GRAND THEFT AUTO 2

'''Grand Theft Auto 2''', otherwise known as '''GTA2''', is a video game released worldwide on October 22, 1999, by developers DMA Designs (now Rockstar North); initially for the Windows operating system and the PlayStation. the game was later ported to the Dreamcast console, and Game Boy Color. It is the sequel to the controversial 1997 hit ''Grand Theft Auto''. The PC and Dreamcast versions of ''GTA2'' are both rated Mature (17+) by the ESRB. The language and violence was toned down for the PlayStation and Game Boy versions which received a rating of Teen.^[1] Rockstar now offers the PC version for free download at their website.^[2]

Contents

Setting

Gameplay

Gangs

Radio stations

''GTA2: The Movie''

References

External links

Setting

Unlike other games in the series, ''GTA2'' is set in 2013 in a metropolis referred to only as Anywhere City. The year is not specified, the game's manual uses the phrase "three weeks into the future", and phrases such as "X weeks into the future" or "X minutes into the future" are common phrases meaning "near future"; fictional journal entries on the ''GTA2'' website suggest the year to be 2013.^[3] Radio host Johnny Riccaro mentions in the game that "the millennium's coming," which would set the game somewhere in 1999 or 2000.
Anywhere City consists of three levels, or "districts." The first level is ''The Downtown Area'' and features casinos, hotels, a large mental institution and a university. The second area is ''The Residential District'' and contains the city's prison, a trailer park with an Elvis-themed club named "Disgracelands," a research center and a large hydroelectric power plant. The third and last area is ''The Industrial District''. It holds a large seaport, a meat packing plant, and a Krishna temple.
The player is a man named Claude Speed, who is freed from prison, having awakened from a cryonic sleep but experiences amnesia. The storyline shifts to his goal of becoming the "King of the City" by any means necessary.^[4]
The game can be played in two modes, noon or dusk. On the noon setting the lighting is bright making the game clear to see. On the dusk setting the game is darker, but there are more lighting effects. This feature was also expanded further in Grand Theft Auto 3 where the daylight is changing with the time of day in the game.

Gameplay

''GTA2'' retained the top-down viewpoint of ''GTA'', as well as the car-stealing/telephone-answering formula of the original. The player has the ability to explore cities on foot or in various vehicles. The aim is to achieve a certain score. On achieving this goal the player then can proceed to the next level. Doing missions awards the player more points than any other method but are not essential for completion of the game.
A new feature introduced in GTA2 was doing missions for separate gangs, of which there are two new gangs for each of the three levels of the game, and one faction which is present in all levels. Being employed by one gang can cause distrust from others (working for gang #1 will incur the wrath of gang #2, working for gang #2 will cause enmity with gang #3, ''et cetera''). In the original ''GTA'', only the local police pursued the player. In ''GTA2'', SWAT teams, as well as two new law enforcement agencies, Special Agents and the army, can begin chasing the player as his or her wanted level increases.
''GTA2'' also included a saving technique that improved upon that of the original ''GTA'', which saved only when finishing a city. If the player entered a church with a certain amount of cash, a voice announced "Hallelujah! Another soul saved!". This notified the player that the game had been saved. If the player did not have enough money, the voice would say "Damnation! No donation, no salvation!" The "safe house" feature would become standard and expanded upon in later ''GTA'' games, although saving would become free of cost.
Other minor improvements pertain to city activity. Passing vehicles and pedestrians are no longer cosmetic parts of the environment, but actually play a more significant role in gameplay. Medical workers in ambulances arrive to revive injured pedestrians, and pedestrians would occasionally enter and ride in taxis. The game is also noted for the emergent behavior of its non-player characters. Pedestrians, gang members and the police would occasionally engage in fights, and there are even other carjackers and robbers in the city.^[5]
The PlayStation version of ''Grand Theft Auto 2'' is noticeably toned down from its PC counterpart, with lower quotas for the number of kills needed in rampage style missions, and containing no voice acting in the saving interface. The port also includes an unusual feature wherein a car that the player enters would explode after the player kills a large number of gang members.
The PC version of ''GTA2'' was released as a free download on December 22, 2004. This version also includes support for multiplayer games.

Gangs

''Grand Theft Auto 2'' includes a pool of seven gangs, with each of the city's three levels containing only a group of three gangs. The Zaibatsu Corporation gang is included in every level, with the remaining two different gangs. When a player recieves a job from a gang, the gang leader calls the player a special covername. The gangs are as follows:

★ 'Zaibatsu Corporation' (symbol: yellow 'Z') - They appear in all of the areas and are a seemingly legitimate corporation who manufacture everything from cars and weapons to medication, but beneath the surface they are involved heavily in narcotics, contract-killing and shadowy politics. Their car, called a Z-Type, is the second fastest gang car available. The Zaibatsu is apparently led by at least three leaders, or at least have three executives through whom they organize their criminal activities: Trey Welsh in the Commercial District, Red Valdez in the Residential District, and Uno Carb in the Industrial District. The player is called "Gecko" by all three executives. Their gang color is black. In all districts, their territories can be distinguished by large red 'Z' banners hanging from buildings bearing their gang symbol. Their name comes from zaibatsu, the Japanese word for conglomerate.
:Although they do not appear in later games in the series, a Japanese pharmaceutical company by that name is referenced in a radio commercial in GTA 3.

★ 'Loonies' (symbol: winking smiley face) - They appear in the first area and they are quite crazy. Their gang car, the Dementia, is a green microcar with their mark painted on top and is probably named after their apparent insanity. Their small section of turf is in the vicinity of the city's mental institution, named "SunnySide" after the Mental Institution in Montrose, Scotland, near Dundee, where the game was originally created. Their boss is Elmo and he calls the player "Jumbo". They use surgical green as their gang color.

★ 'The Yakuza' (symbol: blue yen '¥') - They also appear in the first area. They make drugs at the so-called J-Lab, one of their strongest "industries". Their boss is Johnny Zoo and the players Yakuza covername is "Kosai". Deep blue is their gang color. And their car is a Y-Type (also known as the Miara), not to be confused with the Zaibatsu Z-Type. Their headquarters is near the docks in the Commercial District, as well as J-Lab and various buildings owned by them near the docks.

★ 'SRS (Sex and Reproductive Systems) Scientists' (symbol: a golden shield) - They are headquartered in the Residential District, and are a clandestine research institute involved in slightly questionable practices. Their business is advanced weapon development along with cloning, genetic engineering and robotics. Their leader, Dr. LaBrat who calls the player "THC 303", is Icelandic, and all of their 'street' members appear to be genetically engineered clone soldiers. Their gang car is called a Meteor and is the fastest gang car available. Their 'turf' is the Scientist Research Center, a very compact, sterile, oppressive-looking campus with a profusion of complex equipment and machinery. Their gang color is pale gold.

★ 'Rednecks' (symbol: the Confederate flag) - Led by Billy Bob Bean, they appear in the second area, are rabid fans of Elvis Presley, and specialize in explosives and vehicles. The players Redneck covername is "Rooster". Their business is the brewing, running and selling of moonshine. Their car is a wide pick-up truck. The Rednecks' turf is the trailer park at the northwest of the Residential Area. Their gang color is light blue.

★ 'Russian Mafia' (symbol: a red star) - They appear in the third area and specialize in contract-killing and gun running. Their car is the Bulwark, a station wagon, which is the most durable gang car in the game (capable of surviving one direct hit from a rocket propelled grenade, hand grenade or Molotov cocktail, if the car is in perfect condition). They can be seen in the seaport areas. Jerkov is the name of their boss and he calls the player "Comrade". They use red as a gang color.

★ 'Hare Krishna' (symbol: an orange flower) - They appear in the third area and their car, the Karma Bus, is a big love bus with flowers painted on its roof. The Krishna's turf is around their temple. Their boss' name is Sunbeam. He calls the player "Grasshopper". They use orange as a gang color. The ''GTA2'' manual states that their criminality is entirely based around stealing and destroying technology, due to the fact that they are tired of being run over by cars with nothing but tambourines to defend themselves (a reference to the first ''Grand Theft Auto'', where they were called the Gourangas and the player was rewarded for running them down).

Radio stations

Main articles: Grand Theft Auto 2 soundtrack


Each area features five radio stations from a pool of eleven, in which one of them would be played as the player drives most vehicles in game. Changing radio stations for preference was also possible in the Windows PC version by using the "F1" function key." "Head Radio" was present in the original ''GTA'', ''Grand Theft Auto III'' and ''. Each gang also has its own radio station that transmits within a limited area.

★ 'Head Radio' — The city's largest commercial radio station. It can be received in all areas of the game. The DJ's names are Phanny Joe Styles and Johnny Riccaro. Head Radio plays modern pop and rock.

★ 'Rockstar Radio' — A commercial radio station in the Downtown Area. Sammy Starock is the name of the DJ. The station plays pop and rock and occasionally features on-air phone calls from "listeners".

★ 'KREZ' — The Residential Area's commercial station which plays hip hop and rap. The DJ is Richie T.

★ 'Lo-Fi FM' — A commercial station in the Industrial Area that plays oldies and pop. The DJ (DJ Die/Dye — Dai is a Welsh abbreviation for the name 'David') is Welsh and seems to have no ties to gangs in the area.

★ 'Futuro FM' — The Zaibatsu gang's station. It can be received in all three areas. The DJ, Dean Frantz, plays dance, jazz-oriented pop and Funk.

★ 'Heavenly Radio' — The Krishnas' gang station, transmitting in the Industrial Sector. The music is a mix of Jesus-pop and soft music. Listeners are continuously urged by the station's DJ, Venus Ordelia, to convert.

★ 'KGBH' — A pun on the Soviet KGB and grievous bodily harm (or GBH), radio station of the Russian mafia with DJ Bombatumba. KGBH frequently encounters both technical and personal problems that interfere with their broadcasts. The station primarily plays classic rock.

★ 'Lithium FM' — The Loonies' station. Features a totally insane DJ, Spaz Funbags, as well as some oldies and dance-music.

★ 'Rebel Radio/KING' — The Redneck gang station in the Residential Area. The DJ, Marshall Nash, has a thick Southern accent. The music of choice is modern and classic rock.

★ 'Osmosis Radio' — The Scientists' station, transmitting in the Residential Area. The DJ "Mama Doc", who is Icelandic or Scandinavian, plays modern dance music.

★ 'Tsunami FM' — The Yakuza gang's station in the Downtown Area. The music is drum and bass-type electronic music. The station is hosted by a Japanese man and a frantically screaming Japanese woman (in a varied high-pitch voice) calling herself Teriyaki-chan.
The theme song on the main title screen is the song "Short change" by the group EZ Rollers

''GTA2: The Movie''

The opening video of the game was pieced together using live-action footage taken from an eight-minute short film created for the purpose of advertising the game. This film has since been made available to the public and is downloadable from Rockstar's website. [1] Claude Speed (the game's playable protagonist) is played by Scott Maslen in the film.
The short film shows Claude being murdered (shot by a Zaibatsu hitman while trying to break into a sports car). It was shot in present-day New York City (with the World Trade Center in clear view) instead of the game's anonymous city of the future (it should be noted, however, that two fictional locations were mentioned in the film: "Chernobyl Docks" and "Disgraceland", the latter being the name of a club featured in ''GTA2''). The film depicts a blue-and-white NYPD 1991-1996 Chevrolet Caprice police car as a pursuit vehicle, as well as a black BMW E39 528i driven by Claude, which is later repainted white.

References

1. Content toned down from PC to Playstation version Thed Paddestroy
2. ''Rockstar give away GTA2 for free'' Stuart Miles
3. Fictional journal created by Rockstar Games
4. Grand Theft Auto 2 Information
5. ''Grand Theft Auto 2'' review Tal Blevins for IGN

External links

★ Free download of ''Grand Theft Auto 2'' for Windows PC at ''Rockstar Classics''

★ GTA2 Maps (originals - overhead view)

★ ''GTA2: The Movie''

★

★ Grand Theft Auto 2 at GameFaqs

★ Free download of ''GTA Game Hunter'' Multiplayer App