Summary
TheGrand Theft Autoseries is a crime-based gaming franchise where each new entry normally introduces a new region. These regions are sprawling open worlds that are full of things to explore. While many players will spend most of their time in the game in various weapon shops orcausing chaos, there is much more to these locations worth exploring. However, most fans of the series will stick to the landmarks.
The main landmarks inGTAare usually common places that every fan recognizes for one reason or another. Most of these landmarks are famous among gamers by this point, and some are better than the rest.
When players first startGrand Theft Auto: Vice City, they will find that the main protagonist in the game, Tommy Vercetti, is staying in a hotel opposite Vice Beach. This stretch of sand is located in a more wealthy part of the city, and it is one of the first places players get to explore in the open world.
It is on this beach that players will notice how much the NPCs have been upgraded since the last game. Now they will sunbathe, roller-blade, and try to swim in the sea if attacked. For many gamers, Vice Beach is the place they first visited in the series. As such, it remains a landmark they can’t help revisiting.
When Rockstar announced that the fifth main series game would be returning to San Andreas, many fans were excited. This location was once the biggestGTAmap in the series, and the developers did a great job of expanding the region for this installment. However,one landmark in the game remained largely unchanged.
Mount Chiliad is the highest mountain in the San Andreas region and one of the tallest places that players can reach without using an aircraft. The huge landmark makes a return fromGrand Theft Auto: San Andreasbut is far more detailed this time around. The place is full of valleys and gulches, and many players have enjoyed throwing their characters off the peak or racing down the hillsides in a race. Since this mountain can be seen from so far away, it makes sense thatGTAplayers would gravitate toward this landmark.
3North Point Mall
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
As its name suggests, the North Point Mall is located at one of the most northern points on the map in Vice City. Several story missions take place in this shopping mall, but many players prefer to hang out here during the free-play parts of the game.
That is because this outlet is a fully rendered mall with shops, restaurants, and escalators. Therefore, players can spend a lot of time here robbing stores, having a shootout with security, and then replenishing their health. There are also a few gang members here who will pick fights with the local police and security. Anyone who wants to make a last stand during a police chase should always head to North Point Mall inGTA: Vice City.
The Cochrane Dam inGrand Theft Auto 3holds a special place in many players' hearts. This dam was onceone of the most highly-detailed landmarks in an open-world game to explore. It is also the site of Claude’s last stand in the story, bringing the epic first game in the series to be released on the PS2 to a close.
However, this clever landmark is also well worth visiting in free-play mode. Players can have endless fun driving cars off the edge of this precipice and can test the AI of the NPCs at the time. Police will throw themselves down the dam at speed during a chase, and it is always fun nudging NPCs down to the waters below.
Grove Street has a big part in the story ofGrand Theft Auto: San Andreas. That is mostly because it is the home of the protagonist, CJ, and the rest ofthe Grove Street Gang. As a result, this small cul-de-sac is the location that is visited the most during the main story. However, this ring of houses is also a great place for players to stock up on health, save their game, or just find a car. Sweet’s car might not be the best, but it respawns frequently on the street.
This street does appear inGrand Theft Auto 5again but is more of a nice homage to the previous game. InGTA: San Andreas, Grove Street is a great landmark, one that players will find themselves revisiting a lot.
Since the Liberty City in theGTAseries is loosely based on the real New York City, many of the streets and landmarks share a lot of similarities to each other. One of the best examples of this is how the Statue of Liberty is changed to bethe Statue of Happiness inGrand Theft Auto 4. This version of the statue is still located on Staten Island, but now it has a big smile and holds a coffee cup instead of a torch.
It may be because this statue is so close to real life or because it is the location of the final mission in the story, but many players find themselves grabbing a helicopter and flying over to this island. Players who make it to this landmark will be pleased to find out that they can go inside to find a massive working heart. It is a great easter egg and a good reason to recommend that other players head to this landmark also.
