Grand Theft Auto 6 has a lot to live up to regarding the series' legacy, but it also can't repeat the mistakes that led to GTA's biggest game bugs. The series is one of the biggest names in the gaming industry, but that doesn't mean that it is perfect in any way. Some of the past GTA titles from Rockstar Games have included bugs that would leave players surprised.
The Grand Theft Auto games are not usually known for their glitches. Most of the time, the bugs in the games are benign enough that they don't impact gameplay very much, or are at the very least difficult to trigger. In fact, one of the reasons why GTA: The Trilogy's bug-laden release was so surprising was that GTA games aren't normally that broken. Although the remastering caused plenty of problems, the games in GTA: The Trilogy ironically featured some of the biggest bugs in the series upon their original releases.
A game bug can potentially destroy a game on its own, so severe glitches are usually caught in the testing process. However, a few Grand Theft Auto games ended up launching with serious bugs, some of which could be triggered with startling ease. Players should be wary of these glitches if they pick up these classic games, because their destructive potential is well-documented.
Vice City's Ice Cream Factory Can Ruin The Player's Saved Game
In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, the player has the option to purchase multiple properties around the city. This unlocks more save points for the player, and a few of the properties have extra perks as well, so buying property is a Vice City element GTA 6 should bring back for its usefulness alone. Despite that, there is one property that the player would be wise to stay away from, lest they encounter a glitch that could ruin their save game.
One of the game's properties, the Cherry Popper Ice Cream Company, comes relatively cheap and can potentially grant the player $3,000 per in-game day if they complete its associated mission. However, it also comes with a fatal bug. If the player uses the save point at the ice cream factory to save their game, then there is a good chance that it will corrupt the player's save file. This will stop the player's progress dead in its tracks, and they will have no choice but to delete the file and start over again. Why this one save point in the game causes this glitch is a mystery, but it guarantees that the ice cream factory is Vice City's worst property.
Thankfully, this glitch was only found in early versions of the PlayStation 2 version of the game, and was patched out in later releases. Even so, a lot of players probably wouldn't want anything to do with the ice cream factory once the bug was common knowledge. To lose a save file just by trying to save is a terrible glitch to encounter, and it was one that struck many Vice City players.
San Andreas' Worst Glitch Could Ruin A Playthrough Near Its End
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is one of the most popular games in the series, and it arguably kept that title up until the release of Grand Theft Auto 5. For many players, the worst aspect of the game was flight school, or perhaps San Andreas' insufferably hard Supply Lines mission. There is one part of the game that is worse than any mission though, and it is a game-killing glitch located not long before the end of the game.
One of the final story missions involves CJ having to save Madd Dogg from falling off the roof of a casino. Normally, the game gives the player enough time to save Madd Dogg by catching him in a truck. However, there is a glitch that can cause Madd Dogg to run off the roof immediately, dying and failing the mission as soon as it begins. The reason for this is not clear, as the glitch has popped up in many circumstances. The only confirmed cause is the cheat code that turns all pedestrians aggressive, because it will make Madd Dogg run off the roof looking for a fight. Aside from that, the bug seems to pop up at random. San Andreas' disastrous Japanese port may have messed up the game in several ways, but at least it didn't force the player to restart their save.
The worst part of this glitch is the fact that the mission to save Madd Dogg comes very late in the game. A player could put hours into the game, passing a lot of difficult missions in the process, only for this glitch to ruin their save. If this glitch affects the mission, the player has no choice but to start a completely new save file in what must be the most anticlimactic and disappointing way for a San Andreas playthrough to end.
GTA 3's Purple Nine's Glitch Broke A Questline For Future Saves
Grand Theft Auto 3 is one of the most important games in the series. It was the first 3D title in the series, and it set the stage for a lot of traditions that the series has followed to this day. GTA 3 even inspired Resident Evil 7 as further proof of its cultural impact. For all the good that GTA 3 did for the series, it did have one major bug that did significant damage to the game's replay value.
In Grand Theft Auto 3, there is a short questline involving a gang called the Purple Nines. Upon completion of the final mission involving them, the Purple Nines will no longer spawn in the game. Due to a bug in the coding, this will cause any new games started on the file to also never spawn any Purple Nines. Because the first mission in their questline, Uzi Money, required the player to kill members of the Nines, this renders the questline impossible to complete after the player has done so on a previous save. The only way to fix this is to never use that file slot again, which can be very frustrating for repeat players. GTA 3 deserved a full remake, but the Purple Nines glitch stands out as a terrible mistake.
The Purple Nines glitch is one of the stranger ones to appear in a Grand Theft Auto game. It has virtually no effect on the game in progress, but completely locks a mission set for subsequent playthroughs in the same file slot. It's a bizarre but devastating glitch, and one of the biggest problems with Grand Theft Auto 3 as a whole.
One major advantage that modern games have is the ability to be constantly updated. That way, even if a bug is found in GTA 6, it can still be patched out post-release as long as someone manages to report it. Even so, one should hope that Grand Theft Auto 6 doesn't ship with any bugs nearly as bad as the worst that have plagued the series.