Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Review

By Coxster

On a personal note, Vice City is my favourite GTA release (though that will probably change when GTA 4 comes out) for several reasons, the biggest being that this game was set in the glorious and very tacky decade of the 80's. As everyone close to me knows, the Coxster is all about the 80's mang. The 80's was my generation and anything that is able to cast a bit of nostalgia and take me back to my favourite decade will get nothing but praise from me. It seems like Rockstar never really considered Vice City as a true sequel but rather a continuation of the series. To this day it's still a triumph of videogame design and boasted some wonderful technology for the time.

Every texture, every vehicle and building is dripping with references to the 80's and the soundtrack is by far the best one ever compiled for a video game (only to be surpassed by Vice City Stories). There really is nothing like cruising the tropical streets of Vice listening to Hall and Oates or Flock of Seagulls surrounded by pink and aqua neon that warmly reflects off your car bonnet. Rockstar absolutely nailed it and I still consider this as a gift to all those gamers that refuse to let the 80's go.

Vice City resembles Miami (as you can probably tell from the title) and the story is very similar to that found in movies like Scarface. The main character, Tommy Vercetti, is voiced by Ray Liotta and with a great supporting cast the story is brutally violent as it is funny with all the actors doing an excellent job.

VC also expanded far beyond what GTA3 did and included motorcycles, helicopters, planes and remote controlled gadgets. The developers have absolutely crammed the content to create a package that won't get old any time soon. Seriously, the longevity of this game is still proven because I have completed it close to five times…just for fun something I very very rarely do.

There really is so much fun to be had just roaming the streets of VC in a helicopter and marveling as the sun goes down or combating the effects of a harsh tropical storm, you can go almost anywhere and it will take you many many hours of gameplay to uncover all the secrets that Vice beckons you to find.

Another area that this game expanded upon was save spots. You had to do missions to unlock these save spots so you could buy the property. Once the property was bought you then had the option to enter it where you could save your game file. These properties were strategically placed around the map so that you were never too far away from somewhere to hide if the heat got a bit too much for you. There are also businesses to buy such as a film studio and strip club (plus many others) and these when generate cash for you to collect should you run low (or need to buy some weapons if you aren't using the money cheat). Unlocking these take a lot of effort as they all require that you complete missions before you can buy them. The money they generate though is worth it because you're going to need as much loot as you can carry.

Performing on the same engine as GTA3, the HUD and mission structure was almost identical to its predecessor. To progress and unlock further areas of Vice you had to complete various missions as Tommy builds his empire. Of course once these areas are unlocked you can do pretty much anything you like. There are tons of hidden packages to find that are scattered about the map and it is going to take you a considerable chunk of time to find them all. The more packages you locate, the more rewards you are given and of course you are going to have to find them all if you are to get 100 percent (and if you have got 100 percent I would love to hear from you.)

There are also rival gangs that stalk certain areas of Vice and they will sometime attack your businesses if they happen to sit their turf. Later on these mechanics evolved into the gang war feature in San Andreas and evolved even further in Vice City Stories where you could actually choose what type of business you wanted to build. Oddly enough Vice City is given more depth because of the whole gang idea. It's not an odd sight to be driving the streets or out having a walk when all of a sudden gangs will show up and start beating or shooting the crap out of each other. They all have their own agenda and the AI of the various NPCs seem to be very clever when recognizing each other and reacting to how well they are affiliated. Of course the more these gangs fight and the more damage they accrue will no doubt attract the attention of the VCPD and sitting in a car watching the whole scene play out in front you is often hilarious. Remember that this game was released back in 2002 and while we are used to game characters reacting to each other in modern titles, Vice City continually broke ground when it came to enemy AI.

The missions in VC are multiple-staged and often require you to do several smaller objectives before the entire mission is completed. The missions consist of such activities as having to drive someone to a certain location, pick up drugs/money, do a drive-by on a local gang, it's the usual shenanigans that you're used to and considering that the missions are shorter and much more difficult than in GTA3, the pacing feels just right. There are times when you will have several locations marked on the radar which indicate that they have missions waiting for you to complete and depending on what order you do them, the way in which you play the game can be different every time. There is a whole chunk of game here and it's going to take you quite a while to get through it all.

The vehicles are brilliant in Vice City. You'll have access to motorcycles and helicopters, trucks, boats, small planes and of course a whole ton of different cars to choose from, this game is overflowing with great vehicles. They all handle very differently from each other and are convincingly captured boasting some realistic physics that actually change depending on the state of your chosen method of transport. Taking various vehicles off the many jumps and ramps that litter VC really show off the attention to detail that Rockstar are famous for.

The soundtrack is one of the highlights. The 80's themed stations include New Wave, Rock, Rap, Talkback radio, all with licensed artists and laugh out loud commentary from the character DJ's. It is the most perfect soundtrack that has ever existed and only adds an authenticity to VC that few games have yet mastered since. The atmosphere in GTA:VC is second to none and definitely one of the key components to Rockstar's secret sauce recipes when it comes to video game development.

Look, chances are you have already played the shit out of Vice City and there is also a good probability you have played through it several times. For newcomers Vice City is a perfect place to start, while number 3 and San Andreas are also must own titles, Vice City was the most magical and came together so well. It's for this reason alone why we chose to cover it first in our retro section. Now if you will excuse me I am off to escape back to the 80s. I don't plan on coming back anytime soon.