Colin Anderson, the audio manager and co-composer for Grand Theft Auto II at DMA Design, recently paid tribute to the game, calling it the “unsung hero” of the franchise. Celebrating its 25th anniversary, many see GTA 2 as a misstep, but Anderson believes that it was pivotal in shaping Grand Theft Auto’s future.
GTA 2 introduced several innovative features such as the gang reputation system and fictionalized radio commercials. It also moved the setting to “Anywhere USA,” a retrofuturistic metropolis inspired by films and comics like Terry Gilliam’s Brazil and Frank Miller’s Hard Boiled. These elements made it one of the more experimental entries in the series.
Anderson highlighted that GTA 2 was key for experimentation over perfection, making it a critical step in the franchise’s evolution. The game moved away from simple point-and-click mechanics and towards creating a meaningful immersive world.
Do you agree that GTA 2 is an unsung hero of the franchise?
Why was it seen as a misstep?
I have memories of ramps, black z cars and a hotdog mission…
Because it got 7/10 average review scores and didn’t sell as well as GTA. Then GTA3 (and its immediate spin-offs and eventual sequels) came out and started breaking all time sales records. So retroactively, GTA 2 was “a mistake” for not being GTA 3 two years early.
But like the guy says, the point of the article even, is that you don’t create run away successes without experimenting on the formula to find what’s good, without “failures” like GTA 2 to learn from.
That’s very funny to me, since GTA 2 is the only GTA I have fond memories of
But then again, I was a kid so. Not exactly the most refined tastes