Which is a pretty major flaw when you think about it. Despite the changes, despite the new sound effects (passers-by shout "Twat!" and other British pleasantries at you when you try to kill them), despite the use of real place names and landmarks, it doesn't really feel like London. If you live in, say, Manchester, it means nothing, of course, but for native Londoners it's a hoot. Particularly satisfying for residents is the use of 'proper' district names: if you're in southwest Camden, and you're told to high-tail it to north-east Battersea, you've got a fair idea of which way to head, without having to refer to the map or locator arrow. Several of the major landmarks are there - Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Hyde Park - and the streets are cluttered with scarlet double-deckers and black taxicabs. Whereas the sprawling metropolises of the original GTA had made-up names and made-up locales, GTA London is set in, well, London, dumbo. Of vital importance, of course, is the city itself.
Out go the wailing Starsky And Hutch cop sirens, in come old-school bee-baw numbers out go Studebakers and Cadillacs, in come Minis and Bentleys (well, they don't use the actual names, but close-as-dammit pseudonyms) and references to Michael Caine those shadowy Italian-American wiseguys who muttered at you down dark alleys in the original game are replaced by gruff, growling cockneys while the soundtrack consists largely of Sound Gallery-style cheesy listening workouts.įor some, this is worth the price of entry alone. If you're a Brit, it's a pleasing make-over.
Unless we're mistaken, stupid or just plain wrong, this is the first time 'Swinging London' in all its absurd Austin Powers glory has been used as the backdrop for a game.
Now here's a welcome prospect: a mission pack for Grand Theft Auto that whisks the game away from its contemporary Stateside setting and sends it hurtling backward through the dark purple tunnel of time, leaving it stranded, kicking and screaming in old London town circa 1969.
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