Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

The Good
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is one of the games that has helped push video gaming into the mainstream consciousness. While some of the attention has been placed on the game's mature themes, the lion's share has been a positive focus on the unique gameplay (unlike some past "violent games" like Night Trap and Mortal Kombat).

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is not a true sequel to Grand Theft Auto III. Rather, it is a sort of "new campaign" - it uses the same game engine as GTA3, but is not a mere expansion pack. Rockstar has confirmed that not only is there another similar "side-sequel" in development, but there is also a TRUE sequel that will bear the name Grand Theft Auto IV. Therefore, anyone referring to Vice City at GTA4 is incorrect.

Vice City is a free-roaming 3D game in which players cruise a fully-modeled city (patterned after Miami circa 1985), taking on missions from various employers. The game features a somewhat linear storyline, but there are tons of optional side-missions that aren't required to complete the game's storyline. Most players will play through the majority of the side-missions. Best of all, if there's a storyline mission that is just kicking your butt, there's another mission to go play, and you can come back to the hard mission later.

Most people have heard about the basic premise of the gameplay by now. Your character, Tommy Vercetti, gets around town by stealing cars (usually by carjacking unsuspecting motorists), and pedestrians can be gratuitously run over. Vice City law enforcement will pursue those that go on law-breaking sprees (both inside and outside of missions), making running from the police a common theme of the game. Players have a "wanted level" (1 to 6 stars), which increases as one's disregard for the law becomes more blatant. Police officers can be shot and run over, which generally serves to raise the wanted level quickly and make the player's job much harder - on that token, the game discourages cop killing. Yet, most missions involve breaking the law in some form, so VCPD will always be close behind.

With voice actors that include "real" Hollywood talent like Ray Liotta, Dennis Hopper, Tom Sizemore, Bert Reynolds, Luis Guzman, Gary Busey, Lee Majors, and a score of others, GTA: Vice City is helping to usher the days of awkward game voice acting (think Resident Evil) into the past. Though attempts at fusing real actors into video game voice acting roles has not always been successful in the past, Vice City comes out glowing. These actors truly bring the game alive.

Just as good as the voice acting is the music. Drivers in Vice City have a number of radio stations to choose from. Unlike GTA3, Vice City comes with a full block of real 1980s radio hits - from Michael Jackson to Iron Maiden to A Flock of Seagulls. The game's soundtrack has been released on a 7 CD box set, and it is a best-seller with good reason. The music does more than anything else to bring the 1980s vibe alive. Everything old is new again.

The Bad
Vice City's 3D world really pushes the PlayStation 2 beyond its capabilities. The game looks and runs much better on the PC - even Grand Theft Auto III looked much better on PC than Vice City does on PS2. The first thing to do is turn the awful "trails" graphical feature off - they're annoying (to me, at least), and turning them off helps a ton for PS2 players.

Game control could be a little better in the on-foot areas. While the car control is very good, gun combat on foot can definitely be awkward. A number of other 3rd-person games have managed to implement much more natural control schemes. Rockstar would serve themselves well to take note and rip some control ideas off.

Also, the game is not without some bugs. Though they aren't frequent, I had a few crash/freeze bugs hit me during my hours of gameplay. Reports I've read from other people lead me to believe that it's not a unique case of my game copy and/or PS2 hardware.

Some critics have dissed Vice City as being nothing more than a GTA3 rehash. While the gameplay is largely similar, Vice City comes out as a much better game, thanks to all of the production values that bring the city and time period to life. There also aren't a ton of games in a similar style - and most of the others are direct clones of the GTA formula. One must wonder what formulaic archetype the favorite genres of these critics could be reduced to.

The Bottom Line
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is one of the biggest games of the past 5-10 years. It is not a game without flaws, but its status as an instant classic is well-earned. Due to some technical limitations of the PS2, players may opt to play the game on the PC or (soon) on the Xbox. Even still, the PS2 version is where the game gained immediate fame, and it is an excellent game, worth of purchase and many hours of play.

The Good
Rockstar is at it again with Vice City, the sequel to the landmark hit GTA3, a title that broke new ground by crafting an exceptional cocktail of diverse gameplay mechanics in a free-roaming gameworld mixed with a distinct touch of politically incorrect humor and controversial content. Given the absolutely fantastic fun that it was to play GTA3 Rockstar could literally just shove the same thing down our throats with just new maps, and we wouldn't complain about it. However as it so happens Vice City is more than just a "mod" of GTA3 and manages to fix what was lacking in the original as well as add even more entertaining features.

The gameplay revolves around the same concept of being able to run around freely in a virtual city, stealing vehicles for fun and completing gangster-themed missions. As in the previous title you also have a pletora of optional challenges sprinkled all over the gameworld, that include "rampage" missions, races, obstacle courses and vehicle-specific missions that include chasing down perps in a police cruiser or making rounds as a taxi driver or (new to Vice City) being a pizza delivery boy in a moped. Oh yeah, didn't I mention it? Vice City now adds motorcycles to the vehicle pool! And to my pleasant surprise, riding a bike is exceptionally well done, with proper animations and distinct physics that make it a unique experience and probably the most fun you'll have in this new GTA. You also have choppers thrown into the mix, which allow you to easily take to the skies without the hassle that was trying to control GTA3's airplane. These vehicles open new possibilities for the many minigames that now include pilotwings-like air races, and enduro bike courses at the beaches with the list growing larger with each new secret location you uncover in the city. Car driving has also been added a couple of new tricks that include forward shooting and the ability to jump out of a moving vehicle and send it crashing into a group of unsuspecting enemies :D.

So far we have practically every forum-posted objection to GTA3 covered, which shows Rockstar listened to it's fans. However the real upgrade in Vice City is seen on the content side of things, a feature that became the target of some criticism for GTA3 by the always present boring old fools that like to dismiss titles that manage to reach stardom mostly by being good games instead of just an interactive book. Worry no more old geezers! Vice City adds that which you craved so much! A story!!

That's right, you no longer are a nameless thug raising havoc in the name of gangster rivalries. Now you take on the role of Tommy Vercetti, a former member of a big time mafia family that got shafted and had to do hard time due to some backstabbing. As the game starts you are fresh out of jail and the family sends you to "Vice City" a fictional 80's Miami (ripped right out of Miami Vice) to keep you out of trouble, but you have a different plan, and through the course of the game you set it upon yourself to take the city by the balls and become the new mafia boss. This eventually gets you back in the center of attention of your former employers, and a war begins for control of the city, war that deals richly in betrayals, backstabbings and assorted gangster stuff. The cast of characters is much richer and varied, now voiced by some real star power with the likes of Ray Liotta (who does an incredible job as Tommy), Tom Sizemore, Dennis Hopper, Burt Reynolds, Gary Busey, Lee Majors, Fairuza Balk and even Phillips Michael Thomas reprising his role as a Tubbs-like parter of Tommy (and look out for a cameo by porn star Jenna Jameson also! :D).

The storyline and characters work like a charm in the brand new Vice City, an 80's themed beach town that serves as a gigantic source of sight gags and in-jokes towards one of the most blatantly funny decades in U.S. history. Taking most of it's cues from the seminal Miami Vice, the game has that distinct "pink neon" art-deco feel and a lot of detail was poured into every little nuance such as the flashy clothes, giant mobile phones, cars and assorted gags (including Don Johnson/Phillip Michael Thomas wanna-bes gunning for you in a Ferrari Testarossa should your mayhem bar grow too high :D). As in the previous game music also plays a major role in selling the gameworld, and since few things say 80's like it's music, the developers made the fantastic choice of licensing a full soundtrack that not only manages to be the largest videogame licensed soundtrack ever, but also manages to act like an 80's who's-who of music. Michael Jackson, Quiet Riot, Twisted Sister, David Lee Roth, Iron Maiden, even Crockett's Theme from Miami Vice and such pop hits as "Video killed the radio star" serve to complement the fantastic vibe of the game and make it a terrific experience. Plus for the PC release Rockstar took a cue from the technical issues in GTA3 and the installation now allows you to install all the audio files to disk, killing that nasty stutter effect whenever the game loaded a voiceover or radio station. The graphic engine is pretty much the same, but water has been improved with transparencies and visible sealife and loading times between areas have been almost completely obliterated by using some sort of streaming loading that makes it more or less a seamless environment (and bear in mind that Vice City is way larger than GTA3's city).

Finally, you have the ability to expand your empire by buying buildings in the city. From comfy condos to luxurious mansions, to more esoteric locations such as strip clubs, ice-cream companies and dance clubs. The later rewarding the player with extra specially-themed missions. And speaking of the missions they are a much more polished and carefully planned bunch than in the previous games, leaving the slightly meaningless races and time limits of the original in favor of more story-driven affairs (including a fantastic bank heist in which you have to assemble the team for the job and then hit it "Point Break"-style which is one of the coolest moments in the game).

Oh! And lest I forget, if you loved the quirky radio stations and those satirical ads. from GTA3 be advised that in Vice City they are back with a vengeance, including even more pop-culture references, and material that plays with the material from GTA3 (as you get to hear some of the same radio personalities in their earlier years). Excellently written stuff and priceless un-pc comedy.

The Bad
Well they fixed everything you could complain about... so what's left to bitch about?? Nothing I can think of.

The Bottom Line
Remember that fantastic game about carjacking and whore-shooting that you loved so much? Well they fixed everything you could bitch about, added it the coolest soundtrack ever, a kickass gangster story and the same fantastic un-pc humor the series is loved for. Plus... 80's Baby!!! What kind of a moron would pass this one up??

The Good
The obvious is the action. Getting chased around by cops, the SWAT team, and the military has never been so entertaining. The depth of story was excellent, it felt as though you were actually a PART of the game, and not just some guy (or girl) playing it. The freedom to walk up to a jogger and beat them to a pulp, or to steal and drive any vehicle, or just go wandering around the city for a while is a definite plus.

The Bad
They need to add an option to talk to people. I wanted to go to the clubs to hook up, not just to kill everybody. Aside from that, I have very few complaints. This game is bound to be remembered for ages and ages. It's a classic, and a landmark achievement in video games.

The Bottom Line
If you're into action and crime, this one's for you. I have to say that this is one of the very few games in which the point is to be the BAD GUY, and to get away with it! Very fun, and addictive. A good rental, but a GREAT buy. I don't think you can even do everything there is to do in the game with a week rental.