Max Payne review: Innovative and impressive gothic noir in this classic shoot 'em up

It’s well over a decade since the release of the first Max Payne game, but his franchise is now a multimillion pound best seller, his character revered by critics and loved by fans. So what was it that made Max Payne so special way back in 2001? And, 12 years on, how much of the game’s legendarily gritty noir has been tarnished by the inevitable force of time?

It’s something of an understatement to say that Max Payne, of the New York Police Department, is not a lucky man. Just a few minutes into the game his wife and child are brutally slain and his best friend and colleague murdered. From there Max Payne becomes as bloodbath as our psychotic antihero sets out on a quest to avenge his family. It’s not an original or particularly interesting premise, but the game’s storytelling is intelligent enough for this to be easily forgivable. Payne’s tale is told through an impressionistic graphic novel format rather than animated cutscenes, with a dark, seedy art style and brooding voiceover performances from James McCaffrey as the lead.

Max Payne is, if nothing else, an action game.  Max is a near indestructible killing machine, wiping out waves of enemy thugs with a wide variety of weapons and dozens and stunningly effective painkillers. There’s no shortage of opponents; Max’s body count numbers in the hundreds by the game’s conclusion, but as shooting the same enemies in similar situations is the backbone of the game, it does become a little tedious. It doesn’t help that only a few enemy character models were built, and coming up against a clone army highly damages the game’s style and believability. It’s therefore fortunate that the actually gameplay mechanics are largely excellent, and the first ever use of Matrix esque bullet time in a video game proves to be a useful and impressive feature. The game’s graphics are certainly outdated, and there are sticky animations and utterly ridiculous stationary facial models, but this is forgivable considering Max Payne’s age and how excellent the recent Max Payne 3 looked.

Better than bullet time though is the game’s intense neo-noir style. Set in a snow-coated winter New York, Max Payne thrives on seedy hotels ridden with prostitutes and back alleys full of mobsters, creating a blackened atmosphere well ahead of its time. There are also some deliciously nasty supporting characters and a plot that twists and turns delightfully over its lengthy three parts, helping to add to this ambiance. The game is unafraid of displaying its influences too, there’s plenty of banter between guards as they discuss classic martial arts films, and the deliriously violent ending in which Max storms the headquarters of a villainous corporation seems a direct homage to the final shoot-out in The Matrix.

It might be visually showing its age, but Max Payne remains an expertly crafted slice of gothic entertainment, packed with pop culture, stained characters and levels of violence to rival Grand Theft Auto. Max’s character is both terrifying and oddly likeable, and it’s no wonder GTA’s creators Rockstar Games bought this iconic franchise.

8/10

 

 

The top 10 Grand Theft Auto radio stations

Any half-fan of Rockstar Games’ most popular franchise will tell you that radio stations are an integral part of the Grand Theft Auto experience. Since the original GTA was released in 1997, Rockstar has recorded dozens of stations crammed with superb licensed music, which don’t so much enhance gameplay as bring it to life. They’ve been in foreign languages, been hosted by world famous musicians and even catapulted real life DJ Lazlow to stardom through appearances on every GTA game since GTA III.  As an avid GTA fan myself, in this post I list my ten favourite GTA radio stations of all time.

10. Double Clef FM (GTA III)

I sometimes wonder why Rockstar never added an operatic radio station to a game after GTA III and GTA Liberty City Stories, especially when Double Clef FM works so well. Hosted by Liberty Tree columnist Morgan Merryweather, Double Clef pokes fun at the pretentions of classical opera in its short 20 minutes of music and commercials. They may have never made another, but in Double Clef FM Rockstar created an absolute gem.

9. Channel X (GTA V)

It’s remarkable that Rockstar never made a station devoted completely to punk before the recent GTA V, the genre’s violent and rebellious nature fits right into the games the company builds. Hosted by legendary singer Keith Morris, who worked with many of the bands featured on the track list, Channel X includes classics by Black Flag and Circle Jerks, making for a superb playlist for the (albeit virtual) long and winding road.

8.  Chatterbox FM (GTA III)

Chatterbox was the first GTA radio station to be hosted by DJ Lazlow, who became an iconic figure in the GTA universe and appeared in every game in the series since.  Lazlow, who co-wrote the station’s script, presents a witty and sarcastic hour of talk as he interviews pacifist martial artist Reed Tucker and “cheap pimp” Fernando Martinez (a character who has also made an appearance in every game since GTA III).

7. West Coast Classics (GTA V)

Taking its cues from San Andreas’s brilliant Radio Lost Santos, West Coast Classics features an excellent, expletive-ridden set of 80s and 90s hip hop tracks. Hosted by the bizarrely named DH Pooh, the station makes a great backdrop for GTA V’s scenes of gang violence (also inspired by San Andreas) with songs from such legendary artists as 2Pac, Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube.

6.  Flashback FM (GTA III)

Gosh, there’s a bit of a pattern developing here! Even so, Flashback FM is well worthy of its position here, being possibly the best 80’s pop station in the game’s history. Hosted by the brilliant Toni, the station’s use of songs from the Scarface soundtrack really shows the developer’s influences. Uses of She’s On Fire and I’m Hot Tonight are particularly effective.

5.  Radio X (GTA San Andreas)

Simply as a set of songs, Radio X presents possibly my favourite radio station in GTA history. As an alternative rock and heavy metal station, Radio X features superb tracks from world-famous bands including Depeche Mode, Guns N’ Roses and Rage Against the Machine (the use of Killing in the Name being surely one of the best musical decisions in gaming history). There’s excellent talk to be heard here too, with the station being hosted by escaped mental patient Sage. For me, only Nirvana is missing from this musical classic.

4. Radio Los Santos (GTA San Andreas)

Often cited as San Andreas’s best radio station, the gangsta rap and hip hop provided by Radio Lost Santos was the main inspiration for West Coast Classics and the modern incarnation of the station heard in GTA V. As the favourite station of the iconic Grove Street gang, Radio Los Santos provided much of the soundtrack for the Balla Vs Grove Street violence seen in the game. Packed with brilliant songs from rappers including 2Pac and Dr Dre, it remains a firm fan favourite.

3. VCPR (GTA Vice City)

I’m surprised that I’ve managed to go this long without listing a station from GTA Vice City, which surely has the best soundtrack of any GTA game. VCPR is, without a doubt, the best talk station ever recorded for a GTA game; it’s brilliantly entertaining, utterly hilarious and regularly bizarre. Hosted by the wonderful Maurice Chavez (who made it onto my list of favourite GTA characters), VCPR satirises everything from religious fundamentalism to protective parenting to public radio in its Pressing Issues program. Maurice meets some great characters along the way too, including the quite insane Pastor Richards.

2. K-Rose (GTA San Andreas)

The surprise favourite of GTA San Andreas, this country station hosted by the murderous Mary-Beth Maybell was a hit with players worldwide. Mary, who is believed to have killed all of her six previous husbands, intersperses a brilliant playlist including The Desert Rose Band and Mickey Gilley with frequently hilarious dialogue. But K-Rose (and San Andreas itself) is best remembered for George Strait’s All My Ex’s Live in Texas, a song that became synonymous with Rockstar’s games achieved iconic status among GTA players.

1.   V-Rock (GTA Vice City)

The second station to be hosted by DJ Lazlow, V-Rock provides one of the best GTA playlists featuring heavy; thrash and glam metal, and is also hilarious in its dialogue. Made all the more amusing by the fact that Lazlow knows essentially nothing about metal music, V-Rock became an iconic station and soundtracked much of my GTA Vice City playthrough.  Packed with metal classics from Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Judas Priest, Slayer, Ozzy Osbourne, Quiet  Riot and even GTA’s fiction rockers Love Fist, the station was an instant hit with gamers. Rockstar clearly loved it too, creating the V-Rock Hotel in San Andreas and referencing the station regularly after Vice City.

As ever, be sure to comment if you agree with (or despise) my choices! 

Dishonoured Review: Steampunk, stealth and swordplay

There aren't many games like Dishonoured. With the endless rise of first person shooters into mainstream gaming, stealth titles have been shoved aside and forgotten, but Dishonoured attempts to challenge and change this ruination of a superb genre. It's a tale with big ideas and big plans, but is it a truly great game?

Dishonoured makes it's home in the city of Dunwall, a one proud Victorian metropolis tearing itself apart with crime and corruption in the wake of a disastrous plague. You play as the unspeaking Corvo Attano, proud warrior and bodyguard to the Empress, whose world collapses when she is murdered and you are framed for her killing. Inevitably, you are released from prison by unseen benefactors and begin a quest to rescue the Empress's young daughter Emily and to take revenge on those who betrayed you.

It's a superb setup, but what really makes the game is the developers' phenomenal style and attention to detail in creating an amazing game world full of unpleasant characters. Dishonoured features a stunning voice cast including Susan Sarandon, Carrie Fisher and the brilliant Chloë Grace Moretz, who add a wonderful depth and development to a great set of characters. Not only are the characters exquisitely written and acted, the city of Dunwall itself is one of the best game worlds of recent years. Despite relatively small levels, developers Arkane Studios have created an incredibly stylised and believable city in Dunwall, which flits between locations as varied as royal places, shady back streets and colossal military fortresses. This variety is made believable by the almost unbelievable detail poured into everything from buildings to books and costumes to weapons. Dunwall merges Victorian London with a steampunk-esque look, creating an amazing fantasy city that is both gorgeous and disgusting at once, with little separating the deserted, rat infested streets from the glorious mansions of the most wealthy.

Of course, a dark, stylish world and wonderful characters would be little without strong gameplay, but fortunately there's a remarkable balance between presentation and gameplay at work in Dishonoured. As a general rule, each level sets you in a different environment with a task to assassinate a corrupt politician or some such unsavoury character, often with a bonus objective to consider too. How you go about taking out your target is where the game really gets interesting. Dishonoured gives you the usual tools of knife and pistol, with some additional weapons available including a crossbow with various attachments and bolt types. In addition to this, a number of supernatural powers become available as you collect runes throughout each level, and it's these powers that are your most useful tools in the game. Ranging through bending time to conjuring ravenous rats, each ability can be invaluable at many stages of the game. Blink, a short range teleport, is particularly useful for reaching high vantage points and evading the eyes of increasing murderous guards.

The great thing about Dishonoured's gameplay is the staggering level of choice available to the player, including dozens of routes location and scores of methods of taking out your target. Want to possess a rat and enter a building through a gutter, or clamber onto the roof, break a window and drop silently in? You can. In fact, it's actually possible to complete the whole game without a single kill, as non-lethal methods of removing your enemies always present themselves. The game actually contains a level of morality; violently wiping out everyone in your path in the early levels will lead to enemies being more alert in later stages, the Empress's impressionable young daughter Emily growing to despise you and you receiving the darker of the game's two endings. It's a superb system, and it's effects are noticeable even in the tiniest details, such as conversations between guards and Emily's facial expressions. It really adds a layer of depth to the story, and makes Corvo feel more like a real person than a mindless killer.

It's not quite a perfect game; a new game plus mode would be a supreme addition, the inevitable plot twist is somewhat predictable and the whole tale feels a little too short, but this doesn't matter. With Dishonoured, Arkane Studios have built a stylish, dark and brilliantly enjoyable game, which may just reignite the production of stealth games and give the genre back its deserved name.

9/10

Grand Theft Auto Five Review: The greatest Grand Theft Auto?

Oh where to begin? It's been five years since the release of Grand Theft Auto IV, the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful game of 2008. The phenomenal success of the story of Russian immigrant Niko Bellic trying to achieve the elusive American dream shoved the anticipation for it's successor up to breaking point, and by it's release date almost two weeks ago the gaming community's excitement was about to explode. Shops opened at midnight, selling out in a matter of hours. Critics went crazy and GTA V became the highest reviewed gaming release of all time. The game made a staggering eight hundred million dollars on it's first day on sale. But was it truly worth the arduously long wait? Is it really as good as the reviewers claimed? Is it genuinely developer Rockstar's finest game to date when they've produced such classics as Max Payne, Red Dead Redemption and of course the legendary previous GTA games? Of course it is.


GTA V, actually the fifteenth game in the long running series, is the first title in Rockstar's favourite franchise to feature not one, not two but three playable characters. Michael is a retired bank robber who faked his own death and now lives out an unhappy existence in  Los Santos, the largest city in the game's fictional state of San Andreas, with a huge house and a family that hates him. It's not long before he meets Franklin, a young thug in a Los Santos gang who inspires to be a big time criminal. Together they plan a major heist to pay off Michael's debts and create a little spending money, before making contact with the game's third protagonist Trevor, an psychopathic ex-associate of Michael's who runs a meth production business from his hillbilly home in Sandy Shores, a small town in the north of San Andreas. While each of these characters sound like predictable clichés in a crime movie, the player spends enough time with them to explore their dark personalities and develop their feelings for them. By the game's conclusion we care about Michael, Franklin and Trevor more than any characters in past GTA games, a quite staggering achievement. To deal with the use of three protagonists, Rockstar have employed a superb character switching system that allows the player to change character at will while free roaming or at certain points during missions. Like Max Payne's bullet time mechanic, what might have ended up as a useless gimmick is actually a great system that becomes vital to progressing in the story. Questions have been raised as to the lack of female protagonist and I'd like to see this happen in a future GTA game, but to be honest the three characters the developers have given life to are so interesting and well developed that this minor sexist flaw can be easily ignored.

It's not so easy to see past the blatant sexism  that riddles the entire campaign, from the ever present prostitutes to the violent mick taking on feminism. GTA games have flirted with controversy in the past, and sexism isn't the only thing that will cause anger against GTA V. A mission which forces the player to partake in torture is particular shocking and will doubtless cause anger in the wider community, and of course there's the usual suspects of drugs and violence at work too. Still, if you can ignore these issues you'll realise that GTA V is simply a deliriously fun game to play and it's really not worth reading too much into these problems.

Every aspect of gameplay has been redesigned since GTA IV, from the basic game mechanics up. Shooting and driving have been noticeably improved, with a superb cover system and more realistic guns combining with more fluid steering to make simply driving or walking around considerably more realistic and enjoyable. There's not a whiff of the "drive here, kill someone, drive back" mission structure that haunted previous GTA's; the missions of GTA V are cinematic, multi structured affairs which stand up to any Hollywood blockbuster set piece. One mission that really illustrates this from early on in the game's narrative involves the long running feud between Trevor and biker gang The Lost (previously featured in the GTA IV expansion The Lost and Damned). Playing as Trevor, I used a high powered sniper rifle to pick off bike guards while my friend Ron planted explosives in the gang's hideout. When Ron ran into trouble, I leaped onto a quad bike and raced into the fray. An exhilarating shoot out followed, culminating in the two of us escaping into the air in stunt planes as the base exploded below us, the mission finishing as I raced Ron back to our airstrip. And there are tens of missions like it over the course of the main story (not to mention the myriad of side quests available), perfectly conveying just how much the mission design of GTA has improved since the game's humble beginnings in 1997. The missions are based around six major heists, multi-storied jobs requiring thought, decision making and many preliminary tasks before they can be executed. These heists are brilliantly structured and really feel like they've been pulled out of action movies, expertly mixing planning and tension with stunning levels of violence culminating in a huge payoff if competed correctly. Heists also add a little player freedom to the mix by allowing you to choose between two methods of robbery for each job and also letting you pick your own crew. A massively improved stealth system also means that there are often two ways of tackling each mission.

And I've said all this practically without mentioning the beautiful world the game is set in. While GTA San Andreas was set in a similar location and featured locations found in GTA V including Los Santos, Blaine County and the towering Mount Chiliad, the latest instalment takes it to a new level. The map is not only huge but it's dense too, and full of things to do. The level of detail put in by the stellar team at Rockstar North is nothing short of incredible, and it's remarkable that every area of such a massive world feels different. From the posters on the walls of Franklin's house to the stunning view at the summit of Mount Chiliad to the many in-references to past GTA games, this is possibly the greatest game world ever created, reminding me more of the intricate detail of Arkham City (not in size) than the empty expanses of Just Cause 2's Panau. And the team have clearly spent a lot of time adding things to do, from side quests and collectables to surprisingly excellent tennis and golf games to base jumping, flying, racing and hunting, the wealth of mini-activities is simply awesome. And of course, just exploring the enormous open world taking in the scenery (and maybe causing a little mayhem in the process) is fantastic fun too. The game plays extremely well too; the frame rate is high and consistent; the draw distance is remarkable and bugs are practically non-existent, a remarkable feat considering it's running on eight year old hardware.  And as ever it's backed up by a brilliant soundtrack that, for the first time, not only features hours of real music but also a dynamic score that plays when the character is not in a car. There's a great range of songs from artists as varied as Britney Spears and Black Flag, and while it's not quite as inspired in it's look at contemporary music as Vice City was to the eighties, it's still full of spine-tingling moments. The game is also drenched with biting satire in it's story and on the radio, parodying topics including America's love affair with firearms, the financial crisis and even modern video games.

We'd waited so long for GTA V that anything other than a near perfect game was going to be a disappointment, but fortunately for us the team from Rockstar North have truly delivered this time around. GTA V feels like a culmination of all Rockstar's previous work, and while a game like The Last of Us says more about humanity in a few minutes than this £175 million blockbuster manages in it's entire 70+ missions, there's no denying that GTA V is, quite simply, brilliant fun to play. And after all, that's what games are for in the first place. It's one of the greatest video games of all time.

10/10
Reviewed for Xbox 360

List time! The 10 greatest Grand Theft Auto characters.

Bloggers love lists. In fact, we all like a good list every one in a while (that or it's just me)! So with the GTA V hype barely unabated more than a week since the game's release and my review of the game landing very soon (tomorrow hopefully) I took the opportunity to list my ten favourite GTA characters of all time. As an affectionate of the classic PS2 era of GTA games there's plenty of characters from the classic trilogy, but I've included a few of my favourites from the time I've spent with Rockstar's latest instalment too.

Number 10: Maurice Chavez
Not a character in the conventional sense of the word, Maurice is the self-obsessed presented of political talk show Pressing Issues on Vice City Public Radio in GTA Vice City. Despite making no in-game appearance, Chavez makes the list for his frequently hilarious banter with goths, priests and politicians on what is surely the greatest talk station of any GTA game. In a single episode of Pressing Issues, he offends countless guests and listeners, violently grapples with a naturist and is held at gunpoint by an insane televangelist named Pastor Richards. Chavez embodies the stunning sense of humour with dominates modern GTA games, and I was glad to see him honoured in a GTA V Easter egg.


Number 9: Frank Tenpenny
GTA has seen many villains, some ridiculous, some hilarious and some downright terrifying. But the series has never created an antagonist quite as chilling as corrupt police officer Frank Tenpenny. As the main villain in GTA San Andreas, Tenpenny harbours a barely controlled hatred for the game's hero CJ, which comes to a dramatic climax during the game's final mission. Voiced by legendary actor Samuel L Jackson, Tenpenny's careful stalking makes him one of GTA's most memorable characters.

Number 8: Lance Vance
The two-faced Lance Vance first appears in GTA Vice City as a helpful yet troubled criminal eager to prove himself to the game's protagonist Tommy Vercetti. As the game progresses however the player witnesses a bizarre and gradual change in Lance's persona until he eventually comes to despise Vercetti and attempts to put him out of action for good. Lance was one of the first truly three-dimensional characters in video game history, the hatred that overcomes the goodness in his heart making him a brilliantly believable character.
























Number 7: Trevor Philips
Easily the most psychotic protagonist in GTA history, Trevor is the wild card of GTA V. The third playable character the player comes across, Trevor is a former bank robber who now spends his time cooking meth and battling with biker gang The Lost from his home in Blaine County. As we learn more about his dark, troubled character, we see past Trevor's manic levels of violence and he becomes a deeper, more interesting person. One of the true greats.


Number 6: Big Smoke
A member of the Grove Street Boys gang in GTA San Andreas, Big Smoke becomes the game's second major villain when he betrays CJ for his own gain. Full of fantastically written dialogue, Big Smoke is featured as major player in the game's early stages before becoming elusive for the middle segment and reappearing towards the game's climax. Despite this, Big Smoke is the character GTA San Andreas players remember, as much for his appearance as his humorous speeches.


Number 5. Maccer
As lead singer of the English band The Gurning Chimps, Maccer was perhaps San Andreas's most humorous character.  Voiced by Shaun Ryder of The Happy Mondays, Maccer provided a strange mixture of references to British music and bizarre, drug addled comments such as "Pabsy! I'm a Raspberry!" And Maccer was to The Gurning Chimps what Kurt Cobain was to Nirvana, with Kent Paul commenting "drummers and keyboardists are ten-a-penny anyway" when referring to the rest of the band.


Number 4: Ken Rosenberg
Drug addicted layer and champion of awful suits Ken Rosenberg made two appearances in GTA games, one in Vice City when he became Tommy Vercetti's right-hand man in his efforts to take over the town, and again in San Andreas as a washed out friend of Kent Paul and Maccer. Rosenberg's scheming nature and bizarre tendencies made him a cult favourite in Vice City, and fans were gratified for his return in CJ's story. Clearly based in both personality and appearance on David Kleinfeld's  character in Carlito's Way, Rosenberg remains a personal favourite.


Number 3: Michael De Santa
Possibly the most important of GTA V's three protagonists, Michael's story is the classic tale of the rich and retired band robber who returns to a life a crime. But what might have been a clichéd character takes on more depth as his history and relationships with his family and the other main characters are fully explored over the game's long campaign. While many players leaned towards Trevor, Michael was the character I truly connected with in GTA V. A brilliantly likeable protagonist.


Number 2: Tommy Vercetti
As the protagonist of GTA Vice City, Tommy was a convicted criminal sent to Vice City by his mafia bosses to complete a major drug deal. When the deal went wrong and Tommy lost the cash, he began an epic quest to regain the money and to take revenge on the boss who had set him his arrest ten years ago. Tommy was the first GTA protagonist who felt like a real person, rather than the unspeaking pawn you played as in GTA III this character had a personality; he was violent, cruel and frequently very funny. Tommy was a revolutionary milestone in GTA games, the man who laid the foundation for all the sarcastic,psychotic characters of the future games.


Number 1: Kent Paul
No, he's not a protagonist, or even a real main character. But for me, cockney band manage Kent Paul, who made appearances in Vice City and San Andreas, is the single most humorous, interesting and brilliant character the GTA universe has ever seen. Voiced by Danny Dyer, Kent managed legendary metal band Love Fist in Vice City and steered the Gurning Chimps through their disastrous American tour in San Andreas. With superb dialogue poking light fun at the British music scene and packed chock full of references to real bands, Kent Paul is one of my favourite characters across the whole of entertainment.



Disagree? Think I missed someone out? Feel free to leave a comment informing me of the error of my ways!

Grand Theft Auto Five: First Impressions

Just to make this clear straight away, this is NOT my review of GTA V, it's simply a few thoughts on my first impressions of the game. Expect an extended review later in the week! There are a few small spoilers in this article, please don't read on if this threatens you!

I'm plunged head first into a bank robbery in a secluded American town. Before I have a moment to readjust myself to this unexpected scene, a blast door explodes in a hail of shrapnel and fire. Customers shriek and run as myself and my three fellow thieves rush into the vault, quickly filling bags full of cash. Our pockets weighed down with the money, we charge outside and straight into the guns of a police convoy. Instantly weapons are revealed as we open fire on the amassed cops. I see one of our party fall out of the corner of my eye and quickly switch to a different robber, unloading a full magazine of bullets into a nearby car. It explodes, flames billowing up into the sky as police officers scatter and another car ignites. Then we're running, guns blazing as we sprint towards the safety of the getaway car. To our horror, the driver receives a bullet to the head and I take the wheel, steering the massive Land Rover into a nearby village before spectacularly crashing it into a snow drift, the windows imploding in a flash of deadly broken glass. Another of our party takes a bullet from a sniper as we exit the wrecked vehicle, leaving just two of us. It isn't long before the other is hit too, and, wounded, he urges me to escape. I attempt to protect him for as long as possible, my clearly psychotic character mixing spent bullets with violent expletives as he defends his friend. Eventually the police are too much for me however, and as I desperately lurch into a snowy field thick with fog, the camera pans up and the screen fades into darkness. This is Grand Theft Auto.

As the intro credits roll, I'm struck with just how much the opening scene felt like the beginning of a big budget action movie, and this theme continues as I'm introduced to a new character, young gang member Franklin, and his friend Lamar. Our first job is to take two flashy sports cars back to our dealer boss; I select a red model and we're soon on our way. As the automobiles screech onto the highway, it's clear just how much the driving mechanics have been improved since GTA IV. The cars have a certain weight about them, but they feel far more flexible and nimble than the ultra-realistic IV. More than the cars, the city around me just looks incredible. Los Santos is a huge, sprawling district, but the level of detail put into every street is simply stunning, with unique graffiti, adverts and buildings making every corner feel like a totally different place. I'd had my doubts on how well the game would run of 8 year old hardware, but I notice no texture problems or frame rate issues as I cruise through the city streets, and the visuals are just superb. Jamming my foot on the pedal, I shoot past skyscrapers and pedestrians, narrowly avoiding a surely lethal crash by using Franklin's ability to slow down time while driving. With the cars returned, it's time for a little exploration.

As I walk towards what the game has designated "my car", I let out a whoop of delight. It is a sports car of a deep purple hue, with the custom license plate "HIT-GIRL" reflecting my favourite character in, well, anything. It's a car I'd designed a few days earlier on Rockstar's own iFruit app, and while the app promised to allow me to drive the car in-game, I'm still amazed by this remarkable integration. Stepping out of the car, I'm once again shocked by the level of detail the game has to offer; I can get my hair cut; play tennis in a local court or check my bank balance in an ATM. Little touches, but they really help to dramatically improve the quality of the game. Remembering something I've wanted to do since I saw the first trailers for the game, I jack a car and drive for the nearest mountain, it's high enough, although nowhere near the size of Mount Chiliad. As I drive up the slope, deer scatter and hikers dive for cover, cursing. Again, details. Reaching the summit, I cast my eye over the whole of Los Santos, and it looks phenomenal. The draw distance is truly impressive, and I can see everything from crowded slums to skyscrapers penetrating the cloud line. Just phenomenal.

On first impressions, I'd say it has all the makings to be the best GTA game ever (even topping my personal favourite Vice City), and surely one of the greatest games of all time. Hats off to Rockstar North, this looks to be an incredible gaming achievement!

Grand Theft Auto San Andreas review: The most ambitious game of the era, but is it the best?

With Rockstar Games' sprawling entertainment monolith Grand Theft Auto V having just hit the shelves, what better time to revisit the company's seminal games trilogy Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City and San Andreas? With a new generation of consoles about to arrive, these modern classics may be showing their age, but little of the black humour, legendary style or downright ridiculousness has been lost with time.
GTA III created a formula and Vice City provided a sense of style, but it was San Andreas that changed everything, as the team from Rockstar North built one of the largest game worlds of all time in just two years. San Andreas is the GTA most gamers remember, and playing it today you can see why.

Set four years after the events of Vice City, GTA San Andreas puts you in the shoes of Carl "CJ" Johnson, one of the best characters in GTA history, an ex-gang member who returns to his home town of Los Santos after the death of his mother. He soon bumps into his old enemy, corrupt cop Officer Tenpenny, before falling back in with his old gang. It's a monolithic story, one of the longest in game history, and it's supported by plenty of bizarre side quests ranging from casino heists to steering a young rapper to stardom. As always there's a great group of characters here, with Grove Street gang members Big Smoke, Sweet and CJ himself proving particular fan favourites. There's also several cases of returning characters from previous instalments in the GTA franchise, including the brilliant Kent Paul and the unnamed protagonist from GTA III, psychotic girlfriend Catalina in tow.

San Andreas sticks to the formula created by GTA III in missions and gameplay, but adds many previously unseen features such as flying planes, burglaries and dating (the game was particularly controversial for a hidden sex mini-game discovered by a hacker)! The game also added loads of player freedom, allowing you to customise CJ's appearance and modify his vehicles. For the first time, San Andreas featured not one, not two but three huge cities, as well as huge expanses of countryside, rivers and mountains between them. Other than GTA V, it's the biggest game Rockstar have ever put their name to, and it's truly massive. However, it inevitably feels less densely packed with details and things to do than the previous games, although there's still plenty to occupy your time. Despite the countryside often being a little sparse, the cities once again feel like living, breathing worlds of their own, each having their own distinct atmosphere. It's thrillingly entertaining.

Where the game does fail is in creating an immersive setting. Because the game is set in the 1990's, it doesn't quite have the wealth of iconic music, clothing and vehicles that Vice City had to choose from, and the game ends up feeling a little generic, as though it might have been set in any time over the last fifty years. It doesn't have the meticulous detail that made Vice City feel so alive, and you get the feeling that Rockstar's team spent too much time maximising the world's size than giving it the style that oozed from Vice City. The soundtrack also falls a little short, with only the brilliant country station KRose reigniting the inspiration of Vice City's music. Understandably considering it ran on ancient hardware, the game also has the most technical issues of any GTA game to date with frequent frame rate problems, blurred textures and regular pop-ins.

San Andreas is the biggest of the 3D GTA series, and it's easily the most popular and famous. It's world is huge, it's story stellar and, once again, it's great fun to play. But it's not the best. For me that honour goes to Vice City, a game so committed to style and storytelling that it puts almost every game of the time, including San Andreas, to shame.

9/10

Grand Theft Auto Vice City: Is the forgotten GTA the most stylish game ever made?

With Rockstar Games' sprawling entertainment monolith Grand Theft Auto V having just hit the shelves, what better time to revisit the company's seminal games trilogy Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City and San Andreas? With a new generation of consoles about to arrive, these modern classics may be showing their age, but little of the black humour, legendary style or downright ridiculousness has been lost with time.

You're drugs operation has been busted, and you're driving into the sunset in the ice cream van you use as a front while two detectives who look like they've just stepped out of Miami Vice and a whole fleet of police cars pursue you down the highway and Quiet Riot's Come on Feel the Noise plays in the background. This is Vice City.

Released just one year after the runaway success of GTA III, you might have been excused for thinking that GTA Vice City would be a disappointingly rushed sequel. Certainly the map's a little smaller than the previous instalment, and the game mechanics barely changed, but Vice City doesn't feel like a rushed job. It feels brilliant.

You're Tommy Vercetti, a convicted killer whose sent to Vice City, Rockstar's distorted vision of Miami, by his Mafia bosses to complete a drugs deal. Of course the deal goes wrong and Tommy ends up loosing the money and being forced to complete a variety of criminal activities (the missions are more interesting and varied than those of GTA III, although they're still not brilliant) to make the cash back and set up his own business empire. Unlike the unnamed, unspeaking character in GTA III, Tommy is a brilliantly likeable character who, remarkably, feels like a real man with real feelings. He's supported by easily the best supporting cast of characters of any GTA game, notably the drug addled layer Ken Rosenberg, cockney band manager Kent Paul and the two faced (and brilliantly named) Lance Vance. These frequently hilarious people really add depth and feeling to the game's superb story.

While GTA III was set in the present day, Vice City takes place in the 1980's, and it truly knows it. More than any other GTA game, Vice City creates an atmosphere that truly reflects and compliments the game's setting. The cars; the colour; the horrendous suits; all of it built to feel like an 80's gangster movie, and it really, truly works. And that's not to mention the soundtrack, which is surly the greatest collection of music of any video game to date. While GTA III introduced radio stations and licensed music, Vice City really brought the idea to life with 10 stations bursting with over 100 classic songs of the time and hilarious satirical adverts. And when the game has tracks ranging from Iron Maiden to Kim Wylde you know it's going to be fantastic. And it is.

Vice City also added the sublime level of detail GTA games are famed for today, with a large collection of side quests, ranging from street races to planning a bank robbery. It's also full of references to films, Easter eggs and secrets.


So while gameplay didn't change much during the transition between GTA III and GTA Vice City, it was Vice City that created that sense of style through music, characters and a beautiful open city that GTA games are world renowned for today. And while I can see why Vice City, as the game between the revolutionary GTA III and the massive GTA San Andreas has been forgotten by many of today's gamers, it's still inexcusable. For me, GTA Vice City is the greatest GTA game to date (although I have not yet been able to lay my hands on GTA V), and one of the greatest video games of all time.

10/10

Grand Theft Auto III review: The most influential game of all time?

With Rockstar Games' sprawling entertainment monolith Grand Theft Auto V having just hit the shelves, what better time to revisit the company's seminal games trilogy Grand Theft Auto III, Vice City and San Andreas? With a new generation of consoles about to arrive, these modern classics may be showing their age, but little of the black humour, legendary style or downright ridiculousness has been lost with time.

It's 2001. Four years ago, a small games company called DMC Design created an obscure little video game called Grand Theft Auto, in which you played the role of a young criminal on the road to notoriety. While the technology was rudimentary and the style crude, the game fundamentally challenged the way video games were thought of at the time. You could explore a large open world, stealing cars, running people over and even killing police officers. Games weren't just for kids anymore. This was something else.

The game sold well enough to merit a sequel, but it wasn't until GTA III that things really changed. In 2001 DMC, now known as Rockstar North, reimagined GTA as something more than the 2D shooter they had released four years ago. Setting the game in modern Liberty City, a mock up of New York, the developers utilised the processing power of the PlayStation 2 to create a living, breathing 3D world full of violence, criminals and dark satire. Playing as an unnamed protagonist, players were tasked with moving up the criminal ladder by completing jobs for a variety of colourful characters, all the while following an ultimately overarching storyline to take revenge on his girlfriend, who had shot him and left him for dead.

It was easily the strongest and most stylish story of any GTA game at the time, and on its own it would have made a decent video game. But Rockstar wanted to give GTA III something few other developers had even considered possible: a fully open 3D world. Players could totally ignore the story and simply explore the vast City of Liberty, pausing as they wished to complete side quests, steal fast cars or open fire on a street of crowded civilians with one of thee variety of firearms the game provided.

This was something never done before, but endlessly emulated afterwards. Unsurprisingly, this freedom caused controversy; killing a cop or hiring a prostitute were not exactly common features of the video game landscape at the time. Even so, the game sold millions and, as the first ever open 3D world, was phenomenally influential. Without GTA III, there would be no Saint's Row, Assassin's Creed or Crackdown. More importantly, there would be no more GTA games.

But how does this fondly remembered classic stand up to today's games? Surprisingly well. While the graphics have been bettered hundreds of times over since the game's release and the driving and shooting mechanics now seems slow and clunky, the game is still brilliant fun to play and retains the comic touches given by it's fabulous cast of characters. Even so, every GTA game that came after has improved upon GTA III, and if you're new to the series you'd do better starting with GTA IV or the just released GTA V. But if you're a fan of the series and haven't yet played GTA III, what are you waiting for? A true classic.

8/10

Hotline Miami: a phenomenal new approach to gaming storytelling

The delightful thing about Hotline Miami is that it's totally unspecific. You play as an unnamed protagonist tasked with various tasks of ultra violence, but who that character is is up to you. Perhaps you're a professional assassin, charging premium prices for your macabre services. Maybe you're an innocent man, forced into murder against your will. Or you might be a drug addled psychopath, simply killing as you please. The choice is yours, because this wonderful guilty pleasure of a game never explains it.
 

Your mission in Hotline Miami is simple: each mission sees you receive an anonymous phone call informing you of your destination, before you travel to the location and kill everyone inside. Like your character, who the enemies actually are is never revealed, leaving it up to you to create your own story. Of course, it's more difficult than it sounds; your opponents and intelligent and well armed, meaning that you must make use of a variety of weapons, strategies and power-ups to destroy the opposition. In addition, one hit from any weapon will end your quest, but respawn is instantaneous, making for an incredibly fast paced experience.
 

This pacing fits perfectly into the game's 1980's setting, and is powered along by a truly stunning soundtrack. The top-down view and pixelated graphics only add to this nostalgic feeling. Of course, this superb sense of style would be nothing if the game wasn't fun to play, but it is. Brilliantly. There is huge freedom of choice in how you take out your enemies, you can go in all guns blazing, or attempt to silently eliminate the antagonists. Inevitably, you're going to die, a lot. But the game actively encourages this, and as you are immediately returned to the game once you are killed there is plenty of room for experimentation. This all leads to supremely addictive and incredibly enjoyable gameplay.
 

What we have with Hotline Miami is a game that provides both flawless gameplay and a great new take on gaming storytelling, giving the player the power to use their imagination to create their own story. This stunning innovation and fabulous stylishness makes giving Hotline Miami a perfect score an absolute no-brainer (no pun intended).
 

10/10
Reviewed for PC.