Awarded the 'best selling game of 2001' grand theft auto 3 will be one of the must haves for Xbox when the game is released. The grand theft auto series has typically been set around the idea of working for gangsters, earning lots of cash and having lots of fun with cars and destructive weapons to say the least.

You start the game betrayed, left for dead and out for some revenge. Mobsters, gang leaders and criminals all need a helping hand and that's where you come in, you'll be chased by the police and gang leaders so you'll most likely end up having to rob, steal and kill to stay out of trouble. You'll have to watch your back, as anything can and will happen out there.

Grand theft auto 3 has been changed completely compared to the other two games: you now play in a living, breathing 3 dimensional world, you have multiple camera angles, new weapons, new characters and so much more. Typically when I play grand theft auto I go round shooting the living crap out of everyone with anything I can find. But grand theft auto 3 isn't about that, the game is full of missions for you to complete. These are done to move onto the next part of the city(3 areas in total). These missions vary in difficulty and I mean vary, you can be doing a simple pickup job in one mission and then have to pick up 3 or 4 gang leaders whilst being chased by the police or street gangs to your death which might seem easy but is harder than its sounds, so there is varying difficulty even from the beginning, so don't expect an easy ride in this game.

To help you complete these missions there are several weapons that pack a different punch behind them. At the bottom of the scale is the baseball bat, then the handgun, shotgun, sniper rifle, grenades and the oh so fun rocket launcher too just to name but a few. The vehicles range from sports cars, ice cream vans, buses and even boats too! The music has been made to tie in brilliantly with the game, there are about 10 different radio stations all with their unique style: opera, drum & bass, house and even a funny as hell radio chat show too.

So grand theft auto has made the leap to the 3 dimensional world and it's done it rather well I'd say. It's gameplay is to die for; it's challenging has longetivity to it and is fun. The graphics were the let down on the PS2 but there won't be a problem with the Xbox there, characters and terrains have lovely detail to them. And the music makes me laugh or enjoy myself on my crime spree. Rockstar haven't let many details out on the Xbox version but the graphics will be better due the Xboxes overall power.

What can I say? A PS2 masterpiece is going to make the jump to Xbox and is set to become an Xbox masterpiece too.

Preview By: Graham Seward