The GTA that changed everything, Xbox version of the revolutionary classic. Liberty City's 3D criminal open world remains fascinating. Xbox offers slight visual improvements. A video game monument to have experienced, even today.
Your verdict
Category
Action Adventure1 player18+
Description
Claude, mute and betrayed by his girlfriend during a heist, climbs the criminal ladder in Liberty City to exact his revenge. Published by Rockstar Games, released in 2003 in the United States and Europe. The first fully three-dimensional GTA, featuring 69 missions, three districts to explore, dozens of vehicles and side missions, and an open-ended narrative that revolutionized video games.
Grand Theft Auto III review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
MAX
Music
★★★★★
"Legendary"
MAX
Story
★★★★★
"Masterful"
Broadcast across a dozen fictional radio stations, the music weaves the soul of Liberty City, from classical to house through rap and rock. Each station has its own colour, turning the slightest drive into a tailor-made soundtrack. This brilliant idea, a pioneer of the genre, made driving a pure musical pleasure.
Betrayed and left for dead, a silent criminal climbs the ladder of crime in a metropolis riddled with corruption. A pioneer of the narrative open world, the tale distils revenge and mob ascent with unheard-of bite. The founder of a whole genre, it redefined the way stories are told in video games.
Gameplay
"Masterful"
Dropping the player into a 3D metropolis and letting them improvise missions, races and mayhem redefined the open-world game. The snappy driving and total freedom of approach retain an undeniable pioneering force. On-foot aiming and the lack of bearings clearly show their age, but the dizzying rush of this unprecedented freedom keeps both a historical and a playful appeal.
Fun
"From the very first seconds"
The game that redefined the open world: a whole city to roam freely, where stealing a car, shaking off the police or improvising chaos becomes possible at any moment. The raw freedom and the sense of absolute power deliver an instant rush that founded the genre. Bold, biting and incredibly influential, a major landmark in gaming.
Addictiveness
"Obsessive"
Arriving in an open 3D metropolis where every mission rubs shoulders with a thousand freedoms redefined the genre and keeps its loop of delicious chaos intact. Unlocking districts, vehicles, and hideouts renews the urge to explore and try everything. The tech and driving show their age, but this pioneering sense of criminal freedom retains a definite magnetism.
Difficulty
"Balanced"
Lifespan
"Massive"
Climbing Liberty City's criminal ladder as the silent Claude marks the moment the genre went fully open and 3D, and the playground grew to match. Across 69 missions, three boroughs unlock bit by bit, dotted with vehicles and side jobs that stretch the exploration well past the story. That founding open-ended narration, which invented the modern sandbox, keeps the title a historic landmark.
An Xbox port of the game that swung urban crime into open 3D, the matrix of a genre Rockstar would dominate for decades. Distributed in good volume, its collecting interest lies in this status as a founding stone of the modern sandbox rather than scarcity, the Japanese and Australian pressings being more hunted. A historic piece for fans of open worlds.
A questionable morality
Climbing the criminal ladder here means borrowing every vehicle without asking, running shady errands and sowing cheerful chaos across an entire city left at your mercy. The game wraps it all in a sharp satire, which never stops the player from stringing together crimes with a delighted grin, perfectly at home in the role of the thug.
Is Grand Theft Auto III still worth playing in 2026?
Released on Xbox in 2003, this port of Rockstar's 2001 landmark redefined the very idea of the urban open world. Liberty City, its pirate radio stations, its organised crime and the sheer freedom of action shaped an entire generation of design. The silent protagonist staging and the mission pacing remain genuinely effective. Driving, shooting and the rigid camera show their age without disguise. Stays a historic milestone, well worth recommending today to fans of video game history and to collectors of Rockstar's 3D era trilogy on original Xbox hardware.
