Is “console accurate” a valid descriptor? Based on this footage from the New York ComicCon, the iPad iteration of Grand Theft Auto 3 is very “console accurate.”
At some indeterminate time later this year, Grand Theft Auto 3 will be appearing on the iPad and iPhone 4S. Neat right? A handheld, open-world crime simulator sounds like fun, doesn’t it?
But maybe you’re the cautious type. Maybe you’re thinking, “sure, I’d love to shoot a cop, but I’m not entirely convinced that my fancy iPad can render a game originally designed for the PlayStation 2.” That, my friend, is a valid fear, and I was with you in shared trepidation right up until I saw the video embedded above.
Captured by YouTube user “tekunoloji” during the recent New York ComicCon, the clip is a pretty standard gameplay vignette from the early part of the game. If you’ve played GTA3, you’ll recognize everything in the video. What you’ll also notice is that the game runs really, really well on the handheld Apple hardware. Impressively so.
Granted, the clip never shows the kinds of massive multi-vehicle detonations that might really stress the technology, but it does cover almost everything you’d see in 90 percent of normal gameplay, and the engine never really chokes on the visuals.
Given that the game is not yet finished, you’ve still got permission to fret for its eventual debut, but you optimists also have permission to suddenly feel very giddy about this game’s upcoming release. If you feel the need to jump around and clap like one of those cymbal monkeys, now would be the time to do so.
