The 80s return in Vice City

By Michael Kazanjian
November 7, 2002

When Grand Theft Auto III hit the PlayStation 2 last year, it broke every rule in video gaming. Its massive, free-roaming environment was the perfect playground for violence, sex, car chases and rising mobsters. Parents were horrified while the pre-pubescent boy in anyone who touched the controller was delighted. One year later, Rockstar North, the company responsible for the series, released the next installment Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. It was an inevitable sequel, but how could it ever surpass, or even live up to, its predecessor?

Rockstar decided not to mess around too much with the successful formula that they already had. Redesigning the game would have been noble, but stupid. GTA: Vice City is not, in many ways, much different than GTA III. The gameplay and graphics, with the exception of a few tweaks, are nearly identical.

GTA: Vice City takes place in Florida in 1986. If the overwhelming amounts of neon, powder suits and open v-neck shirts aren’t a dead giveaway, then the music should help put you in Don Johnson mode. There’s nothing like ripping off a BMW then driving to meet your mob boss while jamming to Flock of Seagulls. The are endless hours of music from our favorite decade of decadence sewn into GTA: Vice City, an addition that may seem small at first but substantial later.

Instead of taking on the persona of a speechless, expressionless thug like that found in GTAIII, this time you’re Tommy Vercetti, voiced by the goodfella himself Ray Liotta. Tommy spent some time in prison and now he’s out trying to gain his footing in the mob world once again. As you make your way through town you start to make connections that set you up with various “jobs” in the area. Unlike GTAIII, the missions work more tightly with the story giving you a better sense of moving through the game rather than around it.

Tommy isn’t limited to cruising through Vice City on four wheels. An impressive line of motorcycles have been added to the game as well as the occasional helicopter, airplane and boat.

The cops in Vice City are a heck of a lot smarter than the ones found back in Liberty City. If you even think about pulling out your gun while there’s a cop on the street, you better get ready to run, drive or whatever, it’s not so easy this time around. After gaining some recognition in town, and a sizeable wad of cash, you are given the option to purchase property, an entirely new facet to the GTA universe. You can use the properties as save points, a way to make some extra cash, as a parking garage or whatever, it’s your choice and a fun one at that. There are also many buildings that Tommy can enter. The interiors aren’t too magnificent to look at, but they add another layer to an already well-stacked game

While GTA: Vice City may not offer tons in the “what’s new” department, it’s still one of the best releases of the year. In addition to that, it is also almost twice as big as GTAIII which means that you’ll be playing for a very long time. This one’s a no-brainer, add it to the library.

Want to Cheat?

Enter: R2, R2, R1, R2, L1, R2, LEFT, DOWN, RIGHT, UP, LEFT DOWN, RIGHT, UP while playing to unlock one of every kind of weapon.

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Michael Kazanjian

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