Customer Reviews

Grand Theft Auto(TM) Double Pack Official Strategy Guide (Brady Games)

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This review applies only to the GTAIII section of the guide, as I have not yet had chance to use the Vice City half.

This guide is very useful in navigating your way through the main story missions, but if you're looking for 100%, it falls short. We'll start with what it does right. Story missions are organized into the three islands of the game and the person who gives them. Several of these contain "advanced strategies" that usually make that particular mission a cakewalk. The more basic strategies walk you through every step of the way and are helpful enough to ensure you complete the majority of the game.

But this is GTA, and as you may know, there's alot more to it. Tons of side missions are required to obtain that coveted 100% statistic, and in this category the guide is a huge let down. Hidden packages are done well, with maps and brief descriptions of the location of each one. Rampages and unique jumps, on the other hand, are handled only by maps. With the latter, you can arrive at the specified spot and not know what to use as a ramp (it's not always obvious), how far you have to fly to get the jump to register, and so on. Rampages are even worse. If you fail them at one location, the icon initiating it moves to a different spot. The maps in here only mark ALL the first locations and ALL the second locations of the rampages with the same two icons (which are also hard to see on these tiny maps) with no indication of which ones match up with which. Some of the hardest tasks in the game are four different offroad mission throughout. Only the basic rules are outlined, with no explanation of how exactly to complete them, something you'll desperately need. The entire guide is set up this way, and supplementary printoffs from the internet WILL be required if you wish to do everything. From what I've seen and heard, the Vice City guide is much better off. Either way, for the price, it's worth getting for what it does do correctly.

This Strategy Guide lays a basic foundation for a richer gaming experience with GTA III and Vice City.

You get a bunch of little sectional views from different areas of, for example, Vice City (Ocean Beach, Starfish Island, Downtown, etc.), but these make navigating throughout these games anything but smooth. You won't find a single, comprehensive map detailing all of the packages, weapons, mission locations, sub-missions, etc. in here. I had to keep flipping back and forth to compile the info I wanted.

Another thing is that this guide has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in the way of cheats -- button combinations which, when executed in the proper sequence, restore your health, give you armor, different arrays of weaponry like a Rocket Propelled Grenade launcher, flame thrower, mini-gun, MP5, PSG-1 S/A sniper rifle, etc. Or make a Rhino (Tank) plop in front of you on a street letting you take a drive (roll?) over to the local Police station to deliver your own high explosive brand of support. I didn't even know Cheats were available for the Xbox version of GTA III/Vice City until I found out about them while reading a gaming mag while in line at the supermarket! Had I read only this "complete walkthrough" guide, I never would've found out!

Do an online search for Vice City Xbox (or PS2, etc) Cheats and you'll get higher grade intel than anyhing you might find in this guide.

On a positive note, this guide IS a very good source of general reference material, providing a full write up on all weapons, cars, basic Crayola-grade maps, nicely arranged mission descriptions, and info on the different, colorful personalities found in these two RockStar Games.

I'm not a professional gamer, just an average American consumer with an Xbox at home, so take my review with a grain of salt. Then again, it seems to me that professional gamers might not really need this book in any case. Do you need this book?

It is a tough, challenging and very amusing video game experience! Plus it looks fantastic on the XBOX!! By all means buy the strategy guide !!! It has everything you'll ever want to know about the exhaustive world of GTA 3 & Vice City!

This Strategy Guide lays a basic foundation for a richer gaming experience with GTA III and Vice City.

You get a bunch of little sectional views from different areas of, for example, Vice City (Ocean Beach, Starfish Island, Downtown, etc.), but these make navigating throughout these games anything but smooth. You won't find a single, comprehensive map detailing all of the packages, weapons, mission locations, sub-missions, etc. in here. I had to keep flipping back and forth to compile the info I wanted.

Another thing is that this guide has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING in the way of cheats -- button combinations which, when executed in the proper sequence, restore your health, give you armor, different arrays of weaponry like a Rocket Propelled Grenade launcher, flame thrower, mini-gun, MP5, PSG-1 S/A sniper rifle, etc. Or make a Rhino (Tank) plop in front of you on a street letting you take a drive (roll?) over to the local Police station to deliver your own high explosive brand of support. I didn't even know Cheats were available for the Xbox version of GTA III/Vice City until I found out about them while reading a gaming mag while in line at the supermarket! Had I read only this "complete walkthrough" guide, I never would've found out!

Do an online search for Vice City Xbox (or PS2, etc) Cheats and you'll get higher grade intel than anyhing you might find in this guide.

On a positive note, this guide IS a very good source of general reference material, providing a full write up on all weapons, cars, basic Crayola-grade maps, nicely arranged mission descriptions, and info on the different, colorful personalities found in these two RockStar Games.

I'm not a professional gamer, just an average American consumer with an Xbox at home, so take my review with a grain of salt. Then again, it seems to me that professional gamers might not really need this book in any case. Do you need this book?