Beta Releases

Before the release of any Grand Theft Auto game, there were features that were removed from the final product. These changes range from deleted vehicles and player skins to the removal of entire characters and mission strands.

Grand Theft Auto 2

 * The vehicles in the beta version looked vastly different, and were more detailed. Several cars also never appeared in the final version.

Grand Theft Auto III


Characters
 * Claude's appearance went through many different designs. Some screenshots show a poorly detailed Claude, who looks completely different from the final version. Other pictures show a more final Claude with different hair and and a more "chubbier" appearance.
 * Curtly was removed from the final version.
 * The character of Darkel, a revolutionary domestic terrorist, was cut.
 * Novy was cut as the game's protagonist.

Peds
 * Certain player skins, accessible with cheat codes, were removed.
 * Elderly pedestrians with walkers were removed.
 * Children were cut.

Vehicles
 * The LCPD Police and the Enforcer vehicle liveries were changed from then-current NYPD blue with white stripes to LAPD-style black and white.
 * Army Helicopter was cut.
 * Driveable School Buses were cut.
 * The Dodo's wings were cut down - They probably made this change to fit the vehicle into the Import/Export garage in Portland.
 * The Esperanto (and probably the Idaho too) had hydraulics.
 * There were many vehicles on the Capital Autos website that were changed or did not make it in the final game.
 * The Manana was called Ariant.
 * The Moonbeam was called Aster.
 * The Sentinel was called Beamer.
 * The Infernus was called Dyablo.
 * The Esperanto was called Esparanto.
 * The Idaho was called Hachura.
 * The Patriot was called Hum Vee.
 * A box van similar to the the Mule, called Luton was cut.
 * The Perennial was called Maurice.
 * The Panto was cut.
 * The Cheetah was called Rocket.
 * The Kuruma was called Sentinal.
 * The Stinger was called Shark.
 * The Blista was called Space.
 * An unknown vehicle, that appears in green on a picture was cut from the game.

Missions
 * Some, but not all, of Darkel's missions were subsequently given to other characters.
 * A mission that involved flying the Dodo was cut.
 * Originally, when doing Vigilante, Paramedic, or Firefighter missions, the vehicles radio could go out of range - requiring the player to drive closer to the nearest police station/hospital/fire station.

City
 * The Old School Hall changed appearence. It previously looked newer and lit up.
 * Punk Noodles was originally replaced with a small grass park with two statues. The statue model still exists in the game's files.

Others
 * The giant airplane landing at Francis International Airport was destroyable with a Rocket Launcher.
 * The ability to blow limbs off of non-playable characters was cut, but only from the PS2 version of the game.[]
 * Online multiplayer was cut.
 * Originally, police officers and gang members would crouch. Probably, the protagonist could do the same.
 * The graphics were originally cartoonish.[]
 * A very early hud was very different.
 * The radar was light blue instead of yellow.
 * One of the missions was marked with a head on the radar.
 * The ability to name the character, much like in Grand Theft Auto, was cut. An unused line of text reads "[DEFNAM] Claude--" - interestingly, this confirms that the portagonist's name is Claude.
 * Unused lines of text within the game's text files contain phrases, such as "You're perfectly healthy, get out of here!" and "I'll just fix you up". These lines of text seem to imply that the game's hospitals were, originally, accessible/useable.
 * The "Busted!" text and target arrows were originally red instead of blue.

Some of these changes are thought to have been as a result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, although others were made well before that time.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Characters
 * A character called Mr. Moffat was originally going to be in the game but was cut.
 * Tommy Vercetti was older and bigger in build.

Vehicles
 * The Blista Compact originally looked almost identical to the Honda CRX, it even featured the letters 'GPX' on the back.
 * The Infernus had thin rectangles for its headlights and tailights.
 * The Moonbeam was originally, implied, to have sliding rear doors.
 * The police cars were originally white with red and blue stripes.
 * The Sentinel originally had different rear styling.
 * The Virgo originally had a different look. Its beta model is still inside Vice City's files, named "Cougar", implying that the beta Virgo was named the Cougar.
 * The Washington originally had different frontal styling.

Missions
 * Pastor Richards would originaly give Tommy a mission but when the voice actor for Pastor Richards died they took out the mission.
 * It is believed by some fans that trash collecting missions based on the Paramedic missions were in the beta.

City
 * Fort Baxter Air Base originally included an air traffic control tower and a runway. The runway is totally absent, but the tower can still be seen in the distance from Vice Beach.
 * There was no stadium in the beta.
 * The northeast part of the beach didn't exist in the beta.
 * Some roads didn't exist in the beta version.
 * There were bus shelters around the city. The bus shelter model, bustopm.dff, is still inside Vice City's file.

Weapons
 * Grenade Launcher weapons were cut.
 * The beta MP5 looked shorter and very different.
 * The PSG-1 didn't have a silencer in the beta.
 * It is believed by some fans that there was a Tazer, a Nailgun and Landmines in the beta version.

Others
 * There were many phone conversations between Tommy and Mercedes Cortez.
 * There were many lines cut from characters such as Kent Paul, Umberto Robina, Mercedes Cortez, Mr. Moffat and a stranger in Sunshine Autos. []
 * Tires were able to be slashed and recorded into the stats.
 * There was going to be an additional outfit called the "MC Tommy" but was taken out. It was originally a brown biker jacket that could be found in Howlin' Petes Biker Emporium

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Characters Vehicles Missions City Weapons Others
 * Characters including Officer Carver, Larry and Poncho were removed.
 * Both Sweet and Big Smoke originally looked different. Sweet was originally dressed in black and wore a black beanie. Big Smoke wore a white jersey and did not wear a hat, exposing his shaved head.
 * Gang members looked different and wore different clothing.
 * The Bullet had a different look.
 * The Clover had different taillights.
 * The Savanna had a different grille
 * There are many deleted missions which include The Truth is Out There or missions with different objectives which include Doberman, Beat Down on B Dup.
 * During the mission Saint Mark's Bistro, CJ had communication with Francis International air traffic control.
 * Originally, if Carl Johnson killed a pedestrian, a news van would arrive and the crew would report on the event.
 * If Carl crashed into a lamp post a mechanic would arrive to fix it. If the player killed the mechanic the lamp post would remain broken for a time, even if the player left the immediate area.
 * The Mulholland Safehouse seemed to have a full interior that can be seen from the outside.
 * The Skateboard was cut from the final game.
 * Animals that would roam the rural areas were cut.
 * The ability to create and run your own casino was taken out of the alpha version.
 * Carwashes, similar to those in GTA IV, were cut.
 * The ability to ride the Trollies in San Fierro was cut.
 * The ability to smoke weed and drink beer was cut from the alpha version.
 * The mobster who Carl kills in Saint Mark's was originally going to be called Marco Forelli but due to deleted audio, his name was never mentioned in the final version.
 * The Grove Street Families were originally going to be called The Orange Grove Families.
 * Homies would walk into accesible places like safehouses,stores,etc.

Grand Theft Auto Advance

 * The Barrel was cut in the alpha version.

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories

 * Toni Cipriani originally looked older.
 * The police cars were originally blue before being changed to the same black-and-white design seen in GTAIII.
 * The Liberty News cutscenes were cut.
 * There was a golden PCJ-600 that was cut.
 * Toni's casual clothes were originally a green shirt with a purple vest.
 * There was an orange Landstalker that was removed.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories

 * Tattoo Parlors, similar to those in GTA San Andreas, were cut.
 * An unnamed motorcycle (possibly a different Streetfighter or PCJ-600) was cut.
 * The Casual clothes were originally yellow.
 * The Control Tower in Fort Baxter Air Base was cut again. As in Vice City, it can be seen from Vice Beach.
 * Bryan Forbes had a mustache in the Beta version.

Grand Theft Auto IV

 * Players were originally able to use buses as a form of public transportation, much like taxis.
 * The Coach was cut from the final version, although it can be seen briefly in the commercial for Higgins Helitours.
 * A mobster, Raymond Alberga, was deleted from the final version.
 * Niko would originally wear fingerless gloves.
 * Beta weapons include a Silenced 9mm, MP5 and a Revolver.
 * Niko originally had a buzz cut.
 * Binco was originally going to be the first clothing shop in the game.
 * Taxis were originally black, as can be seen in Vlad Glebov's video on the website.
 * Little Jacob did not wear glasses.
 * The Enforcer was originally a Boxville.
 * The Merit had a different grill.
 * The Annihilator was missing it's yellow stripe.
 * Pedestrians would carry planks.
 * There was once a ferry at the Ferry Terminal.
 * The Helitours Maverick was originally replaced by normal Mavericks.
 * According to previews, Niko could climb telephone poles.
 * Niko would have been able to get limo rides just like taxi rides.The player would also be able to watch tv in the limo.
 * Niko would originaly bring prostitutes to his home.

The Lost and Damned

 * The Tampa was originally supposed to spawn around Liberty City. Now, it is limited to the beginning cutscene.
 * Content from the mission Politics was cut.
 * A Game Informer preview states Johnny could originally change outfits.
 * According to previews, Johnny had the access to date girlfriends.

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

 * According to rumors, a tank that could drive through water called the "Sea Dragon" was going to be included in the game.