Grand Theft Auto was a game like no other. It had weird controls, a very weird story, which reminds me also of the game Driver PSX). Well it proved to be a big hit after releasing the expansion game ‘GTA: London 1969’ and now to the sequel Grand Theft Auto 2.
Gameplay
This game has some content not that good for young viewers or players, but anyone who is old enough, but doesn’t get the fact that running over pedestrians is so fun, needs help… kinda. The only problem is that it is missing two very important features… Gameplay and Graphics. These catagories definitely are not GTA2’s strong points. GTA2 returns to the world of unabashed mayhem that was unleashed with the release of the Grand Theft Auto. The top down 2D world is the home of different gangs, three per level, each of who have staked out their turf. You, as a lowly gangster, raise money to move from level to level working for the different sides and playing one off against the other as appropriate. GTA2 contains a good training mission to get the player acquainted with the downtown area. This enables the player to move from area to area learning the ways of the different gangs and what will be needed to win their respect. And respect is key in this game. A handy meter keeps track of the attitudes of the various gangs to you throughout the game. A lack of respect means not only no jobs from the gang, but if sufficiently upset, they will start shooting on sight. This can make life difficult if you are trying to finish a mission for one of the other gangs but it takes you, as it invariably does, into another gang’s territory. This adds to the game, unlike it’s predecessor, Grand Theft Auto, because you have not only cops on you, but also gangs. The first hints of concern are raised when a hard to read blue font is used for the text of the Training Mission. I found this hard to read even on a reasonable TV. The colors chosen for the first three gangs that you interact with, the Yakuza, Loonies and the Zaibatsu, are blue, green and gray. The foot soldiers of the respective gangs in blue and green are reasonably identifiable but what constitutes a gray foot soldier rather than a pedestrian is hard to see. The second major area of concern is the control. Having to push a button to walk seems very strange and combined with the directional button pushes invariably leads to a staggered weaving kind of walk rather than any kind of smooth gameplay. This also impacts your driving ability and it is relatively easy to get stuck in alleyways and corners of the world. Getting wasted because of your own poor gameplay is one thing, but getting wasted because of a poor interface design is a different matter. These control issues were in the original and should have been addressed the second time around. These two areas significantly impact the "enjoyability" of the game, which is a shame because the missions, or jobs as they are known, can be quite fun. While simple in concept, you are given a task by going to a phone booth controlled by one of the gangs and then accomplishing it, the missions show a lot of time and effort. Delivering drugs and taking out an informer start the process but later planting car bombs and rubbing out enemy pushers are some of the numerous different missions. At all times you have a handy arrow to show you which direction to go and here is an example of good interface design. It would have been easy to force the players to learn the city, but providing a pointer enables the player to worry about the mission objectives, not whether they took a wrong turn. Stereotypical British humor is added, with such touches as the Russian Mafia leader being called Jerkov. Subtle it isn’t. Meanwhile the police have taken a dim view to your generally anti-social behavior. They get so uptight over a few pedestrians run over and the occasional bank job! The police are also pretty aggressive swerving in front of you and even calling in SWAT team reinforcements. They can be out run, especially if you wait until they get out of the car before taking off in your own.
Graphics
New and improved and still 2D about sums up the graphic situation. The problem here is when it impacts gameplay. One mission, for example, is to get a taxi and head to a certain location. But what’s a Taxi in the game? There are lots of different vehicles from TV Trucks to limousines, and everything in between, but a lot of it looks the same due to the small 2D graphics. That's just one example. Even for those with good eyes, Grand Theft Auto 2 looks almost identical to its predecessor. Needless to say, the series is well overdue for a thorough makeover, and one that's far and away different from GTA2.
Sound As usual, this is where the game has it’s strong points. Each car that you steal ends up with a radio tuned to a specific station. This is a very nice addition to add to the replay value. It’s also pretty entertaining as you get not only music stations but also talk radio and commercials. The music in GTA always has been a strong point, especially the music the reprise London 1969. Here, the music is a unique tool to get gamers to explore the cars to simply seek out what's playing on the radio.