THE HUB

OMG!!!

FEATURED GAME

FEATURED MEMBER

elementxstyle

elementxstyle

GP Design shop.

QUICK POLL

What's the next big game coming this year?

ASK THE PROS

THE GAMEPROS

FREE NEWSLETTERS

Sign up now to receive weekly or daily updates on your favorite games, stories, and more!



Xbox | Action | Grand Theft Auto Double Pack

Boxart for Grand Theft Auto Double Pack
Grand Theft Auto Double Pack 30 screen shots
  • GRAPHICS: 4.5
  • SOUND: 5.0
  • CONTROL: 4.5
  • FUN FACTOR 5.0
  • AVG USER SCORE 4.7
  • AVG CRITIC SCORE 4.9
Winner of the GamePro Editor's Choice Award

Review: Grand Theft Auto Double Pack

Review by DANELEKTRO | 12/05/2003 | 12:17:13 PM PST

After a long wait, Rockstar finally hits Xbox fans with both barrels.

This review is not only late, but it?s also pointless?and both for the same reason. Rockstar did not submit advance copies of the Grand Theft Auto Double Pack so that a review could come out at the same time as the game. The company knows, as gamers do, that if you?ve been waiting for GTA III and GTA: Vice City to come out for the Xbox?especially after months of rumor-mongering and poorly kept secrets?you?re gonna buy them regardless of what anybody else says. You want them, and Rockstar wants you to want them. So maybe the GTA Double Pack wasn?t worth the fuss, but for Xbox owners, it?s certainly worth the money.

Mob Hits
Grand Theft Auto III gave Rockstar?s franchise new life with a seedy 3D celebration of New Yo?um, Liberty City?s crime underworld; its follow-up, Vice City, threw in motorcycles, a chainsaw, and a 1980s nostalgia trip, complete with pastel suits and Florida drug lords, but plays more or less like an expansion pack. Both games offer mission-based scenarios within an autonomous, ?living? environment, where pedestrians fight back, police try to run you off the road, and numerous hidden challenges and surprises await any explorer curious enough to seek them out. More than the violent content (yes, you can light cops on fire and hit prostitutes with baseball bats), those free-roaming elements are what make both GTA games such addictive (and historically important) games.

Besides the two-for-one price, what do Xbox owners get for waiting? Shinier cars. The games also support hi-res 480p displays and custom soundtracks (almost a shame as the radio stations are a large part of the games? personality and atmosphere?for the true experience, stick with the original soundtracks), but the rest is more or less unchanged. Actors like Joe Pantoliano and Ray Liotta lend their voices, and sharp controls are nearly identical to those in the PS2 edition (triggers are used for gas and brake). The original gameplay has been preserved, but you?d think Rockstar would have enhanced the games further?or at least fixed the infamous pop-up, which still plagues every high-speed cruise through the city. There?s also some choppy animation at times, such as on Vice City?s RC beach track.

Two to the Head, Clean
In other words, aside from visual upgrades, it?s the same great gameplay that PS2 and PC owners have already enjoyed?and it?s still must-own material. If you?re an Xbox owner who waited, here?s the reward for your patience. But you probably already bought it, so?


Related Articles