93
MobyRank
100 point score based on reviews from various critics.
4.0
MobyScore
5 point score based on user ratings.

Description

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City offers the same go-anywhere style of play as its violent, M-rated predecessor but with an area twice as large as Liberty City to explore in a completely different setting.

You play as Tommy Vercetti (voiced by Ray Liotta), a gangster who just got off a fifteen year prison sentence for not squealing on your friends. Because you didn't rat out your "family", you're sent to work with Sonny Forelli, your previous boss. Sonny gives you an easy drug job, but everything goes wrong, and Tommy loses everything. Upon returning to Sonny, he gets mad and wants his money back. Unfortunately, everybody in Vice City, from gangsters and Cubans to bikers and politicians are in his way, and it's up to Tommy to clear a path.

GTA:VC takes everything from GTAIII and builds upon it. There are new cars in the game, reminiscent of cars from the 80s. Some cars are earlier versions of the vehicles you drove in GTAIII. New to VC is the ability to drive motorcycles. You can drive a variety of two-wheeled vehicles, from huge Harley-esque bikes to dirt bikes to your standard motorcycle.

Flying is also a bigger part of VC. You can now fly helicopters, traveling from area to area, landing on helipads on top of towering skyscrapers.

Weapons are, more or less, the same as in GTAIII, but the addition of melee weapons spices it up a little. You can use riot batons, crowbars, and a few others.

VC uses celebrity voice talent. The main character is voiced by Ray Liotta of Goodfellas, and the supporting cast is voiced by Dennis Hopper (Speed), Gary Busey (Slapshot 2), David Paymer, Danny Trejo, Luis Guzman (Traffic), and Jenna Jameson (ex porn star).

To effectively capture the mood of the 1980s, the soundtrack has been altered to fit the time period. Players will listen to an estimated nine hours of music (nearly three times the amount featured Grand Theft Auto III) across 10 radio stations. The eclectic mix features such noteworthy titles as "I Ran" by Flock of Seagulls, "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash, "You've Got Another Thing Coming" by Judas Priest, and "Out of Touch" by Hall & Oates.


Alternate Titles

  • "侠盗车手:罪恶都市" -- Chinese title (simplified)
  • "GTA: vice city" -- informal/slang
  • "GTA:VC" -- Common abbreviation

Part of the Following Groups


Merchant Title Platform Price  
Amazon
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Windows $2.98  
ebay.com
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City    
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User Reviews

Very addictive, ridiculously fun. Say hello to my little friend. Steelysama (106) 4.86 Stars4.86 Stars4.86 Stars4.86 Stars4.86 Stars
Long live the 80's! Zovni (9205) 4.57 Stars4.57 Stars4.57 Stars4.57 Stars4.57 Stars
When you move to Vice City, you don't move out. Jason Lee (11) 4.43 Stars4.43 Stars4.43 Stars4.43 Stars4.43 Stars
Everybody's out of gum in Vice City Jacques Guy (55) 4.57 Stars4.57 Stars4.57 Stars4.57 Stars4.57 Stars

The Press Says

Withingames Jun 05, 2003 5 out of 5 100
ActionTrip May 19, 2003 93 out of 100 93
Fragland.net Jun 06, 2003 92.5 out of 100 92
PC Games (Germany) Jun 27, 2003 91 out of 100 91
CanadianGamer Jul 02, 2003 91 out of 100 91
Eurogamer.net (UK) Jun 02, 2003 9 out of 10 90
GameStar (Germany) Jun, 2003 90 out of 100 90
Ferrago Ltd. (play.tm) Jun 09, 2003 90 out of 100 90
Super Play Jun, 2003 9 out of 10 90
Rebell.at Games Jul 07, 2003 8 out of 10 80

Forums

Topic # Posts Last Post
How to do this stupid the driver mission 2 St. Martyne Bronze Star Contributing Member (3563)
Sep 21, 2007

Trivia

Among the connections this 'prequel' has with the original Grand Theft Auto 3 are the return of younger versions of some of the radio DJs.

Lazlow (whose real life counterpart is responsible for writing a lot of the radio dialogue), the talk radio Chatterbox personality returns as a young DJ starting out trying to convince everyone that he's a hard core rebel on the rock and roll station, V-ROCK.

Toni (Maria Chambers), was Flashback-FM's aging pop groupie DJ in GTA3. In GTA:VC, she not only sounds younger and naive, but a good chunk of her material plays into her GTA3 material (for example, yes, she HAS been on fire). Her 80’s station? Appropriately enough, named Flash FM

And in a twist, Fernando Martinez (Frank Chavez), who ran the psuedo-legal prostitution ring ads euphemistically called 'Fernando's New Beginnings' got his start as a Vice City radio DJ on Emotion 98.3. In between playing emotive records, he’s already begun his pimping ways.


This entry was contributed by JPaterson Bronze Star Contributing Member (9125)
 

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