In the fall of 1999, two years after the original Grand Theft Auto took the world by storm, developer DMA Design released GTA 2. This sequel retained the series' trademark top-down perspective, but refined the visuals and AI and transported us to a peculiar new setting. The first game was set in fictional versions of real American cities, which would become a standard for the series. But GTA 2 took players to Anywhere City, a retro-futuristic metropolis with a dystopian sci-fi feel. Based on apocalyptic visions of the future from '70s and '80s cinema, this was a dramatic change of scenery for a series that was only one game deep. It's a one-off stylistic curio that Rockstar has never, to date, revisited. But it's also arguably the most artistically interesting city in the whole GTA series.
The post-war architecture and car design, mixed with futuristic tech, gives the game a striking aesthetic, like something from the pages of a pulpy '80s comic book. GTA 2 was also a notable technical leap for the series, with real-time lighting and bigger, sharper sprites giving the visuals a significant boost. The wanted system was also overhauled, throwing aggressive SWAT teams, roadblocks, and bazooka-wielding National Guard soldiers to the mix. Deeper AI meant gangsters and cops would fight each other on the street, making the city feel more alive. There was plenty of new stuff, but art and setting aside, it wasn't as bold a sequel as some people expected—more of a refinement of what had come before.
Reviews were mixed, but over the years GTA 2 has developed something of a cult following among fans. The respect system, which sees you cultivating relationships with the various gangs that run the city, was particularly innovative. There are seven gangs, and your standing with them changes as you play. Piss off the Zaibatsu Corporation and you won't be able to work for them—but their arch rivals, the Loonies, will love you for it, throwing jobs at you. However, if you want to get back into Zaibatsu's good books, you could go on a Loony-killing rampage and show them where your loyalties really lie. These relationships were tracked in real-time via a series of meters, and it made for a dynamic, reactive world.
The respect system also fed into the mission structure. You could pick up missions from green payphones at any time—but to access the more lucrative (and as a result more difficult) red and yellow payphone missions, your reputation with the gang in question had to be at a certain level. The design of the city itself was a major improvement over the previous game too. It was broken up into districts—Commercial, Residential, and Industrial—each of which had a unique look and feel. The first GTA reused assets heavily across its three cities, but the various regions of Anywhere City are a lot more visually distinct. I wouldn't call it a pretty game, especially now, but it's certainly interesting to look at.
Grand Theft Auto as we know it today sticks to a fairly standard formula when it comes to the setting, writing, and general vibe, which makes GTA 2 such a fascinating outlier. It's a deeply strange game—not just because of the neon-tinged dystopian setting, but the tone of the writing and the surreal humour too. It's so far removed from anything else in Rockstar's catalogue, and I love that about it. After the success of the first GTA, people wanted more of the same. But the team at DMA Design (now Rockstar North), displaying a wonderfully anarchic spirit, dreamed up something dark, futuristic, and offbeat instead. I don't think we'll ever see a GTA with this kind of setting again, but it was an intriguing experiment.
GTA 2 is still fun to play, but is perhaps more interesting as a historical artifact, documenting a transition period between the 2D and 3D games. It marks a rare time when Rockstar was not at the forefront of technology, with the game's website making a point of saying that it cares more about complex AI and fun missions than "throwing millions of polygons around." The in-game radio stations were also a big step up, with amusing DJ chatter and tongue-in-cheek commercials for fake products that would soon become an integral part of the series. GTA 2 feels almost like a live testing ground for ideas that would come into their own in Grand Theft Auto 3, which launched to great acclaim just two years later.
