[Arsen Vitiuk]

What are your memories about the moment when you first started the game, watched the intro and then took control of Claude for the first time? Getting in the Kuruma, driving to hideout, seeing the city for the first time...

[shiek]

Quite overwhelming, it was a good feeling just excited really

[The_Sorrow]

QUOTE (shiek @ Feb 22 2011, 17:53)

Quite overwhelming, it was a good feeling just excited really

yep all that plus the thrill of seeing what outragous missions you would be sent on

[shiek]

QUOTE (The_Sorrow @ Feb 22 2011, 21:02)

QUOTE (shiek @ Feb 22 2011, 17:53) Quite overwhelming, it was a good feeling just excited really yep all that plus the thrill of seeing what outragous missions you would be sent on

I am glad you are embracing closely beside my Avatar.

[Claude94]

This was in early 2002. I remember back when my brother would borrow his friend's PS2, and when he wasn't playing it, he'd set me up on it. One of the games he happened to set me up on was GTA III. I thought it was pretty cool at the time to see GTA in 3D graphics (I was only familiar with GTA 1 and 2's top-down style, and on top of that, I thought the new graphics were some of the best looking I had seen in any game at the time). After watching the intro and when we finally got to take control of Claude, the first thing I ever did in GTA III was run straight off the bridge and into the water

After that, I was mostly just screwing around and roaming Portland Island. I remember being surprised to see the paramedics actually arriving to heal a person that I had just run over, as well as getting dragged out of a cab and beaten up by the taxi driver that I had just carjacked. And my brother and I would do missions from time to time, too.

Good times

[GKP]

I was 17 - played literally for 10 hours straight - dinner interrupted, but this was a quantum leap forward. I was overwhelmed by the freedom . Fantastic soundtrack as well.

[lloydo]

QUOTE (GKP @ Feb 23 2011, 11:35)

I was overwhelmed by the freedom . Fantastic soundtrack as well.

Damn right! I loved every bit of the game, it was so realistic and impossible to put down. The storyline was so gripping and even to this day i just drive around Liberty City cruising.

[dro0001]

I was around 10 in 2001 when it came out i was so exited of the switch from top down to full 3d, i drove the kuruma down the bridge got out of it and explored Portland before the mission was over, i couldn't wait until the mission was over lol. That was the most exiting start to any GTA i ahve ever played until GTA IV.

[StoneHead37]

This may sound silly. But I was about ten when this came out. I had never played GTA before. So, when Claude and 8-Ball have to get to the Red Light District safehouse when they spring from the police vehicle, I couldn't get to the safehouse. I spent hours trying to drive to the correct location, then I finally found it. Then I gained experience in GTA III and beat the game in a matter of days with my older brother.

Good times... Man, good times...

[JustinGunnar]

My first thought was "Wow I suck at driving." Now I'm pretty dang good at it.

I'm playing it through for the first time in 3 years and its funny the missions I first struggled on for months are so simple now. Fuzz Ball, Bomb the Base, Triads and Tribulations, Big n Veiny, Two Face Tanner, Grand Theft Auto, Pay Day for Ray .. it took me like 6 months just to finish the game I think and I couldn't make it through most of them without cheating or bending the rules. I'm almost done with Staunton and this is my 3rd day just playing whenever I get a chance. I never cheat as I now enjoy challenges.

It takes some getting used to going back to the graphics and the simplicity of the game compared to SA and 4 .. but it's still fun.

[WhistleBlower]

You know, growing up I would play this game in the summer. Now it's sort of a tradition to play this game in the summer at least once to sort of, well, I guess, reminisce about those memories of driving through Liberty City for the first time and being amazed at how life-like I thought the city was back in 2001. xD

[Sam998]

lol this was about a week ago. Literally, first day playing it ever.

Really liked it, got past Bomb Da Base then had to stop

Still lives up to its name.

[Darkel2001]

I got my copy for PS2 a few days (or it might have been a week? I forget) after it came out. One of my classmates (this was the 8th grade) was playing it and telling me all the cool stuff he did. Of course I knew about all the things you could do, as I was following the game since the day it was announced and saw the first screen shot in OPM.

Anyways, I was sick with the flu, but I pleaded with my mom to take me to GameStop. She agreed and when I went to ask for GTA III at the counter, apparently they only had 1 copy left. I took it of course, and considered myself very lucky to have gotten it.

I took it home, popped it in, and the rest is history.

That's one game I'll cherish the memories of until the day I die (besides Half-Life).

[Bucky914]

I purchased 3 on a whim; I had just heard the name several times, and decided to give it a go. My first experience... I remember putting it in, and driving in the fog to the safehouse. I was so impressed by that. Then when I started Luigi's missions, I had to leave my house, so just paused the game and left, and came back later. It was a weird day in a few ways, and even though I had only played for maybe thirty minutes, I kept thinking about it.

[bammargera]

I remember walking downstairs and seeing my dad playing the mission with 8 Ball on the boat, I was young at the time and though "wow what is this movie" after realising it was a game I had to play it, when I did I was using my dad's save file and so was already on staunton, I never played the missions but I remember wondering "what lies beyond the bridge with a hole in the middle". It was such a major stepping stone in gaming history and I was glad I was there on the first day.

[JustinGunnar]

QUOTE (bammargera @ Mar 4 2011, 11:32)

I remember walking downstairs and seeing my dad playing the mission with 8 Ball on the boat, I was young at the time and though "wow what is this movie" after realising it was a game I had to play it, when I did I was using my dad's save file and so was already on staunton, I never played the missions but I remember wondering "what lies beyond the bridge with a hole in the middle". It was such a major stepping stone in gaming history and I was glad I was there on the first day.

Aww that's cute. My son has the same curiosity. He's only 2, but he will sit for hours watching me play any of my GTAs. Most of the time he will hop on my lap and try to help .. which is usually no help but has probably dramatically improved my skills in attempt to recover lol. Sometimes I just open a save file and let him have at it by himself. Jumping and shooting cracks him up.

I wonder what type of GTA monster am I creating here.

[puh200490]

I m new here but I would like to speak 1 thing there is no gta which take gta3's place. Thats the universal truth for me.

[bammargera]

QUOTE (JustinGunnar @ Mar 4 2011, 15:58)

QUOTE (bammargera @ Mar 4 2011, 11:32) I remember walking downstairs and seeing my dad playing the mission with 8 Ball on the boat, I was young at the time and though "wow what is this movie" after realising it was a game I had to play it, when I did I was using my dad's save file and so was already on staunton, I never played the missions but I remember wondering "what lies beyond the bridge with a hole in the middle". It was such a major stepping stone in gaming history and I was glad I was there on the first day. Aww that's cute. My son has the same curiosity. He's only 2, but he will sit for hours watching me play any of my GTAs. Most of the time he will hop on my lap and try to help .. which is usually no help but has probably dramatically improved my skills in attempt to recover lol. Sometimes I just open a save file and let him have at it by himself. Jumping and shooting cracks him up. I wonder what type of GTA monster am I creating here.

Well never did me any harm, I'm 17 now and I've never been effected by it

must kill everyone
must kill everyone
must kill everyone
must kill everyone
must kill everyone
must kill everyone

[JustinGunnar]

I worry about him the same way I worry about myself. After a long day of playing GTA my first instinct when driving my car is to hop up on the curb and squish pedestrians. WAIT WUT?

[The Mysterious One]

I was 15 at the time. My uncle had this game and I was trying it out and was instantly hooked on the game and I knew it had to be mine, but the problem was that I didn't own a PS2 then. So I tried to play this game any chance I got. I was hooked on the game and then I finally got my PS2 along with the game. I was also stoked for Vice City which was coming out around the time I got my PS2 and GTA III.

I became a GTA fan from then on.