Playing Grand Theft Auto III in 2026 offers a fascinating look at the industry's first steps toward the modern open-world genre, according to a recent retrospective published by IGN in the lead-up to the arrival of Grand Theft Auto VI. Rather than issuing a traditional re-review score, IGN examined how the 2001 title's core pillars hold up a quarter-century later.

Quick Facts

  • Original Release Year: 2001
  • Platforms (Historical): PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox, PlayStation 4, iOS, Android, macOS
  • Sales Milestone: Sold more than 14.5 million copies globally, with 11.6 million on PlayStation 2
  • Setting: Liberty City, divided into Portland, Staunton Island, and Shoreside Vale

What Holds Up and What Struggles After 25 Years

IGN notes that while GTA III successfully combined driving, action, story, and exploration within a dynamic 3D world before any proper blueprint existed, certain elements have aged poorly. The third-person shooting is highlighted as the game's weakest pillar, hindered by an auto-lock targeting system that frequently prioritizes nearby non-combatants, allies, or bystanders during heavy firefights rather than armed attackers. Additionally, the complete absence of mission checkpoints requires players to manually drive all the way back to mission start markers upon failure, creating a punishing and time-consuming loop for modern schedules.

On the driving side, the physics are described as somewhat slippy and floaty compared to later entries in the franchise, lacking the weight needed for precise stunt driving. However, the reviewer points out that navigating Liberty City remains worthwhile for hearing the series' trademark custom radio commercials and Chatterbox FM callers.

Liberty City as the Star

Despite featuring a silent protagonist and a supporting cast of broad criminal stereotypes voiced by Hollywood actors like Michael Madsen, Frank Vincent, and Joe Pantoliano, the environment itself emerges as the game's standout character. Liberty City's three boroughs—grimy Portland, commercial Staunton Island, and suburban Shoreside Vale—offered a living, breathing world in 2001 where day turned to night and traffic flowed independently of the player.

Player-Fit Caveats

For players wondering if Grand Theft Auto III is still worth revisiting today, the IGN analysis suggests that its unforgiving mission structure encourages a very cautious, conservative playstyle that clashes with the open-ended chaos the sandbox encourages. While subsequent entries like Vice City and San Andreas brought vastly increased style, size, and scope, GTA III remains significant purely as the foundational template that shaped the open-world action genre for the next 25 years.