Grand Theft Auto 2 (or GTA2) is a video game released worldwide on October 22, 1999 by developers Rockstar North; initially for the PC and PlayStation, and subsequently for the Dreamcast console, and a toned-down version for Game Boy Color. It is the sequel to the controversial 1997 hit Grand Theft Auto (also developed by Rockstar North, then known as DMA Design). Rockstar now offers the PC version for free download at their website.

Game overview

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GTA2 retained the top-down viewpoint of GTA but added a choice of factions to the car-stealing/telephone-answering formula of the original.

The player is a man named Claude Speed, and based on evidence from San Andreas, is speculated to be the nameless protagonist from GTA III. There are two new factions for each of the three levels of the game, and one faction which is present in all levels. Being employed by one faction or gang can cause distrust from others (working for gang #1 will incur the wrath of gang #2, working for gang #2 will cause enmity with gang #3, et cetera). In the original GTA, only the local police pursued the player. In GTA2, SWAT teams, FBI agents and the army can begin chasing the player as his or her wanted level increases.

Unlike other games in the series, GTA2 is set in the near future (the game's manual uses the phrase "three weeks into the future", and phrases such as "X weeks into the future" or "X minutes into the future" are common phrases meaning "near future"; fictional journal entries on the GTA2 website suggest the year to be 2013 ^*) in a metropolis referred to only as Anywhere City. Its overall aesthetic style is a combination of cyberpunk with vintage-styled vehicles.

The first level is The Downtown Area and features casinos, hotels, a large mental institution and a university. The second area is The Residential District and contains the city's prison, a trailer park with an Elvis-themed club named "Disgracelands", a research center and a large hydroelectric power plant. The third and last area is The Industrial District. It holds a large seaport, a meat packing plant, and a Krishna temple.

GTA2 also included a saving technique that improved upon that of the original GTA (which saved only when finishing a city). If the player entered a church with a certain amount of cash, a voice announced "Hallelujah! Another soul saved!". This obvious pun notified the player that the game had been saved. If the player did not have enough money, the voice would say "Damnation! No donation, no salvation!" (In later games, "safehouses" were established where the game could be saved at no cost.)

Grand Theft Auto 2 was released as a free download (for the PC only) on December 22, 2004. This version also includes support for multiplayer games.

Gangs

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There are 7 gangs in the game:

• Zaibatsu Corporation (symbol: yellow 'Z') - They appear in the all of the areas and are a seemingly legitimate corporation who manufacture everything from cars and weapons to medication, but are beneath the surface involved heavily in the narcotics trade. Their car, called a Z-Type, is the second fastest gang car available. The Zaibatsu is apparently led by at least three heads: Trey Welsh in the Commercial District, Red Valdez in the Residential District, and Uno Carb in the Industrial District. Their gang color is black. Their name comes from zaibatsu, the Japanese word for conglomerate.
• Loonies (symbol: winking smiley face) - They appear in the first area and they are quite crazy. Their gang car, the Dementia, is a microcar with their mark painted on top and is probably named after their apparent insanity. Their small section of turf is in the vicinity of the city's mental institution, named "SunnySide" after the Mental Institution in Montrose, Scotland, near Dundee, where the game was originally created. Their boss is Elmo. They use surgical green as their gang color.
• The Yakuza (symbol: blue yen '¥') - They also appear in the first area. They make drugs at the so-called J-Lab, one of their strongest "industries". Their boss is Johnny Zoo. Deep blue is their gang color. And their car is a Y-Type (also known as the Miara), not to be confused with the Zaibatsu Z-Type.
• SRS (Sex and Reproductive Systems) Scientists (symbol: a shield.) - They appear in the second area, and are all apparently clones of one genetically enhanced human. Their business is advanced weapon development along with cloning, genetic engineering and robotics. Their leader Dr. LaBrat is Icelandic. Their gang car is called a Meteor and is the fastest gang car available. Their turf is the Scientist Research Center. Their gang color is pale gold.
• Rednecks (symbol: the Confederate flag) - Led by Billy Bob Bean, they appear in the second area, are rabid fans of Elvis Presley, and specialize in explosives and vehicles. Their car is a wide pick-up truck. The Rednecks' turf is the trailer park. Their gang color is light blue.
• Russian Mafia (symbol: a red star) - They appear in the third area and specialize in advanced weaponry. Their car is the Bulwark, a station wagon. They can be seen in the seaport areas. Jerkov is the name of their boss. They use red as a gang color.
• Hare Krishna (symbol: an orange flower) - They appear in the third area and their car, the Karma Bus, is a sort of big hippie-bus with flowers painted on its roof. The Krishna's turf is around their temple. Their boss' name is Sunbeam. They use orange as a gang color. This gang also appeared in the first Grand Theft Auto game (called the Gourangas), but were not involved in criminal acts.

Radio stations

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Each area features five radio stations from a pool of eleven, in which one of them would be played as the player drives most vehicles in game. "Head Radio" was present in the original GTA, Grand Theft Auto III and Liberty City Stories . Each gang also has its own radio station that transmits within a limited area.

• Head Radio — The city's largest commercial radio station. It can be received in all areas of the game. The DJ's names are Phanny Joe Styles and Johnny Riccaro. Head Radio plays modern pop and rock.

• Rockstar Radio — A commercial radio station in the Downtown Area. Sammy Starock is the name of the DJ. The station plays pop and rock and occasionally features on-air phone calls from "listeners".

• KREZ — The Residential Area's commercial station which plays hip hop and rap. The DJ is Richie T.

• Lo-Fi FM — A commercial station in the Industrial Area that plays oldies and pop. The DJ (DJ Die/Dye — Dai is a Welsh abbreviation for the name 'David') is Welsh and seems to have no ties to gangs in the area.

• Futuro Radio — The Zaibatsu gang's station. It can be received in all three areas. The DJ, Dean Franz, plays dance, jazz-oriented pop and Funk.

• Tsunami FM — The Yakuza gang's station in the Downtown Area. The music is drum and bass-type electronic music. The station is hosted by a Japanese man and a frantically screaming Japanese woman (in a varied high-pitch voice) whose speech is unintelligible apart from a few random phrases of English.

• Lithium FM — The Loonies' station. Features a totally insane DJ, Spaz Funbags, as well as some oldies and dance-music.

• Rebel Radio/KING — The Redneck gang station in the Residential Area. The DJ, Marshall Nash, has a thick Southern accent. The music of choice is modern and classic rock.

• Osmosis Radio — The Scientists' station, transmitting in the Residential Area. The DJ "Mama Doc", who is Icelandic or Scandinavian, plays modern dance music.

• Heavenly Radio — The Krishnas' gang station, transmitting in the Industrial Sector. The music is a mix of Jesus-pop and soft music. Listeners are continuously urged by the station's DJ, Venus Ordelia, to convert.

• KGBH — Radio station of the Russian mafia with DJ Bombatumba. KGBH frequently encounters both technical and personal problems that interfere with their broadcasts. The station primarily plays classic rock.

GTA2: The Movie

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The opening video of the game was pieced together using live-action footage taken from an eight-minute short film created for the purpose of advertising the game. This film has since been made available to the public and is downloadable from Rockstar's website. ^* Claude Speed (the game's playable protagonist) is played by Scott Maslen in the film.

Claude Speed is regarded by some Grand Theft Auto players as the same character as Claude (without a last name) in GTA III and San Andreas, but the movie rendition contradicts several details established in other games regarding him: The depiction of Claude Speed is different from Claude in later (but chronologically earlier) GTA titles, as he displays a wide array of emotions and appears to be quite verbal in GTA2 but is completely mute and expressionless in GTA III and GTA: San Andreas.

In addition, whether the movie can be considered canonical is debatable. The short film shows Claude being murdered (shot by a Zaibatsu hitman while trying to break into a sports car). Finally, the film was clearly shot in present-day New York City (with the World Trade Center in clear view) instead of the game's anonymous city of the future. The film depicts a blue-and-white NYPD 1991-1996 Chevrolet Caprice police car as a pursuit vehicle, as well as a black 1995 BMW E28 528i driven by Claude, which is later repainted white.

Trivia

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• GTA2 was intended to be titled GBH, or Grievous Bodily Harm. It was later decided that the phrase grievous bodily harm, used in English criminal law but rarely heard in the United States, was too obscure for American audiences. Traces of the name GBH can still be found in the game's code. ^*
• In the Residential Sector, two of the city's areas are named Largo and Stromberg, presumably named after James Bond villains Emilio Largo and Karl Stromberg.
• A news-report in the game makes reference to a rapper named "Robert De Negro", who wrote the title track to the original Grand Theft Auto (it was also later featured in GTA III's Lips 106 radio bill). The rapper's name is an obvious play on actor Robert De Niro.
• The mission "I'd Like A Tank, Please, Bob!" is a play on the catchphrase from the British version of the Blockbuster game show.

External links

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Official sites

Fan sites and resources