Does anyone else think GTA III's difficulty is overstated?

[IVCavalcade]

I was a late comer to GTA 3 - I started with VC as a kid back in 2003 and while I played every subsequent release religiously, I never went back and tried 3 until quite recently. I have always heard how 3 is the hardest 3D era GTA game and that it's quite punishing to complete so I was a bit apprehensive to get into it. But now I've spent quite a bit of time with 3 (I have fallen in love with it and regret not playing it sooner), I have 100%'d the PS2, OG Xbox and Definitive Edition versions, and I don't really think it's harder than VC, LCS, VCS. SA is probably the easiest 3D era game due to the controls being much tighter. I find that the timed missions are fairly generous with their limits, and because the map is quite open and spacious, it's usually possible to create enough distance to enemies to not get overwhelmed.

 

Espresso To Go is infamous, but really it gives you heaps of time and it's not really difficult to locate the stands. Yes the shotgun mafia are OP and can easily wreck your car, but you don't really need to face them in missions and it's not a problem if you finish side content early on. Don't get me wrong, it's not an easy game, but I don't think it's as challenging as people say. There is a bit of a learning curve with the map, but once you learn your way around it's a piece of cake.

 

I think the most challenging missions in 3D era games are the scenarios where you're forced into close quarters combat because enemies can melt your armor/health super quick when they're close range, but this game doesn't really have many missions like that. I find VC more challenging in that regard, especially some of the Malibu/Print Works missions.

[stef_92]

I don't know if it's overstated, depends on who are you listening to. I can say it's not as difficult as VC or SA for sure. But its normal, in VC and the later versions they came up with more complex missions, including missions with flying.

With that being said I seriously don't understand why in the definitive edition they intentionally made some things easier. For example - the rampages are not required for the 100% completion. This is a serious take down that nobody asked for. Another thing I noticed is that during firefighter missions on Shoreside Vale I had like 90% of the cars spawned in Wichita Gardens, one after the other, and also majority of the criminals during Vigilante spawned in Pike Creek.

[atay26]

I love gta 3 but even I agree that the difficulty can definitely be overstated, you always hear how hard the game is but to me it’s a mix between, I guess the clunky controls and camera add to the difficulty but the missions themselves are pretty simple. 

[IVCavalcade]

10 hours ago, stef_92 said:

in the definitive edition they intentionally made some things easier. For example - the rampages are not required for the 100% completion. This is a serious take down that nobody asked for. Another thing I noticed is that during firefighter missions on Shoreside Vale I had like 90% of the cars spawned in Wichita Gardens, one after the other, and also majority of the criminals during Vigilante spawned in Pike Creek

That's interesting, I didn't know the rampages weren't required for DE 100% - maybe it's a bug? Seems like a weird change. I did notice in the DE that the Import/Export lists were considerably easier due to increased spawns of the required vehicles. I was able to complete 90% of the lists just by running to the nearest road and finding the vehicles I needed instantly, whereas I had some trouble in the OG version finding certain vehicles, like the ice cream truck for example.

[AC Schnitzer]

DE changes are very likely taken from mobile versions of the game, which were much easier to complete. Times for all timed events and side missions were enlongated for example. 

GTA III was pretty difficult, due to cars being easily broken and powerful enemies (like Cartel members with AKs or Mafia goons with shotguns). Missions like Kingdom Come was pretty hard as well. 

Edited February 19, 2023 by AC Schnitzer

[IVCavalcade]

52 minutes ago, AC Schnitzer said:

DE changes are very likely taken from mobile versions of the game, which were much easier to complete. Times for all timed events and side missions were enlongated for example. 

Yeah for sure the DE version is the easiest, but even the OG versions are quite straightforward to 100% in my experience. It probably helps that I’ve been playing other 3D era GTAs for hundreds of hours before I played 3, so I have a pretty good understanding of the fundamental mechanics. Maybe it would be different if it was the first one I played.

[Rise FM]

Initially found GTA III fairly straightforward apart from a few tougher missions when I was young 1st time around. However returned  to the game 2nd time round, and found them a breeze so guess it depends. I also think i found it way easier doing all the side missions first before making 'enemies' with the mafia helped a lot. Some of those flying missions in VC though... damn frustrating

Edited February 19, 2023 by Rise FM

[Exsanguination]

I always thought GTA III was tough, I was first playing it as a 12 yr old though, as we get older things seem to be easier IMO 

 

The definitive edition definitely made things easier which is one of my complaints about it 

 

the challenge is something I enjoy and I like the satisfaction of trying a mission many times before passing it. 
 

III’s difficulty may be overstated but I still hold the thought that the original was a very tough game to 100%

[stef_92]

23 hours ago, AC Schnitzer said:

DE changes are very likely taken from mobile versions of the game, which were much easier to complete. Times for all timed events and side missions were enlongated for example. 

GTA III was pretty difficult, due to cars being easily broken and powerful enemies (like Cartel members with AKs or Mafia goons with shotguns). Missions like Kingdom Come was pretty hard as well. 

The mobile version of GTA 3 still has the rampages as a requirement for 100% completion. It's been many years since I did my 100% completion on the mobile version so I don't remember if there are other changes regarding mission difficulties.

[unopesci]

I never found III to be super difficult, even when I was new to the game. relative to other ps2 games at the time it was pretty forgiving. Try smugglers run, oni , stuntman or timesplitters 2 platinum if you really want to suffer and bend your controller into 2 pieces between your hands.

[Silver]

I never considered GTA III to be that difficult or even the most difficult entry in the series. It's not necessarily the easiest one but is it really the most difficult GTA or one of the most difficult GTAs? Not really, and I do think it's an overstatement that gives GTA III a bad reputation.

 

My assumption is that some of the players claiming it's the hardest GTA probably started with more recent entries and have a hard time dealing with how "primitive" III can be compared to them. Or perhaps they can't adapt to the game's "rules" for whatever reason.

I can agree that the game can be unforgiving at times with its clunky controls, the lack of checkpoints and map, cars being relatively fragile, the inability to swim or to jump out of a car, the shotgun being a two-hit kill while in a car or the M16 resulting in an instant death regardless if you're in a car or on foot but that never made me conclude that the game was unfairly difficult. It has a learning curve. You eventually become accustomed to the way the game works which should be enough to overcome its challenges. The map is pretty straightforward and is easy to familiarize with, you ultimately learn about the gangs and their territories, and which road to take if you don't want to deal with them. It's an Improvise, Adapt, Overcome type of situation which is pretty much what you're supposed to do for every other game so it shouldn't be anything new.

 

The main flaws to me are how easily you can skip some missions and miss the 100% completion and the fact that you're meant to complete Portland's side activities before reaching Staunton. I think it's bad game design and it should've been changed either by making the gangs friendly during these activities or by changing their weapons to baseball bats or pistols like the Diablos or the Yardies for example.

[Exsanguination]

Speaking of difficulty I’m doing a 100% play through now and the rampage on shoreside vale where you have to use the flamethrower  on the cartel members is kicking my ass…. About to try again, attempt number 10

 

ETA: 12! 12 attempts going in with full health and armor, just kept getting wasted or when I’d get a wanted level to tame the cartel I’d run out of time…. Got it done though with very low health and the cops on me hard. 

Edited February 26, 2023 by Exsanguination

[unopesci]

6 hours ago, Exsanguination said:

Speaking of difficulty I’m doing a 100% play through now and the rampage on shoreside vale where you have to use the flamethrower  on the cartel members is kicking my ass…. About to try again, attempt number 10

 

ETA: 12! 12 attempts going in with full health and armor, just kept getting wasted or when I’d get a wanted level to tame the cartel I’d run out of time…. Got it done though with very low health and the cops on me hard. 

There was a trick to that one. I remember standing behind a wall so you're protected from gunfire and shooting through it with the flamethrower.

[stef_92]

11 hours ago, Exsanguination said:

Speaking of difficulty I’m doing a 100% play through now and the rampage on shoreside vale where you have to use the flamethrower  on the cartel members is kicking my ass…. About to try again, attempt number 10

 

ETA: 12! 12 attempts going in with full health and armor, just kept getting wasted or when I’d get a wanted level to tame the cartel I’d run out of time…. Got it done though with very low health and the cops on me hard. 

That's basically the hardest rampage of all in GTA 3 Just like it was mentioned - you can jump in the neighbouring house which has high fence and just shoot flames through it.

 

Edit: a general tip for rampages - many people seem to forget (or don't realize) that once started, rampages are not limited to a specific area. You can get into a car and drive to a different location where you feel more comfortable.

Edited February 26, 2023 by stef_92

[IVCavalcade]

20 hours ago, Exsanguination said:

rampage on shoreside vale where you have to use the flamethrower  on the cartel members is kicking my ass

This is tough to be fair. Probably the only task I have to take a few attempts each time I complete it. I didn’t know about the shooting through fence/walls with flamethrower though so that’ll make it easier for my next playthrough. 

[Exsanguination]

I was not aware of that little trick, good to know.