Halo: Combat Evolved

Halo: Combat Evolved could be a 2001 discipline fiction first-person shooter computer game developed by Bungie and printed by Microsoft Game Studios. the primary game of the Halo franchise, it had been discharged on Nov fifteen, 2001, as a launch title for the Xbox vice system, and is taken into account the platform's "killer app". quite 5 million copies were oversubscribed worldwide by Nov 2005. Microsoft discharged versions of the sport for Microsoft Windows and macintosh OS X in 2003, and also the close plot was custom-made and detailed into a series of novels, comic books, and live-action internet series. the sport was later discharged as a downloadable Xbox Original for the Xbox 360. A high-definition remake, Halo: Combat Evolved day of remembrance, was discharged for Xbox 360 on the tenth day of remembrance of the initial game's launch, and was rereleased as a part of Halo: The Master Chief assortment on November 11, 2014, for the Xbox One.

Halo is ready within the 26th century, with the player forward the role of the Master Chief, a cybernetically increased supersoldier. The player is in the midst of Cortana, a man-made intelligence United Nations agency occupies the Master Chief's neural interface. Players battle numerous aliens as they plan to uncover the secrets of the name Halo, a circular artificial world. the sport has been recommended for components like its story, the range of methods players will use, and its multiplayer mode; but, the repetitive nature of its level style was criticized by some reviewers.

Halo has been praised united of the simplest and most significant video games of all time, and was stratified by IGN because the fourth-best first-person shooter ever created. The game's quality has junction rectifier to labels like "Halo clone" and "Halo killer", applied severally to games either kind of like or anticipated to be higher than it. additionally, the sport galvanized and was utilized in the fan-created Red vs. Blue video series, that is attributable because the "first massive success" of machinima (the technique of exploitation time period 3D engines, usually from video games, to make animated films).

Gameplay
The Master Chief fires his MA5B automatic at a pack of Grunts on the amount "Halo." Ammunition, health, and motion detector displays ar visible within the corners of the screen.
As a first-person shooter, the gameplay of Halo: Combat Evolved is basically kind of like that of its peers, that specialize in combat in a very 3D surroundings that's readed nearly entirely from a character's eye view. The player will move around and appearance up, down, left, or right. the sport options vehicles, starting from armored jeeps and tanks to alien ground-effect machine and craft, several of which might be controlled by the player. the sport switches to a third-person perspective throughout vehicle use for pilots and mounted gun operators; passengers maintain a first-person read. The game's alert show includes a "motion tracker" that registers moving allies, moving or firing enemies, and vehicles, in a very bound radius of the player.

The player character is supplied with AN energy protect that nullifies harm from weapons fireplace and forceful impacts. The shield's charge seems as a blue bar within the corner of the game's alert show, and it mechanically recharges if no harm is sustained for a quick amount. once the protect is absolutely depleted, the player is extremely vulnerable, and additional harm reduces the hit points of a secondary health meter. once this health meter reaches zero, the character dies and also the game reloads from a saved stop. Health will be replenished through the gathering of health packs scattered round the game's levels, however the game's introduction of a create protect mechanic diagrammatical a departure from FPS games of the time.

Halo's arsenal consists of weapons from fantasy. the sport has been praised for giving every weapon a singular purpose, therefore creating every helpful in several eventualities. as an example, plasma weapons want time to cool down if unemployed too speedily, however can't be reloaded and should be discarded upon depletion of their batteries, whereas typical firearms cannot overheat, however need reloading and ammunition. In distinction to the massive weapon inventories of latest FPS games, Halo players could carry solely 2 weapons quickly, vocation for strategy once managing firearms.

Halo departs from ancient FPS conventions by not forcing the player character to holster its gun before deploying grenades or melee-range blunt instruments; instead, each attacks will be utilised whereas a gun continues to be equipped, replacing or supplementing small-arms fireplace. All weapons is also wont to bludgeon enemies, that permits Master Chief to mutely kill opponents while not alerting alternative close enemies. The Chief may also carry up to eight grenades at a time: up to four fragmentation and 4 plasma grenades every. just like the game's alternative weapons, the 2 styles of bombs differ; the fragmentation grenade bounces and detonates quickly, whereas the plasma bomb adheres to targets before exploding, typically with blackly comic results.

Combatants
The game's main enemy force is that the Covenant, a bunch of alien species allied by belief in a very common faith. Their forces embody Elites, fierce warriors protected by recharging energy shields very similar to the player's own; Grunts, that ar short, funny timid creatures United Nations agency ar sometimes junction rectifier by Elites in battle, and sometimes break away in terror rather than fighting within the absence of a number one Elite; Jackals, originally area pirates, they wear a extremely sturdy energy protect on one arm and a variety of side arm on the other; and Hunters, large, powerful creatures with thick armor plates that cowl the bulk of their bodies and an outsized cannon that fires explosive rounds of plasma.
A secondary enemy is that the Flood, a parasitic alien organic structure that seems in 3 main variants. Infection Forms, verity variety of the Flood, ar fragile beings and do very little harm one by one, however usually travel in swarms of many dozen so as to infect their prey. Combat Forms result from humans and Covenant Elites United Nations agency have succumbed to the Infection Forms, and have monstrously malformed bodies as a result. distended Carrier kinds ar the results of an aged or unused Combat Form and function incubators for brand spanking new Infection Forms; once wounded or close to a possible victim, they explode to break alternative close life-forms and to unharness their spores, therefore perpetuating the Flood life cycle.

Battling the Flood, Covenant, and human forces ar the Sentinels: robotic drones designed by an extinct race referred to as the Forerunners to shield their structures and stop Flood outbreaks. Sentinels ar able to hover around in embowered areas ANd turn out an energy protect once under fire. They lack sturdiness, however use powerful beam weapons and ar resistant to infection by the Flood.

The artificial intelligence in Halo has been favourably received. Enemies take cowl and use firing and grenades. Some enemies retreat once their superiors ar killed. The player is usually motor-assisted by world organisation area Command (UNSC) Marines, United Nations agency provide ground support, like manning gun turrets or riding scattergun whereas the player is driving a vehicle.

Multiplayer
A split screen mode permits 2 players to co-operatively play through Halo's campaign. the sport additionally includes 5 customizable competitive multiplayer modes for between 2 and sixteen players; up to four players could play split-screen on one Xbox, and additional players will be a part of employing a "System Link" feature that enables up to four Xbox consoles to be connected along into space|a neighborhood} area network. Halo lacks by artificial means intelligent game bots, and was discharged before the launch of the Xbox Live on-line multiplayer service; thus lan parties are required to achieve the game's 16-player limit, a setup that was a primary for a console game, however was usually deemed impractical by critics.other than this limitation, Halo's multiplayer parts were typically well received by critics, and it's wide thought of one in all the simplest multiplayer games of all time.

Although the Xbox version of Halo lacks official support for on-line multiplayer play, third-party packet tunnelling software package give unofficial ways that around this limitation. The Windows and Macintosh ports of Halo support on-line matches involving up to sixteen players and embody multiplayer maps not within the original Xbox unharness. but, co-operative play was faraway from the ports as a result of it'd have needed giant amounts of cryptography to implement. In Gregorian calendar month 2014, it had been proclaimed that GameSpy's servers and matchmaking, on that Halo computer relied, would be finish off by could thirty one of identical year. A team of fans and Bungie staff proclaimed they'd turn out a patch for the sport to stay its multiplayer servers on-line. The patch was discharged on could sixteen, 2014.

Halo: Custom Edition
On March fifteen, 2004, shell software package discharged Halo: Custom Edition for Windows, that enabled players to use customized maps and game modifications via the Halo writing Kit developed by Bungie. Halo: Custom Edition is multiplayer-only, and needs a clever copy of Halo for computer to put in.

Synopsis

Setting
Halo: Combat Evolved takes place in a very fantasy universe created by Bungie Studios. in step with the story, the belief of faster-than-light travel has allowed the humanity to colonize alternative planets once the overspill of Earth. A keystone of those efforts is that the planet Reach, AN heavenly body armed service yard and a hub of scientific and military activity. A secret military endeavor, dubbed the SPARTAN Project, is established on Reach to make a military of biologically built, machine "supersoldiers." Twenty-seven years before the start of the sport, a technologically advanced collective of alien races, the Covenant, begin to attack human settlements, declaring humanity AN affront to their gods. The world organisation area Command experiences a series of crushing defeats; though the supersoldiers of the SPARTAN-II Project ar effective against the Covenant, they're too few in numbers to show the tides of war.

To prepare for a mission to find the situation of the Covenant's homeworld, SPARTAN-II troopers ar recalled to achieve. 2 days before the mission was to start, Covenant forces attack Reach and destroy the colony. A spaceship, the Pillar of fall, survives the onslaught with the SPARTAN-II Master Chief on board. The ship initiates a jump to slipspace (similar to hyperspace), hoping to steer the enemy off from Earth. the sport starts with the Pillar of fall encountering Halo.

The titular Halo is a huge, circular artificial area station/planet, that (according to Bungie Studios) encompasses a diameter of 10 thousand kilometers. Halo sits at a Lagrange purpose between a planet and its moon. force created by the rotation of the station provides the ring's gravity.

Characters
The player character is Master Chief PO John-117, one in all the few (see Halo: the autumn of Reach and its sequels for a lot of information) living supersoldiers of the SPARTAN-II project, and also the main character of the story. related  Master Chief is that the Pillar of Autumn's female AI construct, Cortana, United Nations agency resides in a very neural implant connected to his battle armor, codenamed MJOLNIR Mark V. The Pillar of Autumn's captain, Jacob Keyes, is additionally a serious character, with sergeant Avery Junior Johnson as a supporting character. enjoying a primarily antagonistic role within the game's events is 343 Guilty Spark, AN eccentric AI chargeable for watching and maintaining Halo's systems.

Plot
The game opens because the Pillar of fall exits slipspace close to a mysterious circular satellite, referred to as "Halo" by the enemy within the game, the Covenant. A Covenant fleet attacks and heavily damages the Pillar of fall. Captain Keyes initiates "The Cole Protocol," a procedure that destroys all navigation knowledge and is meant to forestall the Covenant from learning the situation of Earth. Master Chief ANd Cortana fight their thanks to an escape pod, wherever they eject from the ship in conjunction with a bunch of Marines. As they fly away they'll see Keyes trying to land Pillar on Halo.

Master Chief and Cortana ar the sole survivors of their pod's forced landing, however they before long contact alternative survivors and facilitate collect them into a fighting force. The survivors tell them that Keyes survived the Pillar of Autumn's forced landing, however has been captured by the Covenant and is being control aboard the Covenant ship Truth and Reconciliation. Master Chief and a force of Marines board the ship and rescue Keyes, United Nations agency orders Master Chief to beat the Covenant to Halo's center and to find Halo's purpose. Master Chief and Cortana travel a map area referred to as the Silent geographer, that leads them to the room. There, Cortana enters the systems and, discovering one thing imperative, suddenly sends Master Chief to search out Captain Keyes whereas she stays behind. Keyes was looking for what he believed was a cache of powerful weapons, however once he reaches his position Master Chief finds solely signs of a battle and a recording revealing they need accidentally discharged the Flood, a parasitic alien race capable of spreading itself by infesting alternative sentient life-forms.

The release of the Flood prompts Halo's AI monitor, 343 Guilty Spark, to recruit Master Chief in retrieving the Index, a tool that may activate Halo and stop the Flood from spreading on the far side the ability. once Master Chief retrieves and prepares to use the Index, Cortana re-appears and warns him against the activation. She has discovered that Halo's weaponry could be a weapon designed to kill all sentient life within the galaxy, which is able to deny the host bodies the Flood needs to unfold, a revelation that Guilty Spark confirms.

Faced with this data, Master Chief and Cortana conceive to destroy Halo to forestall its activation. whereas fighting the Flood, the Covenant, and Guilty Spark's Sentinels, Cortana discovers that the simplest thanks to accomplish this can be to cause the crashed Pillar of fall to destruct. but, Captain Keyes' authorization is needed to destroy the fall, forcing the Chief and Cortana to come to the now-Flood-infested Truth and Reconciliation to look for him. By the time they reach Keyes, however, he has been infected on the far side the purpose of no come by the Flood. Master Chief retrieves Keyes' neural implants directly from his brain and retreats to the fall, wherever Cortana activates the ship's destruct sequence. However, 343 Guilty Spark reappears and deactivates the tally, discovering the record of human history within the method. Master Chief manually destabilizes the Pillar of Autumn's fusion reactors, and he and Cortana narrowly escape the destruction of the ring via a fighter. Cortana scans close area and finds that they're apparently the sole survivors. Cortana justifies the sacrifices of the opposite humans on Halo, stating that that they had no alternative thanks to the threat posed  by Halo, the Covenant and also the Flood. Cortana believes it's over however the Master Chief tells her that they are simply obtaining started.

In a transient post-credits scene, 343 Guilty Spark is seen fleeing Halo's destruction and into the unknown of part.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Star Wars: Knights of the recent Republic could be a role-playing game developed by BioWare and revealed by LucasArts. Written by John Drew Karpyshyn, the sound recording for the sport was composed by Jeremy Soule. it absolutely was free for the Xbox on Gregorian calendar month fifteen, 2003, for Microsoft Windows on Gregorian calendar month nineteen, 2003, on September seven, 2004 for waterproof OS X, and on might thirty, 2013 for iOS iPad, that was later updated on Gregorian calendar month nineteen, 2013 for iPhone and iPod bit and on the Gregorian calendar month twenty three, 2014 on Google Play for humanoid devices. The Xbox version is playable on Xbox 360 via the latter's Backward Compatibility feature.

The sequel, Star Wars: Knights of the recent Republic II – The Sith Lords, was developed by volcanic glass diversion at BioWare's suggestion as BioWare wished to specialize in their own intellectual properties.

Gameplay
Players select from 3 basic character categories at the start of the sport, and later select from 3 Jedi subclasses. on the far side category, a personality has "skills" stats, bed "feats", and shortly, bed Force powers, just like magic spells in fantasy games. Feats and Force powers square measure unbolted each level-up, whereas the player is given talent points to distribute among their skills each level.

Combat is round-based; time is split into distinct rounds, and combatants attack and react at the same time, though these actions square measure given consecutive on-screen. the quantity of actions a combatant might perform every spherical is proscribed. whereas every round's period could be a mounted short interval of real time, the player will piece the combat system to pause at specific events or at the tip of every spherical, or set the combat system to ne'er mechanically pause, giving the illusion of time period combat. Combat actions square measure calculated mistreatment DnD rules. whereas these don't seem to be displayed directly on the screen, the total breakdown for every action (including die rolls and modifiers) square measure accessible from a menu.

For abundant of the sport, the player will have up to 2 companions in their party. These companions can participate in combat; they'll be manually controlled by the player, or act autonomously if the player doesn't provide them any input. Outside of combat, the companions can haphazardly have interaction the player or one another in dialogue, typically unlocking extra quests. they'll conjointly participate in conversations the player has with different non-player characters.

Non-combat interaction with different characters within the game world relies upon a dialogue menu system. Following every statement, the player will choose from a listing of menu responses. The dialogue varies supported the gender and skills of the most character.

The alignment system tracks actions and speech—from straightforward word decisions to major plot decisions—to confirm whether or not the player's character aligns with the sunshine or dark facet of the Force. Generosity and selflessness result in the sunshine facet, whereas inconsiderate or violent actions can lead the player's character to the dark facet, which can alter the character's look, turning their eyes yellow and their skin pale.

In addition to the quality role-playing gameplay, there square measure many minigame events that come back up over the course of the sport. The player will have interaction in swoop athletics to realize cash, and typically heavenly body travel are interrupted by enemy starfighters, that begins a minigame wherever the player controls a turret to shoot down the opposing starcraft. The player may also have interaction in an exceedingly cards called pazaak, that is comparable to the sport of blackjack, to gamble cash.

Story
The story takes place more or less four,000 years before the increase of the Galactic Empire. Former Jedi Darth Malak, a Dark Lord of the Sith and Darth Revan's former apprentice, has unleashed a Sith fleet against the Republic. Malak's aggression has left the Jedi scattered and vulnerable; several Jedi Knights have fallen in battle et al have sworn allegiance to Malak.

The game opens with the player's character—the player will opt for a face and be male or feminine (canonically a male)—awakening aboard the Republic ship, Endar steeple, that is vulnerable by Malak's forces. The player's character step by step gathers companions and items along their past whereas trying to prevent Malak. whereas taking refuge at the Jedi Academy on Dantooine, the player's character learns to be a Jedi, discovers a "Star Map", and learns of the "Star Forge", the probable supply of Malak's military resources. The player's character and their companions search planets across the galaxy—Dantooine, Manaan, Tatooine, Kashyyyk, and Korriban—for additional data concerning the Star Forge. Through the course of their travels, the player can eventually discover their character's true identity - the brainwashed Darth Revan, whom the Jedi Council on Dantooine took in and subjected to memory modification so he would now not be a threat to the galaxy. Darth Revan had been cut once assaultive a Republic planet as a result of Darth Malak turned his guns on his former master. as a result of Bastila Shan was aboard Revan's ship with a Jedi strike force, she was ready to heal him and convey him to the Jedi Council on Dantooine. Her actions result in the force bond between her and Revan, that plays a task later within the game.

Depending on the character's alignment, upon ultimately reaching the Star Forge he or she either defeats the Sith (the light-side path) or usurps management from Malak (the dark-side path). A light-aligned character is hailed as a savior and hero; a dark-side character stands before the remaining Sith forces because the new Dark Lord of the Sith.

Characters and locations
Further information: List of Star Wars: Knights of the recent Republic characters
Eventually connexion the most character's quest square measure veteran Republic pilot Carth Onasi, the Twi'lek adolescent Mission Vao and her Wookiee companion Zaalbar, the Jedi Bastila Shan, 'Gray' Jedi Jolee Bindo, utility droid T3-M4, Mandalorian mercenary Canderous Ordo, and assassin droid HK-47 if he's bought. Juhani, another Jedi, may additionally  be a part of the party if she isn't killed fighting the most character. many of those characters, together with Canderous Ordo, HK-47 and T3-M4, conjointly seem within the sequel, Star Wars: Knights of the recent Republic II – The Sith Lords. Republic soldier Trask Ulgo is additionally playable shortly on the Endar steeple. Antagonists embody Black Vulkar gang leader Brejik, crime boss Davik Kang, bounty hunter Calo Nord, Zaalbar's twisted brother Chuundar, Sith apprentice Darth Bandon, Sith Admiral Saul Karath, Sith superintendent Uthar Wynn, Rakatan tribe leader The One, and Darth Malak, the Dark Lord of the Sith. On many planets the most character deals with Czerka Corporation, an organization operational on many planets that allied itself with the Sith, engaged in slave traffic and different wicked practices. Major allies that facilitate the player's party on the approach square measure Hidden Bek gang leader Gadon Thek, Jedi Masters Vandar Tokare and Zhar Lestin, game hunter Komad Roman deity, Zaalbar's father Freyyr, former Sith Apprentice Yuthura Ban, Republic leader Roland Wann, the Rakatan tribe "The Elders", and Republic Admiral Forn Dodonna.

Action takes place on the planets Tatooine, Dantooine, Kashyyyk, Korriban, Manaan, Rakata Prime, and Taris; aboard the cruiser Endar steeple and Saul Karath's Leviathan; and on the Star Forge satellite. an area station close to Yavin could be a playable location within the laptop and waterproof OS X versions of the sport and is out there to Xbox players via transfer from Xbox Live. Travel between these locations happens aboard the merchant ship ebony Hawk, that is additionally a playable location.

Production

Development
In Gregorian calendar month 2000, BioWare proclaimed that they were operating with LucasArts to make a Star Wars role-playing game for the laptop and next-generation consoles. Joint BioWare CEO Greg Zeschuk commented that "The chance to make a richly elaborated new chapter within the Star Wars universe is unbelievably exciting for U.S.A.. we have a tendency to square measure honored to be operating with the extraordinarily proficient people at film maker Arts, developing a role-playing game based mostly upon one amongst the foremost high-profile licenses within the world." the sport was formally undraped as Star Wars: Knights of the recent Republic at E3 2001. At now, the sport had been in development for around six months. "Preproduction started in 2000, however the discussions started back in 1999," LucasArts' electro-acoustic transducer Gallo aforementioned, "The first e-mails were in Oct or Gregorian calendar month of '99. that is after we initial started lecture BioWare. however some very serious work finally started at the start of 2000."

Technical
LucasArts and BioWare settled on developing Knights of the recent Republic for the laptop and Xbox. The Xbox was chosen over different consoles thanks to BioWare's background of developing laptop games and larger familiarity with the Xbox than different consoles: "We may do the items we have a tendency to wished to try to to on the Xbox while not the maximum amount effort as we'd ought to screw on the PS2 or GameCube," Gallo aforementioned. different factors enclosed the console's recent success and also the chance to unharness one amongst the Xbox's initial RPGs. BioWare had antecedently developed MDK2 for the Dreamcast and PlayStation two. Hudson aforementioned that "Having expertise in developing for different consoles gave U.S.A. the right mind-set for implementing this game on the Xbox, and, by comparison, the Xbox was comparatively simple to develop for."

Hudson did, however, note that there have been some challenges throughout development. one amongst the difficulties was when making a decision what proportion graphical detail to supply. "Since our games typically have plenty of AI and scripting, varied character models, and big environments, we have a tendency to stress the hardware in an exceedingly very completely different approach than most games," Hudson aforementioned. This created it tough to predict however well the sport would run. the sport uses the Odyssey Engine, supported the Aurora Engine (previously developed by BioWare to be used in Neverwinter Nights) however fully rewritten for Knights of the recent Republic. it absolutely was extremely elaborated for its time: grass waves within the wind, mud blows across Tatooine and puffs of sand rise because the player walks across the Davy Jones's locker.

Hudson noted that the variations between consoles and PCs mean that the graphics would got to be changed. "You generally play console games on a TV across the room whereas laptop games are contend on a monitor solely inches away."[12] Console games place effort into close-up action and overall render quality; laptop games emphasize what will be through with high resolutions and super-sharp textures. Hudson conjointly noted that the distinction between a game controller and mouse-and-keyboard setup influenced some style selections. The laptop version options an additional location the player will visit and additional NPCs, things and weapons; these additions were later created out there on the Xbox version through Xbox Live. The laptop version supports higher show resolutions (up to 1600x1200) and has higher-resolution textures.

Sound
While the most game, graphics engine and story were developed by BioWare, LucasArts worked on the game's audio. Knights of the recent Republic contains 300 completely different characters and fifteen thousand lines of speech. "One complete copy of the Knights of the recent Republic script fills up ten 5-inch binders," voice department manager Darragh O'Farrell noted. A forged of around 100 voice actors, together with impotence Asner, Raphael Sbarge, Ethan Phillips, Jennifer Hale, and Phil LaMarr was assembled. "Fortunately, with a game this size, it is simple to possess AN actor play some completely different characters and scatter those components throughout the sport thus you may ne'er notice it is the same actor you detected earlier," O'Farrell aforementioned.

Voice production started six months before the game's beta unharness. The voice production team got the script ninetieth complete to figure with. "There were some changes created throughout recording, however most of the remaining ten p.c are restricted in our pickup session," O'Farrell aforementioned, "The pickup session is correct at the tip of the project, wherever we have a tendency to catch performance problems, tutorial lines, verbal hints, and anything that we'd  have unmarked." A game the scale of Knights of the recent Republic would generally take seven weeks to record; fortnight of recording all-day and all-night meant LucasArts were ready to record all voices in 5 weeks. Actors were recorded one at a time, because the non-linear nature of the sport meant it absolutely was too sophisticated and high-priced to record over one actor at a time.

Most of the dialogue recorded was spoken in Galactic Basic (represented by English); but, around a tenth of the script was written in Huttese. electro-acoustic transducer Gallo used mount Burtt's Star Wars: Galactic book & Travel Guide to translate English into Huttese. "The key to recording alien dialogue is casting the proper actor for the half," O'Farrell aforementioned, "Over the years I've had actors desire Huttese sort of a fish to water, however the other is additionally true. within the past I've had to line-read (when AN actor copies my performance) 150-plus Huttese lines to AN actor so as to create it work."

Award-winning musician Jeremy Soule was signed to compose the game's score. "It are a Star Wars score, however it'll all be original, and possibly the items which will stay are the Force themes and things like that," Gallo aforementioned. Soule was unable to write down a full musical group score for Knights of the recent Republic thanks to technical limitations: "At the time we have a tendency to solely had AN eight unit per second MIDI system. That was state of the art... I had to fool individuals into thinking they were hearing a full orchestra. I’d write woodwinds and drums, or woodwinds, horns and drums, or strings and drums and brass. I couldn’t run the full orchestra quickly, it absolutely was not possible."

Release
When proclaimed at E3 2001, Knights of the recent Republic was originally scheduled  for a late 2002 unharness. In August 2002 it absolutely was proclaimed on the game's forums that its unharness had been delayed: the Xbox version was to be free in spring 2003 and also the laptop version in summer 2003. an extra delay was proclaimed in Gregorian calendar month 2003, with each versions of the sport expected to be free in fall 2003. Zeschuk attributed the delay to BioWare's specialize in quality: "Our goal is to continually deliver a top-notch gameplay expertise, and typically it will be terribly tough to stand out all told areas. we have a tendency to keep performing on grappling every individual issue till we have a tendency to feel we've accomplished one thing special."

The Xbox version of Knights of the recent Republic went gold on Gregorian calendar month nine, 2003 with a unharness date of Gregorian calendar month fifteen. It sold  250,000 copies within the initial four days of its unharness, creating Knights of the recent Republic the fastest-selling Xbox title at the time of its unharness. Following the game's unharness, it absolutely was proclaimed that free downloadable content would be out there through Xbox Live at the tip of the year. The laptop version of the sport went gold on Veterans' Day, 2003 and was free on Gregorian calendar month eighteen. it absolutely was re-released as a part of the Star Wars: the most effective of laptop assortment in 2006.

The game was free on Steam on might fourteen, 2012 for waterproof OS X. the sport was free for the iPad on might thirty, 2013. The iPad version includes the Yavin Station DLC that was antecedently free for Xbox and laptop. the sport was free as DRM-free transfer on GoG.com in Oct, 2014.

The game was conjointly launched on Android's Google Play Store on Gregorian calendar month twenty two, 2014.

Grand Theft Auto (series)

Grand Theft car is associate degree action-adventure computer game series created by David Jones and electro-acoustic transducer Dailly; the later titles of that were created by brothers Dan and guided missile Houser, Leslie Benzies and Aaron Garbut. it's primarily developed by Rockstar North (formerly DMA Design), and printed by Rockstar Games. The name of the series references the term utilized in the USA for automobile larceny.

Most games within the series square measure set in fictional locales modelled on yankee cities, typically either Liberty town, Vice City, or San Andreas, that square measure stand-ins for brand spanking new York town, Miami, and also the state of Calif., severally. the primary game encompassed 3 fictional cities, whereas succeeding titles tend to stress one town and its far areas. Gameplay focuses on associate degree open world wherever the player will opt for missions to progress associate degree overall story, in addition as partaking in aspect activities, all consisting of action-adventure, driving, third-person shooting, occasional role-playing, stealth, and sport components. The series conjointly has components of the sooner beat 'em up games from the 16-bit era. The series has gained tilt for its adult nature and violent themes. The series focuses around many various protagonists World Health Organization conceive to rise through the ranks of the criminal underworld, though their motives for doing therefore vary in every game. The antagonists square measure unremarkably characters World Health Organization have betrayed the protagonist or his organisation, or characters World Health Organization have the foremost impact clogging the protagonist's progress. The series contains irony and humour.

British computer game developer DMA style began the series in 1997. as of 2014, it's eleven complete games and 4 growth packs. The third written account title, grand larceny car III, was wide acclaimed, because it brought the series to a 3D setting and additional immersive expertise, and is taken into account a landmark title that has after influenced several alternative open world action games and crystal rectifier to the label "Grand larceny car clone" on similar games. succeeding titles would follow and ride the idea established in grand larceny car III. Film and music veterans have voiced characters, together with Ray Liotta, Burt painter, Dennis Hopper, Samuel L. Jackson, Debbie Harry, Phil Collins, Axl Rose, and Peter Fonda. The series has been critically acclaimed and commercially productive, having oversubscribed over 220 million units, as of September 2015. The Telegraph hierarchal the GTA series among Britain's most productive exports.

The grand larceny car series is split into separate fictional universes, named once the first level of graphics capability utilized in every era. the first grand larceny car, its expansions and its sequel square measure thought of the "2D universe". grand larceny car III and its sequels square measure thought of the "3D universe". grand larceny car IV, its expansions and grand larceny car V square measure thought of the "HD universe". every universe is taken into account separate with solely brands, place names and background characters shared between them.

Grand Theft car, the primary game within the series, was free for Microsoft Windows and disk operating system in October 1997, ported to the PlayStation in 1998 and also the Game Boy change 1999. grand larceny car a pair of was free in 1999 for Microsoft Windows, later receiving ports on the PlayStation, Dreamcast and Game Boy Color.

The PlayStation a pair of conjointly featured 3 instalments of the most series, all of that are re-released on many platforms; a deal between Take-Two Interactive and Sony laptop amusement resulted in their regular exclusivity on the PlayStation a pair of, before receiving ports to Microsoft Windows and also the Xbox. The 2001 title grand larceny car III touched removed from the 2-dimension (2D) graphics utilized in the primary two games to three-dimension (3D) laptop graphics; the sport options two-dimensional figure characters on pre-rendered backgrounds. grand larceny Auto: Vice town was printed in 2002, and was the primary to feature a speaking protagonist, voiced by Ray Liotta. grand larceny Auto: San Andreas, free in 2004, introduced varied new components, together with character customisation and an oversized map encompassing 3 cities and encompassing geographic region.

Two main instalments were printed for the PlayStation three and Xbox 360. The 2008 title grand larceny car IV centered on realism and detail, removing varied customisation options, whereas adding a web multiplayer mode. grand larceny car V, printed in 2013, featured 3 playable protagonists. it absolutely was free to huge monetary success, breaking multiple records. it absolutely was later re-released with varied enhancements, in 2014 for the PlayStation four and Xbox One, and in 2015 for Microsoft Windows.

Other games
Grand Theft car has spawned varied extra games and growth packs. In 1999, the first game received 2 growth packs: grand larceny Auto: London, 1969 and grand larceny Auto: London, 1961. grand larceny car Advance, free in 2004 for the sport Boy Advance, featured a top-down perspective. 3 games were free for the PlayStation moveable. The 2005 game grand larceny car: Liberty town Stories may be a prequel to grand larceny Auto III, whereas the a pair of006 game grand larceny Auto: Vice town Stories may be a prequel to Vice City; each games were later ported to the PlayStation 2. In 2009, grand larceny Auto: Chinatown Wars was free for the Nintendo DS, and later ported to the PlayStation moveable. In 2009, The Lost and Damned and also the Ballad of Gay Tony were free for the Xbox 360 as growth packs to grand larceny car IV; a "strategic alliance" between Rockstar and Microsoft resulted within the regular exclusivity. They were later free on Xbox 360, PlayStation three associate degreed Microsoft Windows as a part of an growth pack, titled grand larceny Auto: Episodes from Liberty town.

Numerous titles within the series have received ports to mobile devices. Chinatown Wars was free for iOS in 2010 and for automaton and hearth OS in 2014. for his or her tenth anniversaries, grand larceny car III and Vice town were each re-released for iOS and automaton in 2011 and 2012, severally. In 2013, San Andreas was ported to iOS, automaton & Windows Phone and RT ; the mobile port was later re-released for Xbox 360 in 2014, the year of the game's tenth day.

Related media
The series has been expanded  into varied alternative formats. Jacked: The Outlaw Story of grand larceny car, a book written by David Kushner chronicling the event of the series, was printed in 2012. In March 2015, BBC 2 declared The Gamechangers, a 90-minute motion picture supported the creation of grand larceny car, Directed by Owen Harris and written by James Wood, the drama can star Daniel Radcliffe as Rockstar president guided missile Houser and Bill Sir Joseph Paxton as disbarred professional Jack Thompson. In could 2015, Rockstar filed a proceedings against the BBC for trademark infringement, stating that that they had no involvement with the event of the film and had unsuccessfully tried to contact the BBC to resolve the matter. It initial airy on fifteen September 2015 on BBC 2.

In 2006, McFarland & Company printed The that means and Culture of grand larceny car (ISBN 978-0-7864-2822-9). Compiled by Nate Garrelts, the 264-page book may be a assortment of essays concerning the grand larceny car series, to assist audiences higher perceive the games and to create a degree regarding due diligence of game criticism. The book is split into 2 halfs: the primary part discusses the controversies encompassing the series, whereas the half takes a theoretical explore the games absent of the tilt.

Common elements
Gameplay
Each game during this series permits players to require on the role of a criminal within the massive town, usually a personal World Health Organization plans to rise through the ranks of union crime through the course of the sport. The player is given varied missions by kingpins and major idols within the town underworld that should be completed to progress through the plot line. Assassinations and alternative violent crimes square measure featured frequently. sometimes taxi driving, firefighting, street sport, bus driving, or learning to fly helicopters and fixed-wing craft are concerned within the game.

In later titles, notably those free once grand larceny car a pair of, the player is given a additional developed plot line within which they're forced to beat associate degree unfortunate event (e.g., being betrayed and left for dead), that is motivation for the character to advance up the criminal ladder and ultimately results in the triumph of the character by the tip of the plot line.

The grand larceny car series belongs to a genre of free-roaming role-playing video games referred to as open world games, and grants an oversized quantity of freedom to the player. ancient action games square measure structured as one track series of levels with linear gameplay, however in grand larceny car the player will confirm the missions that they need to undertake, and their relationship with varied characters square measure modified supported these decisions. Influenced by the sooner game Turbo life, the cities of the games may be roamed freely at any purpose within the game, and square measure samples of open world computer game environments which supply accessible buildings with minor missions additionally to the most plot line. There square measure exceptions: missions follow a linear, overarching plot, and a few town areas should be unsecured over the course of the sport.

Grand Theft car III and succeeding games have additional voice acting and radio stations, that simulate driving to music with disc jockeys, radio personalities, commercials, talk radio, pop music, and yankee culture.

The use of vehicles in associate degree explorable urban atmosphere provides a basic simulation of a operating town, complete with pedestrians World Health Organization usually conform traffic signals. additional details square measure wont to flesh out associate degree open-ended atmosphere that has been utilized in many alternative games, like The Simpsons: Hit & Run, that has less stress on crime or violence, and toy town cloak-and-dagger, that reverses the roles of policeman and criminal, though the player goes cloak-and-dagger in gangs for a little of the sport.

Setting
The grand larceny car series is about in an exceedingly fictional version of the planet, in an exceedingly variety of various time periods. the first grand larceny car introduced 3 main cities: Liberty town, primarily based upon ny town, Vice City, primarily based upon Miami, and San Andreas, based {mostly|primarily based} upon mostly elements of Calif.. within the initial grand larceny car game, San Andreas was supported metropolis and elements of city. growth packs later set the sport in London.

The second entry within the franchise, grand larceny car a pair of, set the sport within the future in an exceedingly scene named "Anywhere City".

Subsequent games within the series have re-imagined and expanded  upon the first locales. grand larceny car III is about in an exceedingly totally different rendition of Liberty town solely loosely supported ny town. A revised Vice town and San Andreas square measure portrayed in Vice town and San Andreas, severally, the latter of that takes the shape of a whole state, rather than one town. The state of San Andreas relies on the states of Calif. and Battle Born State, and consists of 3 major cities: Los port (Los Angeles), San Fierro (San Francisco), and Las Venturas (Las Vegas). encompassing cities and areas of desert, water, woodland, and rural area lie between the 3 cities. The GTA III rendition of Liberty town is additionally in brief featured throughout one mission.

Liberty town Stories and Vice town Stories, originally free on the PlayStation moveable hand-held console and later reissued for alternative consoles, square measure set within the previous depictions of their individual eponymic cities, however in numerous decades. The maps for the 2 cities stay constant, with some variations in terms of buildings and earth science to mirror the various time periods.

Grand Theft car IV and its succeeding growth packs The Lost and Damned and also the Ballad of Gay Tony square measure set in an exceedingly third revision of Liberty town, set in 2008, that may be a nearer analog to ny town and its boroughs than the GTA III version. grand larceny Auto: Chinatown Wars is additionally set during this version of Liberty town, though the Alderney portion of the map isn't gift.

Grand Theft car V, free in 2013, is about in an exceedingly revised depiction of San Andreas that options Los port (Los Angeles) to the south and also the rural Blaine County to the north. It includes revised landmarks like the "Vinewood" sign (instead of Hollywood), Rockford Hills (instead of Beverly Hills), Del Perro Pier (instead of Santa Monica Pier), Los port International airdrome (LSIA) (instead of LAX), Los port Golf Club (instead of la club.), and Galileo Galilei Observatory (instead of film producer Observatory). the sport conjointly options the city of Ludendorff within the fictional state of North Yankton. la was extensively researched for grand larceny car V. The team organized field analysis journeys with tour guides and bailiwick historians and captured around 250,000 photos and hours of video footage throughout these visits Since the discharge of the sport, many in-game buildings are known as being supported real-world landmarks. The New Yorker's guided missile Sweet notes that, with sales of game reaching 13 million copies, "there are additional individuals living within the unreal state of Los port than within the real town on that it absolutely was modelled."

In each grand larceny car: San Andreas and grand larceny Auto V, Los port and also the state of San Andreas square measure portrayed as being on associate degree island associate degree undetermined distance from the USA dry land. In each games it's potential to compass the state by boat. Similarly, the versions of Liberty town and Alderney in grand larceny car IV and growth packs are utterly settled on islands, as is Vice town. The GTA III rendition of Liberty town but, whereas largely island, is connected to dry land on its Northwest corner (a region the player cannot navigate).

Only the growth packs for the first grand larceny car, London, 1969 and London, 1961, set in London, have featured a location outside the u.  s. and used a real-life location.

Controversies
Former professional Jack Thompson has been concerned in an exceedingly variety of makes an attempt to induce families of murder victims to carry the grand larceny car series in charge of the death of their worshipped ones. as a result of his conduct during this and connected cases, Thompson was disbarred in 2008 and was punished over $100,000 by the American state Bar Association.

On twenty October 2003, the families of Aaron Hamel and Kimberly theologiser, 2 children shot by teens William and tantalize Buckner (who in statements to investigators claimed their actions were galvanized by grand larceny car III) filed a US$246 million proceedings against publishers Rockstar Games, Take-Two Interactive computer code, merchandiser Wal-Mart, and PlayStation a pair of manufacturer Sony laptop amusement America. Rockstar and its parent company, Take-Two, filed for dismissal of the proceedings, stating in U.S. District Court on twenty nine October 2003 that the "ideas and ideas in addition because the 'purported psychological effects' on the Buckners square measure protected by the primary Amendment's free-speech clause". The professional of the victims, Jack Thompson, denied that, however failing in his conceive to move the proceedings into a state court and below Tennessee's client protection act. 2 days later, the plaintiffs filed a Notice of Voluntary Dismissal, and also the case was closed.

In February 2005, a proceedings was brought upon the manufacturers and distributors of the grand larceny car series claiming the games caused a youngster to shoot and kill 3 members of the Alabama law enforcement agency. The shooting passed in Gregorian calendar month 2003 once Devin Moore, seventeen years recent at the time, was taken sure questioning by police in Fayette, Alabama concerning a taken vehicle. Moore then grabbed a handgun from one of the law enforcement officials and shot and killed him along side another officer and dispatcher before fleeing in a squad car. one among Moore's attorneys, Jack Thompson, claimed it absolutely was grand larceny Auto's graphic nature—with his constant taking part in time—that caused Moore to commit the murders, and Moore's family agrees. Damages were being sought-after from branches of GameStop and Wal-Mart in opaque gem, Alabama, the stores from that grand larceny car III and grand larceny Auto: Vice town, severally, were purchased and conjointly from the games' publisher Take-Two Interactive, and also the PlayStation a pair of manufacturer Sony laptop amusement. On twenty nine March 2006 the case was unemployed and permission to charm was denied.

In could 2005, Thompson appeared via satellite on the astronaut gesture program on CNN's Headline News. Thompson mentioned Devin Moore and same concerning grand larceny car III and grand larceny Auto: Vice town "There's little question in my mind  that except for Devin Moore's coaching on this cop killing machine, he wouldn't are able to kill 3 cops in Fayette, Alabama World Health Organization square measure currently dead and within the ground. we tend to square measure suing Take-Two, Sony, Wal-Mart, and GameStop for having trained Devin Moore to kill. He had no history of violence. No record."

In September 2006, Thompson brought another proceedings, claiming that promoter Posey contend the sport obsessionally before murdering his father Delbert Paul Posey, stepparent Tryone Schmid, and half sister Marilea Schmid on a ranch in urban center, New Mexico. The suit was filed on behalf of the victims' families. throughout the criminal trial, Posey's defence team argued he was abused by his father, and affected by his stepparent. Posey was conjointly taking SSRI at the time of the killings. The suit alleged that were it not for his psychoneurotic taking part in of grand larceny Auto: Vice town, the murders wouldn't have taken place. Named within the suit were promoter Posey, Rockstar Games, Take-Two Interactive, and Sony. The suit asked for US$600 million in damages.

Several celebrities have sued Rockstar Games and/or Take-Two Interactive for violating their belongings or temperament rights, together with hip-hop creator Daz Dillinger, Karenic Gravano of Mob Wives, and player Lindsay divinity.

According to The Guinness World Records 2008 and 2009 Gamer's Edition, it's the foremost arguable computer game series in history, with over four,000 articles printed regarding it, that embody accusations of glamorising violence, corrupting gamers, and association to real world crimes.

Grand Theft Auto
The game was arguable from the terribly initial incarnation of the series. grand larceny car was condemned in UK, Germany, and France as a result of its "extreme violence", and Brazil illegal it outright. publiciser scoop Clifford planted sensational stories in tabloids so as to assist sell the primary game.

Grand Theft car III: general violence and crime
The controversies flaring up once more with grand larceny car III, since the 3D graphics created the violence additional realistic, and players might pay the services of prostitutes to recover their health, and if they needed, killing them to induce a number of their a refund.

There is conjointly criticism from the main target on bootleg activities as compared with ancient "heroic" roles that alternative games provide. the most character will commit a large kind of crimes and violent acts whereas managing solely temporary consequences, together with the killing of policemen and military personnel.

Vice City: ethnic discrimination
The sixth game within the series, grand larceny Auto: Vice town, conjointly came below criticism. One mission specifically, within which the player should instigate a gang war between Haitian and Cuban gangs, has been arguable. Haitian and Cuban anti-defamation teams criticised the sport.

Jean-Robert Lafortune of the Haitian yankee Grassroots Coalition is quoted as speech that "The game should not be designed to destroy human life, it should not be designed to destroy associate degree group," for this and similar eventualities, together with lines within the game's script like "kill the Haitian dickheads" same by character "Diaz" throughout associate degree row between the player and a Haitian gang. once the threat of a proceedings by the Haitian-American Grassroots Coalition, Rockstar removed the word "Haitians" from this phrase within the game's subtitles.

San Andreas: sex minigame
San Andreas was criticised ab initio as a result of its "gangster" components, that embody medicine, whoredom, and murder; however later as a result of the invention of disabled interactive sex scenes, nicknamed Hot low, that was a sexual minigame that was cut from the sport, however remained within the game code, that was discovered in each the console and Windows versions of the sport. Dubbed the "Hot low mod", the minigame allowed players to own sex with their in-game girlfriends.

After the discharge of grand larceny Auto: San Andreas, modders managed to search out the unused code within the game associate degreed free unofficial patches for the Windows and Xbox (with a modchip) versions in addition as a PlayStation a pair of version through the utilization of an replication code facultative the player to interact in these sexual mini-games (dubbed "Hot Coffee" in relevancy a locution for sex utilized in the game). These mini-games were left part intact within the game's code. This prompted application of associate degree AO (Adults Only) ESRB rating to the version of the sport containing the leftover code. Take-Two Interactive was forced to re-release the sport so as to revive the M (Mature) rating. a category action proceedings against Take-Two was conjointly filed as a results of the "Hot Coffee" code.

Grand Theft car IV: drunk driving[edit]
One of the controversies involved this game was Mothers Against Drunk Driving's (MADD) criticism of the power to drink and drive as a brand new feature. MADD had even requested ESRB to vary the rating of the sport from "M" for ages seventeen and up to "AO", for adults solely, as a result of they felt it absolutely was inappropriate for kids, even at the age of seventeen, to expertise drunk driving in such a fashion. within the final game, drunk driving may be a playable event, however it's against the law that mechanically generates a needed rating and main playable character Niko Bellic loudly (and drunkenly) proclaims that it's a "bad idea" which he "should recognize better".

Notably, it's not possible to drive whereas drunk within the GTA IV expansions, The Lost and Damned and also the Ballad of Gay Tony. These were free once the criticism. It is, however, potential to drive drunk once more within the successor, grand larceny car V.

The Lost and Damned: full-frontal nudity
The Lost and Damned growth pack was condemned by U.S. oldsters cluster logic Media World Health Organization issued a public warning against the pack's content as a result of a full-frontal status scene throughout one among the cutscenes. They claimed the sport was "more arguable than its predecessors" as a result of it featured "full frontal male nudity".

Chinatown Wars: drug dealing minigame
There has been some tilt over a drug dealing minigame along side comments that some Nintendo games square measure being geared toward youngsters (despite the very fact that the sport was rated Mature). The drug dealing mini-game permits players to huckster six sorts of medicine round the town, however the profit the player makes depends on market conditions, which is able to be supported the realm within which they deal, and also the level of standard service this space receives from them.
A man is strapped to associate degree upset chair with a fabric concealing his face. Player character Trevor stands over him with a canister, getting ready to pour water on his face. A text prompt within the higher left-hand corner reads "Hold  to pour water."
The mission "By the Book" involves a sequence whereby players use torture techniques together with waterboarding to interrogate a person.
Main article: Controversies encompassing grand larceny car V
A section within the latest instalment caused tilt for scenes containing player initiated torture. The mission "By the Book" options graphic depictions of kneecapping, electrocution, dental extraction and waterboarding, and also the player is needed to perform the acts so as to progress within the game.

UK-based charity Freedom from Torture in public condemned the utilization of torture scenes in grand larceny car V. The organization World Health Organization work to rehabilitate survivors of torture, joined alternative human rights charities World Health Organization were indignant at a torture scene within the game within which the players ought to pull teeth associate degreed electrocute an unarmed man so as to extract data. The charity's chief operating officer Keith Best stated: “Rockstar North has crossed a line by effectively forcing individuals to require on the role of a oppressor and perform a series of unspeakable acts if they need to attain success within the game."

The game has conjointly been defendant of discrimination. The la Times thought of the game's sarcastic portrayals of girls unimaginative, and further that violent and sexist themes hurt the sport expertise. Edge noted that whereas "every feminine within the game exists entirely to be sneered, leered or laughed at", it treated its all-male lead characters in an exceedingly similar vein through their stereotypical tendencies towards violence. guided missile Houser, Rockstar Games co-founder, felt that the event team generally unnoted their portrayal of girls in grand larceny car games, however that {the we tend toight|the load|the burden} towards male characters "fit with the story we needed to tell".

Reception
Ever since 2001, the grand larceny car series has been a significant success, each critically and financially. it's generated excellent or close to excellent reviews and scores on the majority of the games; by September 2013, the series oversubscribed over one hundred fifty million copies worldwide, and as of August 2015, grand larceny car shipped over 220 million units worldwide. the days on-line according that grand larceny car IV recorded 609,000 copies within the UK on its initial day of unleash. In its initial week, grand larceny car IV oversubscribed more or less half dozen million copies worldwide and grossed over $500 million.

In 2006, grand larceny car was voted one among Britain's prime ten styles among Concorde, Red phonephone Boxes, Catseyes, The Underground, Mini, place Raider and also the World Wide internet.

The series has broken many records, leading to Guinness World Records subsidisation the series ten world records within the Gamer's Edition 2008. These records embody Most Guest Stars in an exceedingly computer game Series, Largest Voice solid in an exceedingly computer game (Grand larceny Auto: San Andreas), Largest In-Game audio recording (Grand larceny car: San Andreas) in addition as Most productive amusement Launch of All Time (Grand larceny Auto V). Guinness World Records conjointly hierarchal grand larceny car in third place on their list of prime fifty console games of all time supported initial impact and lasting bequest. grand larceny Auto: San Andreas is listed because the most productive game on the PlayStation a pair of in keeping with The Guinness World Records 2009 Gamer's Edition.

Grand Theft car III, San Andreas and Vice town presently lie at the ordinal, fifth and sixth highest rated PlayStation a pair of games on Metacritic, severally, whereas Chinatown Wars is rated the simplest game on the Nintendo DS and also the contender on the PlayStation moveable, and grand larceny car IV is presently rated the contender game ever, with a score of ninety eight, solely trailing behind The Legend of Zelda: wind instrument of your time. Also, Vice City, grand larceny car III, San Andreas and grand larceny car IV lie at eleventh, 24th, twenty seventh and 93rd best laptop games of all time, on Metacritic. along side this, The Lost and Damned and also the Ballad of Gay Tony square measure presently placed thirty fifth and 59th within the prime Xbox 360 games.