Set among the subversive, crime-ridden streets of Liberty City, Grand Theft Auto III put you into the role of a silent thug that used the city as his own playground of violence. It was a huge open-world experience, where the player was left to their own devices, free to cause as much mayhem and disaster as they desired. It had a central storyline, but that was only the beginning when players began to discover its treasure trove of secrets and hidden missions. Though GTA had been around since the release of the first game in 1997, it had never quite been the mainstream monster hit that it would become thanks to this particular game. Much like Super Mario 64 before it, GTA III took a game that had traditionally been in one perspective and turned that on its head. The top-down perspective was replaced with a gigantic 3D world which was yours to explore, and started the open-world revolution that was about to descend on gaming. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoQStKto_n4 Before GTA III, open-world games were hit or miss, with a few rare exceptions that made the genre worth checking out. Ironically, one of the best pre-GTA III 3D open world titles was Body Harvest, developed by Rockstar North, known as DMA Design at the time. But where Body Harvest may have been the opening act, GTA III was the main event. It spawned an endless line of imitators, all of them trying to capture their own glory. GTA III also made the anti-hero popular again, as the hero from GTA III was a rather dark character, something games have been employing a lot of lately.
