Grand Theft Auto
WithGrand Theft Auto IIIRockstar proves that not all developers are concerned with toning down the violence in their games. This sequel is even more bloody, violent, and sadistic than its popular predecessors, offering up an enormous 3-D city in which nearly any criminal act is possible. Players are free to steal cars, beat up the local population for their money (or weapons), make time with prostitutes, or simply roam to their heart's content. Those seeking more structure can embark on dozens of missions driven by a genuinely interesting crime-story plot or steal cars that let them play minigames. Nab a cop car and you can go on vigilante missions. Grab a cab and you can play a deadly version ofCrazy Taxi. Take a fire truck and you can earn money putting out fires. The minigames are a good way to unwind after a particularly difficult mission. With so much to do, the game just never gets boring.

As you'd expect, there are consequences for criminality. As your random acts of mayhem mount up the police start hounding you, eventually calling in SWAT trucks, the FBI, and even the army if you continue down the path of destruction. Shaking these pursuers is easily the most fun part of the game, especially when a bunch of friends are packed in the room to witness your narrow escapes.

Grand Theft Auto IIIis fine-tuned to near perfection in every category. All the vehicles, from slick sports cars to lumbering dump trucks, handle exactly as you'd expect and smash apart realistically when abused. The three islands in the game are rendered in terrific detail considering their size, and are packed with traffic, pedestrians, and hidden jumps. The audio is equally amazing. Pedestrians talk, cops scream at you, and you can tune in nine different radio stations whenever you are in a car. It all adds up to a monumental achievement: the rare console game for adults that manages to get everything right.--T. Byrl Baker

Grand Theft Auto III: Vice City
How big is this game? Even publicists for other games end up talking aboutVice Citywhen they call our office, babbling in the same helplessly intoxicated way that afflicts everyone who plays it. The achievement ofVice City(which, as everyone knows by now, is set in the 1980s and offers an all-new, Miami Vice-inspired story) is not only that it manages to live up to an absurd level of expectation, but that it takes the game places that fans of its predecessorGrand Theft Auto IIInever dreamed of, and that it achieves this astonishing level of innovation without losing anything that madeGTA3the bestselling PS2 game of all time.

After a brilliant homage to the era of the Commodore 64 in the opening credits, the first thing you'll notice is the improved graphics, which are smoother and more detailed, and--with effects like neon lights reflected on rain-slick streets, and intense Florida sunlight--have a lush, tropical look that immediately gives you a strong sense of place. The architecture is more fabulous by tenfold, with art deco buildings, high-rise hotels, and believably seedy back alleys. The control scheme is essentially the same as inGTA3, but the cars handle much better, and in pedestrian mode there is a new crouch move. You will have access to fast, great-handling cars right away, as opposed toGTA3which made you unlock the second island before you could get your hands on any respectable wheels. This game has such riches to offer that there is no need to be chintzy with the vehicles.

Cops are more vigilant this time--minor offenses like whacking innocent bystanders will more often than not get you a two-star wanted level--and are harder to elude (though they still can't seem to climb stairs or negotiate sharp turns). So while free-roaming exploration is as fun as ever, there is more incentive to perform the missions instead of randomly raising hell. Not that that's a bad thing: even lazy criminals like myself (inGTA3, I would rather toss hand grenades into traffic than follow orders from some rude Mafia boss) will be quickly caught up in the vivid characters and hilarious, fascinating story, in which you play an acid-washed-jeans-wearing thug named Tommy Vercetti. Where inGTA3missions were blocky, schematic affairs only nominally connected to the story, this time tasks move the story briskly along and deftly blend cinematics and game action. For example, there is a scene of a character throwing Tommy a gun, at which point you are suddenly thrown back into the action and must make an instant decision about whom to trust and what to do.

There are more, and more detailed, indoor environments, including a hotel, police station, and mall (a slight downside to this is that some of the more elaborate indoor environments require load times). The layout of the city, with tons of backyards, narrow alleys, and fire escapes, encourages creativity when eluding pursuit, as does greater access to rooftops. Get your motorcycle up the fire escape and a whole new world of action is possible, including... well, use your imagination.

This overview barely scratches the surface of theVice Cityexperience, its colorful explosion of music, clothes, combat, and brilliant voice acting, not to mention the plot twist midway through the game that changes the very nature of the game itself. Though it was the outrageous, amoral violence that got all the press, the essential genius ofGTA3was its intoxicating blend of script and open-ended action. InVice Citythis is--to use a cliché that is for once apropos--taken to a whole new level.--David Stoesz

Pros:

• Open-ended gameplay; player can chose to be relatively law-abiding or engage in wanton virtual destruction
• Varied missions
• Brilliant scripts with Hollywood voice acting
• Rocking sound track (also available in our Music store)
• Xbox-enhanced graphics

• As theThe Sopranosof games,GTA 3draws unwanted attention from overzealous legislators
• No multiplayer

Morrowindcan be described with a single word: mind-numbingly-massive (okay, I cheated). You can do virtually anything you want. There is a main quest, but there are also hundreds of side quests (over 350 of them), and the game is completely nonlinear. You can be a hero, a villain, a pilgrim, a saint, or even a vampire. You name it, and chances are you can be it. There are also no geographical constraints; you can wander where you want, when you want.

The amount of control you have inMorrowindis stunning. When you create a character, you can either choose from premade classes, have one assigned to you depending on how you answer a questionnaire, or create your own class. You can also choose one of 13 signs under which your character is born, which will give you bonuses, handicaps, or both. There are so many stats and skills to accumulate, you can easily spend hours experimenting with character types before you even start the game.

Morrowind's magic system brings a tear to my eye--not only do you have seven schools of magic (Conjuration, Illusion, Destruction, Restoration, Mysticism, Alteration, Enchant), but you also have an alchemy system, from which you can create potions from ingredients you can either buy or find in the wild. In addition, you can trap the souls of enemies you kill and bind them into items to create magic artifacts. Very cool. And of course, there are all the scrolls, magical items, etc., that you find in your travels.

Another boon is the thieving system. You can pick locks, disarm traps, pick pockets, and learn acrobatics. You can taunt, insult, or intimidate others as well as haggle for better deals in the market. And since you can steal (or try to steal) almost every item you see, business is good! This game was designed with a thief's eye.

The game itself is gorgeous. The graphics, sound, frame rate... all smooth as silk. You can spend hours just looking at the outlandish scenery and picking the flowers (literally). The musical score is rousing, and never gets old. The different creatures and people have their own voices and sounds. This is a game that makes anything but high-end computers cry, and it works on the Xbox without a hitch.

Okay, so Bethesda'sMorrowindsounds like the greatest thing since... well... Bethesda'sElder Scrolls II, but does it have any flaws? Well,Morrowindis definitely geared toward magic users and thieves, but it is lacking when it comes to fighting. There are many battles inMorrowind, but they boil down to clicking your button and hitting your foe with either a melee or missile weapon. That's it. Combat gets old fast. In addition, the travel journal is purely elementary. It lists all the quests you undertake, but there is no way to sort them, or erase quests that you have finished. After a while, it takes a long time to find information. This is probably the biggest flaw in the game.

Bottom line:Morrowindis a PC-style RPG for a PC-style console. This game is reason enough to buy an Xbox, and will have hard-core RPG fans singing its praises for years to come. --Bryan Karsh

Pros:

• Thief and magic-user heaven
• Do whatever you want
• Beautiful graphics and sound

• Simplistic battle system
• Can't sort/edit quests in travel journal

Max Payneuses extremely realistic graphics to showcase a gritty film-noir-inspired New York City. Payne stalks subways, tenements, nightclubs, and even government installations as he takes his vengeance out on a horde of gun-toting bad guys. Taking a page from the visual style of famed director John Woo, as well asThe Matrix,Max Paynelets the player launch into a slow-motion mode generally known as "bullet time," which makes dodging enemy fire and dishing out your own return fire a breeze, all while leaping side to side. While this looks extremely cool to do, it also evens the odds and can only be used for limited amounts of time, making it a strategic as well as aesthetic option.

And speaking of aesthetics, the game is packed with exciting moments, weapons, and locations, even if the enemies get a little redundant after a while. The level design ranges from inspired (a multilevel parking garage) to humdrum (a warehouse) and several levels actually take place in the twisted wonderland of the hero's warped psyche. The introduction scenes consist of painted photos presented in graphic-novel style, which is a stylistic choice that pays dividends, even though the writing is hilariously bad and the voice acting is, if possible, even worse.

Needless to say, all this is violent, disturbing, and not at all for the kids. Pay attention to the Mature rating; it's not there for decoration.--Bob Andrews

--This review refers to the PlayStation2 version of the game.

Pros:

• Photorealistic graphics
• Fantastic cinematic action

• Terrible writing
• Even worse voice acting

For years, the Psychonauts have deployed their psychically-armed operatives all over the world, but now there is trouble brewing in their own boot camp. A deranged scientist is abducting camp cadets for their brains! One student, a mysterious and powerful new arrival named Raz, stands alone against the lunatic. Raz must develop and unleash an arsenal of paranormal powers, including his most powerful weapon of all--the ability to launch himself telepathically into the minds of others. Ultimately, he must enter the psyche of his worst enemy and destroy his dark plans at their source. Entering the mind of madman has its challenges, and Raz must struggle to preserve his sanity while he battles to save the day.

In this third-person shooter, you will explore 13 levels--three that are set in the "real" world, and ten that are set inside the mental jungle-gyms and terrifying prisons of dementia. Journeying through the mind of a lunatic, Raz, you will rise through the ranks as you collect figments of imagination, sort emotional baggage, clear out mental cobwebs, and crack open memory vaults. After you complete special training missions, Raz will learn new psychic powers, such as levitation, telekinesis, invisibility, pyrokinesis, clairvoyance, and confusion.

With tightropes, trapezes, ladders, poles and other dynamic environmental features, you'll zip through an engrossing story injected with humor, vivid characters, and a spectacular range of wild, imaginative environments. The non-linear plot offers incredible depth of play, loaded with multiple paths and strange sub-challenges like digging up imaginary atomic elements, finding lost brains, and telekinetic canoeing.