Following in the footsteps of Liberty City Stories, the first true prequel in the Grand Theft Auto franchise, Vice City Stories has also made the jump from PSP to PS2. As the name suggests, VCS allows players the opportunity to once again roam the streets of this sin-filled Miami look-alike, this time in 1984. Players assume the role of Vic Vance, older brother to Lance Vance of the original Vice City fame.
Vic is a military man, proudly serving his country in the hopes of making enough money to support his sick family back home. Little does he know that there are few people he can trust, even among soldiers. After finding this fact out first-hand, you, as Vic, are thrown into a smut, violence and revenge filled world, otherwise known as Vice City.
Unlike past GTA heroes, Vic is not the type who purposefully sets out to involve himself in the illegal aspects of life, rather he is placed in a position where his cooperation in such instances could literally mean the difference between life and death. Starting at the bottom, freshly discharged from the military, you will find yourself running errands for the likes of Phil Cassidy, your own brother Lance, and many other interesting characters.
Missions range from your standard “Retrieve ___ from so and so, using all necessary force,” to escorting musicians and film producers all around the city. Succeed and you are rewarded with cash, and once you earn enough of it, you can take your role in the city one step further by infiltrating, eliminating, and otherwise commandeering enemy territories and making them your own.
Business ventures include drug trafficking, smuggling, and prostitution among others. Even though Vic wishes that he didn’t have to involve himself in such immoral affairs, money, the all mighty power that it is, persuades him otherwise.
The ultimate goal of the game is to make your way through enough missions so that you have gained enough respect, and firepower, to take on the three people who have wronged you the most, starting with a set of Latino brothers and ending with the man who caused your early departure from the military in the first place.
Anyone who has played a GTA title before should have a pretty solid idea of what to expect, even more so if you have played the PSP original. Apart from the main storyline (which is only around 45% of the total percentage), side missions abound and allow for some of the most time consuming aspects of the game. Of course, there are the standard Paramedic and Vigilante missions (take on the role of a live safer or life ender), but there are also a few new outings as well. One of these has you taking charge of a helicopter tour business, flying through the city’s skyline, stopping where indicated, to let the sight-seers have their fill.
Also new this time around is the “Balloon Popping” quest. Very much like the hidden packages mission from the first Vice City, this version challenges you to find and pop all 99 balloons hidden through the city, with weapons as the prize – a task that is definitely easier said (or in this case typed) than done.
Like other GTA games, there is no requirement to fulfill any of these side quests, but without them the game’s length and overall completion percentage would drop significantly. Another aspect that greatly boosts the gameplay experience is the sound department.
There’s no question that the Grand Theft Auto games have single-handedly changed the way that gamers and game developers alike look at in-game music, and Vice City Stories does not disappoint when compared to the massive shoes that it had to fill. Emotion 98.3 is back with its Foreigner and Phil Collins filled soft-rock glory, and Flash FM still rocks the house with tracks from the likes of Pat Benatar and Hall & Oates. Ok, so maybe “rocks the house” is a phrase better suited for VRock, but hopefully you get my meaning. After 25+ hours with the game, I can safely say that while not as good as its Vice City predecessor, the music is still enough to make me want to steal a car, even if only for the opportunity to drive around aimlessly, while singing of course.
Where the game’s sound department keeps up with the standard of the brand, the graphics aren’t as hot. Don’t get me wrong, most aspects are comparable to other GTA’s, like the general matching of the lip movements to their characters’ voices (which are performed amazingly, I might add), and the blurry buildings and roads when you drive by at top speeds in your Cheetah or Stinger. However, just like in Liberty City Stories, the first PSP to PS2 port, there are some issues when it comes to load times and clipping, especially when you are going super fast. Most of these “there’s no road there” glitches last only for a couple of seconds at most, but can cause you to go flying into another car or light post when they’re at their worst.
Another minor nitpick is the changing colors of the sky at sunset. Whereas in San Andreas you could expect to see a small glare when you looked directly at the sun, instead the entire sky turns fire red/orange and makes accomplishing much of anything outside pretty difficult. The same can be said for sunrise, although the sky goes yellow instead of orange and the effect isn’t as irritating.
Other than the two aforementioned problems, the only other things really worth mentioning are the crappy handling of certain cars that causes you to spin out around hard turns, and the fact that with some weapons you have to be within spitting distance of the enemy, pedestrian, etc. before the auto aim system will pick up on their existence. While this may be a more realistic touch instead of an oversight, it is an annoyance either way. I tell you these things now, before you buy, because they are things I would’ve liked to know, but then again, I feel I must say that even if I had known, my decision to purchase the game wouldn’t have changed. The handling issue is one that most will eventually get used to (I did), and the gun problem is solved by simply changing weapons. This is a budget title, after all, and a handheld port to boot, so no one should expect perfection.
That being said, if I had to suggest which game to choose between Vice City Stories and Liberty City Stories, my decision would definitely be the former. Not only are the missions much more intricate and overall more satisfying in VCS, but most of the issues I had with the latter, like the faulty weather system, for one, have been fixed this time around. Now, if they could just fix the graphical loading issue, we’d be golden.
All in all, if you are new to the Grand Theft Auto universe and want to try your hand at the addictiveness of it all, this probably wouldn’t be the game I would suggest, if only because San Andreas is so darn cheap now, and has a lot more depth than any other game in the franchise. But, if you’re like me, and require a daily dose of mafia/gang mayhem, than this is definitely worth the 20 bucks.
To sum it all up, I leave you with a question: where else can you find a game that allows you to mercilessly attack pedestrians, cops and hookers, hijack military vehicles, blow up fuel depots and save the life of once-again Genesis front man Phil Collins? I’ll tell you this much – if you do find another, please let me know because it would have this girl gamer’s name written all over it.