Grand Theft Auto Through the Years

As far as game series go, Grand Theft Auto is one of my personal favourites.

The news that Rockstar is releasing Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City, and San Andreas, on all modern systems, made it feel like a great time to take a trip down memory lane.

Where it all began

My first memory of playing a GTA game was going to my friend’s house and playing GTA London on his PlayStation. At the time, I thought this was one of the best games I had ever played, it felt like you could do anything!

Arguably I was probably a little young at the time to be running around massacring hundreds of people, but for argument’s sake and legal reasons, let’s just say I was 18…

Vice City, a gaming gem

Fast forward to the early 2000s and the era of the PlayStation 2. I remember the very first time playing Vice City, I was staying over at my friend’s house after school and heading up to his room to play his latest game. Grand Theft Auto Vice City.

Instantly I was hooked, the graphics at the time were incredible and the 80s setting perfectly encapsulated, everything from that era. From the music to taking inspiration from a range of 80s movies and TV Shows.

I knew this was a game I wanted.

Like a kid in a toy shop, I would not stop pestering my parents to get my own copy of Vice City, and after what had felt like years, I broke through, my parents caved and I had a game-shaped present for my birthday that year.

Not only did I get a copy of Vice City but also Grand Theft Auto III.

An all-time favourite of the series

For whatever reason, I didn’t play much of GTA III, I guess my eyes were already sold on playing Vice City after playing several times at my friend’s house.

Vice City would go on to be not only my favourite game in the Grand Theft Auto series but one of my favourite games of all time.

Why? well, that is a good question, for me, it came down to two main things. One was the setting, even as a kid I loved older action movies, and going from the almost dark and cold setting of GTA III, Vice City felt more alive and colourful.

Secondly was the soundtrack. What a soundtrack it is.

Although this may sound strange, especially to any non-gamers out there, a video game, yes a video game, got me into 80s music, much to my father’s surprise. I remember him coming into my room, while I was singing along to Hall and Oates, much to his shock that I was even aware of some of the artists he loved, it grew our bond further. All that from a video game.

Los Santos was calling

Years had passed and I had grown a little older (physically definitely not mentally) I remember picking up a gaming magazine while out with my dad doing our weekly food shop. To my shock on the front cover was the news of the next instalment in the Grand Theft Auto Franchise. I was excited, to say the least.

I am not sure if my memory is serving me correctly, but I remember in the magazine, one of the glaring new features they were talking about, was that the police would chase after you if you run red lights, and I vaguely remember an image showing a cop hanging onto a car in the game. A feature that never seemed to make it into the final game.

Unlike Vice City, I was lucky enough to get San Andreas, only a few weeks after it launched. A rarity back in those days for me. It was the talk of the school, everyone was playing it.

I was a little bit unsure if I would enjoy the game anywhere near as much as Vice City, but it was not only a good game it was great. Not only was the map much larger, but there was also a wider range of vehicles, heck you could even fly a plane!

My strongest memories from the game actually came much later in my life. When during my second year of University, my flatmate bought a used PS2 and a copy of San Andreas. During that summer, when everyone else had gone back home, we stayed on for a few extra weeks and played through the entire game. It still felt just as good as when I first played it all those years ago.

Just like with Vice City, the San Andreas soundtrack had got me into a whole other genre of music, the 80s, and 90s hip hop.

2021 marks the return of Grand Theft Auto epics

This era of Grand Theft Auto games provided me with hours and hours of entertainment, and I can not wait to get back into these worlds, on modern systems later this year.

What has been your favourite in the series so far? and will you be picking up Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy?