Environment Research: Grand Theft Auto Series

The next series of games that has a brilliant environment, if not very violent one, is the Grand Theft Auto series. Mainly set in the American city centers, Grand Theft Auto is a very good example of a game series that has excellently designed environments that are more like real life cities rather than made up worlds, that are easier to design. To begin with the original Grand Theft Auto was created in  1997, and the game was also set in 1997, an early game in which the player looked down at it from an overhead view, making the environments quite hard to see, but it is obvious that they have been well designed and do resemble an American city, which is the look that they were trying to create. The general game play is very limited as it is an overhead view, but it is still a good example of how the character can moved around the different environments within the city.

The second game in the series was Grand Theft Auto II, 1999, but the game was set ahead of it time in 2013. It again followed the same principle in which the character would steal cars, avoid the police and follow missions in the city; it is also the only GTA game to have a T rating. Although this game has much improved graphics and also included a lot more side details in terms of objects on the side of buildings and more people walking down the streets; the game was still in the overhead view which made it still quite hard to see the environment fully.

The next installment in the series was a massive improvement for Rockstar as it was when the game went 3D. In 2001, Grand Theft Auto III was made and was the biggest game that the series had brought out. Through the advancement of technology this GTA game was huge and was the first open world of the series. The storyline was also more exciting and followed a character with a more intricate back story and also a fully rendered face and body unlike the others. This game was set in the fictional city of Liberty City, also used in future games, and was set in 2001, when it was produced. This game was the first in its series to actually have 3D graphics and an open world experience that could be fully explored with only a few limitations, like the end of the city, meaning that invisible walls where used.

Also during this period 3 more games were made to go with the third, demonstrating that the graphics where improving further and also new places and attractions where being introduced into the gameplay experience. The first that was released was GTA: Vice City, 2002, and was based in 1986 and followed a character in a city, which was based on Miami, and follows plots and stories of the cocaine trade in the 80s. The next one to be brought out was GTA: San Andreas, 2004, which again like Vice City was based around cocaine dealing, but this time it was set in the fictional city of San Andreas, which was based on California and Nevada and is set in 1992. The last game in the series that was brought out around this time was GTA: Liberty City Stories, 2005, which again was set in the fiction city of Liberty City and is the prequel to Grand Theft Auto III, set in 1998. All of these games that were brought out around this time where of a similar graphic standard, which were quite high for the early 2000's, but were still not quite as realistic as they could be. The reason this game is so good to look at during this project is due to how well the cities are mapped out and also how interesting they look and how much detail they have added into the streets.

Grand Theft Auto III

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories

The next installment in the series was Grand Theft Auto IV, 2008 was the best game so far as the graphics had improved greatly as the technology techniques have improved since the first few games were produced. The game is played in a redesigned Liberty City that looks more like the real New York City, and includes a lot more content. The game is again, like the others, very violent and contains a lot of adult content that is sometimes very gruesome to watch and play through but when putting that aside the environment in which the game is set is beautiful, even though it is set in a city that isn't meant to look pretty, but the high quality graphics make it look nice, and it is an excellent example of a different kind of environment which isn't just a rendered field or mountain scape which a lot easier to design. 

After GTA IV, they began working on a new game. Grand Theft Auto V is said to be produced and released in Spring 2013. There are only a few screen shots of some of the gameplay but from what you can see of it, it looks to be a brilliant game that will look amazing once you can see it fully. Below is the best shot I could find and it shows how truly impressive the game is going to be once the whole environment can be explored.