Now, I’ve never subscribed to the whole "violent games make violent people" debate, and a recent article in New Scientist poured further scorn on the whole shebang, revealing a recent ’test’ that panned out to be nothing more than thinly–veiled and badly researched propaganda. You’ve only got to look at the recent ’Dispatches’ program on C4 to realize that the people with any knowledge of the effects of violent games are the gamers themselves. Not the casual onlooker whose knee–jerk reaction to recent violent events is to point a finger at anything which provides a convenient scapegoat. There, that’s out of the way (and yeah, I feel much better for that, thanks). Now, onto the game.

GTA2 is a sequel. Ah, funny things, sequels. You see, it’s quite easy for publishers to sell a game that has a ’2’ added to its title, just by sporting a few cosmetic changes to its prequel. On the other hand, the developers can overhaul a game’s engine, adding a slew of new features and improvements in response to customer feedback. Then there’s the radical approach — retain a game’s title, but use a new development team to produce their own spin on the game’s original spec. It’s here where I’ll let you to make up your own mind about which you feel fits GTA2.

GTA2, in keeping with the original title, features a living, breathing city that you view from the top–down as you drive a variety of vehicles while attempting to appease members of rival gangs who issue missions to you. However, one of the biggest changes to the PC version of the original GTA is the introduction of a polygonal cityscape, which is great for the Dreamcast, as graphically, this is where this game excels. Also, rival gangs that can be played off one another help to make the game different from the original, as well as bringing into play a new game look as well as a new, brilliant soundtrack.

There are seven gangs spread over three different areas of the city. Make that eight, if you count the fuzz, but more on them in a minute. Respect is everything in GTA2 where you begin as a nobody and the only tasks that the hoods give you are delivery jobs. If you complete these jobs successfully, your respect level with each particular gang increases. This results in bigger jobs that pay more molal. If, for example, the Zaibatsu (one such gang) give you the job of bumping off a key member of the Loonies, the Loonies aren’t going to be that impressed — they will respect you even less. In fact, they may shoot you on sight. However, steal a car for the Zaibatsu and deliver it to them full of explosives, and the Loonies may cut you some slack for knocking off some of their hated enemies. You see how it goes?

There are about 100 different vehicles that can assist you in your lawbreaking exercises, from armored corporate limos, to juggernauts and sports cars. These can all be, shall we say, acquired by yanking the driver of any vehicle out of the car, leaving him spitting teeth on the sidewalk as you speed away.

The police don’t just sit back and watch, even though they seem strangely oblivious to speeding or the running of red lights. They’ll give chase, when agitated, and high–speed games of cat ’n mouse are not unusual. Neither are shoot–outs in a dingy alley. However, the police can usually be beaten or out–run by the skilled felon. When the police need help, they call in the SWAT teams for hardened criminals. Later on, if you create enough of a disruption, you may go face–to–face with the FBI, and later the Army will declare a martial law and head out with tanks and attack choppers to take care of you. However, that’s only if things get way out of control . . . and of course, they will!

With all these car chases, traffic negotiating and bullets/rockets/molotov cocktails flying every which way, any vehicle you drive will suffer a few bumps and scrapes. If you accrue too much damage, a flame may extend from your vehicle, along with the sound of your labouring, tortured engine. Accumulate even more damage and your vehicle is engulfed in a fireball, signifying that it is about to explode. Explode it does, killing you if you haven’t exited the vehicle in time, with an oddly–muffled crump. A nice addition would have been to have the windows of nearby buildings also implode as the blast wave caused them to buckle, with much flying glass etc.). In any event, your vehicle isn’t left to smoulder. Sirens blaring, the fire fighters arrive and proceed to extinguish the flames and move the wreckage from the middle of the road.

This leads me to possibly the best aspect about GTA2 — the city. You see, city life goes on, independent of your thuggery, and you can have fun by ignoring the missions and just motoring around the city! The traffic system works as it should with stops at a red light for a nearby pedestrian who shouts, "Taxi!". Of course, this can be hazardous as well. Don’t be surprised if a gang member decides to carjack you as you wait for the green light. I was amused when, strolling down the street, a would–be mugger stopped me and demanded, "Give me your wallet!" Little did he know that I was packing an Uzi!

The sounds of the city are fab — the constant murmur of people and traffic is punctuated by the occasional wail of a siren. Get into a vehicle, and the radio plays a mixture of newsflashes, music and jingles, as well as commercials. It’s brilliant, although possibly not as brilliant as the first GTA was.

This is great fun, and very entertaining. Yes, it does share certain elements with its older predecessor, but for some reason the analogue stick is used to steer left or right. Why not use the analog stick properly, allowing full 360–degree movement, because it may put off folk who find the game too hard to control using this device. GTA2 is still tremendous fun, though, and shouldn’t be overlooked if you want some driving action, complete with radical game twists and more . . .

Overall Game Rating: B

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