Few gaming franchises of this generation have proved to be as influential and successful as the unstoppable Grand Theft Auto series of titles. What started off as an overhead retro romp became a graphical showcase and technical masterclass in the video game sphere–not to mention having some of funniest and most engrossing parts of dialogue ever to be featured in a video game.
It’s an open-world game that allows the player to journey through it as they wish, but during that journey, many players have also spotted several bugs, glitches, mistakes and other inaccuracies in the six games that have been released from the series so far. However, there remains many crazy mistakes that passed a lot of players by.
Well no longer. This list includes the most bizarre and hard to spot mistakes in the franchise’s history. Whether it’s killing pedestrians by simply looking at them, or getting into buildings that were never meant to be ventured into–these 20 entries are sure to have you laughing, sighing, and aghast at some of the things you never knew about the awesome gangster series.
20 Pulling A Houdini (Grand Theft Auto V)
The latest title in the ridiculously successful gaming franchise features several glitches and bugs–some irritating, others humorous. However, there is one while using Trevor which definitely belongs in the funny camp.
It happens during those awesome character switches in the game. Yes, changing to Trevor will occasionally initiate a sequence in which the unhinged maniac has a man tied up below a pier. If you’re the sadistic type, you can set the man on fire–triggering a rather bizarre glitch.
He inexplicably gets out between the ropes, runs around haplessly in flames, and somehow gets back in-between the ropes that were holding him in place. Then, rather unceremoniously, he dies. Confused? So are we.
19 Floating Cars (Grand Theft Auto: Vice City)
Despite being set in the ‘80s, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City did master great technological feats–albeit unintentional ones. Because while we still don’t have floating vehicles, we can still experience them in this masterful game.
Yes, for some weird reason, the vehicles in the game can be spotted floating in thin air at times. Clearly a bug in the machine, this weird glitch is enough to throw you off your game, but we’ve got a solution for you. If the floating vehicles are taking you out the realism of the game, fire a few bullets at them and they’ll will fall back onto the road again.
And like nothing happened, the vehicle will speed off. Maybe Rockstar could exploit it if they ever do a GTA in space, but for now, this is a glaring mistake in Vice City’s design.
18 Not The Weapon Of Choice (Grand Theft Auto IV)
Still trying to convince yourself that Grand Theft Auto IV was good? Me too. The game was generally interesting, but mind-numbingly boring at times. However it wasn’t technically faultless either, as evidenced by this eye-rolling error which occurs towards the game’s climax.
It happens in the final cut-scene, and could easily be missed if you’re not looking carefully. For some reason, Niko will have an AK-47 equipped, despite having a different weapon out before the cut-scene takes place: the M4.
This is clearly a continuity error so it’s no real biggie. However, it is a good example of the mistakes littering the series that probably evaded most of you.
17 Death Stare (Grand Theft Auto III)
Did you know that you can actually give pedestrians the look of death in Grand Theft Auto III? It’s true. And when we say the look of death, we mean it in the most literal way possible.
If a rather specific set of circumstances occur, you can take advantage of this neat little trick to bring upon the demise of the game’s civilians. Rather peculiarly, if an NPC happens to get trapped under the wheels of a car, you can instantly kill them by looking at them in the first person mod.
Why this happens is beyond us, because while you can clearly see what the developers were attempting with some glitches, it’s completely unclear what they were going for with this one.
16 Gang Territories Respawned (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas)
Speaking of meeting specific conditions to find a bug, here’s one from the highly regarded instalment in the series: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. If you long for more confrontations with gangs, this one’s for you.
Because while only portions of the game’s map contain gang territories, this glitch will make every segment of the map a gang territory–one which can be done as many times as you like. To do it you must get into a jet and fly outside of the map’s boundaries for around 12 hours, before plummeting out of the aircraft to your death. Except, once you’ve respawned, so will countless gang territories.
If you’ve played this game to death, you may want to give this a shot if you’re after some more longevity.
15 Franklin’s Free To Walk The Streets (Grand Theft Auto V)
Another silly mistake here–this time from Grand Theft Auto V. If you paid a lot of attention to the story you may have picked up on it, but chances are this one went right over your head.
Towards the end of the game, Michael and Trevor get into hot water with Madrazo after they take his wife. Confined to just journeying around Blaine County, both men can’t enter Los Santos without being attacked. Bizarrely though, Franklin is free to walk around as he pleases–despite the fact that he is connected with both characters.
Much of the story in the game is cohesive and well put together, however, this glaring error is neither of those two things.
14 Arrested By… Nobody? (Grand Theft Auto 1)
Venturing back to where it all began with this entry–Rockstar’s very first title in the franchise: Grand Theft Auto 1. Although widely different from where the developers would ultimately take the series, the game still contains plenty of its successors’ buggy elements.
This one is a prime example–getting busted with no cops in the vicinity. Yes for some reason, if the cops are on your tail and you happen to crash into another vehicle, you’ll be arrested when you get out of your car–even though the police are nowhere near you.
Ah, this is certainly an annoying bug so probably best to try and avoid hitting into other vehicles when being pursued.
13 Secret Entrance To Nowhere (Grand Theft Auto 2)
Who doesn’t love a good secret entrance in a video game? Sadly though, it wasn’t intentional in the second installment of the GTA franchise–it actually proves to be more of a hindrance than anything else.
One of the buildings in the game has a shotgun in front of it. It’s here where an invisible wall can be found–and passed through too. However, if the player passes through it, they’ll find that there’s unfortunately no way to get back out again!
This is downright frustrating, and although the player becomes invincible when inside, it doesn’t really dampen the blow of having to reboot the whole game back up again…
12 Bad Mechanic (Grand Theft Auto: Vice City)
Fancy sprucing up some of your cars in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City? Be careful with a couple of them then. Because if you take the Pony or the Rumpo in to get fixed, you may find that it comes out rather differently than it went in…
Yes, for some nonsensical reason, if you do take either of the vehicles to the Pay ‘N’ Spray, you’ll notice something rather peculiar at the front of it–the bumper is now on backwards. Umm, huh? It certainly mystified us, but give it a go if you want your vehicle to have a ‘unique’ look.
We just wanted the car fixed, but the mechanic clearly had other ideas in mind. Oh dear…
11 Burger Shot Monopoly (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas)
Here’s another error that couldn’t easily go over your head if you’re not looking out for it with an eagle eye–and it can be seen in any of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas’ restaurants. It’s one that might have you pondering “did I come to the right place?”
That’s because no matter which food outlet you choose to visit in the game, every one of the cash registers will still be for Burger Shot–including The Clucken Bells and Pizza Stack. Yeah, we’re confused too. That’d be like going into every McDonalds in the country and Pizza Hut showing up on the screens.
It doesn’t make sense! We knew Burger Shot was popular in the game, but this is just taking the p**s!
10 Unnecessary Gift From Trevor (Grand Theft Auto V)
Why give someone something that they’ve already got? Well ask Trevor from Grand Theft Auto V that question, because he gives Floyd a gift that really wasn’t necessary in the first place.
The first thing he does at the start of the Scouting the Port mission is give Floyd and Wade work uniforms for the task ahead. However, something about this doesn’t make sense. He gives Floyd the uniform, despite the fact that he already has one. How do we know this? Because he works at the docks. Duh!
Just hope that Trevor doesn’t give you a gift for Christmas this year–chances are you’ve already got it…
9 Glitching Into Joey’s Garage (Grand Theft Auto III)
Have you been longing to see the interior of Joey’s Garage in Grand Theft Auto III in-game? If so, we’ve got just the glitch for you. Although you can only enter it in cut-scenes by default, it turns out there’s a sneaky little way of getting into it.
You can do it by driving your vehicle into the left door of the garage, getting out, and running for a few seconds into the left corner between the door and the garage (we know, it sounds like it shouldn’t work but it does). What will happen then is that you’ll be transported into the building to see it in all of its glory.
Begs the question, why wasn’t this just included in the game in the first place? We don’t know but nothing’s stopping you from taking advantage of this peculiar glitch.
8 Window-Pain (Grand Theft Auto IV)
One of the things Grand Theft Auto IV did right was the implementation of manual aiming. Gone were the days of simply hoping you’ll target the right person, however, it did also reveal a problem that never arose before in the series.
If you like shattering glass, you’ve probably shot through the car windscreens before. What you may not have noticed though, is that when you enter the vehicle and switch to first person mode, the glass is completely intact! Grr.
This is slightly annoying as you’d like to see some consistency in the game’s logic. However, it’s not the worst thing about the game it has to be said.
7 The Living Dead (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas)
Don’t lie–you’ve all shot up people in San Andreas’ restaurants. Bizarrely though, you may have noticed that they don’t always die. Well they do, but not really if that makes sense?
Yes, if you shoot someone who is sitting at a table, they’ll simply fall forward with their head on the table. Normal enough, right? Well, not really because they will still respond to you–even rattling off insults towards you character CJ. Umm, okay…
No matter what you do to these NPCs, the results will always be the same. You’ll shoot, some blood will splatter, their head will hit the table, yet they’re still alive. So, why wasn’t this spotted in the testing stages?
6 9/11 Attacks Changed The Police Cars (Grand Theft Auto III)
The terrorist attacks on September 11th 2001 remain one of the darkest events to occur in our lifetimes, and it certainly changed the world as a whole. Entertainment mediums were no different, and neither was Rockstar when they made Grand Theft Auto III.
The New York attacks prompted the developers to alter Liberty City’s look, which happened to closely resemble The Big Apple. Several things were changed, but perhaps the most noticeable were the police cars–named LCPD after the NYPD.
Despite initially being blue and white like the cars they were emulating, the police vehicles in GTA III were changed to black and white, due to the game being released shortly after the tragic event occurred.
5 The Time Travelling Gun (Grand Theft Auto: Vice City)
This one is more of a historical inaccuracy than anything else, and is proof that even a game as successful as GTA can make mistakes with their facts. That’s right–it’s the inclusion of the M4 gun in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
The assault rifle can be found and purchased in the game, however, the dates don’t match up. There actually was no M4 gun in existence until 1994, which makes its inclusion in a game set in the ‘80s a rather silly one.
It’s weird because it sticks out like a sore thumb in a game that’s otherwise very consistent with the time in which it is set in. The look, the clothes, and the music–all aspects of ‘80s pop culture that it nailed. The M4, however? Nah, it’s factually redundant.
4 Jimmy Defying Logic (Grand Theft Auto V)
That Jimmy can be an annoying little brat in Grand Theft Auto V, and he reaches new levels of annoyance in the mission Parenting 101. It finds Michael in a pursuit to rescue his son who was stolen, but Jimmy certainly doesn’t make it easy for his poor father.
A phone call takes place during the chase between Michael and his son’s captor, in which you can hear Jimmy arguing with the guy. However, when Michael gets close to the car holding Jimmy and the person who took him, the snotty son can be seen pressed up against the back window screaming for help.
Somehow, he’s magic and he’s doing two things at once. Or you could go with the more logical explanation–Rockstar botched the audio and visuals for this sequence.
3 Not So Illiterate After All (Grand Theft Auto IV)
We’re being a bit snide with this one, but it’s still an error nonetheless. It’s found in Grand Theft Auto IV, and revolves around a person you meet in the game called Dwayne. Because despite claiming he’s not very good at a certain thing, it turns out he’s perfectly good at it.
Yes, Dwayne tells your character Niko that he’s no good at writing or reading–assuming you spend enough time with him. However, if his text messages are anything to go by, it would seem he’s telling porkies. Any texts received from him in the game are eloquently put and supremely well-written–kind of destroying his little illiterate proclamation.
We can’t help but think that Rockstar missed a trick with this one. It surely would’ve given the text messaging feature in the game some much needed humor.
2 Multitasking 101 (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas)
Here’s one for all you players who like to see silly things take place in your games. It happens in Grand Theft Auto III, and actually makes CJ look like the ultimate badass.
If you go to get something to eat in the game, you can have CJ equip a weapon just as you’re about to tuck in. If you do it just as the animation is starting, he will whip out a weapon of your choosing at the same time as he’s filling his face.
It’s one of the funniest glitches in a Grand Theft Auto game, and is worth doing with the chainsaw just to see how silly it looks. And who said CJ wasn’t a man of many skills?!
1 Radio Confusion (Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas)
Finishing off our list of GTA mistakes is this one from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas–one which will have you severely confused with just when this game is set. While the soundtrack in the game is off the chain, it’s also very inaccurate with dates and times.
Some of the songs featured in the game by the likes of Stone Temple Pilots, Dr. Dre, and Ice Cube were actually released after the game’s time, meaning they really shouldn’t be in the game in the first place. What’s more, 2Pac’s “Just Don’t Give A ___” is unedited as the station DJ announces that he doesn’t have the clean version, however, every other song on Radio Los Santos is unedited–making his comment a rather silly one.
Although, we can forgive Rockstar for this one because the soundtrack truly is fantastic. Plus, even mistakes in GTA are hard to hate, and what other game could get away with that?