Grand Theft Auto III is an action-adventure game played from a third-person perspective. Players complete missions—linear scenarios with set objectives—to progress through the story. It is possible to have several active missions running at one time, as some missions require players to wait for further instructions or events. Outside of missions, players can freely roam the game's open world, and have the ability to complete optional side missions. Liberty City is composed of three boroughs: Portland, Staunton Island, and Shoreside Vale; the latter two areas become unlocked as the story progresses.
Players may run, jump or use vehicles to navigate the game's world. In combat, auto-aim can be used as assistance against enemies. Should players take damage, their health meter can be fully regenerated through the use of health pick-ups. Body armour can be used to absorb gunshots and explosive damage, but is used up in the process. When health is entirely depleted, gameplay stops, and players respawn at the nearest hospital, at the expense of losing armour and an amount of money.
If players commit crimes while playing, the game's law enforcement agencies may respond as indicated by a "wanted" meter in the head-up display (HUD). On the meter, the displayed stars indicate the current wanted level (for example, at the maximum six-star level, efforts by law enforcement to incapacitate players become very aggressive). Law enforcement officers will search for players who leave the wanted vicinity. The wanted meter enters a cooldown mode and eventually recedes when players are hidden from the officers' line of sight.
The game lets players control the mute criminal Claude. During the story, Claude meets various new characters from gangs. As players complete missions for different gangs, fellow gang members will often defend players, while rival gang members will recognise players and subsequently shoot on sight. While free roaming the game world, players may engage in activities such as a vigilante minigame, a fire fighting activity, a paramedic service and a taxi cab service. Completion of these activities grants players with context-specific rewards; for example, completing the vigilante mission allows players to bribe police after committing a crime.
Players use melee attacks, firearms and explosives to fight enemies. The firearms include weapons such as the Micro Uzi, an M16 rifle and a flamethrower. The game's three-dimension environment allows a first-person view while aiming with the sniper rifle, rocket launcher and the M16 rifle. In addition, the game's combat was reworked to allow players to commit drive-by shootings by facing sideways in a vehicle. The game gives players a wide variety of weapon options—they can be purchased from local firearms dealers, found on the ground, retrieved from dead enemies, or found around the city.
Plot
While robbing a bank in Liberty City, criminal Claude is shot and betrayed by his girlfriend and accomplice Catalina (Cynthia Farrell), who escapes with an unnamed Colombian gangster. Claude survives but is arrested and sentenced to ten years in prison. Claude and fellow prisoner 8-Ball (Guru) escape from a prison transport when Colombian men attack the police convoy to retrieve a third prisoner, an elderly Asian man. 8-Ball later introduces Claude to the Leone Mafia crime family; Sex Club 7 owner Luigi Goterelli (Joe Pantoliano), Don Salvatore Leone (Frank Vincent), his Capo Toni Cipriani (Michael Madsen), and the Don's son Joey Leone (Michael Rapaport). During work for the family, Claude finds himself fighting the Colombians, led by Catalina and the Colombian man, who are distributing a new street drug called SPANK. After destroying the Colombians' ship, Salvatore attempts to have Claude killed with a booby-trapped car, but Salvatore's trophy wife Maria (Debi Mazar), who has taken a liking to Claude after he served as her chaffeur, saves him just in time. She admits that, during a fight with Salvatore, she told her husband that she was having an affair with Claude. Together with her friend Asuka Kasen (Lianna Pai), they flee Portland for Staunton Island.
Claude begins working for the city's Yakuza under Asuka, who has Claude assassinate Salvatore. This cuts off all of Claude's ties with the Leone family, who are now against him. Claude's work leads him to allying himself with other criminal sources, such as corrupt police detective Ray Machowski (Robert Loggia), an enemy of the Cartel. Claude later saves him from Internal Affairs and the CIA by helping him flee to Vice City. Claude also meets charismatic media mogul Donald Love (Kyle MacLachlan), who maintains a huge media front. In an effort to start a war between the Yakuza and Cartel to lower real estate prices, Claude and Love organise the death of Asuka's brother Kenji Kasen (Les Mau) and blame the Cartel. Later, Love asks Claude to rescue the elderly man kidnapped by the Cartel. While on an errand, Claude finally confronts Catalina, who narrowly escapes. Asuka abducts Catalina's partner Miguel (Al Espinosa), believing him to have knowledge of her brother's death.
With the war with the Cartel intensifying, Asuka and Maria learn of Claude's history with Catalina and order him to attack many Cartel operations. Eventually, his exploits attract the attention of Catalina. As a result, the Cartel kidnap Maria, murder Asuka and Miguel, and demand Claude to pay a $500,000 ransom in exchange for Maria's release. When Claude confronts Catalina, she attempts to have him killed, but he escapes. In the resulting firefight, Catalina attempts to flee in a helicopter and makes a final attempt on Claude's life. After killing the remaining Cartel members and rescuing Maria, Claude shoots down the helicopter, effectively killing Catalina. As they are leaving the scene, Maria complains to Claude about the kidnapping, particularly the state of her appearance. During the credits, a gunshot is heard, and Maria's voice is silenced.
