you get arrested and any mission you were on is failed. You will find yourself awoken at the nearest police station, though they took a cash bribe from you. If you flip your car and don’t get out before it explodes, or find some other way of killing Claude, then you’re “wasted.” This will have you waking up at the nearest hospital, with a nice chunk of cash missing.
The game will keep track of various stats, which are accessible from the main game screen. The only thing that is missing from this game is Game Center integration – I would love to get various achievements as I play.
If you’ve played GTA3 before, then you should be familiar with all of this. It’s amazing that the experience from a game console 10 years ago is now available to you from your mobile phone (or tablet).
I highly recommend picking this up if you are a fan of the GTA series, want to relive the colorful memories of GTA3 on your iDevice, or have never played before. It’s an absolute bargain at $4.99.
However, it seems that some people (based on iTunes reviews) are having crashing issues with the game. I hope that Rockstar Games gets an update out for these problems soon. If you have a device that seems to be experience bugs and crashes (from other user’s reports), then I would hold off until it’s fixed.
Since this review was done on an iPhone 4S, I experienced no issues with the game.
