5 interesting pieces of cut content from GTA 3

Not everything makes it to the final product; likewise, GTA 3 has several interesting pieces of removed content that don’t appear in the final game.

Game development can result in a piece of content altering drastically from the beta version to the final product. It happens with every major game, and GTA 3 is no different.

In GTA 3’s case, it would seem as though a good deal of its cut content stems from technical difficulties, with Rockstar deciding to focus on other features instead.

GTA 3 had a lot of cut content. However, not all of them were due to technical limitations. Some features don’t add much to the game, so it’s understandable why they were removed. Either way, this article will cover some interesting pieces of cut content from GTA 3.

Five beta pieces of cut content from GTA 3

5) Cut script for Claude’s motivation

“BETRAYED BY HIS LOVER CATALINA AND LEFT FOR DEAD. CONVICTED AND SENTENCED, HE BEGINS HIS JOURNEY TO LIBERTY CITY PENITENTIARY. BUT ONLY ONE THOUGHT BURNS IN HIS CRIMINAL MIND……REVENGE!”

Most GTA 3 fans know that Claude wanted to get revenge on Catalina, but the earlier script would’ve made his motivation more apparent to some players. It’s interesting to note that the entire script here is in all caps, which doesn’t usually happen in GTA 3.

The script isn’t scheduled to show up anywhere in GTA 3, but it would make sense for it to happen at the beginning of the game, given the context of what it says.

4) Buskers

Busker is a term for street performers, usually with music in mind. As seen above, these pedestrians would’ve played music, although no audio files exist for their work. They’re considered pedestrians in-game, but it’s unknown if Claude would’ve had an opportunity to interact with them.

Buskers did make their debut in GTA 4, and can also be seen in GTA 5. It’s fascinating to know that they could have debuted in a game as early in the series like GTA 3.

These pedestrians go unused in GTA 3, and it’s unknown where they were supposed to spawn, either.

3) 1st Person POV

It won’t be until GTA 5’s Enhanced Edition where players can aim their weapons in 1st Person POV. Surprisingly, this feature was planned for GTA 3, which was released more than a decade prior to GTA 5.

Several 1st Person POV animations exist for the other weapons in GTA 3. They’re rather unpolished for the most part. However, 1st Person POV wasn’t an impossible task to program for the era, so it would suggest that Rockstar wasn’t interested in going in that direction back then.

2) Camera Pickup

There exists a camera icon within GTA 3’s files that would alter the player’s camera angle when picked up. It’s a niche use, which would make it one of the more pointless pieces of cut content in the grand scheme of things.

Once the player picks it up, the camera will stay in place and follow the player wherever they go. This only lasted for a short while, but there was no practical use for it. Interestingly enough, the same camera icon would be reused for GTA San Andreas’s Snapshot collectible.

1) Multiplayer

GTA 3 having online multiplayer would seem like a distant dream to most players. Given how instrumental GTA Online has been to Rockstar’s success, it would have been interesting to see what a 3D universe counterpart could’ve looked like.

Players would have to connect to the internet and select a map and match type. A Gamespy logo can be seen in GTA 3’s files, which was a company that dealt with early multiplayer services.

Rockstar commented on a player’s question about this in “Grand Theft Auto III: Your Questions Answered – Part Two (9/11, The “Ghost Town”, The Dodo and Other Mysteries)”:

“We played around with the idea of multiplayer back then but never got very far with it. At the time, 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. When we finally made a multiplayer game, we wanted it to rival the fun and experience of single player, and this was something not possible until much later.”

Note: This article reflects the writer’s personal views.