Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is the second title in the series to touch
base with the PlayStation 2. It's no doubt, following the incredible
success of Grand Theft Auto III; Vice City had some big shoes to fill.
If taking hard to the streets in a no holds barred, balls to the wall,
very unorthodox type of way is your guilty pleasure, Grand Theft Auto
still offers just about...all of that. When jumping into Vice City, you
notice right away the new style, the new sound, and new everything
about the game. They also don't skimp out on new characters and plot to
match. Rockstar Games take to the 1980s in the story of our ambitious
protagonist, Tommy Vercetti. The deal with this guy is he's fresh out
of prison, having served fifteen years behind bars, for pulling off a
hit for his Mafia higher-ups; who he thinks set him up. Betrayal seems
to be the M.O of these Mafioso characters as the game starts with a
Sonny Forrelli plotting how to cash in on Vercetti's already tapped out
tush, sending him to Florida for a few months, and then paying least
suspecting Tommy a visit. Little do they know Vercetti catches onto
their little scheme and conjures up his own operation. Vice City
screams opportunity to just about every drug lord, pimp, gang, cartel,
and the criminally insane--you're here to take it over.
Aside from the simplistic plot, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City allows
players to go on an adventure of sorts; to roam freely. Reeking
violence and mayhem on innocents is always available to the player, but
so are cab driving, ambulance riding, pizza delivering and a number of
other side objectives that contribute greatly to the experience that is
GTA. A very non-linear experience at that. As aforementioned, the game
takes place in the time of the 1980s, and in a very Miami like, Florida
city, and with improved graphics the game gets a complete facelift from
Grand Theft Auto III. To go along with what the 80s were (or might have
been) the vehicles, as well as clothing and buildings, are given a very
retro look. The radio plays only the most popular 80s hits, spanning
the very basic and most prominent genres. It's a very good looking
game, and on its scale, somewhat shows what the PlayStation2 is capable
of. At times a building may not completely render, or a small section
of the road disappears, but nevertheless achieves the technical prowess
gamers and fans of the game have come to expect from Grand Theft Auto;
easily not the best looking game, but far from the worst. Nothing worth
going into when speaking of how visually stunning Vice City is, when
really it seems to earn most of its points in style, rather technical
proficiency.
If graphics aren't what matter to you, where GTA really shines is in
its gameplay. On its own merits, Vice City, much like III, is one of
the most accessible games to play to date. There's no steep learning
curve, and the amount of freedom in the game doesn't constrict players
to do anything a right or wrong way, it's more of a matter of just
getting it done. One may say this contributes to the major mainstream
success of the game. With easy controlling, each button executing a
simple action, the d-pad and analog controlling direction, the controls
feel natural almost 10 minutes into the game. Vice City is very
straightforward and very pick up and play.
The way the gameplay is set up is, once your dumped into Vice City, on
your city map are marked objective locations that trigger different
missions. In the very beginning of the game, your lawyer, Rosenberg
works with you through his office, which would be marked with a "L"
icon. The entrances of these places are usually marked with a pink
marker. Entering these places is what will ultimately start every
mission in the game. Side missions, such as "Vigilante" would be
started by entering a specific vehicle (a cop car in this case) and
pressing down on the right analog. Periodically missions will be
assigned through a pay phone, which are started by simply walking up to
these ringing pay phones, marked with pink; It all feels very natural
in the city setting that Vice City takes in. Driving, unless you prefer
long walks across the beach, is usually the way you will get from one
place to another. Find yourself a sea plane or helicopter and you may
take to the skies, some missions require their use. Boats are also a
form of transportation, and for the first time in the series,
motorcycles. You'll find the vehicles are fairly easy to control, some
go fast-some go slow is the only variation on the street, but boats
have increased handling, and helicopters not so much.
Moving from mission to mission (by way of land, sea, or air) is only a
small part of playing Vice City. Actually completing these missions is
where all the action takes place. The story takes you through gang
wars, money laundering, workforce rioting, and high speed boat chases.
It's very enjoyable and almost humorous as to how Rockstar Games ties
all these different elements together through very twisted,
mischievous, characters and plot. Upon having played Vice City, or even
previous Grand Theft Auto titles it's hard to imagine just how any
other developers would create a game, possessing so many elements, and
not go the same route as Rockstar.
Gamers may find themselves playing Vice City hours on end before
completing the main story, and likely, hours after. The Grand Theft
Auto series has always boasted true replay ability. The world is very
large, compared to other games of its type, the possibilities of what
you can experience are nearly endless, and what video gaming is really
all about. You're paying retail price for this product one day, and may
find yourself still playing it, or picking it up/keeping it in your
collection for years to come. On the surface Grand Theft Auto is no
more than a mindless, shoot everything in sight, crash as many cars as
possible, anti-law enforcement, cash rules everything around me, sort
of game, but it's just that--a game, and in every facet of the word.
Rockstar Games have discovered their formula to success.
