Grand Theft Auto always gets a lot of praise from the critics and fans, well it does deserve it. But the article shows why the GTA games are not as smart as they really seem. The main points are the fact that the games exploit stereotypes, the fact that the plot elements seem unoriginal, the repetition of missions and the fact that you can't play Grand Theft Auto without being violent.
Well, OK, yes. As a series, Grand Theft Auto has always been heaped with accolades from critics and fans - and for the most part, it's deserved them. But take a step back from the open-world approach and rampant criminality for a second, and ask yourself: deep down, is the series really as smart as it's given credit for? Or has the freedom to get into firefights with Florida retirees blinded us to its shortcomings?
With Grand Theft Auto IV set to redefine the series' tone and sense of smartness in under a week's time, we decided it was time to take a look back and re-appraise whether GTA has really been as clever as it's always made out to be.
Exploiting stereotypes is something the GTA series gets accused of a lot, mainly by people who've never played it. When those people look at, say, San Andreas and see that it's a crime game starring a young black man with a gun, they make all sorts of assumptions about how he's being portrayed.
Few of these, however, will actually resemble the character GTA fans know and love as Carl "C.J." Johnson. Why? Because when they make those assumptions, the game's critics rely on their own shallow stereotypes of what young black criminals are like. And that's one of the things that makes GTA interesting: in spite of appearances, the series doesn't normally settle for falling back on easy stereotypes. It chews them up and subverts them.
News Story attached to:
- Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories [PS2, PSP]
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas [PC, Xbox, PS2]
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories [PS2, PSP]
- Grand Theft Auto [PC, PSX, GBC]
- Grand Theft Auto 2 [GBC, DC, PSX, PC]
- Grand Theft Auto Advance [GBA, PC, Xbox, PS2]
- Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 [PSX]
- Grand Theft Auto IV [XBOX360, PS3]
- Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 [PC]
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City [Xbox, PC, PS2]
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The reason these games are so highly acclaimed has nothing to do with their satire, it's all about the design. Rockstar has shown to be the only developer that has been able to make an open ended game like this work. Period. It's all about design. The witty satire and what not are all just added bonuses.
This article was based off an idea that hardly even existed from the start, which means there's no reason for this article itself to exist either.
AD REVENUE FOR THE WIN!
So i can't they are the only ones, however i will say it seems them and Volitions are the only ones, so far, to make this type of genre work.
Also who the hell cares in they are intelligent. Does niko or Carl or anyone else care were controlling them? Do they actually question our method of the game at hand? Hell no, so why the *bleep* make an article which makes no sense at all?