http://futurismic.com/2009/05/27/grand-theft-auto-iv-exploring-the-mundane/#more-7597
(...)
"Since its inception, the GTA series has shared the same conflicted attitude towards the real world that afflicts most games. Early titles largely avoided the problem by being aesthetically framed in a primarily cartoonish manner with crime and then cyberpunk tropes being exaggerated largely for comic effect.
"However, with the release of GTA III, the series embraced a less cartoonish 3D look that has seen an almost fetishistic obsession with vehicle physics and urban architecture sit cheek-by-jowl with an infectiously childish desire to both satirise the real world and blow it to pieces through a procession of ever-escalating action set-pieces. This conflict is best encapsulated by the opening to GTA : San Andreas.
"The first dozen or so missions of GTA : SA are earthy and mundane. When a former gangster returns home to find his gang stripped of territory and his family and friends in disarray, he sets about rebuilding the gang through acts of petty vandalism and violence, all the while dealing with tensions within the gang. However, as the game moves forward, the focus starts to widen and before long the earthy realism of the early missions is swept away by waves of gonzo as government conspiracies, stolen jet fighters and crashing fire engines come to dominate goings on.
"The later GTA games display a commitment to the real world that seems to behave like a rubber band. Initially, the games are content to be real and can maintain the mundaneness of their settings without too much effort. However, as more missions are accomplished, the energy required to keep the game from lapsing into fantastical events filled with larger-than-life characters steadily increases until eventually the rubber band snaps back and you wind up driving a tank around the middle of town blowing up police cars..." (((After this it gets even better!)))
