The original Grand Theft Auto was hailed as one of the most innovative games of its time, but what of the sequel?
Steve Bradley

Bit violent, GTA, wasn't it?
Not 'arf. Actually, the premise of the violence was always more horrific than its visual realisation. The tiny sprites, viewed from above, ensured you didn't really see that much. Games such as GoldenEye 007 are far more graphically gruesome, it's just that no-one courted controversy quite like Take 2, the game's publishers. They even hired PR guru Max Clifford and planted stories in the tabloids about it. Naughty boys.

So what's new, then?
Erm. Well, at first glance it looks pretty much the same as the first incarnation (and its add-on, GTA: London 1969). However, DMA Design (DMA means 'Doesn't Mean Anything', apparently) have developed a new engine for the game, so now there are more colours and the graphics are a lot sharper. Not only that, there's a lot more on screen to, ahem, 'interact' with; more cars to nick, more pedestrians to mow down.

DMA haven't gone soft on us, then?
Certainly not. Although GTA2 is essentially more of the same, the game's gang warfare is as bloody as ever. The basic premise reads thus: you're a junior hood (although you're really an undercover cop - you're not allowed to play a 'real' gangster in the game) who has to work his way up the criminal ladder by committing a selection of fearsome crimes. You get points and a lot of respect on the street for half-inching cop cars and doing away with rival gangsters.