Game Info Publisher Take 2 Developer DMA Design Genre Strategy Origin U.S. Number of Players 1 Accelerated YES Release 1999 (TBA) Peripherals Memory Pack Pileups make the game engine happy! Wasted? You bet your bazooka!

Grand Theft Auto 2

Most of us have had those moments in life where daily stress and problems just make us want to so something drastic. Your boss at work won't stop whining about your performance, your in-laws do nothing but complain about your unsightly dental care, and people on the street all seem to give you the same filthy look. Sometimes you just feel like hopping into a stranger's car and running the streets, banging into everything as a monument to your pressure level. Sometimes you just want the madness to stop, TO STOP, TO STOP!!! GET IT ALL OUT OF MY HEAD, SWEET JIMINY! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE, I CAN'T!

Err, anyway... to help people with tendencies such as these, the designers over at DMA software have decided to bestow Dreamcast owners with an outlet for their stress in the form of a sequel to their popular car-violence series; Grand Theft Auto 2.

Much like the first game seen on the PC and PlayStation, your role in GTA2 is to run around different locales, killing and maiming people, and stealing cars. Luckily for fans of the original, the missions (over 70 in total) will be larger and more intricate in scope, and definitely more open ended. For example, in the past, when you were told to go assassinate a group of hookers, that's pretty much all you could do. Now, with the type of freedom the mission structure presents, you could still cap those ladies of the night OR blast their pimp into smithereens and become their new man, enabling you to make money on the side. While that's not an actual mission in the game, it's a sufficient scenario to illustrate what you can do. There are seven gangs to command in your quest for wealth and power on the streets, and each has its own unique brand of criminal revenge. If you ever become tired of playing as one group of thugs, you'll always have six more at your control on the fly. Replay value is the developer's main goal here.

One of the largest improvements since the last game is the Artificial Intelligence. It's far more advanced than it's predecessor. Using a rather cool bit of programming, individual objects react to their surroundings as they would in real life. People have no idea of what's going on behind them, unless there's a loud booming noise or some kind of commotion. Once they realize something is happening, panic sets in and they run like roaches with the lights on. What's even more impressive is that if you attack a member of a rival gang and take their car, the rest of the gang will come looking for you. If a crook sees a helpless driver you've just thrown out of his ride sobbing on the street, he may feel inclined to come on over and off him. This in turn, grabs the interest of the police force which creates an even bigger problem for you. It goes on and on like this, and makes for some exciting play. Another aspect of GTA2 that proves to be leaps and bounds over the older game is it's graphics. While the visuals certainly aren't the best in the world, the lighting effects are so good that you'll be able to overlook any lack of detail in the textures or character figures (they aren't bad, they just aren't on the same level as most Dreamcast games we've become accustomed too). The lighting is so good, be it during the daytime or dusk, that you'll easily be fooled into thinking you're watching a real event from a new helicopter, not playing a video game.

Despite all these improvements I've mentioned, the heart of Grand Theft Auto can't be overlooked. All the same goodness that was there before is still here. You can still make a ton of money from shooting helpless citizens with an Uzi. You can still run over any pedestrian in sight, while blasting a rock n' roll tune in your car's CD player. When you break it down to brass tax, everything that helped pass the hours away in the original, will help pass them away again. And what else is the sign of a good sequel, but the ability to expand upon the originals premise, and deliver all the good parts of the old experience, coupled with enough new features to make you interested again?

Fans anxious to grab a hold the new and improved version of one of the more underrated games of the 32-bit era will have a lot to look forward to in Grand Theft Auto 2. Added weapons (the extent of which still haven't been revealed), an expanded story line, and better AI and visual splendor are just the beginning. The PC and PlayStation versions will see release this October, with the Dreamcast version is expected to follow just a bit late. Those who have a choice between the platforms, may come to learn that it's worth the wait.

NOTE: The screenshots below and on this page are grabs from the PC version of the game. Expect the Dreamcast version to be just as sexy, though.