OXCGN’s GTA III 10 Year Anniversary Smartphone/Tablet Review

Another stroll through Liberty City

by : GrathiusXR

©2012 Arthur Kotsopoulos

Much like Hollywood and their need to remake every single ‘classic’ movie within the last two decades, the gaming industry follows a somewhat similar route by re-releasing titles that not only defined a genre but cemented itself as a classic in the gaming industry.

With Halo reaching the 10 year mark since being released, Microsoft/343 Studios has released Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Edition both in its classic Xbox graphical and revamped Halo Reach graphical glory, allowing gamers old and new to experience a console-defining shooter.

Rockstar however, instead of releasing a game that was already available across every platform, has decided to go the route of releasing GTAIII on mobile and tablets (Check out Rockstars official supported devices website to see if your device made the cut).

This allows an already amazing company to allow people who wouldn’t own a console to experience a game that has been a staple in the open sandbox genre.

But does it translate well enough to smartphones/tablets?

After downloading the initial app you are required to download another file which sits roughly at 500mb and after this you are able to experience Liberty City the way it used to be.

Almost instantaneously after starting a new game I received a flurry of memories that took me back to the days of the PS2 and playing GTAIII for the first time.

The freedom to do whatever I wanted in a city that had little to no consequences, the graphical powerhouse of such a large environment to run freely in, and the mature nature of the game which I had never seen before.

This was gaming at its finest and now I could relive it all over again in the palm of my hands.

From the graphics to audio quality nothing except for the controls have been touched and this is a good thing.

Double-crossed again!

The game starts off exactly as you remember it- you get double crossed after a robbery, shot then left for dead, caught by the police and then transferred to a prison, except on route to the prison another prisoner is broken out and this is your chance to escape.

All the characters you love are here, the missions as you remember them are present and the amazing radio stations that play your favourite tracks are once again accessible to you.

I suggest playing with some quality headphones to achieve the best possible audio as playing with the speakers won’t help you relive that nostalgia as easily.

Character movement and driving around Liberty City have been left untouched and this game performs extremely well on my Samsung 10.1V device- that is to say when it’s not raining or there aren’t a lot of massive explosions happening.

Whether it’s the hardware in my 10.1V or the game not being greatly optimised the game did slow down on many occasions especially when it started to rain heavily, and this began to detract from my overall game enjoyment as I delved deeper into the game missions arc and storyline.

It’s near impossible to control any of the cars in game when it’s raining and you’re being chased by cops because the game delves deep into a state of slow motion that whether you turn left or right it will almost always have a negative outcome.

Controls generally are great, however when it comes to gun fights don’t expect them to work wonders. The camera gets extremely frustrating when shooting and whilst the game does feature an auto-aim to make things easier you’ll still find yourself dying a lot.

For a game which relies heavily on the use of weapons this game won’t be a walk in the park; couple this with the in-game camera as well and I can assure you rage quitting this game will be standard.

Mobile controls…not the best

Playing on a mobile phone with these controls can get annoying because of the small screen to look at and the tiny on screen buttons to press so you’ll definitely benefit by playing the game on a tablet rather than mobile due to the larger screen.

With the ability to manipulate the controls and put them where you want to it makes things a bit better for those with smaller or larger fingers.

Manipulating the controls to have a larger canvas to press doesn’t exactly benefit the gameplay in any other way.

I appreciate Rockstar and War Drum Studios for bringing a game like this to mobile devices for us to experience, I really do; however, when you have a complex 3D environment such as Liberty City that you need to traverse for the better of 15-20 hours these controls just don’t cut it.

It’s an amazing pleasure to be able to say ” I have GTAIII on my mobile phone ” yet it’s another thing entirely to be able to sit down and play this game and really enjoy it.

If you’re looking for a game to show case your new iPhone 4S, Galaxy Nexus or 10.1/8.9 tablet, GTAIII will have you covered but the longer you play, the harder it can become to stay.

“7/10

©2012 Arthur Kotsopoulos

xxxxxx

Filed under: Handhelds, Mobile Gaming Tagged: | Android, Anniversary, Apple, apple iphone, Galaxy, Galaxy Tab 10.1V, Grand Theft Auto III, GTA, GTA 3, GTAIII, halo anniversary, iPhone 4, Liberty City, rockstar, Samsung, Tab, Tablet