GTA 3: The places you RARELY or NEVER visited in LIBERTY CITY

[@PretzelYT]

Thanks for the shoutout! I made a video exploring gta 3 some time before that San Andreas video, and it's interesting to see what spots stood out to both of us! The third spot in Portland is definitely something I would show off if I noticed it hahaha. That's right up my alley. And I talked about the northern coast of Staunton Island too. I love that little sidewalk going along it. Great video!!!! 🙌

[@plum_bit]

Hi pretzel, please do Vice City!

[@mayawowzers1305]

PRETZEL CAMEO!! i never thought this crossover was coming!!!

[@MattJ155]

Hi Pretzel! I appreciate you stopping by to watch the video! Wow, I didn't know you made a GTA 3 version already! I'll take a look. :)

[@Niberspace]

MattJ is definitely dissing Pretzel by pretending like Pretzel hasn't made a GTA3 video. the beef is on

[@KegOfMeat]

I love that people are still making videos about GTA III twenty three years after it first came out.

[@Niberspace]

it's not a 23 year old game lol, it's still relatively new, if it was that old it would mean that I too am old instead of young & hip

[@MattJ155]

More to come too!

[@KegOfMeat]

@@MattJ155it’s bizarre to me that both the alley around the corner from the Staunton safe house and the ped walk way are completely empty.

[@Deathgrips_fan]

​@@Niberspace... It is made in 2001. It's 23 years old, yes.

[@purwantiallan5089]

​@@Deathgrips_fan2025, now 24 years old.

[@younailedit1509]

I'm glad people cover GTA 3, everyone always covers San Andreas cause of how big it is. I always feel at home when playing the third game

[@purwantiallan5089]

GTA III and IV have equally big wide open world, unlike V.

[@Milty2001]

Its kind of crazy how even though liberty city is small when you compare it to san andreas, there's still areas that are very secluded even though you've driven past them several times, you can still drive there.

[@purwantiallan5089]

The width of the city in Vice City Stories is 1.8x times larger than III.

[@prlysis]

That first location is used in San Andreas during the "Saint Mark's Bistro" mission. If I recall correctly, much of the shootout takes place there.

[@MattJ155]

Yes absolutely!

[@dedpxl]

Which brings the point of if any of these locations were used in future titles, namely Liberty City Stories.

[@DamarFadlan25]

Saint Mark's Bistro mission is the hardest mission on GTA 3.

[@idontlikerome2744]

"GO TO LIBERTY CITY"

[@imaginox9]

@@dedpxl Yes, some missions in LCS did use some of the spots listed in the video

[@LMPDragon]

This a cool insight into how the developers have design and also accounted for people not playing by design and returning to normality, on the most part. It's crazy there's even collision this far out of bounds.

[@DamarFadlan25]

Of course there are plenty of those.

[@suicidalbanananana]

Well no, 95% of what's out of bounds is not solid, because they simply didn't have the space (on the PS2 disc and/or hardware) for its collisions, if it is solid, you were somewhat meant to interact with it (for example with the big ship, you're really only meant to bump into it with a boat, so the main hull/shape is solid to allow that, but you are never meant to get on top so thats all non-solid)

[@kbottrill1]

Thank you for all the GTA 3 content. As long as you keep making them, I'll keep watching.

[@MattJ155]

Thanks so much!

[@Sergiu_SRG]

Related to the boat that's been turned into a inaccessible place, here's some insight into it from back when I was working on the GTA3D mod. There is easy to find proof of the state said boat was in during development, a in-game picture from late 2000 with Claude facing the dock, where you could see a fully detailed railing and handles. More impressively, in the top down map renders from the beta stages you could spot it in full detail and it even had a small bridge. Good luck with your videos, always nice to watch!

[@TayRich93]

Gta 3 is one other game i cant get over, every since 8 years old this game is sucha gem to me still and Im 31 now. Each time I play it, I just feel so at ease and smile

[@SupremeOracle]

Bro how?? The gang members & mobsters make GTA III hell 😂 not even the Ballas & corrupt cops can't hold a candle to the savages of Liberty City 😂

[@ravirosmarys301]

Damn, I'm 31 too, and the first GTA I played was GTA 1 (1997) back when I was 7. What's your first GTA????

[@TayRich93]

@ravirosmarys301 gta 3 was my 1st but I also remember playing one of the 2d ones on a Gameboy i think someone in school had one.

[@ravirosmarys301]

@@TayRich93 you're amazing. The people who started early are very rare today. Please tell me, what's ONE thing you're most excited about in GTA 6????

[@purwantiallan5089]

​@@ravirosmarys301Of course it was GTA III as my 1st GTA game.

[@CodyShell]

would love to see a Liberty City Stories comparison to this video, to see what rockstar decided to change or liven up in that version of this map. How many improvements were made? compromises for the psp? etc. great video! subscribed too :D

[@EncephaliticArt-g6g]

Great idea

[@MattJ155]

Thanks for subscribing! After everyone enjoyed this video so much, I'll definitely be doing more!

[@thyagobsz8771]

Any day there's a new GTA 3 video is a day i'm happy. Time to enjoy some content from my favorite GTA

[@BrianM_3rd]

10:10 You didn't try to walk on the pipe? How could you resist the temptation?! I'm dying to know if it's actually solid or not. Anyway, really lovely video! The seaside park in Staunton was especially nice amd serene, very much looking forward to more. (Argh, that pipe though...!)

[@risingsun93]

Yes it is solid

[@MattJ155]

You won't believe this, but for some reason, it didn't actually occur to me... I'll try tomorrow and report back!

[@jonjo6515]

I’m pretty sure it’s solid but walking on it is a challenge 😂

[@groundedgaming]

Those pipes are to stop you from using a boat to get to Shoreside Vale early. I know because I tried to do that😂

[@austinseven4720]

​@@groundedgamingBefore I learned the better way to get to Shoreside early, I successfully beat the pipes, though it was a frustrating tedious process. Basically, you take a boat round, and find the part you can 'beach' the boat on(but far enough away from where the Cartel members spawn). Then you can walk into the boat, or push it with a car if you're careful, until past the pipes. Push the boat back into the water and drive it across to Wichita Gardens. Wouldn't recommend it though! 😂

[@YOEL_44]

2:11 The fact that there's a ramp, combined with the floor being solid, kinda makes me think that at some point it might have been an open place you could just drive into, there's also some hidden geometry that could indicate were the entrance would have been placed in the wall. 4:22 Those stairs are separate objects, that's why they have collision, same for the life boats. 5:16 The crane doesn't have the "draw last" flag enabled, so it's not handled as a transparent object. 5:53 The big boat was originally going to be much skinnier, those objects were meant to be the mirror of the ones in the other side, they're now just misplaced, there was never an interior in it tho'. 7:55 There was probably going to be a shortcut to the St. Mathias university through those buildings, but it was blocked in the end. 9:37 Yeah, that entire place was an absolute afterthought, remember that in the beta, that was the place for the airport, it's just a mess now. 11:05 Somewhere over that path, is the place from which one of Salvatore's pictures were taken, just in a slightly unfinished version of the game. 13:52 There are no boat spawns to prevent the player from cheating its way to the third island, altho' they should have programed some for after "Grand Theft Aero". Also, notice the minimap, there were supposed to be two L shaped jettys on the right side, only one remains. 17:09 The wall on your left can be tresspassed inside, if you aproach it from the end of it (it's missing 2 polygons on its collision), just an old trick. 19:00 GTA III doesn't have the best vertex accuracy (remember the warping PS1 models?) so those details laying close to other objects at large distances tend to do that. 20:40 Those rocks have a unique texture on PS2, they reuse a mossy stone texture from Donald Love's place in PC. 22:50 Very likely, the texel density there is quite weird looking, as if it was flattened without adjusting the UV mapping.

[@Fireglo]

Bro thinks he's Stephen Hawking or something. 🤣

[@CouchPotator]

@@Fireglo for the first area, they knew the game had an airplane, so they added the ramp incase the player crashed in there.

[@YOEL_44]

@@Fireglo I've been modding the 3D era GTA trilogy for over 10 years now, I know a thing or two...

[@YOEL_44]

@@CouchPotator If you're wild enough you could even jump the walls in the middle path using something like a Stinger, so leaving some escape was just reasonable, is just that with all the details left around that area, I find it hard to believe it was not open at any point.

[@AAKVII]

​@@YOEL_44The original three GTAs are hands down the most fun games to mod. SA in particular is so customizable .

[@carbonfiberpizza5739]

These are amazing videos man, music, visuals, narration, everything. Keep it up

[@kabkmv]

Here are two more obscure places that I found many many years ago: 1. There are small rocky islands near the Portland tunnel. You can park your boat and explore them. If I remember correctly, one of them has a cave or you can glitch through it inside. 2. You can push a boat up to the other side of the dam and sail around the reservoir just to prove that you can. 3. Joey's Garage - you can glitch inside of it through the top of the garage doors by jumping on top of a truck - used this method to get the bulletproof Stretch out

[@alex_vee]

Also there is an underground parking under AM building (north-west from Kenjis Casino). And the same building has multi-level roof with trees, accessible with stairs from ground.

[@cardenassolisrodrigo2601]

Funny how some of these rarely explored areas in GTA III's Liberty City have some missions in GTA Liberty City Stories, like the little walk path in Stauton Island, where you can take the Leon McAffrey missions, the bottom of the Cochrane Dam were you have to kill Paulie Sindacco, and the little harbours in Stauton Island where you have to drop the stolen guns from the Yakuza there.

[@purwantiallan5089]

I took at least 8 attempts before clearing that mission.

[@DaenaMichelle]

This was a pretty cozy video, thanks! subbed!

[@super_slav91]

Army barracks used to be a ferry depot before they were deleted early on.

[@craigsampson3386]

Thats interesting as they added a ferry in LCS in a new landmass location added to the map

[@RicardoSpunkyMonkey]

This is the perfect video concept I've always loved exploring the unused and forgotten areas of the GTA maps

[@bounceb]

7:49 that alley is actually the second location of the grenades rampage, which usually is behind the fire station two blocks away

[@Dave_Albright]

Its really nice Matt. A new video. I knew you YTwise since over 10 years and you still cover up my favourite games.

[@stereomike75]

I was waiting for the last entry to be the 'you weren't supposed to get here' area on the second island.

[@suicidalbanananana]

Was expecting that at start of video and the hidden land & map notations at end, guess we know more secret areas 🤷‍♂😉

[@EverythingAboutGTA3]

Nice video, Liberty City really has some cool places which remained unexplored in GTA 3. It's great that in Liberty City Stories they made the storyline and side missions in such a way so you can explore the entire map

[@MattJ155]

@@EverythingAboutGTA3 Yeah for sure. One thing I considered when making this video was whether any areas were used in LCS.

[@BmxGuyFromNZ]

Nice chill vid matt, i do this kinda exploring alot on the getaway games. Theres such interesting places on that game. For some reason I usually take the ambulance wen i go exploring, thetes just something about cruising around chekn out locations in the massive London ambulance hahaha.

[@WhiteTree97]

1:00 Let's start with Poland ☠️

[@capralmarines4043]

No please not again 💀

[@iamtheju]

I started this video assuming i would know all of these but i actually was mostly surprised! Great video! I enjoyed it both as a GTA3 fan and a fan of Any Austin's Unremarkable & Odd Places series.

[@MattJ155]

@@iamtheju Thanks! Out of interest, which one were you most surprised about?

[@jackmartin6502]

Great video!! I'd love to see more content like this!

[@MattJ155]

Thanks so much! Always potential for more. :)

[@MrFahrenheit2k]

I played GTA 3 a lot back in the day, and still, this video felt so alien, like a version of GTA 3 from alternate universe.

[@purwantiallan5089]

GTA III on Dreamcast say hello.😅

[@imaginox9]

Great video ! What's great is that some of these spots were used in later titles for missions, such as the first spot in San Andreas in the mission "St Marks Bistro", but also a part of the pathway along the western side of Staunton which is where you start the missions for Leon McAffrey in LCS, and the final spot with that road and strait of water going to the dam which is used on a mission in LCS where you have to kill Paulie Sindacco (if I remember correctly)

[@dimiusko]

They had to come up with obstructions so you can't see there's nothing behind the Shoreside rocks. That's why you can't swim around the entire water surface. Besides, they managed to implement different water levels, which is done in whacky-hacky ways, so water areas don't even properly connect to each other.

[@DamarFadlan25]

Shoreside rocks is basically quite a restricted territory on GTA III.

[@Shagyamum]

The dam is my fav place in the game. The place I least visit is the airport.

[@GoldSrcAesthetic]

Thank you. Really enjoyed watching it, love this format of video

[@MattJ155]

@@GoldSrcAesthetic Thanks so much!

[@user-nc7jt7fi3u]

It's nice to know that I knew majority of that :) Only things I didn't know was (funnily enough) gap next to hotel at Portland, stairs behind military base at Stauton and cave-thing at Shoreside :)

[@MattJ155]

Good to know that some of the locations were new to you!

[@grantgoodman8415]

7:00 It’s actually even worse: “Short Stay Hotel”. The “Short” is on the other side of the sign. 😂

[@Ross_5979]

You always do such great videos! Here I am thinking I have seen all the areas in GTA 3. I will say, there are a lot more sort of liminal or rare areas in 3, definitely enough for a part 2!

[@nathanmartineau8097]

I used to go into that alleyway thinking it was the safe house (not paying attention to the map) so many damn times

[@capralmarines4043]

saaaame lol

[@alexdamonwrites]

GTA 3's version of Liberty City looks minuscule nowadays but this map revolutionised and defined the open-world sandbox game for every successor to follow. Seeing beyond the boundaries of where the player can ostensibly travel to is super interesting from a design perspective, like seeing which of the far out-of-place objects are solid and which are basically invisible. It also raises the question of how many extra missions were cut from the game at some stage during development.

[@ShawnReed-ny1hd]

Only because they redid it for gta 4

[@VinMetal666]

There IS a hidden cave in GTA III, it's in the sea rocks along the south shore of Portland somewhere. It's just a little indentation in the rocks and ocean waves at the bottom can make it difficult to survive finding it.

[@JohnMarcovich-nj8wh]

This was so entertaining! Very nostalgic. 🙌

[@MattJ155]

@@JohnMarcovich-nj8wh Thank you!

[@siLox95]

Another amazing video. Thank you so much for investigating all this

[@alaina_plays_games]

As someone who has worked in game design I can actually explain a lot of these. So some places you are able to see parts of them without glitching into certain areas which is why only a small part of them are decorated, the parts you can stand on are because of assets that have been copied from other areas without having their properties altered to make them phantom objects, you can also sometimes see on your radar that the game world doesn't match up with what is shown on the radar and that is from where the map was actually designed before the game world was finished meaning that yes the devs did leave some areas unfinished and that was due to time constraints and engine limitations.

[@TemplerMaxassin689]

Beautiful. Thank you very much for this cozy video. :)

[@Korben_DallasMultiPass]

I jumped onto the moored boat using a packer and banshee as a kid playing this game back in 2001. I remember driving around the docks in the banshee waiting for a packer to spawn, then double driving them to that boat. I remember praying it wouldn’t despawn as I backed the banshee up to get enough speed

[@l1zvrd]

Such a relaxing video, thanks.

[@MattJ155]

@@l1zvrd You're welcome!

[@jayc4019]

I just beat this game for the first time, and I definitely got the sense that there were a lot of places the devs planned on taking the players but ran out of time. For example the subway tunnels which were fully modeled with a working subway but we're never actually necessary for the story of the game in any way

[@TheBlackScatPack]

I can’t lie. I didn’t think the boat for import/export was a solid surface and that is the first time I’ve ever seen anybody on it.

[@MattJ155]

Ah I totally forgot that it was used for the emergency vehicle crane!

[@EuSiUniversulMeuObscur]

I love Your clips! 💪💪💪

[@MattJ155]

@@EuSiUniversulMeuObscur Thank you!

[@j-jackw.2436]

Props to you for being able to stretch a 7 minute video into 20 minutes

[@SweetSoundP0N3]

Yoooo! Glad somebody else, especially someone who makes as great content as you do, watches Pretzel as well! Y'all should do a collab at some point in the future ^w^

[@hardlyfunny]

Nice cozy video. Subscribed

[@ruzgarakgul2051]

Staunton Island Place 3 is important for the storlyline in GTA LCS and there is an MP5K weapon pickup at that jetty IIRC

[@FriendofMineralTown]

I remember a lot of these locations from when I was bored and aimlessly exploring. I think what’s really the weirdest is the first one, that empty grass area behind all the buildings. Because you pass by it so many times being clueless it’s an empty space. I did get inside there once, I’m not sure how, but I remember thinking like “uh oh I’m stuck…” but then finding that exact ramp, and not understanding what the point even was of it all.

[@AlexisStreams]

In LCS you can find a bike there 6:54 i think its been a while since i last played that game Interesting Video :) Also have you played any of the mods? Frosted Winter Mod? Sindacco Chronicles or Forelli Redemption

[@Bahraini_Carguy]

6:40 in GTA LCS, it's has a spawn point for the PCJ-600.

[@GeneralLeeStudios]

your voice reminds me of the Thomas and Friends narrator Mark Moraghan very nice and upbeat and great video

[@gerardwaysway5999]

No one gonna talk about smoothly he flew the Dodo tho?

[@WektorGH]

great as always, thanks a lot

[@ecksdee1149]

cant wait to get home and watch this

[@MattJ155]

Thanks; hope you like it!

[@jytvreal]

Nice video, Rockstar always put detail in their worlds

[@MattJ155]

@@jytvreal Thanks!

[@imthinknarby]

Awesome video. I love videos like these in the wild

[@Deni7s]

21:21 I wasn’t expecting this to be a stunt montage vid as well 😂

[@danielgurnye1357]

Liberty City's map is so much smaller. Vice City: Am I a joke to you?

[@suicidalbanananana]

Is it though? (look up "gta3 upstate", "gta3 hidden area" etc, this video missed quite a lot)

[@AndreasNV]

10:10Is the hot steam pipe solid? In that case, I wonder what happens if you walk across it.

[@dedpxl]

Great vid. Aside from the contents which is the obvious thing to praise, I like the narration and the lo-fi music.

[@clearspira]

So... can you walk across the pipe? Kind of suprised that you didn't try tbh 🙂 I also thought that you would visit the ghost city. I bet that a lot of people haven't actually been there or even know about it to this day.

[@pedinhuh16]

I mean the ghost city is very well known by now, and it lacks any collision so the only thing you can do there is fly through it.

[@ifeeIcoke]

Matt this upload made me 🥜 Thank you for a video on my favourite trilogy of gta games

[@TH3TIMP5]

The second island secret easter egg would be a good one. I’m not sure how well known it is but I’m sure a lot of people have forgotten about it!

[@ЮрисВойтенко]

It's always dead interesting to watch a video 'bout gta 3!!!!

[@Xegethra]

If you open the game up in a map editor, there's so many empty areas and void places.

[@suicidalbanananana]

Most of these can be visited in game with the dodo 😁

[@Xegethra]

@@suicidalbanananana They can be. But you get a better look with an editor.

[@gekonz1129]

Actually I knew pretty much everything you have mentioned earlier, besides getting to the dam by a boat. It basically had never crossed my mind, despite I drove around the whole map and pretty much know it like a back of my hand. Yet I think a friend of mine once told me you could get a boat and sail to the dam, but as far as I remember maybe I even tried that too, but all I knew back then were boat spawns at the Staunton Island nearby Yakuza resisence. I think I couldn't get to Shoreside Vale because of pipes in water. Tho, not sure entirely. It was around 15 years ago at least.

[@tomNL94.]

I love that mysterious vibe from gta 3

[@terminatorx3231]

Can you do Vice City and San Andreas next? This was great. I actually didn't even know the full extent of the Rockford/Aspatria waterfront!

[@bethanyaudion9441]

I think that the Francis International Airport Building 17:45 is inspired by LAX, in California even though Liberty City in GTA III is very loosely based on New York City.

[@Retroist2024]

The Los Santos airport does not have the same design though

[@suicidalbanananana]

@@Retroist2024 The same building is seen in GTA3, GTA:SA & GTA5, but all 3 have a different size (and in GTA5 its been repurposed as a restaurant when the airport grew or something) Google search for "Francis International Airport" (GTA3), "Los Santos International Airport" (GTA:SA) & "Sightings Bar & Restaurant" (GTA5) clearly they all have the same building, be it with some minor differences, but all clearly the same type of arches and overall design.

[@АртемПрохоров-Лукин]

First place in Stanton Island is a hidden spot for one rampage( which one specifically, i can't remember, if i'm not mistaken, grenades one,) which appears when you failed it in first location. There is two spots for rampages in this game: one for one try, and second alternative if you failed the rampage in first try, so you can still retry them,so you could get 100% in game))😊😊

[@Buffalo31]

I remember thinking back in the day that there seems to be a lot of empty areas that didn't feel finished.

[@Omenhachi]

Matt with another banger

[@MattJ155]

@@Omenhachi Thank you!

[@arthurvyater656]

Another location: South of Staunton Island, near where the mission Kingdom Come takes place. There is an underground car park over there.

[@livebassngames]

7:55 this is the 2nd hiddin place of a rampage if you fail it it will be here

[@zachperkins688]

Great video! It's crazy how much I keep learning about a 20+ year old game I played so much of! I love the riverwalk area in particular, I found it last year and was shocked I'd never seen it before

[@ItsPikablu]

Love GTA 3 content!

[@JhonPittsburg]

The path in Stauton is a mission start location in Liberty City Stories. Also, those places you can only access by boat near the dam would've been amazing package hiding spots.

[@the80skid20]

I just subscribed to this channel. Great job. Just wondering if you plan on maybe doing grand theft auto vice city, and or vice city stories? That would be awesome.

[@Supercon57]

You can also fly a tank and land up on Donald loves building, you can walk around the area where his cutscenes to place

[@thefog7067]

Hearing all the pedestrian dialogue again had me rolling *My mother's my sister!*

[@nekipeh7373]

Honorable mention: mechani/car park near basketball court and Old School hall under the bridge.

[@mrredchevelle2672]

I saw that same video awhile back. Love to see it expanded on. (BTW anyon else take the Patriot to the Shoreside cliff spot after seeing this?)

[@muggins2279]

Forever stunned by that sick ass dam stunt

[@thefog7067]

Just playing through GTA III again on my phone after not going on it for many years. It looks so good in hi res. Big and Veiny is still annoying as hell 😂😂😂, its easier though if you drive to the left and up the duel carriageway and pick up the trail from there instead of driving through the city 😊

[@NateRD90]

For Place 3 in Staunton Island and Place 4 in Shoreside Vale, it's the location start for several missions in Liberty City Stories.

[@djmhyde]

the first place, behind St. Marks Bistro, i went for the first time in GTA 3 after i did that mission in GTA SA, until that point i've never went to this place and there is that massive green area in the end of the main avenue of the first safehouse, another place that i went only after playing GTA LCS, cause in this game there is a dirt track in this place, but in GTA 3 there is absolutely nothing

[@zachperkins688]

Another part of Portland that no one goes to is the part of the warf/pier northeast of the car dealership and north of Salvatore's mansion. The cemetery behind the church in Staunton Island is probably the most detailed area most people dont know about

[@F40LM]

Well look at the top of the buildings too and look on different versions of GTA 3 including the different platform versions and 10th and 20th anniversary versions too etc

[@F40LM]

Also compare locations with Liberty City Stories and all version and platform varations of that too on their own and against GTA 3 too

[@RotundCanine]

21:21 I spent hours as a kid trying to do that with a bf injection, since in my mind that was THE offroad car but never got far with it. Seeing you just DO it with a stinger made me feel so dumb and vindicated, it WAS possible lmao

[@KegOfMeat]

I’ve been playing GTA III for years and didn’t know there was a flamethrower under the bridge on Shoreside.

[@KOSMOS1701A]

Did you know if you get close enough to the pedestrian with the headphones and listen you can hear the music he's listening too (at least on the android port)

[@CryptidBuddy]

These places are also common in the rest of the games but they give a uncanny feeling. Here though emptiness is expected in the foggy dark city. Though one thing ps2 games did better than V is putting the empty lots away from places the player usually goes so you actually have to go looking to find yourself in a lifeless geometric void. I didn’t know any of these. Did you know there’s a whole unarmed mountain in SA with lamps on it? Ever been behind it? Never.

[@rodsk8dude731]

All I see is a bunch of good locations for some off-roading in a Patriot (and can be neat too in BeamNG with the Liberty City map mod plus the Claymore Patriot vehicle [there's a Demo version])

[@mhfauzan]

21:21 I can hear the Finn McMissile's theme in my head

[@Polentacontuco379]

SAME

[@namesurname5613]

Fellow cars fans

[@AAKVII]

Gigachad cars enjoyer

[@andrewlalowski9754]

Sweeet video!!! 💪🏽

[@graduator14]

Never thought about these!