Grand Theft Auto III (PS2)

Developer:

DMA Design

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Release Date:

2001

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Systems:

PS2, Xbox, PC, Mac, Android, iOS, Fire OS

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This week on Super Adventures, I'm finally getting around to legendary sandbox crime simulator Grand Theft Auto III! I wrote about GTA 1 in 2014 and GTA 4 in 2016, but since then the site has suffered 7 long years of GTAlessness.

A few things have happened during that time, like GTA 3 getting reverse engineered by fans so they could enhance it for modern hardware! Take-Two weren't keen on this though and shut the RE3 project down. Then they delisted the game from online stores and replaced it with the Definitive Edition Unreal Engine remake, which was hilariously half-assed and broken. At this point you can't buy either version in Steam, as they're selling it for the Rockstar Games Launcher instead.

I've played GTA 3 before, but I've never actually finished the game and it wasn't for a lack of trying. I beat Vice City, San Andreas, GTA 4, The Saboteur, Sleeping Dogs and all the old Saints Rows, but this was just a little too tough for me. Back then anyway. Can I actually manage to reach the ending this time and finally get some closure on the GTA that got away? The answer is... no, because I'm only going to play it for an hour or two. Sorry!

Also, I'm going to be playing the classic PlayStation 2 version of the game, so if you were hoping to see some hilarious Definitive Edition screenshots I'm going to have to disappoint you. I ain't paying that much for a bad version of a game I already own. But is the PS2 game the good version? Is any version of the game still worth playing in 2023? I'm probably the wrong person to answer that last question as I'm obviously unstuck in time, but I'll see what it's like and share some screenshots as I go.

Oni (PC)

Developer:

Bungie

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Release Date:

2001

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Systems:

PC, PS2, Mac

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This week on Super Adventures, I'm playing third person action game Oni, by Bungie, the developers of the Marathon, Halo and Destiny franchises! You can tell they're the ones who made it as their name is right there in the corner underneath the title.

Though hang on, it says 'developed by Rockstar' all over every copy I own, and there's no one from Bungie credited in the manual. So that's kind of weird.

It was ported to the PlayStation 2 by Rockstar Canada, so it makes sense that the logo would be on that version, but I'm not sure why it's on the PC game. I get that the credits were complicated by Take-Two acquiring the rights and Microsoft acquiring the company, but that doesn't mean it was retroactively developed by someone else! It might explain why it never made it to digital stores though.

Unfortunately Windows 10 didn't want to install it off the CD, so I ended up having to use Universal Extractor to get the files out of the installer and then run it with the fan-made Anniversary Edition. The thing includes a bunch of fixes and a huge list of mods to install, so it seems like the game has had a lot of support from its fans over the years. But it also stuck the words "Anniversary Edition" on my title screen, so I switched to playing the OniX rebuild instead. They both seem pretty authentic though from what I can tell.

I wish I could warn you about SPOILERS, though I don't think I'm going to make it that far to be honest. I remember the game having some serious difficulty spikes, mostly involving lasers. I also remember it looking kind of bad for its time, though that's maybe less of an issue 20 years later.

Anachronox (PC)

Developer:

Ion Storm

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Release Date:

2001

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Systems:

Windows

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Deus Ex-style spinning logo!

This week on Super Adventures, it's Ion Storm's fourth game (of six), Anachronox! It was supposed to come out much earlier than that, but then that was true of everything Ion Storm's Dallas studio worked on. Dominion: Storm over Gift 3 was supposed to be released in 1997 and came out a year later in 98, Daikatana was also supposed to hit shelves in 97 and was eventually finished three years later in 2000, and Anachronox was planned for 1998 and was finally released in 2001. It's not really a mystery why the Dallas studio was closed down the month after Anachronox's release, as even if the games had sold well (they hadn't) they must have been way way over budget.

The company's second studio in Austin had a lot more success with the legendary Deus Ex, and survived a few years longer to produce the considerably less legendary Deus Ex: Invisible War and a third Thief game, Deadly Shadows. Which means that during its life Ion Storm released Dominion, Daikatana, Deus Ex, Deus Ex 2, Deadly Shadows... and Anachronox. One of these titles doesn't match the pattern. They should've called this Danachronox, or Daikatanachronox.

Ion Storm was formed by John Romero and Tom Hall, who had both gotten pushed out of id Software due to creative differences. I haven't read Masters of Doom, but it seems like they wanted to be creative, while John Carmack wanted to get games finished. In fact Hall was technically lead designer on Doom, but the character-driven story he'd come up with was thrown out, because who even needs story in video games? To be fair, Doom did just fine without it, but Anachronox was Hall's project, and this time no one was going to stop him putting in all the story and characters and space adventure he wanted.

Hopefully that'll turn out to be a good thing.

AquaNox (PC)

Developer:

Massive Development

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Release Date:

2001

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Systems:

Windows

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This week on Super Adventures I'm still in the early 2000s and I'm still on PC, but I've jumped ahead by one year to play 2001 submarine shooter AquaNox.

I own this one on CD with a proper box and a proper manual, but I'm playing the Steam version instead because Windows 10 apparently wants nothing to do with its SafeDisc DRM. A lot of the games on my PC shelf have the same issue, which is a bit of a pain seeing as I didn't get them just so they could take up space! I got them so that they'd be there when I was ready to play them in a decade or two.

Speaking of the box, I got it out to have a look and there's no mention on it anywhere that this is actually a sequel to a 1996 game called Archimedean Dynasty. It apparently has "34 dangerous missions", an "atmospheric 3D soundtrack" and "an absorbing storyline that provides depth to the relentless action", but there's no hint that it's game #2.

There's actually three games in the AquaNox series, though AquaNox: Deep Descent is supposed to be out any day now, which will bring the number to four. There was going to be a PlayStation 2 game as well, AquaNox: The Angel's Tears, but that was outright cancelled for not passing Sony's software quality assurance test! I'm sure the developer could've fixed it, unfortunately they'd already been closed down by that point.

Anyway, it's been a long time since I played Archimedean Dynasty and I've never played this before so I'm not 100% sure what to expect here, but I'm optimistic. I like space shooters and some sky shooters, so I think I could find the fun in a sea shooter.

Need for Speed Games Part 3: Need for Speed: Porsche 2000 (aka Porsche Unleashed)

This week on Super Adventures, I've been playing through all the Need for Speed games released during their first decade. Well maybe not all of them, I'm sure there's one I've accidentally skipped, because they just kept making the things! There are more Need for Speed games than there are Bond movies at this point. Well, kind of. It depends on whether you count games like Need for Speed: V-Rally and Over Drivin' Skyline Memorial. Or if you count games like Porsche 2000, Porsche 2000 and Porsche 2000.

Speaking of which, today I'm writing about Need for Speed: Porsche 2000, also known as Porsche Unleashed, or sometimes just Porsche. Once again the US version has the better name, as I don't think a game has any business having '2000' in its title when it actually came out during the year 2000. FIFA 2000 coming out in 1999, that's fine. Death Race 2000 coming out in 1975, that's cool too. But this I don't like.

This is the third part of four. If you want to go back to an earlier part you can find them here and here.

(If I don't mention what system a screenshot came from, it's from the PC version.)

Serious Sam: The First Encounter (PC)

Developer:

Croteam

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Release Date:

2001

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Systems:

PC, Xbox

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This week on Super Adventures I'm taking a quick look at a classic first person shooter from the dawn of the 21st century: Serious Sam: The First Encounter! I always assumed that 'The First Encounter' was something they slapped on after The Second Encounter came out, but I just checked and nope it was there on my box cover all along. So I've learned something today.

I've also learned that it was the game's 15th anniversary on March 21st... last year. So I was just a little late on that one.

Serious Sam started life in the mid 90s as a game called In the Flesh, which would've had you fighting through nightmares and Hell and suchlike, but a couple of years into development they decided to switch to bright sunny open levels instead and rename it Serious Sam, after its protagonist. It worked for Duke Nukem after all, and it's possibly not a coincidence that two heroes shame the same dress sense. Sam's more of an affectionate clone than a parody, seeing as Duke's already a parody, but it's not like 3D Realms held the patent on smart-assed muscle-bound 80s action movie heroes in jeans, so whatever. They get to complain just as soon as they give Bruce Campbell his lines back.

The game was given a shiny Serious Engine 3 makeover back in 2009 and released for PC and Xbox 360 as Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter, but I'm playing the original right off the CD (with all appropriate patches). There's also an Xbox port which has smaller levels and lives, and even a version for PDAs running Palm OS. Except not really, as the PDA version is more like Wolfenstein 3D and looks like a 3DO game.

(Click the screenshots to view the original sized images).

Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (Movie)

Written by:

Al Reinert, Jeff Vintar

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Directed by:

Hironobu Sakaguchi

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Release Date:

2001

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I've been writing about video games for a long time now, over five years in fact, and it's starting to become a dull routine for me to be honest. I need to widen my scope, pick a new subject, try something different! I mean I'm still fascinated by games and I always will be, but I have a very slight obsession with science fiction as well and it'd be nice to shift gears and focus on that for a while.

So this week on Sci-Fi Adventures, I'm writing about a science fiction movie! Because I do that now.

Speaking of trying something new, 'Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within' was the debut movie from Square Pictures, the video game company's new computer animated film division. And it was also the last, because it bombed so hard. They'd would only work on one more project, the 'Final Flight of the Osiris' short for the 'Animatrix', before being shut down. I guess if you keep using 'Final' in your titles it will eventually come true.

I'm not sure the movie failed because it was based on a video game though, because I've seen this before and I know full well that it ain't based on any 'Final Fantasy' games I've played. But this isn't a case of a movie studio taking a brand name and doing their own thing with it, as it was conceived and directed by 'Final Fantasy' creator Hironobu Sakaguchi himself! His very first film in fact, and also his last.

Despite its utter failure, Spirits Within was a pretty important milestone in cinema, as it's the first full-length 'photorealistic' motion captured animated movie. A proper big-budget serious cartoon aimed at adults starring humans, four years in the making! To give it a bit of context, it came out 6 years after Toy Story (the first full length CG movie) and around the same time that 'Final Fantasy X' hit the PlayStation 2. So yes, it really is 15 years old at the time I'm writing this.

(I'm basically going to go ahead and spoil this entire movie one scene at a time now, so please stop right here unless you're okay with that).

X-Com: Enforcer (PC) - Guest Post

Hey look, former guest-posting superstar mecha-neko came back just in time to play the last game to be featured on the site this year! It was only a matter of time before X-Com: Enforcer made an appearance I suppose, and I'm kinda glad I wasn't the one who ended up having to play it.

This was a gift from a most X-cellent person. It was X-tremely X-pensive, so my X-pectations are high!

Once again, the Earth is under attack from a relentless alien foe. Only one cat can possibly stop them.
(Click the pictures to fill your monitor with X-ceedingly high resolution images of X-Com: Enforcer.)

Jack Orlando: A Cinematic Adventure - Director's Cut (PC)

Today on Super Adventures I'm going to be taking a brief look at Jack Orlando: A Cinematic Adventure. It came with five other games on a double sided compilation disc I picked up a while back and although the DVD case clearly says both "RPG" and "Role Playing Games" on the cover, I wouldn't be entirely shocked if this instead turned out to be an adventure game. Maybe even an adventure game with cinematic sequences in it.

I'm not all that familiar with this one, but I do know that I'm playing the Director's Cut of the game which came out 4 years after the 1997 original. As far as I'm aware they didn't do a 'Monkey Island: Special Edition' on it though and redraw the all of the artwork, so it should basically be the same thing except with a few updates and tweaks, maybe even a couple of extra backgrounds to visit and puzzles to ponder.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (GBC)

Today I'm taking a quick look at the Game Boy Color version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, also known as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in countries without philosophers (I guess).

Wikipedia claims that there are actually five different games based on this one book and movie, on eight different systems, and I don't see any reason to doubt it or actually bother to do any further research beyond that. Someone asked me to play the GBC version and that's just what I'm going to do.

Actually it just says 'Harry Potter GBC' in my notes so I suppose it's possible I was asked to play the game based on the second book (the last GBC game ever released in North America, random trivia fans!) But I've already made this cool animated title screen image so I'm committed now.

Max Payne (PC)

Super Adventures in Gaming Replay 2014 - Game 4

Today on Super Adventures, Replay Week continues with my second look at Remedy's Max Payne, as seen on PC, Mac, PlayStation 2, Xbox, iOS, Android and, uh, Game Boy Advance. It also got a movie in 2008, which was utter shite (no huge surprise there).

I suppose this one's not actually technically a replay, seeing as first time around I was mostly talking about the GBA version instead, which is a great deal more isometric and a great deal less 3D. It wasn't all that terrible either (genuine huge surprise there!)

Here, have Max's theme tune to listen to while you read: youtube link, it's one of my favourites.

(Click the images to view them at a fascinating 1280x1024 resolution.)

Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel (PC)

Today I'm looking at 2001 PC strategy game Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel, not to be confused with 2004 console action RPG Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel. No seriously, you probably don't want to get those two confused.

They're both combat driven spin-offs that break with tradition and take the series into a new genre, but one is focused on refining the battle system to be more tactical and involving to the exclusion of everything else, while the other has a Slipknot song on the soundtrack.

Uh, this is the tactical one by the way.

(Clicking screenshots may re-inflate them to their full 800x600 majesty.)

Hostile Waters (PC)

Today I'm taking a brief look at real-time action strategy shooter hybrid Hostile Waters, released in the first half of 2001 for the sole benefit of PC gamers. Sadly this one didn't get a console release, which is a shame because it really could've used the extra exposure. Critics seemed to love it, but it just didn't sell all that well for whatever reason and so it sunk into semi-obscurity.

But hey, I bought a copy! I did my part! I have vague memories of enjoying this one in my youth, but it's possible they've been warped by the dark corrupting influence of nostalgia. So I'm going to give it an hour or so to show me if it's got what it takes to win me over all over again.

I can say right now that the theme music won me over in about 20 seconds: youtube link.

(Click the pics to view the screenshots at resolutions unimaginable to those in the ancient times of the early 21st century.)

Return to Castle Wolfenstein (PC)

Now that's the kind of picture I like to see when I put a video game on.

Today I'm playing Return to Castle Wolfenstein, third in id Software's Wolfenstein franchise, though it was developed by Gray Matter and Nerve. This was actually Grey Matter's only game before they were absorbed by CODBlops devs Treyarch, though they'd made games like Redneck Rampage and Kingpin: Life of Crime in their previous life as Xatrix Entertainment. Perhaps not a very interesting fact, but I just wanted an excuse to type CODBlops.

Here's another potentially underwhelming fact: I've played and finished this game before, so I'm not coming into it even slightly unaware of what to expect. Though I'll make every effort to pretend to be surprised.

(Click the gameplay pictures to expand them into exciting new resolutions.)

Spider-Man 2: The Sinister Six (GBC)

Well that just looks nasty. It's like they took the title screen from a PlayStation game and tried to shove it into the Game Boy Color. Can't complain about the music though.

In hindsight I probably should have played this for the site nearer to Christmas, when Amazing Spider-Man's 700th and final issue hit shops (and made a lot of people unhappy), but sadly extremely obvious ideas often take a fortnight to work their way into my brain.

007 Games Part 11: Agent Under Fire (PS2)

Super AiG's Guide to Every (old) James Bond Game Ever, Volume 11

Game 23 - Agent Under Fire (2001)
Formats: Game Cube, PlayStation 2, Xbox.

Today's Bond game is Agent Under Fire, (aka. James Bond 007 in... Agent Under Fire™, according to the side of my game box), the first game by future Dead Space developers Visceral Games. This was the first Bond game to hit the sixth generation consoles, (computers had to sit this one out again) and I'm going to be playing it on the PlayStation 2.

There was no Bond film to tie in with the year this was released, but instead of adapting one of many untapped classics like Dr No, You Only Live Twice, or Octopussy, they decided to just make up their own story instead. Probably one with lots of gun fights.

007 Games Part 10: The World is Not Enough (GBC)

Super AiG's Guide to Every (old) James Bond Game Ever, Volume 10 

Game 22 - The World is Not Enough (2001)

Formats: Game Boy Color.

Only one Bond game today, the Game Boy Color adaptation of The World is Not Enough, released a year after the PlayStation and N64 games. I can only hope that the rest of the game matches the... quality of its title screen.

Action Man: Search for Base X (GBC)

Today I'm taking a look at Action Man: Search for Base X on the Game Boy Color, inspired by the action figure line, and possibly based on some comic book or advert storyline, I wouldn't know. I have no idea who either of these people are, or why that guy's head's on backwards, but I'm pretty sure I'm liking this music. It sounds like it belongs on a classic NES platformer like Mega Man.

Batman: Vengeance (GBA)

Nice shiny logo. Seems good so far.

Red Faction (PS2) - Guest Post

Hey, I've got a modern console game for you this time!

I like Red Faction. You should too! Here's why!