Grand Theft Auto was born in 1997, when three young programmers, David Jones and the Houser brothers came together to create a game that combined action, driving, violence and some role-playing. Since then, GTA has not stopped evolving, also becoming a synonym for controversy. Today we will tell you a little about each GTA title, as well as the evolution who have followed these video games throughout their almost 25 years of history.
Main Series
Grand Theft Auto – (1997)
The first GTA of all was a video game quite different from what has come to our days, but it already had well defined the foundations of what would end up being a great saga.
The base component of Grand Theft Auto was the free will. The player could do whatever he wanted to earn points. Most of the missions were ordered through the phone booths. Others were activated when entering a specific area or in a car. Many of these missions consisted of stealing and delivering cars around the three cities on the map: Liberty City, Vice City, and San Andreas. Hence the title of the video game.
Grand Theft Auto 2 – (1999)
The mechanics of GTA 2 remained practically intact compared to the first installment. The city would change and the plot would take place in “Anywhere City”, a retrofuturist city in 2013.
The missions got more complex in this new installment. Criminal syndicates were introduced. Our mission would be to assert ourselves in the city to gain respect and be able to access more complex and professional jobs. Violence also increased in this game, not exempt from that controversial title.
Grand Theft Auto III – (2001)
In 2001 the world came for the first time three-dimensional to GTA. Now we were driving Claude in the third person, a thief who is betrayed by his girlfriend Catalina during a robbery at Liberty City Bank. During the escape, she shoots him and leaves him for dead. Claude would then be caught and sentenced to prison.
During his transfer to the prison, the police van would be ambushed by the Colombian cartel to free another of the prisoners, allowing him to escape his sentence. From there, he would have to accept commissions from different mafias to survive in liberty city.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City – (2002)
Following the same concept of open world with free will, GTA Vice City would arrive in 2002. The game was based on the Miami of the eighties, with all its stories related to drug trafficking and the confrontation of different mafias.
In the game we would have to control Tommy vercetti, a former thug who had just been released from prison after a 15-year sentence. Once free, our protagonist would be involved in a sabotage during a drug trade in which he would lose both the merchandise and the $ 2 million deal. That’s where the adventures of Tommy and Ken begin, who team up to discover those responsible for the attack. For this they will have to make a multitude of contacts and get into all kinds of criminal businesses.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas – (2004)
It is set in the early 90’s. The game is about the story of Carl Johnson, who returns to the city on the occasion of the death of his mother, who had been murdered. After setting foot outside the airport, CJ is caught by corrupt police officers who threaten to frame him for the murder of an officer. The deal not to do is to help them in their illegal schemes. Soon, the protagonist will discover that all the band system that I knew has changed.
San Andreas, along with Vice City, were harshly criticized and controversial, especially for the violence and sexual content of the video game. Parts of the accusations came from parent-teacher associations, despite being a video game that was clearly intended for adults.
Grand Theft Auto IV – (2008)
For the most purists, GTA IV is the roundest GTA of all. And it is probably the game that is most out of tune in the entire saga, at the same time that we face the GTA most mature of all. In it we drive Niko bellic, a Slav who is really upset after having fought in the Bosnian war. Encouraged by the letters his cousin Roman sends him from Liberty City, where he appears to live luxuriously, Bellic decide go on a journey with the intention of Starting over. Bellic wants to leave both the war and his subsequent criminal life in his country.
Unfortunately for Niko, upon reaching his new home, he discovers that all the letters he had received were a lie. He then faces the reality of being an immigrant with a dark past in a country that he does not know at all.
Grand Theft Auto V – (2013)
It is the first GTA controlled from 3 protagonists: Michael, Trevor and Franklin. The first two have a common criminal past, while Franklin ends up in the “gang” after trying to steal a car from Michael’s son and failing in the attempt. While in the previous installment the story was prioritized, in GTA V the playability.
This fifth installment was a whole franchise revolution. The story took second place thanks to the immense map, the impressive catalog of vehicles and the amount of content that was gradually introduced in GTA V Online.
GTA Main Series DLCs
- Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 – (1999)
- Grand Theft Auto: London 1961 – (1999)
- Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned – (2009)
- Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony – (2009)
Notebook Series
Grand Theft Auto Advance – (2004)
It was released for the Game Boy Advance. It is a GTA III prequel with the same style as GTA II. The video game begins with the story of Mike and vinnie, two colleagues who want to flee Liberty City to start a life in a quieter place. Before leaving, Vinnie wants to close some business with the mob, but on his last mission, his car blows up and he dies. That’s when Mike decides to stay in Liberty City to find his friend’s killers. To do this, he asks for help from 8-Ball, a character who will later be key in the plot of GTA III.
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories – (2005)
It was the first GTA game in 3D for handheld consoles, and in its beginnings it was exclusive to PSP (later it would also end up being ported to PlayStation 2 and recently reached mobile devices).
Tells the story of Toni Cipriani, a character that already appeared in GTA III. The title shows how Toni tries to rise within the Leone family, showing the other side of the plot of the 2001 video game.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories – (2006)
Vice City Stories is a Vice City prequel. In it we drive Victor vance, a Dominican man who ends up in the United States Army to pay for the treatment of his sick brother.
Vic ends up doing all kinds of illegal jobs for Sergeant Jerry Martinez. Once discovered, Martínez accuses Vance of being responsible for everything and wipes his hands. Our protagonist ends up being expelled from the army, being totally helpless. It is then that without eating or drinking it, he ends up inside a criminal organization.
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars – (2009)
Chinatown wars went back to the origins of GTA offering a 2D game with aerial perspective. It was released for the PSP and Nintendo DS, although it also debuted a few years later on the iPhone and finally Android.
It is a quite different GTA, where we will be fully involved in the triads, that is, in the Chinese mafia. We will control Huang, a 25-year-old young man who leaves Hong Kong and arrives in Liberty City for the first time on the occasion of the death of his father, the leader of a triad.
The title combines a very interesting story with a really huge and fun map. It has a multitude of really funny secondary missions full of even black humor that will make you smile.
The entry These are all the Grand Theft Auto that have been released so far was first published in The Output.
