Grand Theft Auto: London 1969

Revision as of 20:48, 3 February 2012 by Steahl (talk | contribs) (Changed from British English to American English for consistency)
Grand Theft Auto: London 1969
DevelopersDMA Design/Tarantula Studios
PublishersASC Games
Release dateApril 29 1999
PlatformsPC and Playstation
Ratings

BBFC: 18
ESRB: M
USK: 16+
OFLC: MA 15+
OFLC (NZ): R18
SELL: 16

ProtagonistUnknown
LocationLondon
Year1969


Grand Theft Auto: London, 1969 is the first expansion pack, to the original Grand Theft Auto. GTA: London 1969 was released in 1999 for the PC and PlayStation. It offered 32 brand new missions, as well as a total of 30 new vehicles, relative to the time period.

The game is very similar to the original Grand Theft Auto because it uses the same game engine and is presented in the same format of missions, sections and cutscenes.

Another expansion pack, Grand Theft Auto: London 1961, was later released solely for the PC version and offered as free download from Rockstar. It requires GTA London 1969, which in turn requires GTA 1.

As the name implies, the game takes place in London in the year 1969. The player once again enters the role of a criminal looking to work his or her way up the career ladder of organized crime. The temporal setting has been exploited through a number of cultural and historical references, including the appearance of a James Bond-like character and the usage of more or less authentic slang. In addition, the cars drive on the left side of the road, as is the case in Britain.

Weapons

  • Fist - People cannot be killed with this weapon. However, it can immobilize enemies for a few seconds.
  • Pistol - Slow firing rate, but kills with one shot. Lots of ammo can be found around the cities. It is always near hospitals and police stations, and is the standard weapon of cops and criminals.
  • Machine Gun - Rapid rate of fire, but it is only in specified places and it doesn't have much ammo. It is used by police when player has wanted level of four.
  • Rocket Launcher - Only used for destroying vehicles, but buildings will also catch fire when shot. It is found only in rare places.
  • Flamethrower - Can easily blow up a car or catch people on fire. It is most useful for killing groups of enemies, but it is a rare weapon.

Missions

The missions are similar to the GTA 1's missions: usually you get jobs from payphones, or you activate a mission when you enter a vehicle.

Gameplay

File:Drive-on-left.png
Driving on the left

The gameplay is almost the same in GTA 1 and in the expansion packs, except the location and British specifics such as driving on the left.

Trivia

  • GTA London 1969 and GTA London 1961 are the only games in the GTA series to be set outside of the United States of America. In addition, these games are also the only GTA games not set in a fictional city, instead in the real-life city London.
  • Promotional artwork for GTA London: 1969 showed a picture of a mop-topped John Lennon-esque Mod gangster holding a shotgun. It references a poster for the 1971 movie Get Carter that has Michael Caine in a similar stance.
  • The title of the game is possibly another of Rockstar's references to the 69 sex position. If if is true, then this will be the earliest 69 reference found yet in the GTA series.
  • GTA London, being released in 1999, is unplayable on high-end, or otherwise modern rigs due to the advanced hardware which the game is not optimized for. Attempting to play the game on modern rigs often results in the screen flashing, or an error message showing.