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Grand Theft Auto 3 is one of the most important games of all time. Though it's the third in the series, it was the first to utilize increasing graphical capability in order to showcase a free-roam 3D sandbox, ditching the top-down conventions of the previous two entries. The ability to get into firefights with police and mow down hordes of unsuspecting civilians was heightened now that you were more than just a little dot on a screen, leading to large-scale condemnation and controversy from community groups all the way up to national governments.

A controversy that, of course, only instilled a greater sense of excitement in those looking forward to playing it. It undoubtedly changed gaming forever; GTA3 pushed the envelope of how "mature" a game could be in a hobby that was dominated by an at-the-time younger demographic, spawned one of the most popular game franchises of all time, and left an imprint on every game in the genre that followed it. How do you even begin to talk about it?

Maybe like this: as the name implies, Grand Theft Auto 3 is a game that predominantly focuses on driving and firearms-based combat. It doesn't do either of these particularly well. Its driving physics are...prone to moments of unruly behavior at best, and any seemingly insignificant collision in the game is equivalent to spinning a wheel and seeing what punishment you land on, from a tiny scratch to a sudden vehicular somersault.

It wouldn't be surprising to find out that the driving mechanics were inspired by Rockstar's previous outing, Midnight Club; to say that GTA3 represents a slight improvement on them is a red flag to begin with. The game’s on-foot action doesn't fare any better; the best way to describe GTA3's gunplay would be "it's there," and it doesn't hold up to any kind of scrutiny when it comes to more dynamic firefights.

This isn't exactly the character-driven drama of later GTAs either—the missions barely support a semi-coherent storyline and are clearly just excuses to get yourself into the action rather than attempts at forming a compelling narrative. They are also where some frustration can creep in, as the game's inconsistent mechanics can sometimes feel like they are working against you. And as impressive as the game's open world was at the time, it's not quite as fun to drive through it for the 20th time just to get back to a mission start point.

And it's not like there's lots of side content to distract yourself with that the series has become known for, either; other than some collectibles, everything else you can do in the game is some version of driving somewhere, picking someone up (or killing them), and then driving somewhere else. One element of the series that is present here is the game's generally crass, over-the-top sense of humor and provocative design. It's easy to see how it would stand out among its more family-friendly competitors, but the irony of Grand Theft Auto 3's Mature rating is obvious just a few minutes in; it is distinctly an immature game.

So what gives? It's a driving and shooting game in which the driving and shooting aren't great. Is it any fun at all? Well, yeah, it certainly can be. Grand Theft Auto 3's greatest strength is how enjoyable it can feel to embrace its chaos. Missions, for example, usually can be completed in any number of ways—especially ones that feel outside the spirit of the game—but GTA3 rarely punishes you for pushing its limits. And while it was mentioned earlier that the game can seem like it's out to get you, it might be more accurate to say it's out to get...everyone?

Missions where you're tasked with destroying another car might autocomplete as they find themselves driving into a car that changed lanes at the last second. Rival gang members will perish frequently to their own explosions, or better yet, to other NPCs by accident. You never quite know what you're going to get with GTA3. And it's the game's unpredictable, chaotic nature that can make it so entertaining. It's comforting to know that, even as its fundamentals are failing you, they're probably failing your enemies as well.

How deliberate these seemingly "unintended interactions" are is up for debate, and it may seem odd to give a game plaudits for things that it probably didn't intend, but isn't it more important to enjoy something at all rather than to wonder if you're enjoying it correctly? Grand Theft Auto 3 is a mess—understandable considering its innovation and the landscape at the time—but it's also impossible to deny that it offers too much flexibility and allows you to wreak enough mayhem to not call it enjoyable. It's a fun-filled disaster, a train wreck in slow motion, and a game that has influenced modern gaming (and beyond) at levels that are rarely reached. Each of its sequels has thoroughly outpaced it, but you have to start somewhere, right? Is it one of the best games of all time? No, of course not. But depending on who you ask, it probably led to at least one of them.

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