Grand Theft Auto 2

Grand Theft Auto 2, or GTA 2, is the second major installment for the Grand Theft Auto Series. It was released on October 22, 1999, and it was released for the PC, PlayStation, Dreamcast, Game Boy Color, and later, a downloadable version for the PlayStation Portable. It was developed by DMA Design, and was published by Rockstar Games.

Overview
Grand Theft Auto 2 was the first title in the series to adopt the early 3D graphics technology present on the PlayStation, and some PCs. While the gameplay didn't shift to the third-person prespective like Grand Theft Auto III with its full 3D environment.

GTA 2's gameplay was via the top-down prespective, as in all Grand Theft Auto 1's titles and expansion packs, but due to the early 3D tech, it exhibited smooth dynamic camera zooming, lighting effects from street lamps, car headlamps, and emergency vehicle roof lighting.

City
The protagonist's name is Claude Speed. This game takes place in Anywhere City, which is divided into 3 sectors: Downtown District, Residential District, and Industrial District. In each of these districts, there are three gang, whose bosses give the player missions through payphones. Each district also has a maximum wanted level that the player can aquire, likely to make the later levels a little more difficult.

The Commercial district allows a maximum wanted level of four, which will result in the SWAT team chasing the player.

The Residential District allows a maximum wanted level of five, with F.B.I. agents chasing the protagonist. In the Playstation version of the game, this area allows a maximum of 6 stars.

The Industrial District, the maximum wanted level is six stars in both versions, which results in the United States army chasing the player.

Saving
In order to save the game, the player needs to find the Jesus Saves church. It can only be found by listening out for the organ or by hijacking a TV Van, (the antenna on the top points towards the church). Once the player finds the church, however, they'll need $50,000 to save, but completing 2-3 missions easily reward the player with enough money.

Respect
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 earns respect by killing other enemy gang members, but naturally, they will lose respect with the gang that they are attacking - a gang with low respect attacks the player if they enter their territory. Respect is also earned by doing missions for each of the gangs, and a high level of respect is required to unlock the harder, but more rewarding missions. The player can find out which gang is hated by other gangs by going to the blue phone in each of the gang's territory.

Missions
There are three levels of mission difficulty in the game: Easy, taken from the green payphones, medium, taken from the yellow payphones, which pay better but require the player to have respect, and hard, from red payphones, which pay very well but are very hard and require the maximum respect.

Bonus Arenas
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 3 arenas: Destroying Ice Cream Vans, and a time attack mode, where the player must race against the clock (killing pedestrians and gang members earns the player more time, but gets the player a wanted level).

Gangs
There are 7 gangs in the game:
 * Zaibatsu Corporation (symbol: yellow 'Z') - They appear in all of the areas and are a seemingly legitimate corporation who manufacture everything from cars and weapons to medication, but beneath the surface they are involved heavily in narcotics, contract-killing and shadowy politics. Their car, the Z-Type, is the second fastest gang car available. The Zaibatsu is apparently led by at least three leaders, or at least have three executives through whom they organize their criminal activities: 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 Downtown District. 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. Their gang colour is light green.
 * 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 the Miara.
 * SRS Scientists (symbol: a golden shield) - They are headquartered in the Residential District, and are a clandestine research institute involved in slightly questionable practices. Their business is advanced weapon development along with cloning, genetic engineering and robotics. Their leader, Dr. LaBrat, is Icelandic, and all of their 'street' members appear to be genetically engineered clone soldiers. Their gang car, the Meteor, 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 business is the brewing, running and selling of moonshine. Their car is a wide Pickup truck. The Rednecks' turf is the trailer park at the northwest of the Residential Area. Their gang color is light blue.
 * Russian Mafia (symbol: a red star) - They appear in the third area and specialize in contract-killing and gun running. Their car is the Bulwark, a station wagon, which is the most durable gang car in the game (capable of surviving one direct hit from a rocket propelled grenade, hand grenade or Molotov cocktail, if the car is in perfect condition). 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 big love 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 (the player would earn the Gouranga bonus for killing them), but they were not involved in criminal acts.

Radio Stations
Each area, features about five radio stations, from a pool of eleven, which the player listens to while driving a vehicle.


 * Head Radio - The city's largest commercial radio station, it can be received in any area in the game. modern pop and rock.
 * Rockstar Radio - A commerical radio station in the downtown area. Sammy Starock is the name of the DJ, the station also plays rock and occasionally features on-air phone calls from listeners.
 * KREZ - The Resdiental Area's commercial station that plays hip hop, and rap. the DJ is Richie T.
 * Lo-Fi FM - A commercial station in the Industrial Area, that plays old music and pop. The DJ is DJ Die/Dye who is Welsh and seems to have no ties to gang in the area.
 * Futuro FM - The Zaibatsu gang's radio station. It can be received in all three areas, The DJ, Dean Franz, plays dance, jazz-oriented pop and Funk.
 * Funami FM - The Yakuza gang's station ithe 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 (who has a varied high-pitch voice), who is named Teriyak-chan.
 * Lithium FM - The Loonies station. Features a completely insane DJ, "Spaz "Funbags, as well as some old music and dance music.
 * Rebel Radio/KING - The Redneck gang station in the Residential area. The DJ, named marshall nash, has a thick southern accent. The music of choice is modern, and classic rock.
 * Osmosis Radio - The Scientists station, transmitting in the Residental Area. The DJ, named "Mama Doc", who is Icelandic and "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 problem that interfere with their broadcasts. The station primarily plays classic rock.

Multiplayer
Grand Theft Auto 2 was the last grand theft auto game with built in multiplayer until Grand theft Auto IV. It supported up to 6 players, and connections via internet, LAN, serial cable or direct modem connection. There are also 3 small multiplayer maps designed for smaller number of players, as well as 3 districts with modified locations of weapons and parked cars.

Playing via internet with only using the built in tools was difficult. First you need to choose "tcp/ip connection", then enter server IP and you will be able to join only if host is in hosting menu. That's why programs like GTA2 Game Hunter, or GTA2 Gamer were made. They provide one-click joining without entering anybody's IP, chat and some other useful options which makes playing GTA 2 online as easy as any other modern game.