Grand Theft Auto 2

Grand Theft Auto 2 is an action-adventure video game developed by DMA Design and published by Rockstar Games for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation, Dreamcast, and Game Boy Color. It is the second major installment in the Grand Theft Auto series.

Gameplay
Grand Theft Auto 2 takes place in a large American metropolis referred to as Anywhere City. The city is heavily stylized in a retro-futuristic design, displaying a contrast between a vivid color palette and advanced science fiction weapons and post-war architecture and transportation. All civilian vehicles are retro-modified versions of popular cars and trucks built up until the 1960s, further reinforcing its retro futuristic influences. The player controls Claude Speed, an uprising criminal in the districts of Anywhere who works both with and against the many criminal syndicates of the city.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Unlike other GTA games where they try to be realistic and modern, this one is instead set in the not distant future and therefore has futuristic weapons and gadgets.
 * 2) Anywhere City is divided into three sectors: Commercial, Residential, and Industrial, each of them having three gangs, whose bosses give the player missions via pay-phones.
 * 3) Each of the three gangs within the three districts have a gang that they are neutral with, and a gang that they are at war with. The player will earn respect by killing other enemy gang members, but will also lose respect with the gang they are attacking.
 * 4) More detailed graphics than the first one.
 * 5) Lots of replay value.
 * 6) Lots of stuff to do in the game, you can either do missions, explore Anywhere City, find collectibles or enter a Kill Frenzy, where you have to get a certain amount of kills in a limited time with a given weapon.
 * 7) Awesome original soundtrack and near-realistic radio stations.
 * 8) Good sense of humor due to the lack of realism.
 * 9) After completing each level in the PC version, the player unlocks not only the next district, but also one bonus arena. There are two different types, each with three arenas: Destroying ice cream vans, and a time-attack mode where the player must race against the clock, killing pedestrians earns you extra time.
 * 10) The wanted level has increased to six now; the fifth wanted level brings the FBI to hunt you down, and the sixth brings the army.
 * 11) Unlike the previous game, you can actually save your progress now.
 * 12) The PC version has a few additional features that are missing on other versions, like the option to change the time of a game to day or night.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Other than the save system and new weapons, there are barely any improvements over the original. Saving also costs a whopping $50,000, which is very hard to get the money for unless you've completed a couple of missions, killed a lot of people, or both.
 * 2) Missions from the gangs are long and difficult to beat, especially after becoming enemies with one. Even trying to balance the respect meter from gangs are a major chore because rival gangs will always shoot you on sight, making you very vulnerable, no matter how well-armed you are.
 * 3) Cars are incredibly twitchy, and at other times have a horrible turning radius when driven.
 * 4) Dying five times after starting a new game without 1 ups means game over permanently.
 * 5) The Game Boy Color version is a terrible port. What's worse is that it's just a reskin of the previous game.
 * 6) Like the PlayStation version of the first game, the PlayStation version of this game has downgraded graphics and is missing trains, train stations, and tracks in the first two districts, yet the third district still has train stations and tracks, although they are virtually inaccessible. It is also missing the public transportation bus. All of this is most likely due to the hardware limitations of the PlayStation. This version is also censored compared to the uncut Dreamcast and PC versions; for example, the mission Hot Dog Homicide! was heavily altered.
 * 7) * Due to limitations, the console versions (especially the PlayStation version) lack some features, such as the ability to change the time of day. It's always day on the PlayStation version, but always night on the Dreamcast version.
 * 8) Like the first Grand Theft Auto game, the top down view is incredibly disorienting when driving. You can't clearly see traffic up ahead, or even a shot from a tank shell which can lead to your unexpected death.

Reception
Grand Theft Auto 2 was met with mixed to positive reception, with most critics praising the game for its open-world and gameplay, but criticizing it for not offering many changes since the original game. Game Informer gave the game an 8.5/10.

Trivia

 * There's a 10 minutes short created by Rockstar games called GTA 2: The Movie, some developers from Rockstar actually appear as gang thugs in it, the intro is composed of scenes from the short too.
 * The frantic Japanese-speaking host of Funami FM, Teryiaki-chan, was voiced by Seiko Yoshida who was just 13 years old at the time of the game's release. This may serve as retroactive recognition, as she would go on to voice more characters from the late 2000s.
 * The PlayStation and Game Boy Color versions (along with the GBC version of GTA 1) are the only games in the series to be rated T for Teen. It's own predecessor on the PS1 retained the M rating.