DISCLAIMER: I shouldn't need to say this, but certain individuals need it spelled out for them. This article obviously does not condone the real life act of shooting firearms in public places. All acts of violence expressed within in a positive light are fictional, digital and thus not real. As much as people like to pretend that video games cause real life violence, the truth is that mental illness and real life violence cause real life violence. There are millions upon billions of people in the world who do not commit these acts of violence and yet they have played and enjoyed games such as these as well as video games that are far worse. If you have any concerns of moral ambiguity on games rated M for Mature or video game codes of ethics, you are free to close this window or move on to the next article. Thank you for your time.
Everyone has their own flavor of sandbox games to choose from now. If you wanted to have powers and be able to kill random people with lasers and fire from your hands, there is Saints Row 4 and Infamous. If you like westerns, there're Red Dead Redemption 1 and 2. If you just want a blank slate world with different continents and islands built in, there's Minecraft, Ark, Garry's Mod, the list goes on. Now days, you can do whatever you want in these worlds, and it all began on the streets of Liberty City.
Grand Theft Auto 3 and its direct successors brought about immersion on another level. While you weren't able to go into every building, you could drive on every street, steal whatever cars you want, so long as there are no cops and/or it's not locked, and you can drive over people by the dozens, so long as you're ready to start racing the fuzz. While there was a main line mission to get to, there were also people who still draw breath.
A lot of people like to just put in the cheat gunsgunsgunsgunsgunsguns and that will be enough to get you an arsenal with which to destroy entire crowds of bystanders. Now, this may sound easy, but once the police begin to barge in with their cars and their guns, it's suddenly a shootout and you need to be in cover. The AI of old was not great, and if you have the high ground with a railing (much like the one beside the hospital) you will have the advantage. The police can still shoot you, but it's much more difficult for them now, as the idea to go up the ramp doesn't occur to them very often.
Depending on your choice of weapons, this can be pretty devastating. Employing the molotov cocktails and burning groups of people can hold some benefits. The problem is that if you release them too lightly, the fire will catch onto you. Now, this is also true for grenades, and those have a higher chance of killing you. The flamethrower for targets nearer to you is a way to go. It cooks and it's nice and clean so long as the people don't approach you while they are on fire. You need to keep at least some small distance but they will die very quickly.
If you were wanting to go a more subtle route, there is the sniper rifle. This will literally take an NPC's head off. It may even kill two or three if you line them up correctly. Another horrifically awesome way to distance kill is with the AR-15. It shreds in this game! The AK-47 gets the job done but the AR-15 will even take down a helicopter after about a full clip. Usually, helicopters are best with the rocket launcher.
Oh yes, dear reader, there is a rocket launcher and it is to be used with caution, as all rocket laucnhers are. This one is a bit more devastating than usual, though, and there are times when helicopters come in a little too close for comfort. One rocket will make people fall to pieces in large groups, though, and its power is not to be overlooked. You may also need it if you ever get tanks or other armored SWAT vehicles. It gets rather nasty.
Speaking of tanks, there is another cheat called giveusatank and you get one on the road immediately, destroying any vehicle beneath it. That's what this does. It takes the action movie cliche of cars exploding on impact to a new level. Every single car you hit, boom! You can drive down the street and fire off the cannon, sure, but you really only need to drive. Cop cars will run directly into you and explode immediately. This doesn't last forever, though, and once your tank lights on fire, you'd better exit, or you will find yourself faced against the word, WASTED!
This is basically GTA 3's bread and butter and it has been for a good number of years. Other video games have broadened this idea and even improved on it. Saints Row 2 even put minigames where it keeps score on your progress of knocking civilians. There's no shame in enjoying this, sometimes it's just nice to take some anger out on some digital nonplayer characters. Just keep it in the digital world and drink real water.
