Pros: More variety than the first, weapons are easier to use.
Cons: Some frustrating missions, not much different from the original.
The bottom line: Better than the first, even if it's more of an expansion pack than a sequel.
Back in 1998 (if I remember correctly), DMA Design released Grand Theft Auto, a video game viewed from a bird's eye perspective (or Helicopter perspective as I like to put it) which had players taking control of a mobster who worked for various mob bosses in three cities across the nation. The player was assigned various missions by his/her boss. The missions ranged from carjacking, drug-running, kidnapping, assassination, bombing, smuggling, and more. The game also featured some very vulgar language and a lot of adult themes, and the player could also kill citizens for fun and could even kill Police Officers. The content of the game caused a lot of controversy, but despite that it became a hit. In 1999, a Mission Pack entitled Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 was released. The game was an add-on for the original GTA. Many fans were disappointed with London 1969, mainly because it was the exact same game as GTA, only it took place in London and featured voiceovers from the 1960s (I personally enjoyed London 1969, but many other fans and gamers didn't). Fans wanted a true sequel to GTA, and that's what they got later that year. Does it live up to it's controversial predecessor, surpass it, or pale in comparison?

Grand Theft Auto 2 is set in the Future in the year 2013 (according to the official site, which can be found at http://www.gta2.com). You take the role of Claude Speed, a gangster looking to become a top mobster in a Metropolis-like city. You work for different gangs in three Sectors of the city (Downtown Sector, with all the crazy traffic and crowds, the Residential Sector, where citizens reside, and the Industrial Sector, where there are tons of factories as well as construction sites). You complete missions for your gang of choice, and the more missions you complete, the more respect you gain from them. Respect can also be gained by killing members of opposing gangs. Doing this will earn you respect from your gang, but hatred from the rival team. If you go onto territory where rival gangs roam, they'll often ambush you and attempt to assassinate you. If your on territory where gangs who respect you, they'll often help you (either when your on a mission, being pursued by the law, or are engaged in combat with opposing gangs). The gangs you can support or oppose include the Yakuza (a Japanese gang who want the latest and greatest weapons, clothes, and cars), the Loonies (a band of crazed mental patients who have taken over an Asylum), the Rednecks (the name says it all, a gang of Redneck criminals who hate everyone and everything that isn't like them and like to blow things up, usually on purpose), the SRS Scientists (a group of Scientists with an army of clone soldiers), the Krishna (a group of religious extremists who hate technology and stop at nothing to prevent it from taking over their territory), the Kovski (a group of Russian mobsters who run morbid operations and are experienced in the weapons trade), and the Zaibatsu (a mysterious Japanese corporation that has gangs in all three sectors of the city). You earn money and respect if you complete missions for your gang of choice, and you may earn hatred from opposing gangs, depending on your actions.

The original Grand Theft Auto was an excellent game (read my review), but it had it's fair share of problems; the control scheme was confusing at first (though you could quickly master it), weapons were sometimes difficult to aim, weapons, ammunition, and pick-ups were somewhat scarce, a lot of timed missions were frustrating, and some basic missions were also frustrating. In addition, there was also some lagging slowdown from time to time, and the cops were not very realistically depicted (they never called the F.B.I. nor S.W.A.T. Team to help them when they were after you). A lot of these problems have been fixed with Grand Theft Auto 2, a sequel that is far superior to it's predecessor.

The variety in GTA2 has been drastically increased. There are more weapons which help keep the game from getting stale and repetitive (sure, Machine Guns, Flamethrowers, and Rocket Launchers are fun to use, but using them over and over again would get tiresome). All of the weapons from GTA are back (Pistol, Machine Gun, Flamethrower, and Rocket Launcher, as well as fists if you count them as weapons) and many new ones have been added. They include Molotov Cocktails, Grenades, a Shotgun, a Silenced Machine Gun, Dual Pistols (yes you can now fire two Pistols at once), and the ElectroGun (which can fry crowds of people with electrical rays and can cause vehicles to explode if you hold down the trigger long enough). The Weapons variety in GTA2 is much better than GTA's and is more fun, and their are also improvements on returning weapons; in GTA, it was sometimes pretty difficult to aim a gun at a citizen, mobster, or Police Officer, and it was easy to miss your target. The accuracy in GTA2 is much-improved from GTA's, guns are much easier to aim and targets much easier to hit. The weapons are not only more useful because of their improved accuracy but also more enjoyable to use. The Flamethrower is also improved, it fires a longer flame stream and before you shut it off, it sprays little spurts of fire, increasing your chances of hitting your target(s). The Silenced Machine Gun is also very useful if you want to kill stealthly, the Shotgun can literally knock people off their feet, and the Grenades and Molotov Cocktails leave big explosions and cause lots of carnage (try throwing them at cars, crowds of people, and off rooftops). The ElectroGun is pretty enjoyable to use, and is great against the S.W.A.T. Team and when your surrounded by crowds. The only weapon that has not been improved really is the Rocket Launcher; it has a slow fire rate (expected, but this is a bit too slow if you ask me) and the reload time is a tad too long. It's also pretty difficult to aim and it's easy to miss your intended target(s). Still, the weapons variety in GTA2 is a big improvement over GTA's and is more enjoyable to use and keeps the gameplay from getting stale, and the increased amount of weapons also gives you some decent options for certain situations (like if you have to assassinate someone but fear you'll alert the Police, you can pull out the Silenced Machine Gun and kill your target with high chances of walking away undetected).

A new feature that has been added is the ability to jump. In GTA it was easy to to get stuck in places and you often couldn't get out, and had to either kill yourself or restart the game to proceed. Not so in GTA2, you can jump right out of the sticky situation your in. You can leap on rooftops, over cars, and over roadblock poles. The new jump ability is a welcome addition.

The Police are handled in a better and much more realistic way than in GTA; in GTA, when your Wanted Level (a bar of animated Police icons at the top of the screen) was maxed out, the worst they did to try to catch you was set up roadblocks and fire Machine Guns at you. Not realistic enough and not challenging enough. That's been improved greatly in GTA2. Your Wanted Level can go higher than in GTA, and the higher it gets, the more the Police will increase and get more aggressive. At first, just a few Police Cruisers and Cops will try to nab you, but you get away easily if you hide in a secluded area and keep quiet. If your Wanted Level raises, it won't be so easy to evade the law, more Cops will be on the way, and if you continue to commit crimes, they'll set up roadblocks and will try to nab you. If that fails, they'll send in the S.W.A.T. Team, heavily armored with powerful trucks. If you manage to defeat them, the F.B.I. will take over and chase you in extremely fast cars and try to kill you (not arrest you, by this point the Police feel you pose a fatal threat to the city). The F.B.I. not only has fast cars, but are also heavily armored and difficult to kill. If your lucky enough to defeat them, than the Police calls the ultimate in crime-busting: The National Guard. Soldiers armed with Machine Guns will be practically everywhere, firing at you nonstop, and Tanks and Armed Land Roamers will be all over the streets, ready to put you out of your misery. The National Guard will most definitely defeat you (unless you can get your car resprayed, find a Cop Bribe, or are invincible). They also don't care if they kill any innocent bystanders, they'll stop at nothing to kill you and will try to at all costs. The law is much better and more realistic in GTA2, and are more challenging and adds to GTA2's high amount of variety.

Speaking of the law, there's also Ambulances, which arrive at scenes of violence to help injured pedestrians (or take away those who've been killed). Fire Trucks have also been added, which will arrive to put out fires.

The different gangs you can work for also adds tons of variety and replay value. Each gang is unique in their own way (the SRS Scientists have clone soldiers, the Zaibatsu experienced and ruthless Hitmen, the Loonies out of control Psychopaths, and the Rednecks, well... Rednecks) and have different missions and not all of them have you killing people; you'll often have to pick people up and drop them off at places, deliver items to certain locations of the gangs you work for (the items include drugs, weapons, etc.) and carjacking more vehicles, either dropping them somewhere or disposing of them at Car Crushers. One mission has you tracking down a mobster who your boss feels is betraying him and is giving information to rivals. For those looking to wreak havoc though, most missions have you doing so; one mission has you stealing a Flamethrower from the SRS Scientists and mounting it onto a Fire Truck, and using the Fire Truck (which it literally becomes in that mission) to torch Rednecks. Another has you destroying a dam, others have you starting gang wars, and one particulary morbid mission has you taking a bus and using it to pick members of an opposing gang up and delivering them to a meat-processing plant, where their killed and are turned into human meat products for the gang you work for. Another has you halting construction, another has you trespassing into an Army Base and stealing a Tank, bringing the Military all over the city, another has you escaping from a Prison and evading the F.B.I., and a few others have you rescuing people who work for your gang from opposing gangs. Expect to get into a lot of gunfights during rescue missions. There are some timed missions, but thankfully their not nearly as difficult as GTA's. The respect and disrespect meters add to the challenge.

There are pick-ups along the way, including weapons and ammunition and others, such as Armor (much more useful than in GTA), Health (Health has finally been added!), Cop Bribes (which decrease your Wanted Level), and the Kill Frenzy (where your given a certain weapon with infinite ammunition for a short period of time and have to kill as many people as possible in the given time. If you succeed, you'll make some money and earn an extra life, and if your Wanted Level is up, it'll decrease). Other pick-ups include temporary upgrades (by temporary I mean a limited time) to increase your speed, weapon's strength, rate of fire, etc.

The shops in GTA2 are much more plentiful than in GTA and are easier to come by and find. You can get most (but not all vehicles) resprayed and repaired (which will lower your Wanted Level if it's up), and you can even rig your vehicle with weapons! You can add Machine Guns, Land Mines, slippery oil, and Car Bombs (which cause massive explosions. Many missions have you rigging certain vehicles with Car Bombs).

Onto one of the biggest features in GTA2 (and the GTA series in general), vehicles; their back in GTA2. GTA2 takes place in the Future, so some of the vehicles (and weapons) are rather futuristic in a way (one of the cars is the Meteor, which looks like a car we probably will see sometime in the Future). Many of the vehicles are combinations of vehicles from past times (many of them look like vehicles from the 1940s but with futuristic looks). The vehicles range from Sports Cars, Vans, Buses, Trucks, Police Cruisers, Fire Trucks, Ambulances, and much more. Speeds for some are extremely fast (Meteor, T-Rex), while others are slower than a snail (all of the Buses), and others aren't fast but aren't slow either, just average (Pickup Trucks, Ambulances). The vehicle selection is massive and you can carjack them at anytime and cruise around the city doing as you please. There are even Military vehicles, like Tanks & Land Roamers (which are of course available when your Wanted Level is maxed out, that's when the Military show up... to eliminate you). Vehicles are also more realistic; the more you crash, the more damaged your vehicle gets, and it can even catch fire, and will explode if the fire expands. Your vehicle never caught fire in GTA (except for when it got blown up), so this all adds to the realism of the game.

Speaking of realism, GTA2 has so much it's practically a city simulation; in GTA, there weren't really any other thugs (other than yourself and mobsters, whether you were their friend or foe). In GTA2, you've got competition. Other thugs will occasionally rob people and carjack, and sometimes even openfire in the streets for sport. Cops will be everywhere during crimes, Fire Trucks will arrive to put out fires, Ambulances will arrive to help the injured and carry away the dead, and pedestrians are constantly insulting each other (they especially like to insult you). Taxi Cabs will even pick up pedestrians and drop them off at places. GTA2 is amazingly lifelike (even if the Future setting may decrease the realism a bit). Locations include Universities, Asylums, Trailer Parks, Bridges, Shopping Malls, Factories, Hospitals, Police Precincts, and much more.

The freestyle gameplay is also back in GTA2, and it's even better than in the original. All three Sectors of the city are enormous and you could spend forever trying to explore every inch of each Sector. Your free to start your own turf wars, climb onto rooftops, rig vehicles with weapons and wreak havoc in traffic-infested streets, terrorize pedestrians with your arsenal of weapons, and look for hiding places evading the law. GTA2 is even more enjoyable and more addicting than it's predecessor (and that's says quite a lot, because the first GTA was very expansive and had tons of things for you to do and it was a game that kept you occupied for ages). You'll often find yourself doing what you want rather than completing/looking for your missions.

The graphics are nothing special really, but aren't bad and are better than GTA's. They have much higher and cleaner resolution and look less cartoony. The explosions and fire effects are also improved, and the extra effects -from water to the electrical rays of the ElectroGun and flashing lights on the Police Cruisers, Ambulances and Fire Trucks- are all nice eye candy. The level and car designs are also very well-done. Also, try shooting someone with the Rocket Launcher, and watch them fly sky-high and splat on concrete or a rooftop.

The radio stations from GTA are back, and are far better; their more realistic, the songs are more enjoyable to listen to, and a lot of the DJs are hilarious (in particular the DJ who rants about car thieves will have you laughing until your out of air). The news reports from Jill Tasker are very cool too and make an already realistic game even more realistic. You can also finally change radio stations. A lot of the songs are cool and memorable and add well to the game.

In addition to everything else, there are also bonus levels (which range from you having to wreak as much havoc as you can in a limited time and racing around the Sector).

GTA2 also features some good humor. In addition to some of the radio DJs, the pedestrians make lots of funny comments and the Rednecks are hilarious. The classic "Piece Of S**t" phrase from GTA is also back and is as funny as ever.

Overall, Grand Theft Auto 2 is better than the original in many ways, and the original was a great game to begin with. Grand Theft Auto 2 adds tons more variety to keep you busy for ages and has more enjoyable and engaging missions. The weapon-aiming system has also been greatly improved and the shops are a lot more plentiful as are power-ups, and the fact you can work for your chosen gang is really unique and original. You can also cause your own freestyle mayhem. Grand Theft Auto 2 basically takes everything the first game had and makes it better. The futuristic angle may be kind of cheesy, but it doesn't ruin the game and helps keep it fresh.

Grand Theft Auto 2 is not without it's problems though; some missions are still a bit frustrating and the Helicopter-style view of the game often doesn't let you see what's ahead of you, sometimes making the game a bit difficult. The control scheme can also take a while getting used to (although you can quickly master them and everything will be fine). Grand Theft Auto 2 also is not much different from the original gameplay-wise. At times it feels more like an expansion rather than a sequel. Still, inspite of some problems, Grand Theft Auto 2 is a worthy sequel to the controversial original and if you liked the original, you'll no doubt like the sequel, perhaps even more. Even if you didn't like the original Grand Theft Auto you should still give the sequel a try, as many of the problems from the first have been corrected for the sequel, and as a result may make the game more enjoyable for you. Grand Theft Auto 2 is an excellent addition to any mature gamer's collection. I can't wait to play Grand Theft Auto III and any upcoming games in the series.

Side note: I would not recommend Grand Theft Auto 2 (and the other games in the series in general) to children. There is a lot a violence and your character is a criminal who commits lots of crimes and helps out other criminals. There is also some profanity (although not nearly as much as the original). This warning may be somewhat corny, but I try to make reviews as helpful and detailed as possible for everyone. I would recommend the GTA series to mature gamers only.