Grand Theft Auto Grieving Thread - Yep, I've been drinkin' again...

[Captain Syrup]

SA is IMO the sole exception to the rule. No one city is the main character and the state is too disjointed in vibes and atmosphere to gel as one... yet I still consider it the definitive GTA experience even if it's not my favorite.

San Andreas is basically just about Los Santos and the cops, right? San Fierro is about being in exile like fuckin Napoleon. I like San Fierro because it feels like the game forgot what it was doing and just started doing improv. Now you’re dating a Latina psychopath and robbing gas stations in the woods.

Venturas is weak, though, I agree. I like the mission where you tape a stoolie to your hood and drive the wrong way down the freeway while he’s shitting himself like a baby.



And R* knew Venturas was thin so they added Woozie. And Ken Rosenberg. And Salvatore. It’s like WrestleMania cameos.

 

[Prophetic Spirit]

I think IV is again about the city.
Even beating the game, you are still one of millions.

 

[Bob Barbas]

And R* knew Venturas was thin so they added Woozie. And Ken Rosenberg. And Salvatore. It’s like WrestleMania cameos.

They even wanted Tommy to cameo as well, only as a voice over the phone though as far as I'm aware but due to their dispute with Ray Liotta we got Tommy giving Ken the "silent treatment" instead.

 

[Crypt Kicker]

I think IV is again about the city.
Even beating the game, you are still one of millions.

IV had ten times the atmosphere. Rainy gloomy New York/Liberty City is way cooler than bright sunny LA/Los Santos for the GTA setting. And Florida/Vice City is going to be the same environment unfortunately.
But I prefer gritty crime noir Sin City/The Crow vibes over glitzy glamorous lights.

 

[Captain Syrup]

They even wanted Tommy to cameo as well, only as a voice over the phone though as far as I'm aware but due to their dispute with Ray Liotta

“We’re making a half billion dollars, here’s a Subway coupon."

At least Frank Vincent showed up. I was delighted with William Fichtner, though. “KEN ROSENBERG! THE GUY THAT RUN THIS TOWN!”

 

[Bob Barbas]

“We’re making a half billion dollars, here’s a Subway coupon."

I do notice that seemed to be a common complaint for pretty much every fucking voiced GTA protag until GTA V. Were the GTA V actors actually paid their due unlike previous? Or are they just cucks and don't care that they weren't paid well? Because they seem to be the only ones that DIDN'T get mad about not being paid enough before fucking off never to be seen again.

 

[Crypt Kicker]

I do notice that seemed to be a common complaint for pretty much every fucking voiced GTA protag until GTA V. Were the GTA V actors actually paid their due unlike previous? Or are they just cucks and don't care that they weren't paid well? Because they seem to be the only ones that DIDN'T get mad about not being paid enough before fucking off never to be seen again.

Well if you ask Ned Luke he's over the fucking moon happy to be part of GTA, I think they could have paid him less and he'd still be happy.
Steven Ogg probably wishes he got paid more for having to deal with people bugging him about GTA over a decade later.
And Shawn Fonteno is probably just happy to be getting work.

Besides all that after all the noise made involving Michael Hollick and the fact that GTA V was destined for immediate and absolute success there's no way they could have gotten away with underpaying the leads without a shit ton of backlash, backlash they'd get anyway but not for pay issues but for "crunch culture" or whatever the fags are calling it.

 

[Bob Barbas]

Well if you ask Ned Luke he's over the fucking moon happy to be part of GTA, I think they could have paid him less and he'd still be happy.
Steven Ogg probably wishes he got paid more for having to deal with people bugging him about GTA over a decade later.
And Shawn Fonteno is probably just happy to be getting work.

Besides all that after all the noise made involving Michael Hollick and the fact that GTA V was destined for immediate and absolute success there's no way they could have gotten away with underpaying the leads without a shit ton of backlash, backlash they'd get anyway but not for pay issues but for "crunch culture" or whatever the fags are calling it.

At least Claude's voice actor got paid well, otherwise he would've said something.

 

[Crypt Kicker]

At least Claude's voice actor got paid well, otherwise he would've said something.

Hiring mute voice actors should be an industry standard at this point

 

[Sheriff Mike Chitwood]

I do notice that seemed to be a common complaint for pretty much every fucking voiced GTA protag until GTA V. Were the GTA V actors actually paid their due unlike previous? Or are they just cucks and don't care that they weren't paid well? Because they seem to be the only ones that DIDN'T get mad about not being paid enough before fucking off never to be seen again.

i remember hearing that young maylay guy who voiced cj have a breakdown in some interview a while back because he was mad people only know him for cj and not his shitty music, i remember seeing that guys name in a cheeky ad in the san andreas instruction manual and in the credits and i thought to myself "this nigga's name is corny, this nigga is corny"

 

[Bob Barbas]

i remember hearing that young maylay guy who voiced cj have a breakdown in some interview a while back because he was mad people only know him for cj and not his shitty music, i remember seeing that guys name in a cheeky ad in the san andreas instruction manual and in the credits and i thought to myself "this nigga's name is corny, this nigga is corny"

Apparently Franklin's actor (His cousin) got him to stop being a whiny bitch about it. I've seen recent clips of him opening up about his experiences working on the game. So yeah I guess he's over it.

 

[Mushroom Rings]

I am replaying Vice City after many years and I am pretty shocked how much of a non-entity the police is in that game. The whole game is about taking over the city, building a criminal empire, and most of the missions leave me with a two star wanted level. The gang pretty much never discusses the police or FBI or anything. The goddamn French government plays a more prominent role in the game's plot than VCPD.

How? Compared to everything else prior, the empire business was the best we had until CTW.

I liked it more than VC's assets because it felt more like I was building my very own empire rather than just buying a bunch of pre-made buildings I had no real control over (no upgrades, no customization, nothing except for the missions). Also, it was cool I didn't have to visit every one of them myself in order to reap in the profits and I also enjoyed the gang wars, shallow as they were.

However, it was a little lame that there was no real balance or trade-offs to think about while selecting what business to assign to each place. You could just set everything to Robbery because that was always the highest-earning kind of business.

I think IV is again about the city.
Even beating the game, you are still one of millions.

Agreed. While I have plenty of issues with IV, I loved its overall atmosphere. Just like in 2 and III, the protagonist is once again just a lowly thug. The city doesn't revolve around him, he doesn't become some kind of criminal superstar, the life of crime is (while in some ways fun) sad and isolating, and you get rich but what's the point of that because you can't really enjoy all that money, anyway. There was no juvenile glamorization of life of crime that began to infest the series starting with VC.

 

[3-2-1836]

At least Claude's voice actor got paid well, otherwise he would've said something.

I hear he got piss drunk and blew his arm off in Florida

 

[William Murderface]

San Andreas is basically just about Los Santos and the cops, right? San Fierro is about being in exile like fuckin Napoleon. I like San Fierro because it feels like the game forgot what it was doing and just started doing improv. Now you’re dating a Latina psychopath and robbing gas stations in the woods.

Venturas is weak, though, I agree. I like the mission where you tape a stoolie to your hood and drive the wrong way down the freeway while he’s shitting himself like a baby.

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And R* knew Venturas was thin so they added Woozie. And Ken Rosenberg. And Salvatore. It’s like WrestleMania cameos.

I've said before about SA that it's almost like the writers couldn't figure out which angle they wanted to go with. Is it Boys N Tha Hood? Casino? X-Files? So they just kind of roll them all into one package. It mostly works in spite of itself., but we could laos have had hood rat CJ end up in San Fierro or Las Venturas as still a low level hood rat and instead of turning those cities into ATMs just been in awe of how the other half lives, even more than the artificial glitz and glamour of Vinewood or the upscale areas of Liberty City he had heard about but never gone to. It would have really made his arguments with Sweet about getting out of the hood and making something of himself have a little more weight than the missions about stealing a jet pack.

As far as the GTA/Voice Actors problems, I can see both sides. The voice actors did sign a contract for X dollars and delivered so everyone got what everyone paid for. On the other hand, they did make a ton of money on these games and could have easily given a bonus to the main voice actors over the years. But if Ray Liotta made a cheap movie, was paid whatever they agreed on, and then it turned into the biggest movie ever and raked in a billion plus at the box office and didn't get a bonus would he be just as bitter?

 

[Captain Syrup]

I am replaying Vice City after many years and I am pretty shocked how much of a non-entity the police is in that game.

It kills me that the FBI in VC rolls up in these black SUVs. OK, maybe someone built one in 1989, but these things look like a Cybertruck which fell into a time machine. They’re pretty scary, but they’re never around.

Instead, oh no, one guy gently jogging toward me.



Breaking into the VCPD to steal a cop outfit is sick. That’s an ancient bit, too. GTA 2 made you put on that uniform and start a prison riot.

SA at least treated cops like an enemy faction. You’re actually fighting the police as part of the story, not just politely avoiding them. Now, cops in GTA feel like they're just there so your mom can recognize it as that crime game. Bully, a game about wedgies, had cops that were more terrifying.

 

[Samuel Fuller]

I bought GTA V on the weekend to play the online with friends, and man, I just want to say fuck Rockstar for the completely idiotic control scheme. Every platform the game is on has analog controls, knock off the press X to run bullshit.

Also, anyone who praises the writing of this game is a fucking mongoloid. "Social satire" from sneering faggots who have never honestly engaged with the culture they are writing about is always shit, and man, it sure shows that these idiots have never honestly engaged with American culture.

 

[3-2-1836]

It kills me that the FBI in VC rolls up in these black SUVs. OK, maybe someone built one in 1989, but these things look like a Cybertruck which fell into a time machine. They’re pretty scary, but they’re never around.

SUVs have been around since the 1970s, here's a 1984 Chevy SUV used by the Secret Service.

But yes at the time it would've been far more likely for them to be using sedans as SUVs were still reserved for speciality uses.

 

[Mushroom Rings]

I've said before about SA that it's almost like the writers couldn't figure out which angle they wanted to go with. Is it Boys N Tha Hood? Casino? X-Files? So they just kind of roll them all into one package.

They played around with the idea of having multiple protagonists in SA and maybe the silly, disjointed plot is in some way a remnant of that concept. It's easy to imagine every city's plotline was supposed to belong to a different character.

Breaking into the VCPD to steal a cop outfit is sick. That’s an ancient bit, too. GTA 2 made you put on that uniform and start a prison riot.

I played that mission today and it was nice to finally have some kind of direct confrontation with the cops which wasn't a complete cakewalk. However, it still makes the police look like a bunch of retards because Tommy's assault on their HQ has no consequences at all.

Overall, to me it feels like Rockstar overcompensated for the aggressiveness of III, in which you got shot at by gangs all the time and Liberty City felt like a dangerous, concrete jungle where everyone hated you. Vice City feels like a vacation resort where everybody rolls over for you and nobody bothers you, except for useless beat cops and maybe the Haitians, too (and even those are mostly harmless).

SA at least treated cops like an enemy faction. You’re actually fighting the police as part of the story, not just politely avoiding them.

It was a brilliant decision to make the primary antagonist of the game a cop. Having Tenpenny be an ever-present bully who's keeping an eye on CJ and breathing on his neck while he's enjoying the luxury of being an untouchable part of "the system" works great and as you say, it makes fighting the police an integral, believable part of the story.

 

[Samuel Fuller]

I am replaying Vice City after many years and I am pretty shocked how much of a non-entity the police is in that game. The whole game is about taking over the city, building a criminal empire, and most of the missions leave me with a two star wanted level. The gang pretty much never discusses the police or FBI or anything. The goddamn French government plays a more prominent role in the game's plot than VCPD.


I liked it more than VC's assets because it felt more like I was building my very own empire rather than just buying a bunch of pre-made buildings I had no real control over (no upgrades, no customization, nothing except for the missions). Also, it was cool I didn't have to visit every one of them myself in order to reap in the profits and I also enjoyed the gang wars, shallow as they were.

However, it was a little lame that there was no real balance or trade-offs to think about while selecting what business to assign to each place. You could just set everything to Robbery because that was always the highest-earning kind of business.


Agreed. While I have plenty of issues with IV, I loved its overall atmosphere. Just like in 2 and III, the protagonist is once again just a lowly thug. The city doesn't revolve around him, he doesn't become some kind of criminal superstar, the life of crime is (while in some ways fun) sad and isolating, and you get rich but what's the point of that because you can't really enjoy all that money, anyway. There was no juvenile glamorization of life of crime that began to infest the series starting with VC.

Read up about Miami in the 80s. The cops were undermined by corruption in their own ranks and bureaucrats and civil servants being owned by the cartels. The police were also outmanned and outgunned to the point where many good cops were afraid for their lives just showing up for work. The flagrancy of the drug runners was insane.

Watch the Cocaine Cowboys documentaries to see how wild Miami in the 80s really was.

With the amount of research Rockstar North did on the era, I would not be shocked if the lawlessness was intended to reflect the real world inspiration for the game.

 

[The Last Stand]

Instead, oh no, one guy gently jogging toward me.



Breaking into the VCPD to steal a cop outfit is sick. That’s an ancient bit, too. GTA 2 made you put on that uniform and start a prison riot.

You got ID? Don't make me run. Those poor VCPD cops.

. While I have plenty of issues with IV, I loved its overall atmosphere.

I replayed The Ballad of Gay Tony in free roam. Seeing the city go from night to dusk, the pink/purple tint of sunrise and the city lights dimming is a sight to bask in. The city that never sleeps is right. It's depressingly optimistic.