Grand Theft Auto III is an incredible leap that I admire slightly more than I love playing today. Moving the series into a fully realised 3D city changes everything: how streets are understood, how danger arrives and how a stolen car becomes a way of discovering a place. Liberty City feels like a turning point. My 6/10 is about the experience of returning to it, not a dismissal of what that turning point achieved.
The city becomes the attraction
There is enormous pleasure in the basic act of moving through this world. The streets have depth, the skyline provides direction and familiar routes become part of your understanding of the city. GTA's freedom suddenly has a physical presence that the overhead games could only suggest differently. A corner is now something you approach from within the traffic rather than observe from above.
Claude's silence also leaves room for the city and its criminals to dominate the atmosphere. The story provides reasons to keep moving, but the strongest memories can just as easily come from an improvised escape. That balance between authored missions and unscripted disruption remains one of the game's great achievements.
Action with an awkward grip
The fun is real. GTA III can deliver a wonderfully direct burst of action, then let a careless decision turn it into something messier. Vehicles, police and mission objectives keep pushing against one another. Even a straightforward task can become a small disaster, which is often where the entertainment lives.
The controls are the biggest obstacle for me. Movement and combat carry a stiffness that demands patience, particularly when the action becomes crowded. There are moments when knowing what I want to do and getting Claude to do it feel too far apart. Historical context explains that friction; it does not make it disappear from my hands.
That distinction matters. I can recognise a remarkable design leap while also finding the older handling tiring. Returning to a classic should not require treating every inconvenience as sacred. GTA III earns admiration through its city and its freedom, but those strengths have to coexist with the work involved in enjoying them.
Verdict
A hugely important reinvention, full of action and still capable of being enormously entertaining. Liberty City makes the upgrade from the earlier games feel spectacular. The harder edges of its gameplay reduce my enthusiasm on a modern return, leaving me at 6/10. A landmark can remain a landmark without becoming my easiest recommendation to play today.
Score: 6/10
Review written and game played by Andrew Louis.
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