One of the most innovative, imitated, and controversial video game series of all time returns to PS2 in this three-for-one bundle from publisher Rockstar Games. Since the runaway success of Grand Theft Auto III on PS2, the GTA games have been praised by players and vilified by politicians. All three 128-bit generation GTA games -- Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas -- are included in this box set.
Grand Theft Auto III casts players as a low-level thug in a grungy, New York-styled urban game world called Liberty City. Liberty City is made up of three districts, and in all, the game offers 72 different missions, many of which can be played in any order. As the player's character completes jobs available in one part of the city, other areas and assignments open up to him. Along with this purposeful design of an open-ended, non-linear storyline, many other features popular in earlier versions of the game return in this release as well, including a diverse variety of deadly weapons, busy streets full of self-involved pedestrians, and eight different radio station soundtracks to listen to while inside the vehicles.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City offers the same open-ended style of play as its violent, "M"-rated predecessor, but in an area twice as large as Liberty City, and with a completely different theme. Seemingly inspired by television's stylish crime drama, Miami Vice, Vice City takes place in the 1980s. Criminals wear pastel-colored suits, bikini-clad women relax on sandy beaches, and palm tree-lined streets are bustling with showy sports cars and zippy motorcycles.
Like its immediate predecessor, San Andreas strives to provide a wide, deep foundation for its free-form criminal gameplay by setting the story in a slightly exaggerated representation of a familiar (if not glorified) American subculture. As Vice City seemed inspired by Miami Vice, and the pastel-decked, "me generation" ideals of the early '80s, San Andreas is set in a time and place suggested by films like Boyz N the Hood, Menace II Society, or Colors. Players take the role of Carl "C.J." Johnson, who thought he had escaped the gangland lifestyle by moving away from his Los Santos home. When his mother is murdered, he returns to the neighborhood of his childhood, only to become embroiled with threats and danger from all sides.
Editor's Note: The version of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas included in this compilation has been rated "M" by the ESRB, and contains no working remnants of the controversial "Hot Coffee" sequence found in the title's original release.
Controls
GRAND THEFT AUTO III
Triangle Button = exit or enter cars
Circle Button = shoot
X Button = accelerate, sprint
Square Button = brake, jump
L2 Button = weapon select
L1 Button = center camera, change radio station
R2 Button = weapon select
R1 Button = target locl-on, handbrake
D-Pad = move character
L3 Button = horn
Select Button = camera view
Start Button = pause menu
R3 Button = look behind, vehicle missions
GRAND THEFT AUTO VICE CITY
ON FOOT
Triangle Button = enter vehicles
Circle Button = shoot
X Button = sprint
Square Button = jump
L2 Button = weapon select
L1 Button = centers camera
R2 Button = weapon select
R1 Button = target lock-on
D-Pad or Left Analog Stick = move around
L3 Button = crouch
Select Button = toggle camera view
Start Button = pause menu
IN VEHICLE
Triangle Button = exit vehicles
Circle Button = shoot
X Button = accelerate, ascend in helicopter
Square Button = brake, descend in helicopter
L2 Button = left look, rotate left in helicopter
L1 Button = change radio stations
R2 Button = right look, rotate right in helicopter
R1 Button = handbrake
R2 + L2 Button = look behind
D-Pad or Left Analog Stick = steer
L3 Button = horn
Select Button = toggle camera view
Start Button = pause menu
R3 Button = toggle vehicle missions on and off
GRAND THEFT AUTO: SAN ANDREAS
ON FOOT
Triangle Button = enter vehicle, activate mini game, secondary attack, pick up object
Circle Button = attack, fire weapon
X Button (hold) = run
X Button (tap) = sprint
Square Button = jump, climb, block
L2 Button = cycle weapon left
L1 Button = center the camera, view stats, fire weapon
R2 Button = cycle weapon right
R1 Button = target
L3 Button = crouch
Select Buttom = camera modes
Start Button = pause menu
R3 Button = look behind
D-Pad Up = gang active mode
D-Pad Down = gang passive mode
D-Pad Right = talk positive response
D-Pad Left = talk negative response
Right Analog Stick = camera movement
Left Analog Stick = character movement
Triangle Button = exit vehicle
Circle Button = car weapon, nitrous
X Button = accelerate
Square Button = brake, reverse
L2 Button = look left
L2 + R2 Button = look behind
L1 Button = car weapon, nitrous
R1 Button = look right
R2 + L2 Button = look behind
R1 Button = hand brake
Left Analog Stick = steer car, camera
D-Pad Up = cycle radio stations
D-Pad Down = cycle radio stations
D-Pad Right = trip skip
L3 Button = horn
Select Button = camera mode
Start Button = pause menu
R3 Button = sub-mission
Right Analog Stick = turret control, manual camera, change cinematic camera
FIRST PERSON SHOOTING
Circle Button = shoot
L2 Button = zoom in
R2 Button = zoom out
L1 Button = shoot
Left Analog Stick = move scope, aim
Right Analog Stick = move scope, aim
R1 Button (release) = return to normal control
L3 Button = duck
SWIMMING
Circle Button = dive underwater
X Button (hold) = sprint
X Button (tap) = super sprint
Square Button = jump
Triangle Button = enter vehicle
UNDER WATER
X Button (hold) = swim forward
X Button (tap) = sprint
Left Analog Stick = swim direction
HELICOPTER
R2 Button = rudder right
L2 Button = rudder left
X Button = ascend
Left Analog Stick = pitch, roll
Square Button = descend
L3 Button = hover
L1 Button = primary weapon
Right Analog Stick = turret, camera
PLANE
R2 Button = rudder right
L2 Button = rudder left
X Button = thrust
Square Button = reverse thrust
Left Analog Stick = pitch, roll
L1 Button = primary weapon
Circle Button = alternate weapon
R3 Button = raise or lower landing gear
Right Analog Stick = turret, camera ~ Keith Adams, All Game Guide
