An "RC" in GTA III.
The RC Bandit (also known simply as the RC, RC Car or RC Buggy in Grand Theft Auto III) is a small remote controlled car that is available for use in several missions in:
- Grand Theft Auto III
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
- Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
Description
In all of its appearances, the RC Bandit is primarily used as either a controllable bomb or as a racing toy. The race car-like design of the vehicle has virtually remained unchanged between Grand Theft Auto III and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, but the Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories rendition of the RC Bandit is redesigned as a miniature pickup truck-based monster truck.
The GTA III rendition originally features only one color scheme, while the other renditions support a wider range of colors, including blue, red, yellow and green. The GTA San Andreas rendition also lacks a swaying radio antenna, unlike the other renditions.
Performance of the vehicle is as expected; being small and light, the RC Bandit is highly nimble with excellent acceleration, but has a low top speed. Because the RC Bandit in GTA III to GTA San Andreas features very still suspensions, the cars are susceptible to rollovers on bumpy terrain. The GTA Liberty City Stories rendition, however, receives performance tweaks, including a slightly improved top speed and soft suspensions that allow it to traverse uneven terrain much better.
Usage
- In Grand Theft Auto III, entering a TOYZ van will trigger a side mission, in which the player must destroy as many gang vehicles as possible using RC Cars rigged with explosives. It is also used in Toyminator to blow up three armored Securicars.
- In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, entering the Top Fun van parked in Washington Beach will trigger a side mission, in which the player must race around a course using an RC Bandit.
- In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, the final mission for Zero involves helping him move an RC Bandit across a model battlefield as Berkley tries to trap and destroy it. The car is controlled only by Zero, with the player controlling an RC Goblin as support. It is an inaccessible vehicle and cannot be obtained by the player. It was originally going to be used in the mission "Tanked Up", which was cut from the game during development.
- In Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, there are three checkpoint races which involve the player compete using a RC Bandit against three others.
Trivia
- "RC Bandit" is a play on arse bandit, another sexual joke by Rockstar.
- If the player spawns the vehicle in GTA III and GTA Vice City and attempts to enter it, the game will crash as soon as the player opens the "door". In GTA San Andreas, however, if the player tries to enter it nothing will happen. A way to make it enterable is to swap the Bandit's ID number with any other car (preferably one that can be spawned with cheats) and then spawning that car. When the player presses the "ENTER" key, Carl will get in, and the player will be able to drive it.
- In GTA San Andreas, the RC Bandit's engine noise is the same as the Faggio's.
- Out of all the RCs in San Andreas, the Bandit is the only one that can have a change of color.
- The RC Bandit in GTA III has alternate colors programmed in the game, however only one is used ingame.
- The RC Bandit in GTA LCS bears a resemblance to "Hammerhead" in the game "Twisted Metal: Small Brawl", with both vehicles being monster truck-type RC cars and bearing an almost identical blue-ish teal and yellow paint job. Seeing how chronologically TW:SB was released some years prior to GTA LCS, the RC bandit in the game could have been based on Hammerhead's design.