Grand Theft Auto 2

Grand Theft Auto 2 carries on from the first game with the same top-down view, but moves the action to an unspecified future and offers a larger, more elaborate city divided into three districts, each with its own character. The novelty is a reputation system with the individual gangs, where completing a gang's jobs builds the player's trust with that group while possibly making an enemy of another. This element added a layer of tactical decision-making, since friendship with one gang could mean hostility from another and turn the player's own surroundings into dangerous, watched territory that had to be approached with caution from then on.

The gameplay remains faithful to the proven formula of stealing cars, completing missions, and fleeing the police, with the star system indicating the level of pursuit expanded and tightened with new stages of security-force deployment. New weapons, vehicles, and even machines offering bonuses directly on the street were added, including temporary character upgrades. The visual style stayed true to the first game's isometric view, but with a higher level of detail and a more colorful, futuristically toned palette evoking gritty industrial districts. The sound again drew on radio stations parodying period pop culture and advertising, giving the game the same ironic tone as its predecessor.

By the time of its release, Grand Theft Auto 2 already stood in the shadow of the series' upcoming three-dimensional leap, so it didn't feel as groundbreaking as the first game, even though it was rated as a successful refinement of the core concept that offered more content and systemic depth. The gang reputation system became one of the elements that returned, in altered form, in later installments of the series. Today it's viewed mainly as the last stop of the old two-dimensional era of GTA — still playable and functional, but overshadowed by the revolution that arrived the very next year with the move to 3D and, with it, the series' worldwide breakthrough.

Why play it: For series fans, it's a gameplay-wise still functional last stop of the old two-dimensional GTA era, even if it's now overshadowed by the revolution the move to 3D brought a year later.