Water is a common feature in the Grand Theft Auto series that serves as a natural barrier for the world, break up landmasses, and give a more realistic effect on the game in both appearance and ambient sounds. After Grand Theft Auto III, Rockstar decided they did not like having inaccessible landmasses visible, so in-game worlds surrounded by infinite oceans on all sides even if lore dictates the world is land-locked – by implementing large bodies of water, the boundaries of the in-game world can be effectively hidden.
2D Universe
In the 2D Universe, water is limited in interaction. In Grand Theft Auto, it is possible to walk into water on their level and paddle for a handful of seconds before drowning. If the player falls into the water from a height, or tries to sail a boat, they will instantly drown however. If the player falls into water at all in Grand Theft Auto 2, they will instantly die.
3D Universe
Grand Theft Auto III
The first game of the 3D Universe, GTA III, has water that is opaque, polluted and toxic. If the player completely submerges themselves inside water by walking or driving into it, their health will begin to decrease rapidly, and their body will slowly float to the surface. An article for the Liberty Tree[1] explains that this is due to an oil spill that had coated the city's harbor in a thick hazardous film, a direct result of deregulation of the harbor. It is also disclosed that a similar disaster of worse magnitude occurred in 1988. This is similar to the real-world Hudson River, while the "occasional flash fires" mentioned to occur are similar to those of the Cuyahoga River; both rivers were infamous for their high industrial pollution. Fish are seen in Gone Fishing, but are never seen before or after.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, more boats are available to drive, although the player will still die if fully submerged in sea water, the result of rip tides in the ocean currents. Compared to GTA III, the water is transparent and features sea floors (although "deep water" still has no bottom), sunken wrecks, fish, sharks, and dolphins, although they are not solid and do not respond to interaction.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the player is for the first time able to swim in the water and even dive and swim underwater, as well as drive a large variety of boats. When underneath the water, CJ will slowly lose oxygen and eventually die if he stayed under water for too long. The water in GTA San Andreas is mostly transparent and has a better overall look than the water in GTA Vice City. There are many sea creatures in this game such as jellyfish and dolphins, although animals are still not solid and do not interact with the player.
Grand Theft Auto Advance
In Grand Theft Auto Advance, water is not accessible by foot no more than the shore as invisible barriers surround all pools of water in the game. However, the player can freely drive any vehicle into water, though it will quickly sink. If the players vehicle is between land and water, splash effects will be seen as a warning that going any further in will sink the vehicle and lead to a fatal result.
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
In Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, as in the games before GTA San Andreas, the player can't swim, though they can drive some boats. The water is deep blue-colored and non-transparent, but not as polluted as it was in GTA III.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, after many complaints because swimming was impossible in the previous game (GTA Liberty City Stories), Rockstar made swimming possible again, albeit without the diving function. It only permits swimming for a limited amount of time, determined by a stamina bar which decreases as the player remains in the water. When the bar runs out, the player's health decreases, as the player will drown to death. Completing the Beach Patrol side mission, however, will stop the player's stamina from depleting. The water is turquoise and slightly transparent.
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HD Universe
Grand Theft Auto IV and Episodes from Liberty City
The water in Grand Theft Auto IV and Episodes from Liberty City is partially transparent and highly reflective. The player can not go underwater, being restricted to swimming on the surface of the water, non-player characters can also swim for a short period of time. The only actual advantage of water in the HD Universe is that it creates a quicker route between islands if the player finds a boat. Although Liberty City is described as land-locked to the North and West, it is surrounded by water in-game.
Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars
In Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, like in the previous HD Universe games, the player can only swim on the surface. The boats are similar as well, except for the Wet Ski. There are no fish. The water looks rather transparent, so some radioactive waste, as well as some underwater dunes and four "Here Be Dragons!" Easter egg messages (one in the north-east, one in the north-west, one in the south-east and one in the south-west) can be found.
Grand Theft Auto V and Online
In Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online, swimming returns with major upgrades. Just like in GTA San Andreas, the player can swim in and under water, albeit with some changes. To swim underwater, the player can use a scuba suit or drive a submarine. Underwater is much more detailed, and for the first time, there are sharks that can be interacted with. There are multiple vehicles the player may use to traverse the waters with. There are shipwrecks, hidden underwater that have hidden treasures inside, that the player can retrieve for money. Weapons, health, and armor can also be found underwater. A dead whale's skeleton and a crashed UFOs can also be found in specific locations underwater. Another new feature into GTA V is if the player dives too deep, the submarine will be destroyed by the water pressure, killing them. Like Liberty City, San Andreas is described as land-locked to the north and east, with the ocean only serving as a gameplay barrier.
Gallery
Water Cannons
In all games across the series, the Fire Truck has a water cannon that can be used to either knock people down or extinguish fires. Using one to put out fires in the 3D Universe games and GTA Chinatown Wars is required to complete the Firefighter side missions.
Oversights
- In all 3D Universe games, driving over a fire hydrant will cause the water inside to go through the player's car, and the water emitted from fire hydrants won't extinguish fires. Both were fixed in the HD Universe.
- A glitch in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories involves walking on water. Get on top of an Airtrain and try not to fall behind. When it leaves the airport, after a while Vic will be ejected and will land on the water below, being able to run, walk and shoot on the water. Using a rocket launcher or jumping, however, will erase the glitch, leading to Vic swimming again.
Trivia
- In most 3D Universe games (Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Grand Theft Auto Advance, and Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories), the water bodies serve as a means to detain players from a locked island, while the bridge that connects the locked island and the rest of the map are closed. However, with the advent of GTA San Andreas, players are able to swim between the islands without dying, at the cost of attracting huge law enforcement attention.
- Some aircraft can take off from water and land on water without crashing into it in the process. This includes the Skimmer and the Sea Sparrow.
- In GTA III and GTA Vice City, if a vehicle falls into the water, it will float around indefinitely until the player leaves the area.
- In GTA III and GTA Vice City, driving a burning vehicle into the water or jumping into a pool after being set on fire will not put the fire out.
- In The Definitive Edition of GTA III, GTA Vice City, and GTA San Andreas, it is no longer possible to hear waves when near water.
- In GTA Vice City, getting into shallow bodies of water outside of the ocean (pools and ponds) will not kill the player even if they crouch so that their head is submerged.
- In GTA San Andreas, the Vortex can traverse on water and solid ground with ease, making it one of the few vehicles in the series that is capable of doing so.
- In GTA Vice City Stories, where swimming has been limited, the river waves serve as a means of retaining the player from swimming across to locked islands while the bridges that connect the locked island and the rest of the map are closed.
- In GTA San Andreas and Grand Theft Auto IV, the rivers are a means to reach locked islands, while awarding an immediate and extreme (four stars in GTA San Andreas and six stars in GTA IV) wanted level.
- In GTA IV and Episodes from Liberty City, Niko, Johnny, and Luis will shake the water off of their hands if they emerge from it, and during rainy weather conditions.
- In Episodes from Liberty City, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, Grand Theft Auto V, and Grand Theft Auto Online, the map is unlocked from the beginning, so the player can swim freely around the city. It should however be noted that, in GTA V and GTA Online, the entire map is surrounded by water, instead of the traditional "islands" that would be unlocked throughout the storyline, therefore making the procedure of locking parts of the map until a later date irrelevant.
- In GTA V and GTA Online, water will briefly remain visible on the player's clothing once they emerge from it.
- In GTA V, unlike in all previous games in the series, the player will take damage from falling in the water, and will die instantly from larger falls. This change was made for the purpose of realism, as once at terminal velocity, the effect of striking water would be the same as hitting concrete at 110 kilometers per hour.
- In GTA IV (and its episodes) and GTA V, if the player submerges a car in water that is shallow enough for the vehicle to still be seen, they will notice that the badging will be missing, and that the headlights and taillights will be broken, even if they were not broken before. But once the vehicle is back on the surface, the headlights, taillights and the badging will now re-appear (the car must be underwater and the player on the surface or standing up for this to work).