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110-499: Grand Theft Auto III is a 2001 action-adventure game developed by DMA Design and published by Rockstar Games . It is the third main entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, following 1999's Grand Theft Auto 2 , and the fifth instalment overall. Set within the fictional Liberty City (loosely based on New York City ), the story follows Claude, a silent protagonist who, after being left for dead by his girlfriend during

220-627: A fantasy " setting. Tutankham , debuted by Konami in January 1982, was an action-adventure released for arcades . It combined maze, shoot 'em up, puzzle-solving and adventure elements, with a 1983 review by Computer and Video Games magazine calling it "the first game that effectively combined the elements of an adventure game with frenetic shoot 'em up gameplay." It inspired the similar Time Bandit (1983). Action Quest , released in May 1982, blended puzzle elements of adventure games into

330-446: A joystick -controlled, arcade-style action game, which surprised reviewers at the time. While noting some similarities to Adventure , IGN argues that The Legend of Zelda (1986) by Nintendo "helped to establish a new subgenre of action-adventure", becoming a success due to how it combined elements from different genres to create a compelling hybrid, including exploration, adventure-style inventory puzzles , an action component,

440-571: A monetary system , and simplified RPG-style level building without the experience points . The Legend of Zelda series was the most prolific action-adventure game franchise through to the 2000s. Roe R. Adams also cited the arcade-style side-scrolling fantasy games Castlevania (1986), Trojan (1986) and Wizards & Warriors (1987) as early examples of action-adventure games. Games like Brain Breaker (1985), Xanadu (1985), Metroid (1986) and Vampire Killer (1986) combined

550-702: A subgenre of open world action-adventure video games in the third-person perspective . They are characterized by their likeness to the Grand Theft Auto series in either gameplay or overall design. In these types of open world games, players may find and use a variety of vehicles and weapons while roaming freely in an open world setting. Metroidvania is a portmanteau of Metroid and Castlevania ; such games are sometimes referred to as "search action", and are generally based on two-dimensional platformers. They emphasize both exploration and puzzle-solving with traditional platform gameplay. Survival horror games emphasize "inventory management" and making sure

660-403: A third-person perspective . Players complete missions—linear scenarios with set objectives—to progress through the story. It is possible to have several missions available at a time, as some missions require players to wait for further instructions or events. Outside of missions, players can freely roam the game's open world , and have the ability to complete optional side missions. Liberty City

770-567: A "Diamond" award in the United Kingdom, indicating over one million sales; it was the first game to receive this award in the region. The game became one of the best-selling PlayStation 2 games with 11.6 million copies sold, and sold 14.5 million units overall by March 2008. Grand Theft Auto III generated several controversies. GameSpy awarded it "Most Offensive Game of the Year"; calling it "absolutely reprehensible", they wrote

880-458: A "hybrid of a generic American city", including Chicago , Pittsburgh , Detroit , New York, and Philadelphia ; he felt the parallel realism of the world allowed the team to make more social commentary than previously. Sam Houser cited films and shows like Heat (1995) and The Sopranos (1999–2007) as inspiration for the setting and wanted to emulate them in the game. He also cited the influence of The Legend of Zelda , Super Mario 64 and

990-424: A "strong, silent killer, who would be juxtaposed with all of these neurotic and verbose mobsters". Grand Theft Auto III features about three and a half hours of in-game radio material. For the music, the team sought a broad diversity to recreate the real sensation of skipping through radio stations, reflecting the gangster movie culture invoked by the game. The team used the talk radio stations to add character to

1100-522: A 3D open world, and the DMA group who developed Space Station Silicon Valley (1998) began working on a project separate from the Grand Theft Auto 2 team. Alan Jack, a DMA support engineer, described it as combining Body Harvest 's (1998) exploration with Space Station Silicon Valley 's city level. The team chose against using the Grand Theft Auto branding to avoid conflict with

1210-414: A 3D world, offering an unprecedented variety of minigames and side-missions. Journalist and consultant Tom Bramwell felt the game did not invent a lot of its gameplay features, but "brought them all together". Due to its greater success over its predecessors, it is credited with popularising the open-world genre; Dan Houser felt the game made it "one of the most vibrant genres today", and Garbut felt it led to

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1320-545: A choice of what to say. The NPC gives a scripted response to the player, and the game offers the player several new ways to respond. Due to the action-adventure subgenre's broad and inclusive nature, it causes some players to have difficulty finishing a particular game. Companies have devised ways to give the player help, such as offering clues or allowing the player to skip puzzles to compensate for this lack of ability. Brett Weiss cites Atari 's Superman (1979) as an action-adventure game, with Retro Gamer crediting it as

1430-474: A combination of complex story elements, which are often displayed for players using audio and video. The story is heavily reliant upon the player character's movement, which triggers story events and thus affects the flow of the game. Popular examples of action-adventure games include The Legend of Zelda , God of War , and Tomb Raider series. There is a good deal of controversy over what actually constitutes an action-adventure game. One definition of

1540-458: A competitive advantage over their competition. During aerobic exercise, peripheral veins , particularly those within a muscle, dilate to accommodate the increased blood flow through exercising muscle. The skeletal-muscle pump assists in returning blood to the heart and maintaining cardiac output. A sudden cessation of strenuous exercise may cause blood to pool in peripheral dilated veins, which may cause varicose veins . A cool-down period allows

1650-448: A complex text parser and no free-moving character. While they share general gameplay dynamics, action-adventures vary widely in the design of their viewpoints, including bird's eye , side-scrolling, first-person, third-person , over-the-shoulder, or even a 3/4 isometric view . Many action-adventure games simulate a conversation through a conversation tree . When the player encounters a non-player character , they are allowed to select

1760-415: A custom radio station, as well as the availability of custom skins. Daniel Morris of PC Gamer praised the gameplay tweaks provided by the port but criticised the lack of major additional features, such as an overhead map of the in-game city. The port's visuals received a positive response from reviewers. GameSpot ' s Wolpaw praised the port's reworked textures but criticised the frequent popup and

1870-414: A full content review of all our titles and the marketing materials we use to represent them was absolutely necessary for us ... we have come across certain small contextual references that we were no longer comfortable with, as well as a couple of very rare gameplay instances that no longer felt appropriate to us. Prior to Grand Theft Auto III ' s initial release, several modifications were made to

1980-517: A game with a mix of elements from an action game and an adventure game , especially crucial elements like puzzles inspired by older adventure games. Action-adventures require many of the same physical skills as action games, but may also offer a storyline, numerous characters, an inventory system, dialogue, and other features of adventure games. They are typically faster-paced than pure adventure games, because they include both physical and conceptual challenges. Action-adventure games normally include

2090-460: A minor problem, but his trophy wife Maria ( Debi Mazar ), who took a liking to Claude, reveals it to be a set-up. Maria claims she lied to Salvatore about having an affair with Claude to make him jealous, and now Salvatore wants to kill him. Claude escapes to Staunton Island with Maria and her friend Asuka Kasen (Lianna Pai). After killing Salvatore to cut ties with the Mafia, Claude begins working for

2200-418: A mob film. GameSpot ' s Gerstmann found the missions entertaining and challenging, but noted exploring the game world also offers "a great deal of fun" to players. Reactions to the game's controls were mixed. Alupului of GameSpy found the game "controls beautifully", both while driving and on-foot. Game Revolution ' s Silverman identified the control issues as the game's only flaw, although praised

2310-563: A mobile screen, while Destructoid ' s Jim Sterling noted improvements in the character and vehicle models. Mark Walton of GameSpot wrote the game runs well on high-end devices like the Motorola Xoom and Samsung Galaxy S II , but noticed significant frame rate and texture issues on the Xperia Play . Pocket Gamer ' s Mark Brown identified the game's short draw distance leading to sudden popup, although still found

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2420-415: A more gradual return to venous tone . The heart will also need to beat faster to adequately oxygenate the body and maintain blood pressure . It has been hypothesized that individuals who are at risk for cardiovascular disease may develop negative cardiovascular outcomes in the event that cool-downs are not completed following bouts of exercise. However, current clinical evidence disputes this. Reviews on

2530-428: A movie". Eurogamer ' s Bramwell echoed similar remarks, describing the city sounds as "perfect" and the soundtrack as "monstrous". The sound was described as "terrific" by GameSpot ' s Gerstmann and Game Revolution ' s Silverman, and 1UP.com appreciated the subtlety of the in-game radio stations. AllGame ' s Scott Alan Marriott named the music "the true star" of the game. Reviewers considered

2640-431: A remastered version for the twentieth in 2021. Grand Theft Auto III received critical acclaim for its concept, gameplay, sound design, and visual fidelity, but generated controversies for its violence and sex. It received year-end accolades from several gaming publications , and it is considered a landmark game in the open world concept, one of the sixth generation of console gaming 's most significant titles, and among

2750-611: A robbery, embarks on a quest for revenge leading him to become entangled in a world of crime, drugs, gang warfare, and corruption. The game is played from a third-person perspective and its world is navigated on foot or by vehicle. Its open world design lets players freely roam Liberty City, consisting of three main areas. Development was shared between DMA Design, based in Edinburgh , and Rockstar, based in New York City. Development involved transforming popular elements from

2860-403: A scale that's truly epic". Game Revolution ' s Ben Silverman called the city a "technological marvel ... that captures the essence of gritty city life in amazing detail". IGN ' s Perry considered the game's sound "unbelievably and meticulously delivered", particularly praising the soundtrack, voice acting and sound design, stating it was "really approached as if it were done for

2970-711: A side-scrolling platformer format with adventure exploration, creating the Metroidvania platform-adventure subgenre. Similarly, games like 005 (1981), Castle Wolfenstein and Metal Gear (1987) combined action-adventure exploration with stealth mechanics, laying the foundations for the stealth game subgenre, which would later be popularized in 1998 with the releases of Metal Gear Solid , Tenchu: Stealth Assassins , and Thief: The Dark Project . The cinematic platformer Prince of Persia (1989) featured action-adventure elements, inspiring games such as Another World (1991) and Flashback (1992). Alone in

3080-400: A single avatar as the protagonist . This type of game is often quite similar to role-playing video games . They are distinct from graphic adventures , which sometimes have free-moving central characters, but also a wider variety of commands and fewer or no action game elements and are distinct too from text adventures , characterized by many different commands introduced by the user via

3190-404: A weak correlation: however, the majority of recent studies discount the relationship. An effective cool-down after exercise involves a gradual, continuous decrease in exercise intensity, such as from a hard run to an easy jog to a brisk walk. The duration varies for different people, but 3–10 minutes is generally considered adequate for most people. Stretching, especially static stretching allows

3300-410: Is a silent protagonist , never speaking throughout his appearances; the team decided upon this primarily because it "did not seem like a major issue", due to the other challenges faced during development, and also partly to allow players to identify with the character, as he would be who the players want him to be. The developers did not have "any one single inspiration" for Claude; they liked the idea of

3410-735: Is an action game that includes situational problem-solving. Adventure gamers may also be purists, rejecting any game that makes use of physical challenges or time pressure. Regardless, the action-adventure label is prominent in articles over the internet and media. The term "action-adventure" is usually substituted for a particular subgenre due to its wide scope. Although action-adventure games are diverse and difficult to classify, there are some distinct subgenres. Many games with gameplay similar to those in The Legend of Zelda series are called Zelda clones or Zelda -like games. Popular subgenres include: A Grand Theft Auto clone belongs to

Grand Theft Auto III - Misplaced Pages Continue

3520-476: Is composed of three boroughs: Portland, Staunton Island, and Shoreside Vale; the latter two areas become unlocked as the player progresses through the storyline. Players may run, jump or use vehicles to navigate the game's world. In combat, auto-aim can be used as assistance against enemies. Should players take damage, their health meter can be fully regenerated through the use of health pick-ups. Body armour can be used to absorb gunshots and explosive damage, but

3630-508: Is considered to have a leading role in the popularisation of sandbox games , inspiring those such as Crackdown , Mafia , Saints Row , True Crime , and Watch Dogs . The term " Grand Theft Auto clone " is frequently used to describe subsequent video games released with similar open-ended gameplay as Grand Theft Auto III . While previous video games used open world design, including earlier Grand Theft Auto games, Grand Theft Auto III took this gameplay foundation and expanded it into

3740-528: Is tied with Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 as the highest-rated PlayStation 2 game on the site and tied with a number of others as the sixth-highest-rated game overall. Reviewers liked the game's sound, gameplay, and open world design, though some criticism was directed at the controls. Tom Bramwell of Eurogamer called Grand Theft Auto III "a luscious, sprawling epic", and Official PlayStation Magazine named it "the most innovative, outlandish, brilliant video game". GameSpot ' s Jeff Gerstmann described

3850-430: Is used up in the process. When health is entirely depleted, gameplay stops and players respawn at the nearest hospital, at the expense of losing armour, weapons, and an amount of money. If players commit crimes while playing, the game's law enforcement agencies may respond as indicated by a " wanted " meter in the head-up display (HUD). On the meter, the displayed stars indicate the current wanted level (for example, at

3960-646: The Uncharted franchise, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Ark: Survival Evolved . Cooldown Cooling down allows the heart rate to return to its resting rate. Additionally cooling down may reduce dizziness for professional or serious athletes and vocal performers after strenuous workouts. Studies are currently inconclusive as to whether the process actually reduces delayed-onset muscle soreness and muscle soreness not caused by lactate production during intense exercise. Some have shown

4070-537: The Entertainment Consumers Association , described Grand Theft Auto III as the "lightning rod for the violence-in-games debate". Metro ' s Roger Hargreaves wrote it "emboldened a whole new wave of games that were ... fixated with violence [and] gang culture". Greg Ford of Electronic Gaming Monthly felt the game allowed the medium to handle mature subject matter in a more serious manner than previously perceived, and noted

4180-694: The Grand Theft Auto series into a fully 3D world for the first time. The game was delayed following the September 11 attacks to allow the team to change references and gameplay deemed inappropriate. Grand Theft Auto III was released in October 2001 for the PlayStation 2 , in May 2002 for Windows , and in November 2003 for the Xbox . Mobile ports were released for the tenth anniversary in 2011, followed by

4290-612: The Grand Theft Auto 2 team and began developing their game as a Godzilla project. After Take-Two Interactive acquired DMA from Infogrames in September 1999, the Space Station Silicon Valley and Grand Theft Auto 2 teams were combined. The combined team began developing Grand Theft Auto III for the Dreamcast, but shifted to the PlayStation 2 after four months. Technical director Obbe Vermeij said

4400-546: The Micro Uzi , an M16 rifle and a flamethrower . The game's three-dimensional environment allows a first-person view while aiming with the sniper rifle , rocket launcher and the M16 rifle. In addition, the game's combat was reworked to allow players to commit drive-by shootings by facing sideways in a vehicle. The game gives players a wide variety of weapon options—they can be purchased from local firearms dealers , found on

4510-589: The action game and adventure game genres. Typically, classical adventure games have situational problems for the player to explore and solve to complete a storyline, involving little to no action . If there is action, it is generally confined to isolated instances. Classical action games, on the other hand, have gameplay based on real-time interactions that challenges the player's reflexes and eye-hand coordination . Action-adventure games combine these genres by engaging both eye-hand coordination and problem-solving skills. An action adventure game can be defined as

Grand Theft Auto III - Misplaced Pages Continue

4620-427: The best video games ever made . It became the best-selling video game of 2001 and among the best-selling PlayStation 2 games with over 11.6 million copies sold; it has sold over 14.5 million copies overall. The game was followed by Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002) and two prequels , Advance (2004) and Liberty City Stories (2005). Grand Theft Auto III is an action-adventure game played from

4730-432: The yakuza , led by Asuka and her brother Kenji (Les J.N. Mau). During this time, he also provides assistance to corrupt police inspector Ray Machowski ( Robert Loggia ), whom he eventually helps flee the city, and influential businessman Donald Love ( Kyle MacLachlan ). Donald hires Claude to kill Kenji under the guise of a Cartel attack to start a gang war to allow Donald to obtain construction sites for his businesses. After

4840-818: The "first to utilize multiple screens as playing area". Mark J.P. Wolf credits Adventure (1980) for the Atari VCS as the earliest-known action-adventure game. The game involves exploring a 2D environment, finding and using items which each have prescribed abilities, and fighting dragons in real-time like in an action game . Muse Software 's Castle Wolfenstein (1981) was another early action-adventure game, merging exploration, combat, stealth, and maze game elements, drawing inspiration from arcade shoot 'em ups and maze games (such as maze-shooter Berzerk ) and war films (such as The Guns of Navarone ). According to Wizardry developer Roe R. Adams, early action-adventure games "were basically arcade games done in

4950-462: The "most important game" of the 2000s. Time named it one of the greatest video games of all time in November 2012 and August 2016. The game was selected as part of the Game On touring exhibition, demonstrating some of the game's development plans and artwork. In 2016, The Strong National Museum of Play inducted Grand Theft Auto III to its World Video Game Hall of Fame . Grand Theft Auto III

5060-524: The "purported psychological effects" of the perpetrators, are protected by the First Amendment 's free-speech clause. Jack Thompson , the lawyer representing the victims, denied Rockstar's claims and attempted to move the lawsuit into a state court for consideration under Tennessee's consumer protection act. Grand Theft Auto III has been frequently included among the greatest video games of all time . In 2007, GamePro called Grand Theft Auto III

5170-415: The "reality of mortality and simultaneously [forces] it on players". Benzies claimed the violence was intended as comedic and the game is "not meant to be taken seriously", and Dan Houser said the team was conscious of the offence the game would attract, but "never marketed it in a way that exploited that". The game allows players to participate in sexual activities with prostitutes and murder them to reclaim

5280-401: The 1990 film Goodfellas , describing Grand Theft Auto III as "a cross between a gangster movie and an RPG". The team developed the story and design simultaneously. Dan Houser said, "we use the story to expose the mechanics, and we use the mechanics to tell the story"; however, he found it difficult to create the narrative, as the game is so strongly focused on player freedom. He wanted

5390-490: The Dark (1992) used 3D graphics , which would later be popularized by Resident Evil (1996) and Tomb Raider (1996). Resident Evil in particular created the survival horror subgenre, inspiring titles such as Silent Hill (1999) and Fatal Frame (2001). Action-adventure games have gone on to become more popular than the pure adventure games and pure platform games that inspired them. Recent examples include

5500-607: The Leone Mafia family for work. Claude assists the Mafia with various operations, including winning a gang war against a local group of Triads , earning him the respect of Don Salvatore Leone ( Frank Vincent ). After learning the Cartel are creating and selling a new street drug called SPANK to fund their expansion into Liberty City, Salvatore orders Claude to destroy their floating drug lab. Claude accomplishes this with 8-Ball's help. Salvatore later instructs Claude to deal with

5610-573: The OFLC reaffirmed its ban on 11 December 2001, having reanalysed the game alongside a forensic psychologist. Take-Two recalled the game in Australia and Rockstar made appropriate changes; a modified version was released with an MA15+ classification in January 2002, removing instances of sexual acts with prostitutes. The game was re-rated with an R18+ classification in September 2019, citing "sexual activities related to incentives and rewards". In Japan,

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5720-466: The United States, where it was the 34th-best-selling computer game between January 2000 and August 2006. In Japan, Grand Theft Auto III sold around 75,000 copies in its first day, 120,000 in its first week, and roughly 300,000 by December 2003. The number rose above 350,000 copies by January 2008. In Europe, over a million copies of the game were reportedly sold by December 2001. The game earned

5830-629: The Year . The following year at the 6th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards , the Windows version won Computer Action/Adventure Game of the Year and was nominated for Outstanding Innovation in Computer Gaming. In the United States, Grand Theft Auto III was the highest-selling game of 2001, selling over two million units by February 2002. The game was also the second-best-selling game of 2002, only behind its sequel, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City . Take-Two stock significantly increased following

5940-566: The advanced system requirements. IGN ' s Blevins similarly criticised the necessity of an advanced system for stable play, but ultimately felt the port looks "a bit nicer" than the original game. GameSpy ' s Sal Accardo felt the port "looks much sharper" than the PlayStation 2 version, though noted some "choppy" animations. Extended Play ' s Bub mentioned the advanced settings resulted in slowdown and crashes . Game Informer ' s Matt Helgeson noticed little difference between

6050-520: The body through gentle light intensity exercise to cool down the body during half time or breaks in an activity or sport. Half-time cooling down has proven to decrease body temperature and increase aerobic performance. Many sporting groups use cooling down jackets during half-time. Australian elite sporting teams such as those in the AFL , Olympic teams, military and elite athletes across all sporting fields use cooling down vests to increase performance and gain

6160-453: The body's temperature, removing lactic acid from the muscles and increasing flexibility. Each stretch should be held for a minimum of 10–20 seconds and stretched to the point of mild discomfort but not pain. Each muscle used in mid-high-intensity exercise should then be stretched during the cool-down. This is a popular process for elite sporting clubs and athletes. It involves using either ice vests, cooling products or manually cooling down

6270-459: The character had been cut "months before [release]". There were reports and previews stating the game featured schoolchildren as pedestrians prior to release, although Rockstar dismissed such rumours as "nonsense". Rockstar stated the game was "about 1% different" after 9/11, and the biggest change was the cover art. They felt the game's original cover, which was still used for its release in Europe,

6380-497: The city and provide a "unique take on American life"; Sam Houser described it as "a very iconoclastic look at America". The team used real DJs to portray those on the radio. In doing so, they wrote unusual dialogue for the DJs, seeking the effect of "high production values and absurd content". Music director Craig Conner assembled the assets of the radio station—music, advertisements, DJ dialogue, and station imaging. Chatterbox FM, one of

6490-401: The city, allowing Claude to strike against them and hinder the Cartel. Enraged, Catalina murders both Asuka and Miguel and kidnaps Maria, demanding $ 500,000 for her release. Claude meets with her to pay the ransom, but Catalina deceives him again and traps him. Claude escapes, rescues Maria, and destroys the helicopter Catalina attempts to flee in, killing her. As Claude and Maria leave the scene,

6600-481: The city, cars and some weapons. Producer Leslie Benzies described Grand Theft Auto III as a "crime simulation game". Rockstar offered Grand Theft Auto III to Microsoft Game Studios as an Xbox exclusive, but Microsoft declined due to its adult nature and poorly-performing predecessors. The game was released for the PlayStation 2 on 23 October 2001 in North America. When porting the game to Windows ,

6710-475: The complexities of Rockstar's future open world games, including the later Grand Theft Auto titles and Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018). IGN ' s Jack Harwood thought the game's talk radio station inspired similar inclusions in other open world games, such as Mafia III (2016) and Watch Dogs: Legion (2020). The game also led the trend of mature video games; Dan Houser felt it allowed other developers to create violent shooters. Hal Halpin , president of

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6820-467: The degradation of women". Matt Richtel of The New York Times wrote the activities within the game "crossed the line into bad taste". Grand Theft Auto III was initially released in Australia with an MA15+ classification, but the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) later banned it after re-reviewing, citing its sexual content and violence against prostitutes. After Take-Two appealed,

6930-567: The depiction of mafiosi featured in Martin Scorsese 's films; When writing the story, Dan Houser and Worrall regularly met with the designers, and filled a room with post-it notes to reconstruct the story components to shape the game. Many of the game characters were animated using motion capture , filmed at a rented studio at the Brooklyn Navy Yard , though this was limited by technical constraints. The character movement

7040-566: The entire process, including editing and recording, took around four to five months. With the station's guests and callers, the writers wanted to satirise American lifestyles, focusing on fictional stories as opposed to quickly outdated stories based on recent news. Jones found the conversations to be natural, having worked in radio for several years. The roles of the guests and callers were performed by Jones's friends and neighbours, including his father, and were recorded in New York. [We] felt that

7150-508: The experience frustrating", and Destructoid ' s Sterling described them as "by far the biggest barrier toward enjoying" the port. Brown of Pocket Gamer found the touchscreen "hasn't hindered [the game] too drastically", commending simple movement and "effortless" driving mechanics. Some critics identified better controls upon the use of external gamepads, but felt they hinder the game's portability. Grand Theft Auto III received multiple nominations and awards from gaming publications . It

7260-451: The first time". A major difficulty the team encountered was converting all game elements into a fully 3D world, including the sound and radio stations, as well as designing and voicing the non-player characters, due to the amount that existed within the open world. Producer Dan Houser said there were about 8,000 lines of recorded dialogue in the game, while audio programmer Raymond Usher estimated about 18,000. The basic technical elements of

7370-439: The flight path of a plane to avoid appearing to fly into or behind a skyscraper and removing a mission referencing terrorists, as well as some changes to pedestrian dialogue and talk radio. Another cut to the game was the character of Darkel, a revolutionary urchin who vowed to bring down the city's economy. When references to Darkel were found in the game's code, speculation arose that he was related to 9/11, but Dan Houser explained

7480-639: The game Most Offensive, Best Use of Radio, and tied for Best Artificial Intelligence. It won the Global Award at the 7th CESA Game Awards in 2003 and an Award for Excellence at the 8th CESA Game Awards in 2004. At the 5th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards , Grand Theft Auto III won Outstanding Achievement in Game Design and Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering , and was nominated for Console Action/Adventure Game of

7590-446: The game as "an incredible experience that shouldn't be missed by anyone"; IGN ' s Doug Perry named it "one of the best titles of the year, on PlayStation 2, or on any system". Many reviewers found the 3D graphics a welcome change from the 2D of the previous games. GameSpot ' s Gerstmann particularly praised the character and vehicle models, and the overall texture quality of the city. GameSpy ' s Andrei Alupului found

7700-503: The game began to work together in mid-2000, with a carjacking mechanic prototype and stable streaming model. Streaming was initially intended to be reserved for music and map geometry, but other elements were eventually included when it became apparent to the team as more data was entered. When designing the game world, the team initially created a "hybrid city", which Dan Houser described as "a post industrial Midwest slash east coast generic" city. Upon developing within this game world,

7810-493: The game does not reward players for "proficiency at crime, no matter how much it is accused of doing so". Joanna Weiss of The Boston Globe noted the "adrenaline" players feel when committing crimes in the game, excusing its violence due to its mature classification. In January 2002, the National Organization for Women called for Rockstar and Take-Two to withdraw the game from sale as it "encourages violence and

7920-456: The game rewards players for "causing mayhem" and "killing innocent people by the dozen", questioning its appropriateness. The game's notoriety led American retailer Wal-Mart to check identification of purchasers who appeared under the age of 17 when purchasing mature titles. In an essay, assistant professor Shira Chess identified the lack of consequence to player violence due to the ability to respawn upon death or incarceration, and found it denies

8030-556: The game was designated "harmful" for children in Kanagawa Prefecture in June 2005, essentially removing it from open shelves; Capcom criticised the decision and considered legal action but did not pursue further, and the designation ultimately led to a sales increase. On 25 June 2003, teenage stepbrothers William and Josh Buckner shot at motorists, killing Aaron Hamel and wounding Kimberly Bede. In statements to investigators,

8140-447: The game world, players may engage in activities such as a vigilante minigame, a firefighting activity, a paramedic service and a taxi cab service. Completion of these activities grants players with context-specific rewards; for example, completing the vigilante mission allows players to bribe police after committing a crime. Players use melee attacks, firearms and explosives to fight enemies. The firearms include weapons such as

8250-550: The game's cutscenes to evoke different emotions. For the voice acting, the team wanted "natural, subtle performances", which proved difficult as many of the actors "had in their head the idea that because video games are animated, their performances needed to be animated", explained motion capture director Navid Khonsari . Claude is unnamed in the game, and his name is not officially revealed until his appearance in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004). He

8360-504: The game's launch, and the game was included in PlayStation's Greatest Hits selection. Within a year of release, the game had sold six million copies and generated over US$ 250 million in revenue; by January 2003, it had sold seven million and generated over US$ 350 million . In the United States, the game had sold 5.35 million units by June 2004, and 6.55 million units by December 2007. The Windows version accounted for 420,000 sales and $ 16.9 million in earnings by August 2006 in

8470-508: The game's radio stations, is entirely talk radio hosted by Lazlow Jones , who met Rockstar's managing director Terry Donovan in 2001 as they were both preparing to travel to Los Angeles for E3 . Donovan invited Jones to Rockstar's offices in Manhattan, where he met the development team, including Dan and Sam Houser and producer Jamie King, and they invited him to work on the game. The writing sessions took place at Dan Houser's apartment, and

8580-406: The game. While changes are frequent during game development , these changes were noted to be around the time of the 11 September attacks , which led to speculation that the changes were motivated by the attacks. On 19 September 2001, Rockstar delayed the game's release by three weeks, citing the attacks as an influencing factor in the delay. "Everyone had someone who had an uncle or brother [who

8690-406: The gameplay still follows a number of adventure game genre tropes (gathering items , exploration of and interaction with one's environment, often including an overworld connecting areas of importance, and puzzle-solving). While the controls are arcade-style (character movement, few action commands) there is an ultimate goal beyond a high score. In most action-adventure games, the player controls

8800-523: The graphics "really rather impressive", describing the car models as "greatly improved" over those in Midnight Club . Eurogamer ' s Bramwell considered the graphics "generally pleasant to look at", but considered it inferior to games like Gran Turismo 3 and Ico . Justin Leeper of Game Informer described game world as "stunning in scope and detail", and Perry of IGN found it to be "on

8910-560: The ground, retrieved from dead enemies, or found around the city. Small-time criminal Claude is betrayed and shot by his girlfriend Catalina (voiced by Cynthia Farrell) during a bank heist outside Liberty City. Claude is arrested but escapes during his transfer to prison when members of the Colombian Cartel ambush his transport to abduct another prisoner. During his escape, Claude befriends explosives expert and fellow convict 8-Ball ( Guru ), who shelters Claude and introduces him to

9020-444: The improvement of video game classification as a result of its controversy. King said video games at the time were often associated with children or nerds, and the development team "wanted the rest of the entertainment industry to pay attention" and understand the medium could also contain mature, adult content. Action-adventure game An action-adventure game is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both

9130-433: The inclusion of exercise-therapy for management of cardiovascular disease have indicated that chronic exercise instead induces positive long-term adaptions for the cardiovascular system that reduce the risk of death and outcomes requiring hospitalization. One study has shown that athletes who perform an appropriate cool-down are less likely to become injured. Muscular and skeletal injuries have been found to increase when

9240-415: The job's success, Claude carries out another task for Donald that leads him to encounter Catalina, now the leader of the Cartel, at a construction site. However, Catalina escapes after betraying and shooting her partner, Miguel (Al Espinosa). Asuka blames the Cartel for Kenji's death and seizes the construction site. The yakuza capture the wounded Miguel and torture him for information on Cartel operations in

9350-444: The latter begins to complain about the kidnapping, but is silenced by a gunshot. The core development team of Grand Theft Auto III consisted of about 23 people at DMA Design in Edinburgh , who worked closely with publisher Rockstar Games in New York City. The original tech demo was created on Sega 's Dreamcast around the end of development on Grand Theft Auto 2 (1999). Rockstar had been pressuring its teams to create

9460-656: The maximum six-star level, efforts by law enforcement to incapacitate players become very aggressive). Law enforcement officers will search for players who leave the wanted vicinity. The wanted meter enters a cooldown mode and eventually recedes when players are hidden from the officers' line of sight. The game lets players control the mute criminal Claude. During the story, Claude meets various new characters from gangs. As players complete missions for different gangs and criminal organisations, fellow gang members will often defend players, while rival gang members will recognise players and subsequently shoot on sight. While free roaming

9570-401: The models and textures "have been given a tune-up" in the port. The touchscreen controls received a mixed response. Eurogamer ' s Dan Whitehead appreciated the driving mechanics, but felt moving on-foot is "a flaky way of navigating" the world, and criticised the "clumsy" shooting mechanics as most of the guns cannot be manually targeted. IGN ' s Eykemans felt the controls "make half

9680-463: The most important video game of all time, explaining the "game's open-ended gameplay elements have revolutionized the way all video games are made". Similarly, IGN ranked the game among the "Top 10 Most Influential Games", and GameSpot listed it among the greatest games of all time. In 2009, Game Informer wrote that Grand Theft Auto III "changed the gaming landscape forever with its immersive open world sandbox", and in 2016, GamesRadar+ named it

9790-416: The muscles to be elongated and lengthened. Rehydration is an essential part of the procedure and should be done either during stretching and light intensity or after these steps. Refueling the body with water and electrolyte-rich drinks, like sports drinks , will keep the body hydrated. Static stretching is the appropriate form of stretching to aid in the cooling down procedure. It aids in decreasing

9900-528: The payment, which was met with widespread controversy. The game also received some backlash for its depiction of crime and allowing violence against police officers. Psychologist David Walsh of the National Institute on Media and the Family said the game "glamorizes antisocial and criminal activity", and "the purpose of the game is to perpetrate crime". In response, Kotaku writer Owen Good wrote

10010-482: The perpetrators claimed their actions were inspired by Grand Theft Auto III . In response, on 20 October 2003, the families of Hamel and Bede filed a US$ 246 million lawsuit against Rockstar, Take-Two, Sony Computer Entertainment and Wal-Mart. Rockstar and Take-Two filed for dismissal of the lawsuit, stating in United States district court on 29 October 2003 that the "ideas and concepts", and

10120-489: The player has enough ammunition and recovery items to " survive " the horror setting. This is a thematic genre with diverse gameplay, so not all survival horror games share all the features. The Resident Evil franchise popularized this subgenre. Action-adventure games are faster-paced than pure adventure games, and include physical as well as conceptual challenges where the story is enacted rather than narrated. While motion-based, often reflexive, actions are required,

10230-399: The port were generally well received. IGN ' s Tal Blevins praised the higher precision of the mouse controls, finding the aiming mechanic more precise. GameSpot ' s Erik Wolpaw also commended the mouse controls, but disapproved the replay system, particularly due to the lack of options with timing and camera controls. Extended Play ' s Andrew Bub appreciated the addition of

10340-475: The previous Grand Theft Auto games. Benzies said the intention was to recreate the "freedom and diversity" of the previous games in a "living, breathing 3D world", using the power of the PlayStation ;2 to do so. The console's ability to use DVDs , an improvement over the PlayStation 's limit to CDs , allowed the team to store more data, such as animations, music and environments. Despite this,

10450-421: The references, such as in-game car manufacturers, were appropriate to the city. The city is broken into three islands: an industrial section representing Brooklyn and Queens , a commercial centre resembling Manhattan , and suburbs similar to New Jersey . The islands unlock as the story progresses; the team wanted players to "start out feeling poor and work to being richer". Dan Houser described Liberty City as

10560-414: The release of the PlayStation 2, the team felt a large 3D world was possible. Art director Aaron Garbut felt other video games at the time "were a thing you played", wanting Grand Theft Auto III to be "a place you lived in". An online multiplayer mode was planned, but dropped due to time and resource limitations. When designing the game, the development team expanded upon concepts introduced in

10670-435: The responsiveness of the driving mechanics. Matt Helgeson of Game Informer similarly described the driving as "great", but noted "clunky" combat. GamePro ' s Four-Eyed Dragon found the cars simple to manoeuvre. Edge described the game's combat as "an awkward system that stymies play". 1UP.com noted particular flaws in the targeting system, explaining it "often focuses on the wrong guy". When Grand Theft Auto III

10780-479: The shift was not due to hardware constraints, but because it became clear the Dreamcast was not commercially viable. He described the decision as disappointing, noting the DMA Design staff were big fans of Phantasy Star Online (2000). During the Dreamcast phase, DMA Design developed city blocks with brownstones , docks, and retail areas, alongside vehicles and pedestrians. By early 2001, the team had designed

10890-452: The story to be more nuanced and interesting than the generic "rise and fall and rise again of a superhero bad guy". The game's script was also focused on mission objectives, attempting to implement high amounts of interactivity. Dan Houser felt each mission is "its own short story", and part of an "overarching story". He and co-writer James Worrall drew influence from films like The Warriors , Taxi Driver , Scarface , and Payback , and

11000-449: The style of the game's missions to be a welcoming departure from those in previous games. 1UP.com described the missions as "wonderfully creative", while GamesMaster appreciated the diversity. IGN ' s Perry similarly appreciated the variety and scale of the missions, and praised the amount of available side missions. GameSpy ' s Alupului described the game's story as "well-paced" and "coherent", featuring plot elements akin to

11110-593: The team delayed it from the PlayStation 2 release in order to ensure quality, citing issues with the simultaneous platform release of previous Grand Theft Auto games. Capcom published the game in Japan on 25 September 2003. Grand Theft Auto III is the first 3D game in the series, using Criterion Games 's RenderWare game engine . Executive producer Sam Houser had always wanted the series to move to 3D, and DMA Design had experimented with 3D worlds in games like Body Harvest and Space Station Silicon Valley . With

11220-419: The team found it difficult to fit the game into the PlayStation 2's 32 megabytes of RAM , due to the scale. The game's size also created difficulties for the testers, due to the variety of options. Benzies felt creating a living city was the "underlying principle" of the game's concept during development. Sam Houser felt the game's 3D element allowed the "chemistry of the team [to come] together perfectly for

11330-475: The team realised basing the design on a real location meant "you have a lot of things you can say about it". As a result, they redesigned Liberty City, which had been previously featured in the first Grand Theft Auto (1997), basing it loosely on New York City. DMA Design worked with a team at Rockstar in New York for cultural references; the Rockstar team would regularly work long hours for full weeks, ensuring

11440-430: The term "action-adventure" may be '"An action/adventure game is a game that has enough action in it not to be called an adventure game, but not enough action to be called an action game." In some cases an action game with puzzles will be classified as an action-adventure game, but if these puzzles are quite simple they might be classified as an action game. Others see action games as a pure genre, while an action-adventure

11550-483: The visuals of the original and the port. When Grand Theft Auto III was released to mobile devices in December 2011, it received generally positive reviews. Metacritic calculated an average score of 80 out of 100, based on 26 reviews. Reviewers liked the enhanced visuals, but criticism was directed at the touchscreen controls. IGN ' s Peter Eykemans commended the port's smoother textures, especially condensed on

11660-481: Was "too raw" after 9/11, and it was changed to what became the "signature style" of the series. Sam Houser said the cover was designed in an evening and was instantly preferred over the original cover. The cover was inspired by the movie posters for 1960s films, such as The Thomas Crown Affair (1968). Grand Theft Auto III was released to critical acclaim. Metacritic calculated an average score of 97 out of 100, indicating "universal acclaim", based on 56 reviews. It

11770-413: Was also treated as being cinematic, though limited polygons heavily inhibited this. Animating non-player characters entering and driving cars proved to be difficult for the team, due to the variety of vehicle designs. "It involved chaining together dozens of different animations and altering key frames in code", recalled software engineer Alan Campbell . The team used varying camera angles when animating

11880-564: Was awarded Game of the Year at the 2nd Game Developers Choice Awards , and from GameSpot and GameSpy. It was named the Best PlayStation ;2 Game by Game Revolution , GameSpot , GameSpy , and IGN . It also won Best Action Game from Game Revolution , GameSpot , and IGN ; Most Innovative from GameSpot ; and Excellence in Game Design at the Game Developers Choice Awards. GameSpy also awarded

11990-543: Was impacted by the attack]", said Paul Eibeler , then president of Take-Two Interactive. One of the changes made shortly after the 9/11 attacks was the colour scheme of the police cars . Originally blue with white stripes, resembling the New York City Police Department , it was changed to a black-and-white design common among several police departments in the United States, such as Los Angeles and San Francisco . Other changes included altering

12100-411: Was released for Windows in May 2002, it received similar acclaim. Metacritic calculated an average score of 93 out of 100, indicating "universal acclaim", based on 20 reviews; the game was Metacritic's highest-rated title for Windows in 2002. Reviewers liked the visual enhancements and control improvements, but criticised the port for its demanding system requirements. The in-game features and controls in

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