Grand Theft Auto, or GTA, is a long-running series of videogames, published by Rockstar Games and developed by subsidiary companies. The game was originally developed and published by Rockstar North (formerly DMA Design) and BMG Interactive (a subsidiary of BMG Records).
There are currently ten games in the series, with a further two expansion packs for the original, and downloadable content for Grand Theft Auto IV. The games have been released for various platforms, including the PC, PS2, Xbox, PS3, Xbox 360, PSP, DS and the GBA with most of the games released on multiple platforms.
There has been a massive amount of controversy over this series, which peaked with the discovery of some sex scenes in GTA San Andreas that were disabled (but not removed) before the game was published. The unofficial Hot Coffee mod and subsequent uproar gave Rockstar Games a huge amount of press attention.
Grand Theft Auto holds 10 world gaming records including the Most Guest Stars in a Video Game Series, Largest Voice Cast in a Video Game (GTA: San Andreas), Largest In-Game Soundtrack (GTA: San Andreas), and Most Successful Entertainment Launch Of All Time (GTA V).
Overview[]
The games allow people to take on the role of a criminal in a big city, typically an individual who rises through the ranks of organised crime through the course of the game. Various missions are set for completion by the figureheads of the city underworld, generally criminal, which must be completed to progress through the storyline. Assassinations, and other crimes feature regularly, but occasionally taxi driving, firefighting, pimping, street racing, or learning to fly fixed-wing aircraft are also involved as alternate adventures, which can be done at any time during the game, with the exception of the periods performing main missions.
The Grand Theft Auto series, belonging to a genre of free-roaming video games called "sandbox games," grants a large amount of freedom to the player in deciding what to do and how to do it through multiple methods of transport and weapons. Unlike most traditional action games, which are structured as a single track series of levels with linear gameplay, in GTA the player can determine the missions they want to undertake, and their relationships with various characters are changed based on these choices. The cities of the games can also be roamed freely at any point in the game, offering many accessible buildings and minor missions. There are exceptions: missions follow a linear, overarching plot, and some city areas must be unlocked over the course of the game. Although you can explore the entire city or state even it is locked (but there are limited time to explore some city because some may trigger a 4-wanted level) and ignore the missions.
The Games[]
Individual games in the series can be categorized into different 'eras', mostly dependant on the storyline and graphics engine used. The start of a new era is indicated by a new number after Grand Theft Auto, e.g. "GTA III".
GTA 1 Era[]
In the GTA 1 Era there is original game, and the subsequent two expansion packs featuring missions in 1960's London. Whilst originally just called '"Grand Theft Auto", the first game and era have become known as "GTA 1" for clarity.
Grand Theft Auto (1997), available for the PlayStation, PC and Game Boy Color. Features the cities of Liberty City, San Andreas and Vice City. Grand Theft Auto (Mission Pack #1): London 1969 (1999), an expansion pack, available for the PlayStation and PC, set in London. London is the only playable city in the series with a real name. Grand Theft Auto (Mission Pack #2): London 1961 (1999), a further expansion to London 1969, available only as a free download for the PC.
GTA 2 Era[]
The GTA 2 Era contains just GTA 2, which featured an improved graphics engine and a different style of gameplay.
Grand Theft Auto 2 (1999), available for the PlayStation, PC, Dreamcast, and Game Boy Color. The game is set in completely fictional Anywhere City in the near future around the year 2013. GTA 2 is the only GTA game to have a digit in the title instead of a Roman Numeral. It is the only game in its era and to have a T rating.
GTA III Era[]
The GTA III Era featured the first blockbuster GTA title, Grand Theft Auto III, and introduced a 3D game world and a third person perspective. The entire era contains interlocking storylines, and many characters appear across multiple games. Notably, games in this era were not released in chronological order.
Grand Theft Auto III (2001), set in a fictional Liberty City, based upon the real life New York City. Multiplayer game mode was lost, but other areas were much improved, namely the graphics, voice acting, storyline with non-linear gameplay. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002), set in Vice City, a city based on real life Miami. This sequel to GTA III is technically a prequel (set in 1986) to the game, and to GTA San Andreas, which was released after GTA Vice City. Grand Theft Auto Advance (2004), what was originally supposed to be a cut-down port of GTA III for the Game Boy Advance, turned out to be a completely original game, set a year before GTA III, in a slightly changed Liberty City. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004), set in the state of San Andreas, featured three cities, Los Santos, San Fierro and Las Venturas, based on Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas respectively. The game is set in 1992, making it a sequel to GTA Vice City, and prequel to GTA III. The game featured a lot more customization options, for both player and vehicles, and caused controversy when sex games were revealed in the games code on both the console and PC versions. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (2005), a prequel set in Liberty City, 1998. Originally for the PlayStation Portable, a PS2 port was released in June 2006. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (2006), announced on May 10th during E3, is based in Vice City, 1984, two years before the original GTA Vice City, featuring Lance Vance's brother Vic Vance as the protagonist. It was released in October 2006 for the PSP. Manhunt, Manhunt 2 and Bully are also set in the GTA III era.
GTA IV Era[]
The GTA IV Era features Rockstar's new RAGE engine, also used in Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis. This era features
Grand Theft Auto IV (2008) - Set in 2008 in a redesigned Liberty City, with new game mechanics, a multiplayer mode, and with protagonist Niko Bellic trying to start a new life. GTA IV has been released for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.
Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned (2009) - a downloadable episode released in February 2009 for the Xbox 360 only. TLAD is set in the same Liberty City as GTA IV, with events and characters overlapping with GTA IV. The protagonist is a biker, Johnny Klebitz, of The Lost Brotherhood biker gang. There are no known plans to port these episodes to other platforms.
Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony - A second episode for GTA IV , also for Xbox 360, with release in the second half of 2009. The protagonist is Luis Lopez, a part-time hoodlum and full-time assistant to legendary nightclub impresario Gay Tony.
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars (2009), set in 2009 and focusing on the Liberty City triads. The protagonist, Huang Lee is the son of a murdered Triad boss who comes to Liberty City. It is set in the same Liberty City as GTA IV, but scaled down for the Nintendo DS.
It is suggested that Manhunt 2 and Bully may also take place in the GTA IV Era, due to various references (TTV-MK, Shaniquwa, and Man Zone and the setting on the GTA IV TV channel CNT are seen advertised in Star Junction, and some medications made by The Project (Hingmyralgan and H4PP1) can be seen on sale in the in-game internet.