5 pieces of removed content from GTA 3 explored

GTA 3, released in 2001, became the blueprint for all subsequent Grand Theft Auto titles and established Rockstar Games' dominance in the open-world genre. This title was considered quite revolutionary due to all the content it offered. However, many players may not be aware that Rockstar had initially planned a lot more content for it, which was eventually removed.

This article explores some things that were meant to be in this title but were cut before the game's release. These pieces of content have been uncovered by fans and dataminers. Players should note that all of these have either been mentioned in the data found in the game files or addressed by Rockstar.

Popular GTA community members like Vadim M, SpooferJahk, SWEGTA, Badger Goodger have conducted detailed investigations into all the content cut from the game. With that in mind, here are five pieces of content removed from GTA 3.

Note: This article is subjective and reflects the author's opinions.

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5 examples of cut content in GTA 3

1) First-person camera

Grand Theft Auto 3 was the first game in the series where Rockstar wanted to implement a first-person camera perspective. This feature, however, was supposed to be exclusive to the title's PC version, which came out in 2002. There are some leftover codes in the game files that prove how Grand Theft Auto 3 was supposed to have a first-person camera. Unfortunately, this feature was abandoned in an incomplete state.

Rockstar attempted to incorporate the feature into Vice City, but it was left unfinished there as well. It wouldn't be until GTA 5 on PC that players finally got a first-person camera perspective. That said, GTA 3 still proved to be way ahead of its time and was originally released in 2001 on the PS2.

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2) Ads on loading screen

The in-game radio commercials heard in every Grand Theft Auto game since GTA 3 are usually meant to be hilarious parodies. Originally, the game was supposed to show such adverts on the loading screen as well. These would have been related to various billboards and posters for products and stores like B***h 'n' Dog Food and Ammu-Nation.

Screenshots related to this content from the earlier review copies of the game have been published by Play TM UK as well as BradyGames Grand Theft Auto 3 Official Strategy Guide.

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3) Multiplayer

Rockstar has officially revealed that they initially planned multiplayer gameplay to be included in GTA 3 but eventually canceled it. Here's what the studio said regarding this:

"We decided to make Vice City instead of dedicating a big team to multiplayer, as we did not feel it would ever really be good enough."

The PC game files for this title allude to this content's inclusion. Four multiplayer maps for the 10-Year Anniversary Edition of GTA 3 for mobile devices were also left incomplete. Grand Theft Auto modder Zmey20009 converted these four maps so they would work in the game's PC version: Chinatown, The Tower, The Sewer, and Industrial Park.

Other maps like Liberty City, Red Light, The Docks, and Staunton might also have been removed from the game, but not much is known about them. The title was supposed to have several types of deathmatch modes, along with other modes called Stash the Cash, Capture the Flag, Rat Race, and Domination.

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4) Darkel

Darkel is one of the biggest myths related to GTA 3, given that this game doesn't have as many creepy myths as the other GTA titles. This is a removed character whose character model was found in the game files, and his voice actor, Bill Fiore, was also included in the title's credits.

According to Rockstar, the character was removed because his missions didn't fit in with the general tone of the game. Meanwhile, according to an early IGN interview, one of Darkel's missions involved killing pedestrians with an ice cream truck bomb. This mission might have been changed to "I Scream, You Scream," where Claude now blows up the Mafia instead.

There are many myths related to Darkel's missions, such as one suggesting that he would order Claude to blow up a school bus filled with children. Rockstar, however, debunked this one in 2011 by calling it a "funny rumor."

According to Game Informer, the Kill Frenzy missions from the earlier 2D games were replaced by missions meant to be provided by Darkel instead, who would reward the player if they killed pedestrians in a fixed time. SWEGTA (a YouTuber) believes that these turned into what fans now know as Rampages, where ordinary civilians have now been replaced with gang members.

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5) Removed content due to 9/11

Rockstar delayed GTA 3 and made several last-minute changes to the game following the September 11 attacks. They initially had also thought about canceling the game altogether. These changes include changing the colors of in-game police cars from blue with two white stripes (like the NYPD patrol cars of the time) to a black-and-white dual-tone color scheme.

Rockstar altered the flight path of the Dead Dodo so that it stayed away from the city's skyscrapers and made the Airtrain transparent so that it couldn't be blown up anymore.

The developer also removed a mission that apparently made some references to terrorists, as well as additional changes to other missions and dialogues. The most famous change, however, involved the box art. It was given a style that eventually became the norm for all future titles.

There's another common myth related to Darkel that says how one of his missions, apparently called "Love Hurts," involved flying a Dodo into the Love Media building to kill Donald Love. This mission might have been removed due to 9/11 as well.

However, Rockstar has stated that it never meant for the Dodo to be flyable. It's worth noting that Darkel was removed before Rockstar did the post-9/11 tweaks to the game.

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In other news, details about the GTA 6 Trailer 2 have allegedly been revealed online, promising a jaw-dropping upgrade.