To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Grand Theft Auto, Rockstar is bringing the third game to iOS later this fall. They had an early iPad version running on the New York Comic-Con show floor this weekend, and from my short time with it I have to tell you that it looks really good.
The original PS2 version of Grand Theft Auto III was no slouch in the graphics department, but that was a long time ago, and things have changed. For this iPad version the graphics have been upped to HD, bringing this classic up to date. My first impression was that it looked like a brand new game with its clear edges and sharp detail. It’s definitely one of the better looking iOS games out there already, and it’s not even finished yet! Sorry — they wouldn’t let me take pictures. I’m guessing it’s high-end visuals have something to do with the game being limited to the iPad 2 and iPhone 4S so far, though Rockstar says they’ll make more device announcements later
This game was made for a controller, so getting used to the virtual joystick and action buttons took a bit. They worked as expected. Camera is controlled by screen swiping, which I suspect some won’t love. Other contextual controls will pop up when needed, and you’ll only need to touch/hold/swipe the screen to use them. For example, car pedals come up in driving segments. They’re still working on the control, so we’ll hold judgement for something closer to final code.
It would be nice to revisit GTAIII in an on-the-go version, so we’ll look forward to seeing more of this one.
