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11 of 13 found the following review helpful:
 Stay Away From This (PS2) Guide, Get The PC Guide Instead Jul 15, 2004
This is a review of this product: Grand Theft Auto 3 Official Strategy Guide for PlayStation 2. Amazon may display this review on the page of another version of this product, for which this review may not apply. After reading this review, please click on the link so that you can be assurred that the product this review applies to is the same one you thought it was for.
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This is one of the worst Official strategy guides you could ever buy. Sure it covers all of the missions, but some of them are not covered any more fully than what you get from playing the game itself. It briefly covers SOME of the side jobs and non-mission tasks, but an Official guide should cover ALL of them! There is no detailed information on the Rampages and Unique Jumps, and the Hidden Packages are only covered with a map and short sentence. Some of the other reviewers here go into detail about the deficiencies of this book, so I really don't need to say much more. DON'T BE FOOLED BY THE GOOD REVIEWS THIS BOOK RECEIVED, BECAUSE IT DOESN'T DESERVE THEM.
I own this guide and the one released eight months later for the PC version. Although the PC guide is smaller (but much thicker) and in black & white (there are color maps in the back), it covers EVERYTHING (except cheat codes) about the game and with much more detail. Even if you own the Playstation 2 version of the game, you'd be better off buying the PC guide. The only difference gameplay wise are the controls mentioned in the book and a few little things like rewards for some of the vehicle missions.
To wrap this up, here is an excerpt from the author in the Acknowledgement's section of the PC guide: "Beyond the satisfaction of playing the game a few more times, I was even more delighted to add features to this guide that I didn't have time to include in the PS2 guide. And with Tim Cox's phenomenal assistance, as well as his passion for the game, time was no longer the enemy. We are proud to bring you the most comprehensive Grand Theft Auto III guide in existence." So, that explains why this guide (PS2) sucks. The author was rushed to complete the book, in time for the release of the game, no doubt. Right there in black & white the author of both guides tells you that the PC guide is the most comprehensive guide, and thus the best one. (I have no idea if the X-Box Double Pack guide is based on the PS2 or PC versions, so proceed with caution when getting that one.)
5 of 8 found the following review helpful:
 A Good Strategy Guide Jun 26, 2003
Grand Theft Auto: Popular, violent, and in need of a strategy guide. A very good strategy guide that gives details about weapons, characters, general tips on things like police and shooting. It gives pictures and good advice on all 73 main missions and the side missions like Taxi Driver and Vigilante. It also gives maps and details on where all 100 packages are. The only flaws are it seems slightly dated with money totals and mission names being different. The other flaw is that the hidden packages are on a map from the game. The problem is the only in-game map is a small circular one in the corner of the screen. Overall, this strategy guide will help you out but you can probably beat Grand Theft Auto 3 without it.
3 of 13 found the following review helpful:
Not near as good as the Vice City guide Apr 27, 2003
What can I say. I bought Vice City & the guide before I bought GTA3, the VC guide is really great with lots of info, cool pictures, & lots of helpful stuff.This one isn't, it is really that simple.
3 of 6 found the following review helpful:
is it worth it? maybe. maybe not. Apr 10, 2003
Grand Theft Auto 3 is a fun game to play. It's not as great as Vice City, but it is still one of the better games out there. But, unlike Vice City, which I enjoyed reading about, GTA3 isn't as much fun to read about. The missions are fairly simple, and there are multiple ways to complete them, so the guide isn't the end all be all that it is in games like Metal Gear. You do get good desriptions of weapons and vehicles. And what I find most valuable are the maps to the hidden treasures, rampages, bribes, armor, life, etc. If you are having trouble completeing the game because you can't find all your hidden treasures and rampages, then this guide will solve your problems.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Video-Gaming Girl Jan 04, 2003
Before I go into the review, what you have to understand about the game is that most of the missions have more than one solution (which is one of the best things about the game.) If you think that the guide will give you the only, or even the best, solutions for the missions, you will be disapponted. Besides, the fun part is to come up with your own unique solution, and to learn from your mistakes. That being said, the book offers some great things. The maps were very helpful, especially for finding rampages, hidden packages, weapons, and other goodies. Also, in certain missions, where getting around quickly is a must, the strategies included maps of where to go and how to get there the most quickly. I did notice a few bits of wrong information (such as, what time the BF Injection Buggy would be available,) but overall, it's a worthy purchase. Just don't buy it thinking it will solve all of your missions for you.
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based on 20 reviews
