The Grand Theft Auto PS2 Trilogy

[dav]

Having recently completed San Andreas via the trilogy collection on PS4 (Not the remaster, thankfully), following doing the same for GTA III and Vice City, had some time to reflect on the games and how they felt.

GTA III is still one of the landmark games that helped define an entire genre. Not the very first sandbox, it nevertheless defined those sort of games and offered a template for many to follow. Was a fun one to play through, but did not age well. The controls were the weakest of the three and was limited compared to the others in a variety of ways. The gang grudge mechanic in particular was a pain in the arse and closed off swathes of the game as well. The soundtrack was mostly original stuff and lacked the later punch of ones used in later GTA games. That said, still a major game and enjoyable, but showed its age and that there were some design choices that needed polishing for later games.

Vice City is where said polish shows itself. Everything is a step above from III. Characters, setting, soundtrack and Vice City itself all feel like the developers built on what III established and did it excellently. Things like the asset missions and other things on the side really helped flesh out the game to make it feel different and an upgrade as to what came before. The soundtrack is the jewel in the crown as well, capturing many great hits from the time and helps the entire game drip with a great 80's aesthetic. A great sequel with a great amount of content, the best of the three.

San Andreas, on the other hand, has too much and doesn't do a large chunk of it well. When a game grinds to a halt because you have to get yourself up to a certain set of stats, it isn't really too fun. The game map is too big and it can make some missions feel like a drag, while the RPG-like elements don't always help matters either. It is still a fun game and there are grand ambitions behind it with a more complex story and characters (Sweet is a complete arse, however), but it's burdened down with far too much stuff that didn't get the polish it really needed to be considered as great as it should be.

How do people feel about the trilogy? Any particular favourite moments from it?

[Deleted]

Vice City was literally the only GFA I owned/played.

I'm a very casual gamer, but they sold me with the commercials with the 80's setting and music. I wanted it so bad, and my wife at the time bought it for me. I started getting into it, and then my new puppy at the time literally ate both it and whichever the current SVR was because I wasn't home for a long time one day.

[Mr PONYMANIA Mr Jenzie]

san andreas was the first GTA game i completed, didn't do that with vice city, and i got into GTA3 late
man i ploughed hours into GTASA ... and then hours mucking about with the jetpac blowing all asunder up
what a game san andreas is

[Fade is a CodyCryBaby]

I way lucky enough to try out gta & gta II beforehand. Absolutely loved the games but the limited technology made my mind race as to the possibilities and lo and behold, I’ll never forget not going to school and picking up GTAIII on its release days. Just one of those insane watershed moments.

Loved Vice City. SA’s scope at the time was something else. And I loved the Cali representation but the customization aspect I could live without.

[BorneAgain]

Honestly, if you crossed Vice City with San Andreas, you'd probably have the ideal GTA title. The first had more charm, the aesthetics really pop, and characters are more consistently fun while the second had much better geography, cooler transportation options, and more depth to the gameplay.

[Zaq "That Guy" Buzzkill]

As a kid/teen I owned all three but never actually got around to finishing Vice City, I just had trouble getting into it even though I loved the 80s aesthetic. Didn't complete it all the way until I got all three on PS4.

III and SA on the other hand I've completed about three times each, although SA certainly has the "to much, to big" issue a lot of modern sandbox games have, it's still my favorite even though I know all I had to do was follow the train.

[Hit Girl]

GTA SA has pool and a jetpack

Two things that should have been in GTA V

[mo]

San Andreas is still my favorite game ever, it has pretty much everything I wanted in a game. I’d still rank that and Vice City over the games that came after it. I’ll leave the memories alone and not miss with the remasters though.

[Mr Mario Mario]

I’m actually played the definitive edition now (It’s been not too bad in terms of bugs etc. I’ve came across one or two but that’s it)

Three whilst limited hits my nostalgia hard. I could still remember all of my fav locations on the maps straight away that’s how much they were imprinted on my brain

Vice City is the pinnacle of the trilogy and of the entire series IMO. Yeah it’s basically scarface but I freaking love scarface although I was really confused by Lances betrayal back then and it made even less sense now lol but I can overlook it. The look, the characters is just *chefs kiss*

I’m playing San Andreas now. It was my least favourite of the trilogy back then and still is now

Not a big fan of the story, the soundtrack and the map is just too damn big and empty. Driving though the woods etc for 2 mins to get to the next mission sucks a** lol

Officer Tenpenny is a great a*****e villain though

[The Summer of Muskrat XVII]

I f***ing love the GTA III Trilogy. I bought III right when it came out, it was the first PS2 game I owned that really hit home “THIS is why you buy a PS2”. My father, who had pretty much stopped gaming during the SNES era, became obsessed with that game. It literally changed gaming

Didn’t spend a tonne of time with Vice City, but played it a bit. Killer soundtrack.

San Andreas I bought the day it came out. Sat around the game store for like 45 minutes waiting for the shipment to arrive, then had to go to work for 8 hours. But I put so much time into that game, it’s one of my favourite games of all time. I loved it so much, I’m super frustrated I suck at gaming now and can’t get past the “rescue Sweet” mission in the remaster

[Perd]

I remember my cousin and I went Christmas shopping and I bought III for myself. At that timw, When it came to PS2,  I mostly stuck to platformers and sports games. But the buzz around the game was everywhere. So, I picked it up. My cousin really wasn’t into video games, at all. And on our way home, I explained what I’d read and heard about the game. Needless to say, he was intrigued. So, we get back to my place, pop in the game, and basically spent like the next month in my room, playing the game. After that, I bought VC and SA on day one.

[GodzillaIsMyMonster]

Love 3. Still holds up IMO.

Vice City is great, & SA is good.

But my honest opinion, V is the best of all the GTA games.

My ranks:

1) V
2) SA
3) 3
4) VC
5) 4

[The Summer of Muskrat XVII]

Apr 10, 2022 0:43:53 GMT -5 GodzillaIsMyMonster said:

Love 3. Still holds up IMO.

Vice City is great, & SA is good.

But my honest opinion, V is the best of all the GTA games.

My ranks:

1) V
2) SA
3) 3
4) VC
5) 4

I’d swap 3 and VC, even tho I’ve never spent a tonne of time with VC it’s the better game. 3 is the more historic game, but VC is better in my opinion. And 4, well it exists. It lacked the charm of the other games

[Lizuka #BLM]

I did my first real run through of 3 a few months ago via a trial from PS Now and... it certainly exists. Definitely landmark at the time but it feels very lacking in personality and is very simple and bare bones in its mission structure compared to a lot of what came after, and it feels like a lot of later missions have pretty strict time limits for no real reason. I didn't dislike it but I doubt I'll play it again when compared to the wealth of other Rockstar options.

As for GTA4 - which I replayed last year - to be honest while I recognize that in terms of mission structure and basic gameplay 5 pretty much completely kicks its ass, there's just something about it that makes me like 4 more. Not to say I dislike 5, did another playthrough of it a few days back in its own right.

[The Summer of Muskrat XVII]

From a modern perspective, I would compare GTA III to the first Assassin’s Creed. You can see the frame work of brilliance, but it’s just not quite there. And the sequels built on that to flesh things out into insanely good games.

Although, I’ve said that about AC since the day AC 2 came out. GTA III stood tall when it first came out

[Mighty Attack Tribble]

Apr 10, 2022 1:29:22 GMT -5 The Summer of Muskrat XVII said:

From a modern perspective, I would compare GTA III to the first Assassin’s Creed. You can see the frame work of brilliance, but it’s just not quite there. And the sequels built on that to flesh things out into insanely good games.

Although, I’ve said that about AC since the day AC 2 came out. GTA III stood tall when it first came out

Speaking from a present day perspective, it's impressive to see just how far ahead of the times the PS2 trilogy was. Much as I like them, they no longer hold up for me, but while they weren't the first of their type the entire open world genre owes its existence to the innovations GTA3, VC, and SA made.

[Mr Mario Mario]

Apr 9, 2022 16:29:06 GMT -5 Mr Mario Mario said:

I’m actually played the definitive edition now (It’s been not too bad in terms of bugs etc. I’ve came across one or two but that’s it)

Three whilst limited hits my nostalgia hard. I could still remember all of my fav locations on the maps straight away that’s how much they were imprinted on my brain

Vice City is the pinnacle of the trilogy and of the entire series IMO. Yeah it’s basically scarface but I freaking love scarface although I was really confused by Lances betrayal back then and it made even less sense now lol but I can overlook it. The look, the characters is just *chefs kiss*

I’m playing San Andreas now. It was my least favourite of the trilogy back then and still is now

Not a big fan of the story, the soundtrack and the map is just too damn big and empty. Driving though the woods etc for 2 mins to get to the next mission sucks a** lol

Officer Tenpenny is a great a*****e villain though

Quoting myself as I’m finished San Andreas and it’s went from least favourite to “I f****** hate this game, it sucks”

I was starting to enjoy it a little but especially when I rediscovered the country radio station but the “You want to play the last mission? Well f*** you you need to do the same grind takeover an area until we say so? You don’t want to because it’s just the same s*** over and over again which is why you never bothered with it at the start? Well please refer to the aforementioned f*** you and other requirements like needing so much swimming stamina for other missions really po’ed me

Edit: I realise this is me being in the minority though ha. I just really hate optional missions that aren’t optional 

[Limity (BLM)]

I also loved Vice City, and have a funny story about it.

Shortly after getting it I went through a bad breakup. And so I would listen to the sad love songs while sitting in a car on the beach at sunset.

To this day I'll catch certain songs and be briefly transported back to that moment. Taaaaake, these broken wings...

[karl100589]

Apr 20, 2022 2:07:35 GMT -5 Limity (BLM) said:

I also loved Vice City, and have a funny story about it.

Shortly after getting it I went through a bad breakup. And so I would listen to the sad love songs while sitting in a car on the beach at sunset.

To this day I'll catch certain songs and be briefly transported back to that moment. Taaaaake, these broken wings...

Nothing can beat More Than This from the Vice City soundtrack IMO.

[ToyfareMark]

San Andreas is a game that while isn't perfect, if someone were to ask me to name a perfect game it would be one of the first to enter my mind.