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However, those games lack the one trump card Grand Theft Auto III has that cannot be beat - it’s Grand Theft Auto III. Grand Theft Auto III requires a lot of patience and practice to play on an iOS device, because despite claims of optimized controls, there are similar games on the iPhone with far more effective interfaces than the one presented here. Coupled with the game’s already hyperactive and unrefined physics, this can lead to some annoying driving indeed, especially when racing against the clock.
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The buttons are too sensitive, causing vehicles to swerve violently left or right, while the accelerometer isn’t sensitive enough, requiring exaggerated tilts in order to turn a corner effectively. While driving, one can either use virtual direction buttons to steer, or physically tilt the device, but either choice will be problematic. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to guess how much the interface can get confused between walking and camera controls. Manipulating the camera means placing a finger on Claude and dragging in a desired direction. The camera is also unhelpful, wildly swinging to accommodating the player’s awkward movements. While such input can work in certain titles, I feel this particular game would have benefited more from a definitively placed pad, as allowing it to appear anywhere in such a densely packed screen often leads to one’s thumb dragging off the device while trying to walk. There’s no fixed virtual movement pad while walking, the screen instead placing one where you put your thumb. Be it walking or driving, every control scheme has its own set of unique problems, contributing to a more difficult and frustrating experience. Despite a range of control options that make use of both the screen and the iOS device’s accelerometer, there’s no comfortable way to play the game.
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The touchscreen controls, however, are something of an issue, providing by far the biggest barrier toward enjoying this updated release. This is Grand Theft Auto III in its entirety, only better looking, and tweaked to work with touchscreen controls. Nothing has been skimped in the shrinking process either - radio stations are all present and correct and cutscenes are fully voiced. While the game is still obviously dated in the visual department, the higher definition and richer textures make for a far more visually appealing game than fans are used to. The game has been enhanced with fresh graphics, improving the look of characters and vehicles. The 10 Year Anniversary edition of GTA III is more than a simple port. Doing these things still carry that simple, often sadistic, satisfaction that it had a decade ago, with GTA III proving once again that being the bad guy is jolly good fun. An increasing variety of missions unlock as players undertake jobs from a rogue’s gallery of nefarious crooks, but they can always earn money by driving taxis, posing as paramedics, or just beating people to death and robbing them.
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We’re used to it now, but opening up such a game on an iPhone or iPad goes some way toward bringing that magic back.Īs the silent Claude, players are busted from a prison transport van and let loose into Liberty City. The open-world “sandbox” style of game may seem like a dime a dozen today, but back in 2001, the idea of a living, breathing, 3D city was staggering. Grand Theft Auto III effectively defined an entire genre of game, one so popular that many games today still desperately attempt to ape its success. Grand Theft Auto III 10 Year Anniversary(iOS, Android)ĭeveloper: Rockstar North, War Drum Studios Gaming has come a ridiculously long way in the ten years since Grand Theft Auto III first released, and the fact that such a game is now available on iOS devices is nothing short of amazing. Now, we can get that on our mobile phones. Its size, sense of freedom, and explosive production values were so amazing, one could scarcely believe it was running on a PlayStation 2. Less than years ago, something like Grand Theft Auto III was amazing to behold on a home console.
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