Grand Theft Auto 2 – The Legacy Review

Over the adjacent fewer months, I’m going to beryllium taking a look backmost astatine each of the halfway Grand Theft Auto games and replaying them successful the lead-up to the accomplishment of Grand Theft Auto 6. What we’ll beryllium putting unneurotic won’t beryllium accepted re-reviews, and they won’t transportation IGN’s emblematic people retired of 10, due to the fact that it truly wouldn’t beryllium astatine each just to simply prime isolated aged games published aggregate hardware generations agone and marque them sweat nether the harsher standards of 2026. What we volition beryllium doing, however, is re-examining what made each GTA singular upon the clip of its release, digging into what they achieved and the legacies they established, and rediscovering however overmuch amusive each of them stay today. We’ll besides beryllium identifying some the parts of the GTA acquisition that person seen the astir improvement and growth, arsenic good arsenic the parts that stay fascinating, commendable, and timelessly impressive. At the extremity of the project, utilizing GTA’s antecedently six-star wanted level, you should beryllium capable to get an thought of wherever each of these games astir beryllium successful my semipermanent emotion for this series.

Next successful the queue? GTA 2.

Grand Theft Auto 2 arrived close astatine the process extremity of the 20th century, sticking with the aforesaid marque of top-down turmoil that antecedently propelled its predecessor to large success. It’s a noticeable refinement of the archetypal successful immoderate cardinal ways – somewhat much forgiving acknowledgment to the quality to save, and besides a spot smoother to thrust astir in. It didn’t, however, regenerate its antiquated, tank-like on-foot controls for thing that amended exploited the dual-analogue controllers that had rapidly reinvented the presumption quo successful the precocious ’90s. What it did shed was the archetypal GTA’s recognisable, modern setting. It alternatively opted to acceptable its enactment astatine an unspecified constituent successful the adjacent future, successful a stylised, retro-futuristic backdrop called Anywhere City, USA – a spot overrun by gangs, ruled by a megacorporation, and featuring the highest complaint of Elvis Presley’s per capita this broadside of Graceland. Did it work? Well, the reply – dissimilar Anywhere City’s proliferation of Elvis impersonators – requires a small much conversation.

Hey, a small little conversation, a small much action, please.

GTA 2 instantly comes disconnected arsenic a crippled with a spot of an individuality crisis. Even if you disregard the information that it sports a wholly antithetic look and vibe to the original, it besides wholly clashes with its own box art, and adjacent its ain intro movie – which features contemporaneous ’90s cars and an evident New York setting. At the clip of its release, I really bounced disconnected GTA 2 alternatively quickly, and this was perfectly a large reason. As soon arsenic it began it conscionable felt similar an wholly unrelated merchandise to everything that had travel earlier – up to and including the tone-setting FMV intro it conscionable served me. That’s a truly weird occupation to have. As a result, I don’t consciousness similar I stuck astir anyplace adjacent agelong capable backmost successful 1999 to get a consciousness for however overmuch slicker it really is to play.

I don’t consciousness similar I stuck astir anyplace adjacent agelong capable backmost successful 1999 to get a consciousness for however overmuch slicker it really is to play. “

Despite the information it costs in-game currency to use, the summation of a prevention relation represents a wide betterment implicit the original. Just caput to the nearest church, and the bully lord supra volition retrieve your advancement for you. Jesus so saves successful Anywhere City, albeit for a fee. Straight distant GTA 2 appears a small much alert it’s a PC and location console product. By the precocious ’90s, hefty, mission-oriented enactment games had mostly moved connected from the ruthless arcade doctrine of starting from scratch each league with a tiny acceptable of lives. Developer DMA Design adjusted its format accordingly, albeit lone slightly. That is, GTA 2 retains score-based progression, inactive operates with strictly constricted lives, and is hard arsenic hellhole – but redeeming is nevertheless a crutch the archetypal did not have.

Pay attraction and you'll enactment 'JESUS SAVES' dims letters occasionally to flash 'U SAVE.'

A recently added wellness barroom addresses different large vexation from the archetypal GTA. If you’re trying to debar cheating conscionable to get done the missions, the boosted wellness is an adjacent much utile hole than saving. Health successful GTA 2 works connected a 10-point standard (with 5 hearts that tin beryllium halved). This is successful stark opposition to the archetypal GTA, which fundamentally operates with your quality connected his oregon her last sliver of beingness astatine each times – wherever you’re instantly wasted aft sustaining conscionable a azygous hit. The vessel controls marque dodging incoming occurrence hideously hard successful some games, but the situation is astatine slightest tempered present by the precise sensible summation of that other padding. It doesn’t marque it easy, by immoderate means, but it’s surely little annoying.

Another Soul Saved!

The improvements don’t halt there. GTA 2’s camera is considerably little janky and, portion it inactive shimmies astir a small arsenic you drive, it does a mode amended occupation of tracking cars smoothly. Cars besides self-straighten erstwhile blazing on the streets, truthful it’s acold little finicky to enactment up wrong a lane – oregon so alteration lanes – with little furious tapping of the d-pad.

There are besides acold less obstacles for cars to get hung up connected than determination were successful the original. With the top-down perspective, it tin beryllium challenging to archer what objects are rooted into the crushed and volition origin a crash, due to the fact that extent tin beryllium a hard happening to efficaciously pass from straight above. GTA 2 skirts this by having skinny things similar airy poles not adjacent registry to cars astatine all. It's not a peculiarly realistic approach, but it cuts down connected the changeless collisions which bogged down the gait of the original.

Max Paynt is simply a neat Easter egg, 2 years earlier the motorboat of Max Payne.

Cars tin present beryllium fitted retired with weapons and gadgets, similar instrumentality guns, mines, and lipid slick traps, and the magnitude of handheld weapons has been much than doubled. GTA 2 adds tossable explosives similar grenades and Molotovs, a suppressed SMG that won’t alert different adjacent NPCs, a shotgun for much devastating adjacent quarters damage, dual pistols to dial up the John Woo factor, and a futuristic electro weapon that volition saute suckers into skeletons. The electro weapon is peculiarly nifty considering it tin fastener onto aggregate targets astatine once, but a mild auto-aim relation (an assistance sorely missed successful GTA 1) makes for little frustrating combat each around, careless of what limb you’re using.

Respect is Everything

Despite the much polished gameplay, GTA 2 inactive leaves maine indifferent successful a fig of ways. I cognize that merging the aesthetic of ’40s and ’50s vehicles with a crime-ridden, near-future firm dystopia is simply a stylistic choice, but it conscionable doesn’t truly drawback me. It’s not that I don’t find this epoch of automotive past absorbing – I emotion skidding astir successful games similar Mafia and LA Noire – but they conscionable look silly successful this mounting and don’t sync with it astatine all.

It’s truly casual to archer cars isolated successful the archetypal GTA, due to the fact that they lucifer existent cars and they each look rather distinct. In GTA 2, determination are much than 60 antithetic vehicles, but determination are acold excessively galore that look excessively akin to each different – and nary that truly lucifer thing peculiarly iconic. They conscionable look similar caricatures of cars, and I vastly similar the realism of the archetypal GTA’s vehicles.

That said, Hot Dog Truck? Pretty beardown choice.

I besides similar the original’s maps implicit the 3 districts of Anywhere City (the Downtown Sector, the Residential Sector, and the Industrial Sector). Now, GTA 2 boasts sharper graphics than its somewhat murkier predecessor, and the effect of this cleaner representation arguably makes it the much timeless-looking of the two. On PC determination are adjacent time and nighttime versions of each area. However, with the imaginable objection of the Residential Sector (which is the astir varied), there’s a plainness to Anywhere City that I don’t deliberation the cities successful the archetypal GTA shared.

I bash bask however overmuch much live and unsafe Anywhere City feels – with muggers, carjackers, and pack members scurrying the sidewalks everyplace arsenic an omnipresent threat.“

I bash bask however overmuch much live and unsafe Anywhere City feels – with muggers, carjackers, and pack members scurrying the sidewalks everyplace arsenic an omnipresent threat. However, I don’t deliberation it has the charm of Liberty City, San Andreas, oregon Vice City – arsenic primitive arsenic their renditions were by modern standards.

I’m consenting to concede my penchant present whitethorn simply beryllium due to the fact that the magnitude of clip I sunk into those maps dwarfs the moments I’ve spent successful Anywhere City, but determination is besides thing bigger astatine play. The 3,500 pound, 350-horsepower elephant successful the country present is Driver, which was released connected PlayStation successful European territories astir 5 months before GTA 2, successful June 1999. Now, the archetypal Driver has nary on-foot constituent – truthful it’s not an wholly like-for-like examination – but it is a afloat 3D, open-world car pursuit classical that rapidly cemented itself arsenic much oregon little my favourite crippled of each clip astatine that moment. I’d seen the future, and GTA 2 couldn’t lure maine back.

The dawn of 3D action-driving games was upon us. Prior to Driver we’d already seen Midtown Madness connected PC, from aboriginal Midnight Club, Smuggler’s Run, and Red Dead Redemption developers Angel Studios. Following Driver came Mucky Foot’s ambitious but janky Urban Chaos successful precocious 1999 connected PC and aboriginal 2000 connected PlayStation, which boasted a primitive marque of driving and third-person action. A PlayStation-exclusive Driver sequel followed successful precocious 2000, wherever you could exit cars to bargain another. June 2001’s World’s Scariest Police Chases sank with small hint aft arriving connected PS1 aft the PS2 had launched, but it was really a amazingly decent open-world driving crippled of its ain considering the wholly outmoded hardware it was moving on.

Any mode you portion it, GTA 2 was a subordinate precocious and a magnitude abbreviated to beryllium a portion of the archetypal question of 3D action-driving games.

Of course, the bid wouldn’t beryllium the bridesmaid for agelong – but that’s a treatment for adjacent time.

Verdict

Playing Grand Theft Auto 2 again successful 2026, I’ve decidedly recovered myself with a stronger appreciation for its method improvements implicit the original. Certainly overmuch greater than I gave it recognition for backmost arsenic a teen successful 1999. The driving is better, the shooting is amended – and those are important and invited gains. However, I conscionable cannot muster immoderate existent enthusiasm for its retro-futuristic setting. I don’t cognize that I’d spell truthful acold arsenic to telephone it aggravating but, successful the words of the king of stone and roll, it conscionable ain’t satisfactioning me.

Luke is simply a Senior Editor connected the IGN reviews team. You tin way him down connected Bluesky @mrlukereilly to inquire him things astir stuff.