| Classic Game look back - Grand Theft Auto |
| Written by Luke |
| Friday, 11 December 2009 17:30 |
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Back in the later months of 1997, when blank CDs were $5 each and 3D graphics were made up of 2D sprites instead of wireframe models, a game was released in Australia only to never make it to the store shelves. This one game was banned due to its "graphic" violence and themes. This game was Grand Theft Auto.
 I was given a copy of GTA on a pirated CD by one of my good friends at that time, demanding that I play it. As this was the only way to get it in Australia, I followed through. By the time I stopped playing its DOS-driven goodness, the data layer on the top of the CD had worn away; blistering and peeling so that it could never be played again.
That issue aside, the time that I did spend playing one of the greatest top-down-view games of all time was fantastic. So much so that when I found out the other week that it has been available for free download through Rockstar Games (the company that rules over Rockstar North; who made this game and all the sequels and were previously known as DMA Design); I had to download it. This was a blast from the past that I happily embraced.
Gamers in the 90's were easily pleased when it came to "graphic" violence. Look at Doom and Quake and you will see that the most pixelated games could still be considered scary. GTA is a game where you used weapons ranging from fists to pistols to machine guns to flame throwers to missile launchers; but the biggest and most important weapon were cars. Cars were an integral part of GTA (hence the name) in that you used them not only to complete missions but to flee from the police and run over pedestrians.
The pedestrians were great at times. Punching them would knock them down and running them over would make them splatter on the pavement. There was a specific group of 10 pedestrians (which are known coloquially as "Gourangas" due to the message that appears on the screen when you drive over all of them in quick succession) that march down the street chanting and are meant to represent Hari Krishnas - in the typical politically incorrect style of the game. These "Gourangas" were later replaced in the London 1969 expansion with Elvis impersonators - and when all driven over in quick succession the message "Elvis has left the building" was displayed.
The missions were all based around illegal activity. Stealing cars, picking up people from bank jobs, whacking people, getting your car armed with a bomb and blowing up buildings are only some of the many missions in GTA. All of the missions were given to you by gangters, petty thieves, murderers, and many people who left their car in an open spot for you to steal. You could go on kill frenzies where you were provided weapons that had unlimited ammunition and a goal of a certain amount of people or vehicles to destroy.
Technically, the graphics were quite good for the time. 2D sprites were used for everything from people to vehicles to weapons fire and animated in a way that provided a 3D perspective to the game. When your vehicle reaches higher speeds, the screen zooms out to provide greater viewing distance so you don't crash into things and when you do, the screen zooms back in to allow you to maneuver yourself into a clear path. Your character can be thrown off motorcycles at the slightest nudge and if you happen to blow something up while standing too close, your character runs around on fire until he dies. The game also had the ability to change the display resolution by simply hitting F11, improving performance or quality dependant on your system specs.
Overall, the game is another that I consider to be a classic. Lots of humour (however politically incorrect it may be), lots of violence and lots of action. I would happily go back and blast for foo's at any time - even if it were just for a short stint in the one city.
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