Grand Theft Auto III legacy review by Luke Reilly. Reviewed on PlayStation 2.
“Grand Theft Auto III, in its original form, is a frustrating and regularly cumbersome game to play in 2026. Its unforgiving need to manually return to mission markers and start from scratch encourages a very careful and conservative sort of playstyle that clashes with the chaotic level of freedom its world and systems otherwise encourage. On top of this, its shooting is admittedly fussy and frustrating, and its cast of shallow and simplistic characters are amongst the least memorable of the series. Within that initial salvo of 3D GTA games, Vice City oozed dramatically more style and swagger, and San Andreas offered astonishingly increased size and scope. However, neither of these legendary games can lay claim to being GTA III – just improved versions of it.
It occupies a unique place in the series’ storied history. While it didn’t pioneer every part of the modern formula for open-world games, it brought driving, action, story, and exploration together in a radically new way. It didn’t just change the trajectory of the GTA series forever – it changed the business. There are few games that can claim to be as innovative as GTA III, and fewer still as permanently trendsetting. GTA III didn’t just show us what an open world game was. It showed us what an open world game could be.”
