Grand Theft Auto: London 1961 (1999) – Gameplay & Review

Grand Theft Auto: London 1961 (1999) – A Return to 1960s London

Before the streets of Liberty City, Vice City and San Andreas became famous in the Grand Theft Auto series, Rockstar took players to the real streets of London. After the release of Grand Theft Auto: London 1969, the series returned to the British capital with another expansion pack that travelled even further back in time.

Grand Theft Auto: London 1961 is a free mission pack released in 1999. Set eight years before the events of London 1969, it takes players back to the early 1960s, where crime, gang rivalries and dangerous assignments are part of everyday life. The expansion builds on the original GTA gameplay while introducing additional missions, vehicles and multiplayer content.

Unlike a completely new Grand Theft Auto game, London 1961 was designed as an additional experience for players who already owned the original Grand Theft Auto and the London 1969 expansion. Although it was relatively small compared with later GTA releases, it remains an interesting part of the series’ early history.

Grand Theft Auto: London 1961 – Game Details

Grand Theft Auto: London 1961 – Full Gameplay Video

Watch Grand Theft Auto: London 1961 gameplay and experience the classic top-down action, missions, vehicles and streets of 1960s London.

GTA Mission Pack #2 – Grand Theft Auto: London 1961 Full Movie Walkthrough / Guide

GTA Mission Pack #2 – Grand Theft Auto: London 1961 Full Movie Walkthrough / Guide video with all 7 Phone Missions and Secret Missions – 1080p Full HD [Played on PC]

Introduction

• 0:00 Introduction

WHEN WE WERE VERY SMALL

• 0:33 Southwest City Phone Mission #1
• 5:55 Southwest City Phone Mission #2
• 11:59 Southwest City Phone Mission #3
• 17:38 Southwest City Phone Mission #4
• 20:50 Mission #5 (Mr. Chambers)
• 26:18 Northeast Battersea (Fab)
• 27:43 Northwest Camden Town (TV Van)

Ending and Credits

• 31:05 Ending
• 31:30 Game Credits

Played, recorded & edited by: Pluton_GTA

What Is Grand Theft Auto: London 1961?

Grand Theft Auto: London 1961 is the second London-themed mission pack in the original Grand Theft Auto series. It was released as a free downloadable expansion for PC players who wanted more content after completing London 1969.

The expansion takes place in 1961, eight years before the events of London 1969. Instead of introducing a completely new game engine or a different style of gameplay, it uses the familiar top-down presentation of the original Grand Theft Auto.

Players return to London and take on criminal assignments involving rival gangs, dangerous enemies and various vehicles. The expansion also includes additional multiplayer content, giving players another reason to revisit the classic GTA experience.

One important thing to understand is that London 1961 is not a standalone game. Players need the original Grand Theft Auto and the London 1969 mission pack installed before they can play it.

Story and Setting – London in 1961

The story of Grand Theft Auto: London 1961 takes place in the early 1960s, when London had a very different atmosphere from the modern city. The expansion uses the same general setting as London 1969 but moves the events eight years earlier.

The player works for Harold Cartwright and his criminal gang. As part of the organisation, the player receives different assignments that involve attacking rival groups, protecting important people, dealing with enemies and completing unusual criminal jobs.

The story is presented through short mission introductions and objectives rather than long cinematic sequences. This approach follows the design of the original Grand Theft Auto, where the main focus is on completing jobs, earning points and surviving the dangerous streets.

London itself is an important part of the experience. Its roads, buildings, traffic and British atmosphere make the expansion feel different from the fictional American cities seen in the original GTA.

Harold Cartwright and His Gang

Harold Cartwright is the central criminal contact in London 1961. The player works for him and carries out a series of assignments connected to his organisation.

Instead of presenting a long character-driven storyline, the expansion focuses on individual missions. Each assignment introduces a different criminal task, giving players a reason to explore the city and interact with its dangerous inhabitants.

Harold’s role connects London 1961 to the wider criminal world of the London mission packs and gives the expansion a central figure around whom its missions are organised.

Gameplay – Classic Top-Down Grand Theft Auto Action

The gameplay of Grand Theft Auto: London 1961 follows the original top-down formula that made the first GTA games recognisable. Players control a character from an overhead camera perspective and explore the city while completing criminal missions.

The main activities include stealing vehicles, driving through busy streets, fighting enemies, avoiding police attention and completing assignments for criminal contacts.

Players can move freely around the available streets, choose different routes and use vehicles to travel between mission locations. The game does not provide the detailed third-person presentation found in later GTA titles, but its open-ended design still gives players freedom in how they approach the action.

Driving and Vehicle Gameplay

Vehicles are a major part of London 1961. Players can steal cars, drive through traffic, escape from enemies and use vehicles to complete specific assignments.

The expansion introduces additional vehicles to the original GTA experience. These vehicles help give the London setting its own identity and reflect the type of cars associated with the period.

As in the earlier games, players need to pay attention to traffic, road layouts and police activity. Reckless driving can create trouble, especially when the player is already being pursued.

Police and Wanted System

The police system follows the familiar mechanics of the original Grand Theft Auto. Criminal activities can attract police attention, and players must avoid getting caught while completing their assignments.

Stealing vehicles, attacking people and creating destruction can make the situation more dangerous. Players need to use their driving skills and knowledge of the streets to escape from law enforcement.

This system helps maintain the challenging nature of the original GTA gameplay, where even a simple mission can become difficult when police officers get involved.

Weapons and Combat

Combat is another important part of London 1961. Players encounter rival gang members and other enemies during different assignments. Weapons can be used to defend themselves and complete objectives that require eliminating specific targets.

The game maintains the straightforward combat style of the original GTA. Players must manage their position, movement and available weapons while dealing with enemies in the streets.

Drive-By Shooting Feature

One of the interesting gameplay additions associated with London 1961 is the drive-by shooting feature. It allows players to attack enemies while remaining inside a moving vehicle.

This feature adds another option during certain missions and makes vehicle-based combat more useful. It also became an interesting part of the wider history of the Grand Theft Auto series, which later developed vehicle combat into a more familiar gameplay feature.

Missions in Grand Theft Auto: London 1961

London 1961 is a relatively short expansion compared with the original Grand Theft Auto and London 1969. Its main story is organised around a single chapter called When We Were Very Small.

The chapter contains a small collection of assignments that introduce different types of criminal activities. These include phonebox missions, a walkie-talkie mission, vehicle-based jobs and a final meeting connected to Harold Cartwright.

Chapter 1 – When We Were Very Small

This is the main chapter of the expansion. Players complete several assignments for Harold and his criminal organisation.

Phonebox Missions

• Phonebox 1: Eliminate two rival greaser gangs.
• Phonebox 2: Protect Mr. Caukenbolls from his enemies.
• Phonebox 3: Eliminate Gene White, deal with his associates and destroy the recordings made by his men.
• Phonebox 4: Take out Poundage Fern and his gang.

Walkie-Talkie Mission

Walkie-Talkie: The player must deal with Hans Nemesis and his explosive potato operation. This assignment adds another unusual criminal situation to the expansion’s collection of missions.

Vehicle Missions

• Fab: Deliver a vehicle carrying Tunderthighs dolls to Harold’s nephew’s birthday celebration.
• TV Van: Use a television van to record yourself dealing with the people blackmailing Harold.

Final Mission

Ending: The main chapter concludes with a meeting involving Harold Cartwright, bringing the central mission sequence to an end.

Kill Frenzies

Alongside the main assignments, London 1961 also retains the familiar Kill Frenzy challenges from the original GTA games.

These activities encourage players to cause destruction and eliminate targets within a limited period. They provide additional challenges outside the main story missions and give players another way to explore the game’s action mechanics.

Vehicles – 22 New Additions

One of the notable additions in London 1961 is its collection of new vehicles. The expansion is reported to introduce 22 new vehicles, giving players more options when travelling through the streets of London.

Cars are not simply used for transportation. They are also important during missions, escapes and criminal activities. Players can steal vehicles from the streets, switch between different cars and use them to complete their objectives.

The vehicles help reinforce the early-1960s setting and make the expansion feel like a separate chapter in the history of the London mission packs.

Manchester Multiplayer Map

London is the main location in the single-player experience, but the expansion also includes a multiplayer map based on Manchester, another major city in England.

This map was created for multiplayer Deathmatch gameplay rather than as another single-player city with its own story campaign.

Its inclusion gives London 1961 additional multiplayer content and expands the experience beyond the main London setting.

Graphics and Visual Presentation

Grand Theft Auto: London 1961 uses the same basic top-down visual style as the original Grand Theft Auto. The camera looks down at the city, allowing players to see roads, vehicles, buildings and characters from above.

The graphics are simple compared with modern games, but they serve the gameplay style that defined the early GTA releases.

The London environment is designed to reflect the atmosphere of the early 1960s. Its streets and vehicles help distinguish it from the American-inspired locations of the original Grand Theft Auto.

Players familiar with GTA 1 and London 1969 will recognise the overall presentation immediately. London 1961 focuses more on adding new content to the existing experience than changing its visual design.

Soundtrack and Audio

Audio plays an important role in creating the atmosphere of the original London mission packs. The London setting uses British voices, expressions and period-inspired presentation to give the expansion a different identity from the first Grand Theft Auto.

London 1961 continues the atmosphere established by London 1969. The sound and dialogue help support the setting, while the familiar sound effects of vehicles, weapons and police activity remain part of the gameplay.

The audio is not presented as a major technical overhaul. Instead, it supports the existing GTA experience and helps maintain the personality of the London expansions.

Development and Release

Grand Theft Auto: London 1961 was developed by Rockstar Canada and released in 1999 as the second London mission pack. It followed the earlier London 1969 expansion, which had taken the original Grand Theft Auto to Britain for the first time.

The development approach was based on expanding the existing GTA experience rather than creating an entirely new game. The expansion retained the original game’s engine and gameplay structure while adding missions, vehicles and multiplayer content.

Unlike London 1969, which was released for PC and PlayStation, London 1961 was distributed as a free PC download. It was intended for players who already owned the original Grand Theft Auto and London 1969.

This requirement meant that players could not simply download London 1961 and play it as a separate game. Both earlier releases were necessary for the expansion to work.

Why Was London 1961 Released for Free?

London 1961 was distributed as freeware, allowing existing players to download additional GTA content without purchasing another retail game.

This approach made the expansion an extra reward for fans who had already explored the original Grand Theft Auto and London 1969. It also helped keep interest in the series alive during the period before the arrival of Grand Theft Auto 2.

Characters and Voice Cast

London 1961 uses a small number of credited voice performances rather than the large character cast associated with later Grand Theft Auto games.

IMDb lists the following performers and production credits for the expansion:

• Hevin ‘The Dred BH’Adam: Voice performance.
• John Berger: Albert Crisp.

The credited production team includes Greg Bick as director and Dan Houser as writer. Dan Houser and Lucien King are also listed among the producers.

Because London 1961 is a short mission pack, its characters are mainly connected to individual assignments rather than a long cinematic storyline.

How London 1961 Connects to London 1969

London 1961 and London 1969 are closely connected because they share the same setting and belong to the same series of mission packs.

However, their story timelines are different. London 1961 takes place eight years before London 1969, making it a prequel to the earlier expansion’s events.

London 1969 introduced players to the criminal world of 1960s London, while London 1961 allowed them to explore an earlier period in the same setting.

Both expansions use the original Grand Theft Auto gameplay foundation, but London 1961 adds its own missions, vehicles and multiplayer content.

London 1961 vs London 1969 – Main Differences

Why Is Grand Theft Auto: London 1961 Important?

London 1961 is important because it represents an unusual part of the early Grand Theft Auto series. Rather than releasing a completely new game, Rockstar expanded an existing experience with a free downloadable mission pack.

It also gives players a chance to explore the earliest historical setting in the original GTA timeline. The events take place in 1961, before London 1969 and long before the modern-era stories of the later games.

The expansion is also an example of how the early GTA series experimented with additional content, alternative settings and multiplayer features. Its Manchester map and new vehicles made it more than a simple collection of extra missions.

Although it is much smaller than the main Grand Theft Auto releases, London 1961 remains an interesting release for fans who want to explore the complete history of the franchise.

Is Grand Theft Auto: London 1961 Worth Playing Today?

Grand Theft Auto: London 1961 is worth exploring if you enjoy classic GTA games and want to experience the early history of the series.

Its biggest attraction is the setting. The opportunity to explore London in 1961 gives the original GTA formula a different atmosphere, while the additional missions and vehicles provide more content for players familiar with the earlier releases.

However, players should remember that this is a short expansion pack rather than a full-length GTA game. Its top-down graphics, simple controls and older gameplay mechanics may feel dated to anyone who started the series with Grand Theft Auto III or later games.

Another limitation is its installation requirement. Players need both Grand Theft Auto and London 1969 before they can access the expansion.

For retro gaming fans and players interested in the history of Grand Theft Auto, London 1961 is a worthwhile part of the series.

Final Verdict

Grand Theft Auto: London 1961 (1999) is a small but interesting addition to the original Grand Theft Auto experience. It returns players to London, moves the story eight years before London 1969 and adds new missions, 22 vehicles and a Manchester multiplayer map.

Its short length and dependence on the earlier GTA releases mean that it cannot be treated as a full standalone game. However, its free distribution and additional content make it a memorable expansion for fans of the original 2D-era GTA games.

For anyone exploring the complete Grand Theft Auto release history, London 1961 deserves a place between London 1969 and the arrival of Grand Theft Auto 2.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What is Grand Theft Auto: London 1961?

Grand Theft Auto: London 1961 is a free expansion pack released in 1999. It adds new missions, vehicles and multiplayer content to the original Grand Theft Auto experience.

2. Is GTA London 1961 a standalone game?

No. London 1961 is a mission pack that requires the original Grand Theft Auto and Grand Theft Auto: London 1969 to be installed.

3. When was Grand Theft Auto: London 1961 released?

Grand Theft Auto: London 1961 was released in 1999 as a free downloadable PC expansion.

4. Who developed GTA London 1961?

London 1961 is credited to Rockstar Canada. The original Grand Theft Auto was developed by DMA Design.

5. Where does GTA London 1961 take place?

The main single-player setting is London, United Kingdom, in 1961. The expansion also includes a Manchester map for multiplayer Deathmatch.

6. How many years before London 1969 is London 1961 set?

London 1961 takes place eight years before the events of London 1969.

7. How many missions are in GTA London 1961?

The main chapter, When We Were Very Small, contains eight listed mission activities, including phonebox, walkie-talkie, vehicle and ending assignments. Kill Frenzy challenges are also available.

8. How many new vehicles does London 1961 introduce?

The expansion is reported to introduce 22 new vehicles.

9. Is GTA London 1961 available on PlayStation?

No. London 1961 was distributed as a PC download. The earlier London 1969 expansion was available on PC and PlayStation.

10. Is GTA London 1961 part of the 2D Universe?

Yes. Grand Theft Auto: London 1961 belongs to the 2D Universe of the Grand Theft Auto series.

11. Is GTA London 1961 free to play?

It was originally distributed as a free downloadable expansion. However, players still needed the original Grand Theft Auto and London 1969 to run it.

12. What game comes after GTA London 1961 in the release order?

Grand Theft Auto 2 (1999) is the next main standalone game released after the London mission packs.