After the success of GTA III, Rockstar brings us a prequel taking place in an alternate 80’s virtual Miami. Contrasting to the style of the previous game, which was rather somber, this is a city filled with color and life. But all isn’t well in the beautiful sandy shores of Vice City.
The story goes something like this: after an extended stay in maximum security, Tommy Vercetti returns, this time to Vice City, where his boss sends him to finish a deal. Upon his arrival, he’s set up and is left with no merchandise or money. Sonny wants his money back, but biker gangs, Cuban gangsters, and corrupt politicians stand in his way. To top it all, most of Vice City seems to want Tommy dead. His only solution is to fight back and take over the city.
Vice City is an amazing place fizzling with excitement! The city spreads out from the beach to the ghetto, and all over you can see this city is very much alive. There is much to do, many places to visit and lots of people to talk to. There are all sorts of fancy cars to steal, as well as other vehicles: boats, helicopters, motorbikes, even a golf cart.
All vehicles come equipped with an FM radio. You’ll be surprised with the quality of the music in the different stations! You will find songs ranging from INXS to Ozzy Osbourne, and great hits like Video Killed the Radio Star. The radio stations feature classical, Latin, disco and dance music, something for everyone! And just so you know, Lazlo (from Chatterbox in GTA3) is now the DJ on V-Rock, while the chat stations are now K-Chat and VCPR.
Tommy is basically on his own. As he earns money through missions, he will be able to buy different buildings spread all over town, from apartment buildings to small business facilities (cab company, car dealer, counterfeit money). These will not only generate income which you can collect whenever you feel like it (there will be a maximum limit for the accumulated income), but also provide you with extra save spots.
The game play is non-linear, so you can start by doing whatever you want first. Why not stop by the strip club and get a lap dance? A bit of fun doesn’t hurt anyone… as long as it doesn’t involve a boat chasing though the canal or a drive-by shooting! Now that was one annoying mission…
But there are activities for all tastes, and the options are numerous: hop on a Police car and turn on the vigilante missions, take a cab and make some cash picking up and dropping off customers, steal a list of restrict cars for a dealer, sell drugs using the ice cream truck, or do some crazy stunts jumping off of roofs and ramps on a car or a motorcycle. And then there are car races, boat races, motorcycle races… You will certainly not get bored in Vice City. And if you do, you can always look around for a rampage icon and go nuts killing gang members in whichever creative way it tells you to. Chainsaw, anyone?
GTA Vice City gets lots of thumbs up for the great sound, excellent music and great voice acting. Did you know it’s Ray Liotta actually doing Tommy’s voice? You can’t except anything other than professionalism from that. Kudos to all the other voice actors as well who aren’t any less spectacular, particularly those in the Chatterbox radio station.
Compared to the the previous title, GTA3, the graphics have greatly improved. But most impressive of all is how you can drive around this huge city without insane loading times.
Vice City is definitely worth playing. I mean, aren’t you tired of always being the good guy? Why do the good ones always win? Play as the bad guy for a change, and do all those things you wouldn’t dare doing in real life because they are just so wrong and unacceptable.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is plain old bloody violent fun!