Grand Theft Auto Double Pack: Grand Theft Auto III / Grand Theft Auto Vice City

by Rockstar Games

Product Details

• ASIN: B0000DJX7I
• Item Weight: 5 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (161 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,754 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Praised for brilliant scripts and open-ended gameplay, vilified for unapologetic violence and mature themes, Grand Theft Auto has deservedly become one of the most popular game franchises in history. This double pack contains the full versions of both Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto III: Vice City, enhanced for Xbox. Xbox gamers can rejoice that the grand king of video games--The Sopranos with a gamepad--is finally available on the big black box.

Grand Theft Auto
With Grand Theft Auto III Rockstar proves that not all developers are concerned with toning down the violence in their games. This sequel is even more bloody, violent, and sadistic than its popular predecessors, offering up an enormous 3-D city in which nearly any criminal act is possible. Players are free to steal cars, beat up the local population for their money (or weapons), make time with prostitutes, or simply roam to their heart's content. Those seeking more structure can embark on dozens of missions driven by a genuinely interesting crime-story plot or steal cars that let them play minigames. Nab a cop car and you can go on vigilante missions. Grab a cab and you can play a deadly version of Crazy Taxi. Take a fire truck and you can earn money putting out fires. The minigames are a good way to unwind after a particularly difficult mission. With so much to do, the game just never gets boring.

As you'd expect, there are consequences for criminality. As your random acts of mayhem mount up the police start hounding you, eventually calling in SWAT trucks, the FBI, and even the army if you continue down the path of destruction. Shaking these pursuers is easily the most fun part of the game, especially when a bunch of friends are packed in the room to witness your narrow escapes.

Grand Theft Auto III is fine-tuned to near perfection in every category. All the vehicles, from slick sports cars to lumbering dump trucks, handle exactly as you'd expect and smash apart realistically when abused. The three islands in the game are rendered in terrific detail considering their size, and are packed with traffic, pedestrians, and hidden jumps. The audio is equally amazing. Pedestrians talk, cops scream at you, and you can tune in nine different radio stations whenever you are in a car. It all adds up to a monumental achievement: the rare console game for adults that manages to get everything right.--T. Byrl Baker

Grand Theft Auto III: Vice City
How big is this game? Even publicists for other games end up talking about Vice City when they call our office, babbling in the same helplessly intoxicated way that afflicts everyone who plays it. The achievement of Vice City (which, as everyone knows by now, is set in the 1980s and offers an all-new, Miami Vice-inspired story) is not only that it manages to live up to an absurd level of expectation, but that it takes the game places that fans of its predecessor Grand Theft Auto III never dreamed of, and that it achieves this astonishing level of innovation without losing anything that made GTA3 the bestselling PS2 game of all time.

After a brilliant homage to the era of the Commodore 64 in the opening credits, the first thing you'll notice is the improved graphics, which are smoother and more detailed, and--with effects like neon lights reflected on rain-slick streets, and intense Florida sunlight--have a lush, tropical look that immediately gives you a strong sense of place. The architecture is more fabulous by tenfold, with art deco buildings, high-rise hotels, and believably seedy back alleys. The control scheme is essentially the same as in GTA3, but the cars handle much better, and in pedestrian mode there is a new crouch move. You will have access to fast, great-handling cars right away, as opposed to GTA3 which made you unlock the second island before you could get your hands on any respectable wheels. This game has such riches to offer that there is no need to be chintzy with the vehicles.

Cops are more vigilant this time--minor offenses like whacking innocent bystanders will more often than not get you a two-star wanted level--and are harder to elude (though they still can't seem to climb stairs or negotiate sharp turns). So while free-roaming exploration is as fun as ever, there is more incentive to perform the missions instead of randomly raising hell. Not that that's a bad thing: even lazy criminals like myself (in GTA3, I would rather toss hand grenades into traffic than follow orders from some rude Mafia boss) will be quickly caught up in the vivid characters and hilarious, fascinating story, in which you play an acid-washed-jeans-wearing thug named Tommy Vercetti. Where in GTA3 missions were blocky, schematic affairs only nominally connected to the story, this time tasks move the story briskly along and deftly blend cinematics and game action. For example, there is a scene of a character throwing Tommy a gun, at which point you are suddenly thrown back into the action and must make an instant decision about whom to trust and what to do.

There are more, and more detailed, indoor environments, including a hotel, police station, and mall (a slight downside to this is that some of the more elaborate indoor environments require load times). The layout of the city, with tons of backyards, narrow alleys, and fire escapes, encourages creativity when eluding pursuit, as does greater access to rooftops. Get your motorcycle up the fire escape and a whole new world of action is possible, including... well, use your imagination.

This overview barely scratches the surface of the Vice City experience, its colorful explosion of music, clothes, combat, and brilliant voice acting, not to mention the plot twist midway through the game that changes the very nature of the game itself. Though it was the outrageous, amoral violence that got all the press, the essential genius of GTA3 was its intoxicating blend of script and open-ended action. In Vice City this is--to use a cliché that is for once apropos--taken to a whole new level.--David Stoesz

Pros:

• Open-ended gameplay; player can chose to be relatively law-abiding or engage in wanton virtual destruction
• Varied missions
• Brilliant scripts with Hollywood voice acting
• Rocking sound track (also available in our Music store)
• Xbox-enhanced graphics

Cons:

• As the The Sopranos of games, GTA 3 draws unwanted attention from overzealous legislators
• No multiplayer

Product Description

The infamous GTA series doubles up and delivers twice the car-stealing, hood-capping, trash-talking larcenous adventures. Includes Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My UN-Biased Opinion, November 9, 2003

By 

Chris Chambers (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grand Theft Auto Double Pack: Grand Theft Auto III / Grand Theft Auto Vice City (Video Game)

Ok first off, for those who don't know, this is a double pack. It contains two games, Grand Theft Auto 3 and Grand Theft Auto : Vice City. Secondly, they are absolute classics. They have changed the face of gaming and have cause enough controversy to put Eminem to shame, although half of the controversy is blown up by ignorant people who have never played the game. Now the reason I have an un-biased opinion is because I own both, a PS2, and an XBOX. I also had both of these games. The other day though, I traded both of them to a friend because I was so impressed with this version of the game I had to buy it. I thought the XBOX version was going to be exactly the same. Little did I know, it is not. There is a HUGE difference in the graphics. I didn't think I would care, but it really just brings the experience to a whole other level. The characters are just SO much detailed. The graphics on the buildings look alot more realistic and the cars actualy shine. One big complain people had with the PS2 version was that when you were driving down the road, cars would suddenly appear out of nowhere and you would crash. This has definetly been fixed for the XBOX. You can see way down the road, with no problems. The graphical differences are amazing. Another exclusive feature is the custom soundtrack. You can burn your CD's to the XBOX harddrive and play them on the radio in the cars. Just imagine cruising down the streets of Liberty City (aKa NYC), blazing Dr. Dre's "Still DRE". Or speeding down Vice City's (aKa Miami) beaches, blaring Rage Against The Machine's "Calm Like A Bomb". This also makes it a completely different, and better, experience. There are no other extra features besides these, no extra missions,levels,cars,weapons... but there shouldn't be. These are amazing, classic games that every gamer should own. But if you have the choice, buy this version. The improvements really make the difference. As Time magazine says, "Grand Theft Auto 3 is a national obsession, its sequel borders on something more...art."

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is truly a great game, November 16, 2003

By 

"darkshadow128" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grand Theft Auto Double Pack: Grand Theft Auto III / Grand Theft Auto Vice City (Video Game)

Two of the best games ever on ps2 have finally come to the xbox. For those of you who have never played either of these games (shame on you) here's the lowdown. Both games are basically about a person rising through the ranks of the local crime organizations. in GTA 3, you fight your way to the top of NY city lookalike, by taking cars and occasionally shooting fools. in Vice City, its basically the samething, but with a fresh 80's coat of paint. you set up a huge crime organization in a fake Miami, much like in Scarface. Both games have there violent moments, but the controversey is blown way out of proportion. The XBOX version is a million times prettier than the ps2 version, with sharper graphics, shiny cars, and the ability to customize your own sound tracks, awsome. It may not be for everyone, but i recomend it to anyone who can get there hands on it.

43 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the wait, November 7, 2003

By 

"walkingd" (Walnut Creek, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grand Theft Auto Double Pack: Grand Theft Auto III / Grand Theft Auto Vice City (Video Game)

I've played GTAIII on the PS2, the PC, and now on the XBOX, and the XBOX has much better graphics than even my PC version. It's like they've added a layer of texture. Sports cars shimmer, and the old Jalopy's in Vice City have a flat, weathered look. When it rains, the drops run down the "lens" of the camera that follows you. I haven't fully acclimated to the games yet; I still miss my mouse, but the control interface is one of the best I've seen on a consol system. Rockstar Games not only ported GTAIII and Vice City over to the XBOX, they have significantly improved what were already incredible titles. The fact that you can now buy two full games for the price of one is just icing on the cake. Remember this time people, for we may not see another release like this for a very, very long time.