Grand Theft Auto 3 Information

Contents

What is GTA3?
PC Requirements
Features
Screens & Movies
Article Quotes
What's New
What is GTA3? <Top>

This section is wayyyy out of date and needs to be updated.  I am in the process of doing just that and I should hopefully have it done soon.

Introduction
The majority of the information on this page was gathered from the following GTA3 previews:

  
Special thanks go out to Harry @ GTA Tanks who transcribed the PS2 UK article and sent it to me.  You may notice that all of these previews are for the PS2, so everything below is pretty much based on the PS2 version.  The PC and XBox versions may differ slightly, but we won't know any details until previews for those platforms start showing up.

Grand Theft Auto 3 is the latest title in the Grand Theft Auto series, developed by DMA Design and published by Rockstar Games, a division of Take-Two Interactive Software.  So far GTA3 has only been released for the PS2, the PC version will be out on May 20th, 2002 and the GameBoy Advance version is currently due out in October 2002.  Game Informer reported in March 2001 that GTA3 will not be released on Dreamcast due to the hardware requirements.  An XBox version was announced a long while back, but a few months after the annoucement the listing for it was removed from Take2's site.  Until we hear something official I'd assume it's been put on the backburner or has been cancelled.   No other releases have been announced, but Gamecube, MAC, and Linux ports are not completely out of the question.  Traditionally Rockstar hasn't supported these platforms so it seems rather unlikely.

  
Plot & Setting
GTA3's plot is roughly similar to GTA's, in fact the whole game is a little more like GTA than GTA2.  While GTA3 does share similarities with the other titles in the series, it is not just GTA in 3D.  GTA3 is more story driven than the past two GTAs.  You still have the same freedom of movement, but now you are actually doing this stuff for an overall reason, driving the plot forward with each new job.  Doing missions to advance the plot doesn't mean you are required to do all the missions in a specific order.  "As with GTA and GTA2 before it, players can take on any mission at almost any time, an element to the game that provides freedom and provokes exploration."  The back story was roughly laid out in the May 2001 issue of PSE2.

"It seems you were left to take the fall while your skanky girlfriend, Catalina, and your so-called partner-in-crime, Miguel, have run off with the loot.  Thankfully, the Man just can't keep you down.  As it turns out, on the way to the jail house, your paddy wagon is ambushed by the Columbian Cartel.  Seem they are interested in an old Japanese man sharing your ride up the river.  Along with another escapee (who happens to be an explosives expert) by the name of 8-Ball, you carjack the nearest vehicle and make your way to freedom - well, actually a hideout in Liberty City's seedy Red Light District run by a Mafioso named Luigi.  Here is where your road to vengeance begins."

During the game you will interact with well over 60 different characters, some of which will be crime bosses and characters returning from GTA, GTA: London, and GTA2.  Gang's will also be returning to GTA3, but GTA2's respect-o-meter will not.  Over the course of the game you will run across seven different gangs, the Maifa, the Diablos, the Triads, the Yakuza, the Yardies (a Jamaican gang), the Colombian Cartel, and the SouthSide Hoods.  Unlike GTA and GTA2, you aren't in this game alone.  Your criminal ally is Eight-Ball, a demolitions expert. Eight-Ball will accompany you on some of your missions and will also equip your vehicle with bombs.

GTA3 is set entirely in Liberty City, which is sectioned off into three parts, Portland (mostly industrial), Staunton Island (mostly commercial), and Shoreside Vale (suburban).  Each of these sections is faught over by different gangs.  You can travel from one section to another via trains, tunnels, bridges, and even boats.  Each section of the city has one safe-house where you can hide out, save your game, store a vehicle, and collect bonuses.  As you progress through the game you will unlock different parts of the city.  Complete enough missions in the industrial area and the radio will announce that the long closed Callahan Bridge has just been opened, giving you the opportunity to check out some new jobs downtown in the commercial area.  Each of the subsections of Liberty City is broken down into smaller areas with posh districts, run down streets, ethnic neighborhoods, docks, etc.  Some sections have names unique to them, like Chinatown and the Red Light District.  As you pass through these areas a message will pop up indicating which area you have entered.  Each of the city sections features different quests, civilian AI, architecture, and landscape.  These sections also have a different variety of cars and pedestrians.  You won't see many sports cars in the industrial section, nor will see any business men walking around.  

The entire map is 4x4 square kilometers (5.76 square miles) and all of that area isn't just a flat surface.  GTA3 is filled with hills, curves, bumps, and twists that can all be navigated on foot or on wheels, leaving you free to perform stunts all over the map (can you say "Insane Stunt Bonus"?).  GTA3's interface features a radar to help you navigate this huge environment - (click here to view a screenshot of GTA3's interface).

GTA3 generally plays like the other games in the series, so anyone who has played GTA before should be able to pick GTA3 up and play it immediately.  Hit one key/button to jack a car and the same key/button to get back out, that sort of thing.  There are well over 50 mandatory missions and over 50 odd job type side missions.  60% of these missions will be car based and 40% will be on foot.  Cutscenes appear throughout the game, during and between missions.  The cutscenes are generally used to flesh out the plot and feature top-notch voice acting, lip-synched to the character's mouths.

  
A.I., Notoriety & The Law
GTA3's artificial intelligence (AI) is used to give life to the inhabitants of Liberty City.  The pedestrians (peds) have a distinctive AI which will allow them to continue about their business even when they aren't on screen.  The peds are programmed to interact with one another and with you.  That doesn't mean they will all react the same however.  Each ped, whether they be good or bad, will be programmed with quirks and odd behavior so they won't always react how you'd expect.  You might be able to throw one guy out his car without a fight, but another might not give up so easily.  Some might play dead, others get mad and yell at you, while the vigilante types will take the law into their own hands.  

The main peds you interact with are your various criminal contacts.  As you gain new contacts their locations will appear on your radar for future reference.  The other random peds you encounter will change depending on what section of town you are in and the time of day.  In the commercial section you will see business people going to work in the morning and then going home just before it gets dark.  Other sections will have peds that are specific to them (hookers in the seedier areas, shoppers and bussness people in the Commercial area, etc).

Now on to the subject of notoriety.  Whenever you commit a hostile act you run the risk of raising your notoriety.  This is indicated by badge-like stars that appear, the more stars you have the more difficult the game will be, and the more severe the repercussions.  Get six of these stars going at one time and you better start ducking, because not only will you have to contend with your garden variety street cop, but you'll also have to deal with helicopters, SWAT teams, FBI agents, and the army.  Each branch of the law has different units at their disposal.  The police have regular officers, SWAT teams, and helicopters.  The FBI has suited agents that roll up in black sedans, and the army has troop transports that will roll up packed with heavily armed soldiers.  If you can't take the heat you can always track down a spray shop or a police bribe.  The sprayshop will immediatly clear your wanted level back to zero while each police bribe you pick up will lower your wanted level by one.

  
Graphics, Features & Interface
If you hadn't figured it out already, GTA3 uses a true 3D engine that is not shackled to a top-down view like the other titles in the GTA series.  Multiple views and camera angles are available, including first person (with certain guns), third person, top down, etc.  The majority of the game will be played from the default, third person view.  The DMA Design team played numerous third person games and found the best possible solution to the camera problems that plague some of these games.

GTA3 also features "continuously streaming environments" allowing the DMA team to use an "unlimited number of building models".  This reduces the amount of repetition in the environment.  The PS2 version runs at 30 FPS and features graphical enhancements like, rain, fog, real time lighting, reflection mapping, zero clipping, motion blur, and lots of detail.  Another feature of the game engine is full day/night time cycles, with 30 minutes of real-time equaling 24 hours of game-time.  As the sun moves across the sky the objects in the city will cast a different shadow depending on the position of the sun.  Along with the day/night cycles, GTA3 also features a weather generator which can lead to rain, haze, fog, clouds, lightening, thunder or any combination of these elements.  These weather conditions affect the physics in the game making it harder to sprint or drive fast on wet pavement, and it will lower your visibility under hazy or foggy conditions.  Cloudy conditions just lead to a darker day while lightening and thunder just add to the environment.

The interface in GTA3 features the standard compliment of read outs including area name, pager, health meter, armor meter, weapon/ammo/clip, cash, radar, wanted level, and clock.  Most of these are self-explanatory - (click here to view a screenshot of GTA3's interface).

  • Area Name: As you enter new areas around town the area name will appear briefly to indicate where you are (China town, red light district, docks, etc.)
  • Pager: The pager pops up from time to time to give you new and current mission information.
  • Health Meter: The health meter shows how much life you have left.
  • Armor Meter:  The armor meter shows how much armor you have left
  • Weapon/Ammo/Clip: The weapon/ammo/clip readout shows your current weapon, how much ammo you have left overall, and how much ammo you have left in the current clip.  The clip amount will only show up if the weapon you are using has a clip.
  • Cash: Cash indicates your current liquid assets
  • Radar:  The radar shows full street layout with an N on the radar border indicating which direction is North.  Various mission goals are indicted by colored icons.  The mission icons will sit on the border of the radar indicating which direction you need to go.  When you get close enough to the mission goal it will move onto the radar screen showing more specific instructions.
  • Wanted Level: The wanted level shows how much heat you have coming down on you (ranges from 0-6 badge icons).
  • Clock: The clock shows the current game time.  The clock replaces the counters that were used in previous games in the GTA series.  You will use the clock for certain missions where you have to be at a specific place at a specific time.  One scenario might require the player to rob an armored van that makes it's rounds early in the morning.  If you miss the job, you'll have to try again the next day.  Judging from previous previews, it sounds as if you can miss some missions and retry them the next day, while others are one-shot deals that you will fail if you don't show up at the correct time.

  
Vehicles, Control & Movement
GTA3 will feature approximately 50 vehicles, with each vehicle having 4 to 5 variations.  In the end it's possible that GTA3 may have up to 250 different vehicle variations total.  All the cars are based on real-life vehicles.  Some situations will call for a truck, some for a sports car, others for a boat, and some will require you to use a small vehicle to get to a specific point on the map.  I've composed a list of possible vehicles based on the screen shots and the previews.  

The design team at DMA is trying to balance the physics so all the vehicles are modeled accurately, but still fun to drive.  The physics of any given vehicle can be affected by damage, terrain, vehicle type, and weather conditions.  Just as in previous versions of GTA, you will be able to perform stunts like hand-brake turns, jumps, and more.  One feature returning from GTA2 is the ability to drive a cab and collect fares.  In some special cases you can also use the cab to get missions from your riders.  Other vehicle side missions include, answering emergency calls in the ambulance, putting out fires with the fire truck, capturing criminals with the police car, and possibly selling ice cream from the ice cream truck.  All of these vehicle side missions will net you some extra cash.

Unlike other games, in GTA3, you can run over anyone you like.  Only the lucky peds will be able to jump out of the way in this game.  If you do happen to miss one and you're too damn lazy to get out of your car, fear not, drivebys are back.  Simply make a U-turn, pull out your Uzi, and gun down the acrobatic ped.

Each vehicle features 18 damage points that can be dented or fall off.  It's even possible to bash every panel off, leaving only the frame.  If it takes too much damage it might blow up.  You also run the risk of flipping your car in some situations.  If the car doesn't blow up after flipping, you can crawl out the window and continue on your way.  Damaging your vehicle will do more than just change its appearance, it will also adjust the physics and performance.  The more you damage a vehicle, the more difficult it will be to drive.  For instance, if the front end is rammed hard enough, the engine will begin to smoke and your car may not perform as well.

If for any reason you get sick of driving you can always get out of your car and go for a walk.  When you leave your car you can walk, run, or sprint, however you can only sprint for a short time before you have to stop and rest.  If you run and sprint a lot, the character will get in better shape and later in the game he won't have to rest as often because his endurance has gone up.  All of these actions have separate animations that your character will perform, even down to bending over to take a deep breath after a long sprint.

The PS2 controls are as follows (the layout may change and no one has mentioned yet what the other buttons do.  L3 and R3 are used by pushing in either analog stick):

Button Action - On Foot/In Vehicle
Square Jump / Brake
Circle Hit / Fire / Activate Car Bomb
Triangle Enter / Exit Vehicle
X Accelerate / Sprint
  
R1 Target Lock / Hand Brake
R2 Change Weapons / Driveby View
R3 Look Behind / Toggle Vehicle Mission
  
L1 Change Radio Station
L2 Change Weapons / Driveby View
L3 Horn / Sirens
  
Left Stick Movement
Right Stick First Person View
D-Pad Movement
  
Start Pause Game / Access Options Menu
Select Change Camera Angle

  
Weapons, Power-Ups & Combat
GTA3 will feature a wide variety of weapons including baseball bats, pistols, shotguns, sniper rifles, Uzis, assault rifles, rocket launchers, flame throwers, grenades, Molotov Cocktails, and more. The rocket launcher and sniper rifle will automatically take you into first-person mode, and the sniper rifle also has the ability to zoom when you use the scope.  This also leads to the possibility that other weapons may have special secondary fire modes or views.

The baseball bat opens a whole new aspect to GTA where the player can actually use melee combat.  Along with the bat you can also punch, kick, head butt, and knee your opponents into submission.  Hand to hand combat may also feature some more advanced combos.  Two other weapons returning from GTA2, the grenade and the Molotov Cocktail, will require a bit of discretion.  If you throw them at someone nearby you run the risk of getting caught up in the explosion.  I'd imagine the rocket launcher carries the same warning.  If you cause enough explosions in a row (use five grenades or more in the same spot) you run the risk of attracting the fire department and adding to your notoriety.  

The design team at DMA have played numerous third-person titles in order to develop the best possible targeting system.  The targeting system in GTA3 gives you the choice to freely attack your enemies or you can "lock on" to the most powerful enemy.  When you hit the target lock button, GTA3 will automatically aim at the most powerful enemy around you, then it will continue to aim for you until your current target is dead.  The target lock will then automatically switch to the next powerful opponent, and so on.  You can also scroll through your opponents from strongest to weakest by using the next target button.  If you choose to, you can bypass the entire system and aim for yourself.

When you aren't taking out the trash with your AK47s, you generally keep your weapons hidden on you, so as not to arouse suspicion.  When you do choose to draw your gun, you can expect other armed members of society to follow suit in order to protect themselves.  The citizens in the bad parts of town are typically more likely to be armed than a business man on his way to work, but don't expect every ped to take your abuse lying down.

According to German gaming mag PSM2, GTA3 will also contain power-ups and multipliers.  No details have been given on the power-ups, other than the fact that they will be in crates around the city, like they were in GTA & GTA2.

  
Sound
GTA3 carries on the tradition of the series and will feature a wide assortment of music, with 50 plus songs appearing in the final release.  Like the original, each musical genre will have its own radio station and DJ.  The radio station will change whenever you jack a car to reflect what the previous occupant was listening to.  The radio stations will also feature breakers, commercials, and news reports to detail your latest criminal activities.  The news reports may also give you clues as to the police presence in the area.  Most of the music for GTA3 is being composed in-house at DMA, with the rest of the music coming from "well-known pop musicians."  In my opinion this could be good or bad depending on who they pick.  Personally I find that most "well-known pop musicians" are also well-known for producing total sh*t.

The sound effects will also be much like they were in GTA and GTA2, with peds yelling at you and screaming when you decide to go ballistic, but they have also given the peds the ability to talk to one another.  This of course opens up the possibility that you might overhear a conversation in passing, giving you useful information and maybe even missions.

GTA3 is packed full of ambient sound effects to make the experience more realistic.  Different types of buildings and peds all have their own set of effects.  One example of this, is that if you are near a hospital you'll hear voices from inside talking about hospital related topics.  I would imagine that this will carry on to different building types (restaurants, bars, night clubs, etc. - all with their own set of sound effects and conversations).  Each ped also has their own set of lines, from mumbling old women to "businessmen complaining about about needing a vacation."  All this sound is layered on top of the sounds of a noisy city with the appropriate echo filters when you're in certain environments.  

It hasn't been mentioned yet if GTA3 will feature 3D positional audio, but I'd be willing to bet that the PC version will ship with support for EAX and DirectSound 3d.  DMA is doing something special with the PS2 release in the way of sound.  The PlayStation2 has both PS2 and PS1 hardware under the cover.  DMA is going to utilize the PS1 sound hardware to stream the music, freeing up the PS2 sound chip to handle more complex environmental audio effects.  I expect the sound will be top notch as it has been in every past GTA title.  

  
PC Requirements <Top>

Rockstar hasn't officially released the system requirements, but Take2 Germany recently issued the following list.  Keep in mind these might not be official:

Minimum:
450Mhz Processor
96MB of Ram
16MB Graphics Card

Recommended:
800Mhz Processor
128MB of Ram
32MB Graphics Card

  

Features, Vehicles & Weapons <Top>

  
Features
This is basically a short list of features that are explained at length in the "What is GTA3?" section (above).

  • One massive city to explore with three distinct sections, Portland (mostly industrial), Staunton Island (mostly commercial), and Shoreside Vale (suburban).  All the sections are connected to each other by trains, tunnels, bridges, and even ferries.
  • Advanced ped AI which allows them interact with each other and the player.  The AI also allows them to go about their business even when the player isn't on screen.
  • There will be "well over" 50 mandatory missions and over 50 "odd job" type side missions.  Rewards in the form of special items and modes will be issued based on the amount of side missions you complete.  Cutscenes will be used to break up the missions and advance the plot.
  • 60% of the missions will be car based and 40% will be on foot.
  • Full 3D graphics engine designed specifically for GTA3, featuring day/night cycles, real time lighting, motion blur, reflection mapping, zero clipping, weather effects, 20 peds on screen at one time, and multiple camera angles.
  • GTA3 will feature "continuously streaming environments" allowing the DMA team to use an "unlimited number of building models".  This should reduce the amount of repetition in the environment and keep the PS2 version running at a rock solid 30 FPS.
  • There are 50 vehicles in the game with 4 to 5 variations on each vehicle, all based on the physics of their real-life counterparts.  Each vehicle features 18 damage points that can get dented or fall off.  If your car takes too much damage it can blow up.  You also run the risk of flipping your car.
  • Working public transportation including trains, ferries, taxis, and possibly busses.
  • A full arsenal of weaponry including baseball bats, pistols, sniper rifles, shotguns, Uzis, AK47s, M16s, rocket launchers, flame throwers, grenades, Molotov Cocktails, and more.  Melee combat is also supported with the ability to punch, kick, head butt, and knee people (yes you can knee a guy in the balls if you want).
  • Special alternate fire modes for some weapons.  The sniper rifle features a zoom mode when you use the scope.
  • Targeting system allowing you to lock your target on the toughest opponent and then scroll through the various other enemies around you.  A free targeting system is also available if you don't want to lock on.
  • Interactive radio with different cars tuned to different stations (just like GTA) featuring 50 plus songs.
  • The radio stations will feature breakers, commercials, and news reports that detail your latest criminal activities and may give you clues as to the police presence in the area

  
Weapons

  
Vehicles
Here is a list of vehicles that I've composed from various screen shots and previews.  There are a number of vehicles in the shots that I can't readily identify, other than using a general term like coupe, sedan, etc.  If you have a better guess, please send it in and I'll add it to the list (please send a link to the screen shot or article along with your guess).

It has been confirmed that the helicopter and planes cannot be flown by the player, they are strictly used by the AI.  The only flying vehicle available to the player is a damaged Cessna (missing most of its wingspan).  This plane is made available during a mission and it only flies for short amount of time (it's really only capable of jumping off the ground in short spurts).  It's still unknown if the player will be able to hijack the train or the ferry.  

One last note, there won't be any motorcycles in GTA3 because of the amount of time it takes to make the physics look believable (despite what some previews may claim, I have verified all of this with Rockstar Games).  Vehicles with an * indicate that they cannot be piloted by the player and are only available to the AI.

  
Artwork, Screen Shots & Movies <Top>


The screen shots and movies have been moved off to separate pages to decrease the load time of this page.  Typically, the highest number page has the latest shots / movies / artwork.

  
PS2 Article Quotes <Top>

  
These are a few of the quotes from the Official Playstation2 Magazine UK article that might give you a few more insights into GTA3.

"In fact, Grand Theft Auto 3 will arguably boast an even greater variety of routes to the top of the crime tree, with one crucial advantage: the whole world is in three dimensions. It's like Driver meets Crazy Taxi meets Urban Chaos meets Kingpin, in downtown Manhattan, smoking a big fat Cuban cigar."

"The idea being that anyone familiar with the first two games will instantly be able to pick up and play Grand Theft Auto 3. A single button press allows you to haul the driver of a nearby car out of his seat, thus taking his place behind the wheel. Any vehicle you see you can drive. Any location you can see you can drive to. "The aim is to set you loose in the world," says Houser."

[Day/Night cycles]
"This device allows for some superb graphical effects as the end of each day is marked by and impressive sunset and a misty twilight - as long as the realistic weather generator concurs. The onset of darkness is generally the cue for the lowlife to crawl slowly out of their dens and Grand Theft Auto 3 is no different." "

""The 40 vehicles in the game all handle differently," claims Benzies. "Obviously the fast sports cars are rare, especially in the first industrial area. With a truck you can ram-raid or force other cars out of the way. Conversely, there will be areas of the map you can only access with a small car." "

"Don't bet against Rob Playford's Resonant Matrix crew getting involved again. In each area of the game, there'll be ample opportunity to find yourself a warehouse base where you can dump the vehicles you've stolen - the aim will be to eventually collect every car in the game, just like Nic Cage and cronies in Gone In 60 Seconds."

"The transition from 2D to 3D has necessitated a lesson in true driving physics for the team. The need for broadly realistic but enjoyable vehicle handling his crucial to the game's appeal, but Benzies appreciates the importance of this aspect and believes they've already got it sussed. "We've spent a lot of time working on real car physics and accurate handling, but then we've tweaked the models to make sure the vehicles are fun to drive. It's difficult to up-end your car, but when you do it's probably time to steal a new one. There are 18 damage panels, sections will fall off, and eventually the vehicles will explode." If you're still dopily perched behind the wheel at this point, you'll find yourself waking up in the hospital with all you money and weapons confiscated."

"From the ability to ride trains, steal speedboats and board the ferry between islands to the enemy-specific insult button, Grand Theft Auto 3 will give you plenty to discover. And everyone has their favourite part, "I like the bit when your guy crawls out of the window of the car after you've rolled it," enthuses Houser. "These hundreds of little incidents weave together into a seamless whole."

  
What's New <Top>

  
All the information in this section has been added to the sections above.  This is mainly here so you won't have to reread the entire thing to see what has been added:

Added August 29th, 2001 - From PS2.IGN.com's Hands On Impressions:

  • GTA3 is packed full of ambient sound effects to make the experience more realistic.  Different types of buildings and peds all have their own set of effects.  One example of this, is that if you are near a hospital you'll hear voices from inside talking about hospital related topics.  I would imagine that this will carry on to different building types (restaurants, bars, night clubs, etc. - all with their own set of sound effects and conversations).  Each ped also has their own set of lines, from mumbling old women to "businessmen complaining about about needing a vacation."  All this sound is layered on top of the sounds of a noisy city with the appropriate echo filters when you're in certain environments.  
  • Earlier previews mentioned that the player can sprint, but after awhile he'll have to stop and take a rest.  This has now been altered slightly.  If you run a lot, the character will get in better shape and later in the game he won't have to rest as often because his endurance has gone up.
  • Pesky police helicopters can be brought down with heavier weaponry, like the rocket launcher.
  • When you die you end up in the hospital, just like previous games in the GTA series.

PS2 Controls:

Button Action - On Foot/In Vehicle
Square Jump / Brake
Circle Hit / Fire / Activate Car Bomb
Triangle Enter / Exit Vehicle
X Accelerate / Sprint
  
R1 Target Lock / Hand Brake
R2 Change Weapons / Driveby View
R3 Look Behind / Toggle Vehicle Mission
  
L1 Change Radio Station
L2 Change Weapons / Driveby View
L3 Horn / Sirens
  
Left Stick Movement
Right Stick First Person View
D-Pad Movement
  
Start Pause Game / Access Options Menu
Select Change Camera Angle

  
Added May 7th, 2001 - From GTA-3.com & PSM2:

  • Crates with power-ups and multipliers will be making a comeback.  Just ram the crate of your choosing and enjoy.
  • More specific names have been given to some of the weapons:
    • Colt 45 Pistol
    • Uzi 9mm SMG
    • AK47s Assault Rifle
    • Remington Pump-Action Shotgun
    • 66mm Rocket Launcher (M72 LAW)
  • Newspapers and other trash in the streets will blow around in the wind.
  • Pigeons will be sitting on curbs throughout the city.
  • Ambulance crews will revive the injured people just like in GTA.
  • There won't be any motorcycles in GTA3 because of the amount of time it takes to make the physics look believable (this is from GTA-3.com's news and from comments from another source).  The guys at GTA-3.com are hoping that they will add motorcycles to the PC version of the game.

    
Added May 7th, 2001 - From PS2.IGN.com's preview:

  • This quote should help allay our fears of GTA3 being too linear.  "As with GTA and GTA2 before it, players can take on any mission at almost any time, an element to the game that provides freedom and provokes exploration."
  • Taking damage to different parts of the car causes different problems.  If the front end is rammed hard enough the engine will begin to smoke.
  • "Grand Theft Auto 3 enables players to freely attack enemies, or to lock onto their opponent. By simply pressing R1, a visible target mechanism appears on screen and follows the opponent until he or she is shot dead, and by pressing another button the lock-on will automatically target the next opponent. The target is intelligently built, too, as it aims for the most powerful enemy first and then tracks the next powerful one, and so on."
  • Sounds will change to reflect the environment, so there will be more reverberation in alleyways, tunnels, and other confined areas.

  
Added May 3rd, 2001 - From GameSpot UK's preview:

  • New gangs in GTA3 include the Yardies (a Jamaican gang) and the Colombians.  This adds to the previous list including the Mafia and the Yakuza.
  • The number of cars has been raised from 40 to 50 cars.
  • The tank has finally been announced as a vehicle.
  • You can steal the ambulance and then answer any emergence calls that come in.
  • School children were announced as one of the ped types.
  • The names of the different sections of the city (e.g. Chinatown & the red light district) will pop up as you drive through them, just like in GTA and GTA2.
  • AK47s officially announced as a weapon.  Previously referred to as a machine gun or an assault rifle.
  • This is a rather odd addition... "Running over pedestrians, by some way of retribution, causes you to drop money (although you can go and pick it up later)."  I'm not sure what I think about this, seems like having half the police force after you is enough without loosing money for it too...
  • Maximum wanted level has gone from five to six.
  • You aren't running around with your gun out all the time.  If you draw your gun, you can expect other armed members of society to follow suit in order to protect themselves.  You can expect more people to be armed in the bad sections of town.
  • The FBI peds come in two varieties, plain clothes and black suit.
  • The Army will send jeeps, tanks, and helicopters after you if you cause enough trouble.  Now I'm wondering if they really mean jeep or if they actually mean Hummer (HMMWV / HumVee).
  • The helicopter will use it's spotlight on you at night, making for some spectacular visuals.
  • At some point in the game you will have to make a tough choice.  I'd be willing to guess that this choice will affect the outcome of the game.  Does this mean there will be two or more possible endings to the game?
  • The release date seems to fluctuate from September to October depending on what preview you read.

    
Added April 20th, 2001 - From PSE2, PSM, Next-Generation, and Silicon:

  • It turns out that your ex-girlfriend's name is not Miguel :).  Your ex-girlfriend's name is Catalina and your ex-partner in crime is Miguel.  I'm guessing that Catalina rats you out to the Police while she runs off with Miguel and the money, leaving you to take the fall.  The preview in Game Informer was incorrect.  Here is the new setup, reported by PSE:

    "It seems you were left to take the fall while your skanky girlfriend, Catalina, and your so-called partner-in-crime, Miguel, have run off with the loot.  Thankfully, the Man just can't keep you down.  As it turns out, on the way to the jail house, your paddy wagon is ambushed by the Yakuza (Japanese mobsters who have a penchant for chopping off digits).  Seem they are interested in an old Japanese man sharing your ride up the river.  Along with another escapee (who happens to be an explosives expert) by the name of 8-Ball, you carjack the nearest vehicle and make your way to freedom - well, actually a hideout in Liberty City's seedy Red Light District run by a Mafioso named Luigi.  Here is where your road to vengeance begins."

  • As you may recall from previous previews, 8-Ball is your new partner in crime.  He accompanies you on your first mission and then helps you remotely with later missions.  Almost all of the other magazines below incorrectly report that 8-Ball is the Asian guy in the paddy wagon with you.  This is incorrect, there are two guys in there with you, the Asian Yakuza guy and 8-Ball.
  • Some of the peds you see on the street include car jackers, gang members, hookers, bums, business men, joggers, and old women with walkers :)
  • Along with the new plot setup, they also mention a new time-specific mission where you have to rob an armored van that makes it's rounds early in the morning.  If you miss the job, you'll have to try again the next day. Judging from previous previews, it sounds as if you can miss some missions and retry them the next day, while others are one-shot deals that you will fail if you don't show up at the correct time.
  • Rush hour traffic during the day will slow you down in certain parts of the city.
  • The PSE preview also confirms that GTA3 will be more linear and more story driven than the past two GTAs.  You still have the same freedom of movement, but now you are actually doing all this stuff for an overall reason, driving the plot forward with each new job.
  • It sounds like the water cannon from GTA2 is returning to GTA3.  PSE states that you can put out fires with the fire engine.
  • Some of the PS2 graphical enhancements are, rain, fog, lighting, reflection mapping, zero clipping, and lots of detail.
  • Different sections of town will have a different variety of vehicles.  I.E. You'll see more sports cars in the commercial and suburban districts.  That sort of thing.  Peds will also vary in the same way.  No business men and joggers in the industrial part of town.
  • GTA2's respect-o-meter is definitely gone
  • You can perform some pretty amazing stunts with cars, like hand-brake turns and jumps.

  
Added March 19th, 2001 - From Game Informer Article:

  • GTA3 was originally planned for the Dreamcast but the DC hardware couldn't handle it so it was moved to the PS2.
  • The XBox and PC versions should be released concurrently.
  • GTA3 will feature "continuously streaming environments" allowing the DMA team to use an "unlimited number of building models".  This should reduce the amount of repetition in the environment.
  • The radio stations will feature news reports to detail your latest criminal activities and may give you clues as to the police presence in the area.
  • There will be "well over" 50 mandatory missions and over 30 "odd job" type side missions.  Rewards in the form of special items and modes will be issued based on the amount of side missions you complete.
  • 60% of the missions will be car based and 40% will be on foot.
  • There will be lots of cutscenes with full voice acting to break up the action and flesh out the plot.
  • There will be over 60 characters who you will interact with along the way.
  • The missions provided by Darkel will replace the Kill Frenzies in GTA and GTA2.
  • Each section of the city will have one safehouse where you can hide out, save your game, and store a vehicle.  These safehouses will start out as complete dumps and gradually improve in appearance as you complete more missions and earn more money.
  • One mission will feature a single engine Cessna plane missing most of its wingspan.  You will use this plane to get enough loft to access new areas (this explains the recent announcements of airplanes in GTA3).
  • Hand to hand combat may feature some more advanced combos.
  • The radar in GTA3 will not show street layout, only two floating points.  This was done to keep the player from staring at the radar instead of looking at the road.

  
Added March 9th, 2001 - From GTA3D.de Update:

  • You can shoot from your car window using the Uzi.  Drivebys are back :)
  • GTA3 will feature over 100 missions
  • You will be able to use the water cannon on the fire engine
  • Vehicle reflections have not been added yet but they will be featured in the final version of GTA3.  More vehicle effects will be added as development progresses.
  • Wet roads will affect vehicle handling
  • Each part of Liberty City will be controlled by a different criminal group.  The Mafia for example will control the industrial district.
  • GTA3 will also feature airplanes, boats, and tanks, along with the usual array of vehicles.

  
Added January 2nd, 2001 - From PS2 UK Article:

  • GTA3 release date: October, 2001 on PS2 (This article was in a PS2 magazine so no comment was made about the PC version).  I assume it will be out for PS2 and PC at roughly the same time, but definitely on both platforms.
  • The plot sounds roughly similar to GTA, in fact the whole game sounds a little more like GTA than GTA2.  Various crime bosses and characters from GTA, GTA: London, and GTA2 will all be in GTA3.
  • GTA3 is set completely in Liberty City, but sectioned off into three parts, Brooklyn/Queens (mostly industrial), Manhattan (mostly commercial), and New Jersey (suburban).  You can travel from one section to another via trains, tunnels, bridges, and even ferries.  Each of these subsections is broken down into smaller sections with posh areas, run down areas, docks, etc.
  • The peds will have a distinctive AI which will allow them to continue about their business even when they aren't on screen.  Currently its estimated that up to 20 peds could be displayed on screen at any given time.  The main peds you interact with will be easily identifiable and should be easy to spot in a crowd.
  • GTA3 also plays like GTA and anyone who has played GTA before should be able to pick it up and play it immediately.  Hit one key to jack a car and the same key to get back out and that sort of thing.
  • If you hadn't figured it out already, GTA3 uses a true 3D engine and it's not shackled to a top-down view.  The version they tested allowed the player to change camera angles (including top-down), but for the most part it sounds like its primarily played from a third person view.  The article also mentioned that the DMA design team played numerous third person games and they are working on the best possible solution to the camera problems that plague some third person games.
  • GTA3 will have full day/night time cycles with 30 minutes of real-time equaling 24 hours of game-time.  As it begins to get darker you'll see more of Liberty City's criminal element coming out of their homes to cause trouble.  Rather than have a counter, you'll have a real-time clock.  One scenario might require the player to be  at a specific place by 11 PM for a bank robbery.  If you miss your deadline you can always just try again the next day at the same time.  While this isn't entirely realistic, its a lot more forgiving than having to reload constantly or having to restart a mission.
  • Along with the day/night cycles, GTA3 will also feature a weather generator.
  • There are 40 vehicles in the game, all based on real life vehicles.  Some situations will call for a truck, some for a sports car, and some will require you to use a small vehicle to get to a specific point on the map.  Sports cars, trucks, and compacts were the only type of cars mentioned in the article.  The design team at DMA is trying to balance the vehicle physics so all the cars are modeled accurately, but still fun to drive.  Each car features 18 damage points that can fall off.  If your car gets damaged too much you'll run the risk of blowing it up ala GTA.  You also run the risk of flipping your car, but it sounds rather difficult to do.
  • When you are on foot you can walk, run, or sprint, however you can only sprint for a short while before you have to stop and rest a moment.  Hopefully this will add to the realism but won't hinder the fun.
  • GTA3 will feature a wide variety of weapons including pistols, shotguns, sniper rifles, and more.  The sniper rifle features a zoom mode.  I assume this will either take you out of a third person view or will open a sort of picture in picture view with the zoom mode occupying a part of your screen (this is just speculation on my part).  This also leads to the possibility that other weapons may have special secondary fire modes.  The design team at DMA have played numerous other third person titles to try and work out the best possible way to develop the targeting system.  Currently "you can lock your target on the most dangerous enemy and then scroll through the various foes surrounding you, or just shoot straight ahead at everything in your path."

   
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