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When Grand Theft Auto Vice City made its debut a long time ago, the gaming world never really paid much attention to the GTA series until the third installment was released. With a big follow-up, Grand Theft Auto III managed to hook players in with its huge city where you can go everywhere, kill someone and grab any vehicle that just happens to catch your eye – and to top it all off, the game was just too much fun to put down. So you can imagine the enthusiasm of PS2 owners all over the world when Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was revealed. Guess when the hour has come, fellow carjacker.
The year is 1986 and you play the part of Tommy Vercetti, who has just been released from jail for a long time. While back in the streets of Liberty City, Tommy gets a call from his old employer, Sonny Forelli, in the tropical city of Vice City (well, it's Miami, but Vice City sounds seedier) to do a quick drop and pick up a job. Things get sour when local law enforcement turns up, but Tommy manages to get free. It's only without money or goods. Sonny then continues to call for his money that had been wasted in a failed job, so Tommy begins a crime spree.
It would look at first glance that little has changed the gameplay-wise since the last game, and that alone will impress many players. Gamers can also drive the player around effortlessly in the crowded streets and punch and kick everyone you want. They will always walk up to the vehicle as the driver waits for the light to turn and take the car with ease to drive it home. However, in the process of traveling around the city easily, you will find that in order to progress the plot and gain money, you will have to take assignments from different shady characters.
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The mission structure has been remodeled so that the missions can be split into many sections. For eg, in one mission, Tommy offers security to a big-time boss when the deal goes down. The Haitian gang tries to pull a fast one in the middle of the deal and starts shooting. Your job is to keep the boss safe when you're knocking out the gang members. Suddenly, a gang member steals the money and rides away on a motorcycle, your job now is to chase the Haitian, kill him, and get the money back. There are some special missions that have you either robbing a tank from a platoon of soldiers or disrupting a funeral of the Haitian gang.
There are a lot of cars in this title, including various boats and the inclusion of bikes – something that was lacking in the third game. The best thing is that there are five different motorcycles, ranging from dirt bikes, scooters, racing bikes, and two Harley Davidson-type choppers. The biggest surprise, though, is that gamers now have the ability to pilot helicopters and a Cessna-type aircraft with pontoons that allow the aircraft to land on the water.
Seeing the comeback is a few mini-missions that can be triggered by getting into a taxi, a patrol vehicle, an ambulance, or a fire truck. The taxi mission, for example, makes you pick up and drop off customers at various cash places. There's also a side-mission to distribute pizzas by taking a scooter and shooting pizzas at people with arrows pointing at them. And, of course, there are rampage missions dispersed throughout the game that include you burning vehicles or killing gang members with special weapons before time runs out.
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And talking about weapons, the game has expanded the inventory of arsenals to include various kinds of weapons. You're permitted to carry a range of guns as long as it's just one of each kind. You can carry a standard sniper rifle, for example, but if you want a more reliable and efficient PSG1 sniper rifle, you're going to have to "trade" your old sniper rifle for a more powerful one. Arms will now inflict specific harm to people and stuff. You can shoot out tires, make the vehicle difficult to drive, or you can destroy the car by taking a bat or other blunt object. The aiming scheme has also improved so that your shots are fast and precise.
Another shift is that gamers can buy different establishments, such as the nearby strip club or certain houses, such as apartment complexes. Occasionally, you have to go on a mission or two about the entrepreneurial investments you make, such as the taxi service or the adult video production studio. However, when you get the company underway, the money starts flowing from whatever business you buy. You can also save your game at any place or store favorite vehicles in the same manner as Grand Theft Auto 3 has done.
Visually, the graphics in Vice City have been marginally changed. As with Grand Theft Auto 3, where the city is full of beautiful details, Vice City moves the graphics to make the details stand out a little more. Gamers are going to be in shock at the amount of detail seen in this massive city of beautifully built buildings. The characters look a lot sharper, with hundreds of people not only walking around, but stopping to talk or sit down at the cafes, or even sunbathing on the sandy beaches. This is a great game and worth playing
@kentzz001
This game is such a memorable one. Back in the time when it released, I didn’t even complete games. I just had fun running around the open world and causing chaos in this one. I’m got lucky and my friend let me borrow his dad’s memory card so I had all of the cool stuff unlocked right away. Plus cheat codes too of course.
Vice City was such an awesome setting.
Thanks for the comment, I have also so many memories with this game, remembering when playing it on a friend's computer (when I don't own any computer at the time) so I didn't do any of the missions, just also running around the open world and making chaos.
Such a great time to be a kid. Guns in hand and going to the strip club just to shoot it up after watching the girls. Good times.
Hehe, such a cool childhood indeed.