Grand Theft Auto III

Liberty City in 2001 was the first fully 3D Grand Theft Auto city, and Rockstar marked the game’s 10th anniversary by bringing it to phones. War Drum Studios built the port, which launched worldwide on Android and iOS on December 15, 2011. It is still on Google Play for $4.99, and Rockstar updated it as recently as March 2026.

What Is Grand Theft Auto III

The game opens with a bank robbery in which the hero, a silent criminal later named Claude, is shot and left behind by his girlfriend Catalina. After escaping a prison transfer, he works his way through the city’s gangs, from the Leone Mafia to the Yakuza and the Colombian Cartel, taking jobs that slowly lead back to the woman who betrayed him. Claude never speaks, which leaves the colorful bosses and the radio to carry the personality. Joey and Salvatore Leone, the Yakuza boss Asuka Kasen and the crooked cop Ray Machowski all hand out work, and the voice cast includes Michael Madsen, Frank Vincent and Kyle MacLachlan.

Liberty City’s Three Islands

Liberty City is loosely based on New York and split into three islands that open up as the story moves forward:

1. Portland, the industrial district with docks, Chinatown and the Red Light District
2. Staunton Island, the commercial center with skyscrapers, a stadium and a university campus
3. Shoreside Vale, the suburbs with the airport and the Cochrane Dam

Each island has its own gangs, safehouses and hidden packages, and the bridges between them are closed at first, so the city feels bigger as each new area unlocks.

Is Grand Theft Auto III On Play The Original Or The Definitive Edition?

The Grand Theft Auto III sold on Google Play is War Drum’s 2011 port of the original game, and Rockstar never replaced it with the Definitive Edition. The remastered version came to phones as part of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition through Netflix Games on December 14, 2023, but Netflix removed GTA III and Vice City on December 13, 2024 when its license ran out. The 2011 port carries on, with enhanced models and textures over the PC version but the same missions and map.

Side Jobs And Secrets Around Liberty City

Beyond the story, players can steal a taxi for fare missions, an ambulance for paramedic runs, a police car for vigilante jobs, or a fire truck for firefighting. Rampages, marked by skull icons, give you a weapon and a time limit to take down a set number of targets. There are also 100 hidden packages, and collecting them adds weapons at your safehouses. Unique stunt jumps reward big airtime with cash.

How Critics Rated The Grand Theft Auto III Port

The port scored 80 on Metacritic. Pocket Gamer gave it 9 out of 10, while IGN rated it 7.5 and Eurogamer only 5. Reviewers praised how good the city looked on phones of the time and how complete the game was, but touchscreen controls were the recurring complaint, especially for aiming and for driving through traffic. Missions that ask for driving and shooting at the same time are where the touch layout struggles most.

Who Should Play It Now

Players interested in where 3D Grand Theft Auto began will find the original experience intact, including mission design that can feel strict by modern standards, since a failed job often means driving back across town to retry it. If you want more variety in the same style, Vice City and San Andreas followed on Android in 2012 and 2013, and each built on what this game started.