Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

aka: GTA: Vice City, GTA:VC
Moby ID: 7626
PlayStation 2 Specs
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Description official descriptions

Tommy Vercetti is a gangster who just got off a fifteen-year prison sentence for not squealing on his friends. Because he didn't rat out his "family", Tommy's sent to work with Sonny Forelli, his old boss. Sonny gives him 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.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City offers the same free-roaming driving and action gameplay style as its predecessor, but in a new setting based on the city of Miami. The game includes all the features of the previous installment and builds upon them. There are new cars in the game, reminiscent of typical vehicles from the 1980s. Some cars are earlier models of the vehicles from GTA III. A few missions also involve the protagonist navigating a boat.

New to this installment is the ability to drive motorcycles. Tommy can drive a variety of two-wheeled vehicles, from huge Harley-esque bikes to dirt bikes to a standard motorcycle. Flying is also a bigger part of the game, as the player can fly small planes and helicopters, traveling from area to area, landing on helipads on top of towering skyscrapers.

Firearms are for the most part the same as in GTA III, and melee weapons have been added to the protagonist's arsenal. Tommy can use riot batons, crowbars, and a few others. Activities outside of the missions (driving taxis, delivering sick people to hospitals, firefighting, and playing a vigilante policeman) are available as well.

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 in the previous game) across ten 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.

Spellings

  • 侠盗车手:罪恶都市 - Simplified Chinese spelling
  • 俠盜獵車手:罪惡城市 - Traditional Chinese spelling

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Credits (PlayStation 2 version)

742 People (690 developers, 52 thanks) · View all

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 94% (based on 116 ratings)

Players

Average score: 3.9 out of 5 (based on 442 ratings with 14 reviews)

Everybody's out of gum in Vice City

The Good
The rollicking, outrageous, un-PC fun, the voices... everything

The Bad
The "save game" bug, but it probably affects only one in a million (read on)

The Bottom Line
I have a bitch about saving your game. You can save your game only in certain locations. But that is OK. What is not OK is that, whenever I saved my game, I was told "game saved". Well, it wasn't. When I tried to load it, all the saved game slots were empty.

I searched the Web high and low, and saw that a chap in Sweden had had the same problem with Grand Theft Auto III, but no solution. Now Vice City is copy-protected of course, and I got to thinking... does it see Alcohol on my hard disk? Does it decide, then, to play silly buggers, like Windows XP when it sees stuff that would make Baby Billy cry? More Web surfing took me to forums where they were discussing how to make copies of GTA, but no-one mentioned this failure of "save" to save games. Those people must have had Alcohol, or CloneCD, or BlindWrite, or whatever, so that could not be it. Eventually I stumbled on a No-CD crack, downloaded it, installed it... and... I could save my games! No, I am not making this up, I am not drunk, and I have an explanation. My CD drive shows up as drive R: and is sandwiched between Q: and S: which are both virtual drives put there, I suspect, when I installed Alcohol. Strange, but I think this is because I have two primary partitions on my hard disk and Windows just got its knickers in a fine twist there. Now I suppose that when GTA Vice City checks for the legit CD, it wrongly sees my drive R: as a virtual drive, and decides to teach me a lesson. It stinks all right, but the worst thing is that you cannot even blame the programmers. Put yourselves in their place, and see. Be warned, though, if you ever need it, that the CD crack disables the cheats. But I can live without cheats easier than without being able to save a game.

Now what a game! Totally un-PC, shockingly objectionable, in a word: wonderful. The baddies (I haven't met any goodies) look like the baddies out of B-grade gangster movies, they talk like the baddies out of B-grade gangster movies, they give you... er... quests??? that would make the Avatar blush and Iolo keel over with a heart attack. Great stuff. And you don't have to do it either. You can just mooch about town, bashing the odd passer-by for gun money, "borrowing" a car or a motorbike for a joy ride. I haven't found any little old lady whom I could help across the street, though, so it's a bit one-sided. But I am sure that if the designers are reading this... how about it, folks?

I don't have a joystick, and I found maneuvering a car quite a bit of a challenge (read: a pain in the bum). But still, it's fun. You crash into a pole, your bonnet flies off, steam billows out of the engine, but you can keep on going full blast. They don't build cars like that anymore ;-)

Final score.

Graphics. What graphics? You don't notice the graphics, they are so well matched to the gameplay. It's like wearing soft hand-made Italian shoes, you don't feel them. Oh, all right, there are some annoying features, like when you switch to the bird's-eye view. Great for finding your way around, but when you go under a bridge for instance, the bridge hides you from view, you and that power pole, and... kaboom!

Gameplay. To be handled with care, extreme care. When I sat at the wheel of my car (the real one), I had to tell myself, "Hey, slow down, watch out, don't swerve, this is not Vice City anymore". If I were the type to carry a baseball bat everywhere, I would have had to keep telling myself: "Careful! you are not supposed to go about bashing people in this town".

Replay value. Difficult to say, short of playing it several times over. But once is rollicking good fun, and bis repetita placent for sure.

Windows · by Jacques Guy (52) · 2004

When you move to Vice City, you don't move out.

The Good
Grand Theft Auto III was one of the greatest games of all time. That's not a opinion, that's a fact. GTA3 had a distinct gritty crime movie feel, like the Sopranos, and Goodfellas. GTA3 had a real, living breathing city to play around in to cause mass chaos, or deliver fares in. When i first got my copy, i beat it in one sitting. One 18 hour sitting, doing nothing but the story missions, and rarely using the bathroom for any purpose.

It's back.

If Grand Theft Auto III was a take on the Sopronos, then Vice City is a take on Miami Vice. Palm Trees, Cocaine, Fast Cars, Hot Women, and that's just the intro! Vice City is one of the best Crafted Cities i've ever seen in a video game, second only to Mafia. Area's range from neon-lit hotel strips (by the beach, of course) to a skyrise filled downtown area, to the seedy, degenerate filled slums and gang 'palaces'. Citizens range from Cuban immigrants, to ditzy blonde teens, generic thugs, and bums. You've seen this kind of variety in GTA3, but Rockstar has added many more details to make the city even more alive. Instead of the masses just walking around like the living dead at all hours, the local populace will skate around, sit on benches and stairs, or even wait at the bus stop. Rent-A-Cops will shoot at any thug trying to get into gated communities, and resident cops will run down purse snatchers and carjackers. That's right, they'll chase OTHER people, besides you.

The radio stations have gotten better as well. There are now nine stations, including two talk stations, a rock station hosted by Lazlow, and a romance station hosted by everyones favorite romance expert Fernado Martinez, built upon the same themes in GTA3 (rap, pop, techno, new wave, etc.) One of the joys of listening is hearing about these characters. Toni going on and on about old people (who she places around thirty or so) and how they shouldn't try to hold on to their youth, or Maurice Chavez (host of one of the talk station) going over his sad, sad life (you've got to hear it to appreciate all it.) You can even add in your own MP3's and listen to them while running over fat people or running from the law.

As far as gameplay goes, its an all-out fun fest for everyone. You can attempt some of the outrageous stunts around town, drive a cab for some extra cash, or blow up some preps when you pose as an officer of the law. The missions themselves are still very free form and have multiple solutions, and with the addition of a few motorcycles, these mission are much faster paced than the missions of GTA3. For example, i took a mission from a real estate developer to take out a man at a golf course. The problem is that at the entrance to the course is a metal detector that will take all of your weapons, so you have to beat him to death with a golf club... or do you? I looked around to find another way to get in, and i found it. Near the entrance is a small wall i could get over with by standing on a car and jumping over. So i did, and easily took out the target. That was only one of the many memorable moments of the game.

Some the things that can affect a mission is not only motorcycles, but the addition of helicopters, which fly much more easily than the Dodo in GTA3. Yet another factor is your clothing. Clean clothes can knock off two stars on your wanted rating, and what you're wearing helps too. A police uniform can get you into a military base, a suit and tie can can get hookers to your car faster, etc.

The Bad
There wasn't really much i DIDN'T like about the game, with only one exception: If Rockstar wanted a song by Ozzy Osbourn on V-Rock, why not Crazy Train instead of Bark at the Moon? Every other song was a hit except that! WHY?!?

The Bottom Line
This is the best. game. ever. Buy it. Now. Stop reading and buy it.

Windows · by Jason Lee (10) · 2004

Superior to GTA III in almost every way.

The Good
First of all, this game's cast actually had a lot of big named actors in it. This includes Ray Liotta, Gary Busey, Lee Majors, Dennis Hopper, Burt Reynolds, Fairuza Balk, and even Miss Cleo. One good addition is the ability to ride motorbikes (which were absent from the previous installment). There are many new weapons including a screwdriver (which is pretty useless for me), swords and knives, a chainsaw, and more. I especially like the chainsaw because if you want to steal a locked car, you can just cut the door off. Another new feature is the ability to change clothes, so you're not stuck with the same outfit all through the game.

The Bad
The non-mission gameplay is almost exactly the same as GTA III, so it sometimes it feels as though I'm just playing a modified version of GTA III.

The Bottom Line
Since this does not take place after GTA III, newcomers to the series can play it without getting confused.

PlayStation 2 · by J.D. Majors (14) · 2009

[ View all 14 player reviews ]

Discussion

Subject By Date
How to do this stupid the driver mission mohammad asad Sep 21, 2007

Trivia

1001 Video Games

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Bugs

On the (North American) PlayStation 2 version of this game, memory card data can get corrupted when the game is saved at the Ice Cream Factory.

Commodore 64

The second Rockstar Logo sequence that appears before each game pays homage to the Commodore 64. The blue on blue screen, the quality of the music, and even the load command accurately model the most popular home computer (especially for gaming) in the late eighties.

Controversy

In December 2003, the New York City's Human Rights Commission demanded that Take Two removed the phrase "Kill Haitians" from Vice City after Haitian groups complained about this.

Take 2 responded:

As with literature, movies, music and other forms of entertainment, we have strived to create a video game experience with a certain degree of realism, which we believe is our right. Nevertheless, we are aware of the hurt and anger in the Haitian community and have listened to the community's objections to certain statements made in the game. Accordingly, we will remove the objectionable statements from future copies of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

DJs

Among the connections this 'prequel' has with the original Grand Theft Auto III 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 GTA III. In Vice City, she not only sounds younger and naive, but a good chunk of her material plays into her GTA III 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 pseudo-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.

Dundee

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was created by Rockstar North, a division of Rockstar Games. Rockstar North was previously known as DMA Design. DMA Design was originally located in the Scottish City of Dundee. In 2000 the company moved to Leith in Edinburgh.

Located near the airport is a sign mocking Dundee. It has a picture of a ship on it (Called the RRS Discovery) and the word "Dundee" very similar to that used by the local council when promoting Dundee. There is also some text saying something along the lines of "We have a ship that belonged to a loser".

For more information on Dundee try www.dundee.com www.dundeecity.gov.uk

German version

On March 29, 2003, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (PS2) was put on the infamous German index by the BPjS. For more information about what this means and to see a list of games sharing the same fate, take a look here: BPjS/BPjM indexed games. After the game has been banned in Germany, publisher Take 2 released a new, censored version. Rated 16, you can recognize the edited game by its white edges on the cover.

The changes are: * People on the ground can't be hurt with melee weapons * Blood effects when hurting people were removed * No decapitations * Killed people don't leave money behind * The Rampage missions were removed * Two regular missions were removed: Messing with the Man and Dirty Lickin's

Guinness World Records

As of 2008, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is listed by Guinness World Records as the biggest selling game of 2002 and the best-selling PlayStation 2 game of all time.

Movie studio

In the movie lot located in Prawn Island, there is some set that looks like Broadway. If you take a look, you´ll notice that is the set of Staunton Island (Liberty City) even with the same advertisements.

References

  • In one of the assassination missions you get from the payphones the targets are called Nico Carter and Marcus Hammond which is a nod to the two main characters in the game The Getaway.
  • The remote control helicopter used in the mission 'Demolition Man' closely resembles the helicopter which is piloted in one level of Blood Money, a game developed by DMA Design (now Rockstar North) for the Commodore Amiga computer.
  • In the Malibu Club, the band performing on the stage of the club is an obvious parody on the Village People.

Sales

Vice City was a massive success for Rockstar. Electronics Boutique sold more than 500,000 copies on the game's first day of release, and more 250,000 in the UK.

Soundtrack

You can buy the soundtrack in your record-store. But try to get the German version - it has more tracks on it, than the US-version, due to some copyright difficulties.

Swimming pool

There is a mansion on Starfish Island, by the shore, with a peculiar swimming pool. If you look at it from above (looking south) you'll see that it has the shape of a woman's torso, and some rocks at its bottom look like a bikini.

Telephone numbers

You can call the telephone numbers that are being advertised on the radio or elsewhere. They work.

Weapons

As of 2009, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is the only GTA game not to feature the AK-47.

Windows release

Windows version of this game was accidentally put on shelves 5 days before right release date. After that many gameshops put out this game 1 or 2 days before right release date.

Vice Point building

From 23:00 to 00:00 in-game time, near the Malibu Club, the Vice Point Langer building's lit windows form a figure which looks like a penis. Every 15 in-game minutes during this time, a fountain on the top of the building is activated to give the impression the penis is ejaculating.

Awards

  • 4Players
    • 2002– Best PS2 Game of the Year
    • 2002– Best PS2 Action Game of the Year
    • 2002 – #2 Best PS2 Game of the Year (Readers' Vote)
    • 2002– Best PS2 Action Game of the Year (Readers' Vote)
    • 2003 – Best PC Game of the Year
  • Computer Games Magazine
    • March 2004 - #2 Game of the Year 2003
  • Computer Gaming World
    • March 2004 (Issue #236) – Best Music of the Year
  • GameSpy
    • 2002 – PS2 Game of the Year (Readers' Choice)
    • 2002 – Best Music of the Year (PS2)
    • 2003 – #2 PC Game of the Year
    • 2003 – PC Action/Adventure Game of the Year
  • Golden Joystick Awards
    • 2003 - PS2 Game of the Year
  • PC Games (Germany)
    • Issue 02/2004– Best Game in 2003 (Readers' Vote)
    • Issue 02/2004– Best Action Game in 2003 (Readers' Vote)
  • PC Powerplay (Germany)
    • Issue 07/2006 - #8 Best Packaging
  • Retro Gamer
    • October 2004 (Issue #9) – #15 Best Game Of All Time (Readers' Vote)

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Game added by JPaterson.

PlayStation 4 added by Flapco. Android, PlayStation 3 added by Sciere. iPad, Macintosh, iPhone added by Kabushi.

Additional contributors: Ray Soderlund, Unicorn Lynx, Apogee IV, Corn Popper, paul cairey, ~~, Patrick Bregger, Victor Vance, FatherJack, crysty86, 一旁冷笑.

Game added October 29, 2002. Last modified March 9, 2024.