First, there was Grand Theft Auto. I remember playing it in computer class and having hella fun running people over, especially the people in a marching band or something and you could run 15 or so people at a time. The missions were boring.
Then, I played GTA3, and like everyone else, I was totally blown away by the difference. I loved the game, but looking in retrospect, there were some serious problems with it.
First of all, the main character who you control in the game isn’t even named. He never even talks. The bosses tell him to do stuff and then he just kinds of nods with that one damn facial expression on his face (at least it wasn’t that constipated look on Max Payne’s face). I know most people play these games to blow stuff up and for the action aspect of it, but even in action games, I like a little plot and characters I can relate to. The main character in GTA3, (from this point onward, I will refer to him as Fido because that’s what Maria calls him), has no personality at all, and just does whatever his bosses tell him. He turns against the Mafia, but with no good lines, nothing said at all. Maria is just the stupid girlԺ-Ball disappears after an early mission…the only ones I guess you can say have personality are Kenji (the angry Yakuza boss), Asuka (the sadist Yakuza boss), and Catalina (the Columbian boss). I had much more fun playing the game after the whole revenge-against-Catalina thing came sharply into focus, but again, if Fido said a line here or there, the story could be a bit more compelling! And the finale was sooooo disappointing…the mission was challenging, but after Fido kills Catalina and rescues Maria, she confesses she’s in love with him and the scene fades out and you hear a gunshot…he shot her. What an anticlimactic ending! For me, the story can affect the enjoyment a hella lot.
But again, these were flaws in GTA 3 that I only really noticed in retrospect because with all the game’s flaws…it’s hella fun. But they were those nagging little flaws…
Enter Tommy Vercetti, hero of Vice City. He has a name! He has a story. He was working for the Mafia headed by Sonny Forelli, got busted on a mission, did 15 years hard time, and was going to return to Liberty City. Forelli decides to send him down south to Vice City to expand the Mafia’s influence, to give him a new start, and to get rid of him. Tommy was in charge of a big drug exchange, but it was an ambush and some other gang took the drugs and the money. Tommy has to get the money back before Forelli loses his patience. And so on…
Tommy’s got attitude…check these lines out.

DIAZ (A BOSS): You work for me now.
TOMMY: I work for money!

TOMMY: I run this town now! ME!

UMBERTO: You dressed like a girl…
TOMMY: Why? You got something against women, big boy? You prefer men?

Or something like that…but the point is that Tommy Vercetti talks back and…oh, I’m just so happy that the main character actually talks! WHAT WAS ROCKSTAR THINKING IN GTA3? Who makes a game/movie/TV show where the main character doesn’t talk?!?
Anyways, here goes the ratings…

STORY (80/100)-Best story, acting by any GTA game.
CHARACTERS (70/100)-Tommy Vercetti’s too much of a badass, in my opinion. He never shows any kind of vulnerability or any fear…he just doesn’t seem real enough. But there are plenty of others who are real characters…Ken Rosenburg, Lance Vance, Umberto…
GAMEPLAY (99/100)-Hey, that’s why the series is so popular. The gameplay is the same, except there a few new things that are just way cool in Vice City…

Only one type of each weapon at a time. You can’t carry all the shotguns or all the submachine guns or…wait a sec, there was only one shotgun in GTA3 and only one uzi and only one pistol and only one sniper rifle in GTA3...there’s sawed off shotguns, regular shotguns, and automatic shotguns in Vice City, and some other cool weapons…including the MINIGUN. Yeah, weapons are way cooler in Vice City, ranging from brass knuckles to screwdrivers to hammers to chainsaws to rocket launchers. You’ll never want to go back to fists and baseball bats again!
You can pop tires. Madman trying to run ya over? Shoot his tires and then watch him burn out! (But this also means the cops do the same to you…better practice your driving with one or two tires popped…it’s useful).
You can jump outta moving cars. Madman chasin’ ya? Drive your car into a lake, but roll out at the last sec…your health will take a hit but you can laugh as you watch em drown!
You can take cover. That’s right. Take cover behind a tree or a car and shoot them while protecting your butt!
Motorcycles! Mopeds to dirt bikes to Harley look-alikes. They accelerate quicker and can go places where no car can, but watch out! If you crash and burn, your health takes a hit.
Clothes!-If you have a one or two star rating, a clothes change can throw the police off.
Real Estate!-That’s right…

All the controls are good and gameplay runs smoother than imitations (like True Crime: Streets of LA). (Note…I am playing this game on a PC and much prefer using the mouse to aim instead of that weird targeting system on the PS2. Shooting games are usually better on the computer…yeah, I know Halo was great but…)

GRAPHICS (85/100). I would’ve given this a 60 or 70 reating until I recently just turned the resolution to its highest setting. Beautiful Vice City looks really nice now. I know this may sound really wimpy, but the lighting effects are just great with the setting sun and stuff.

SOUND (95/100). For the most part, the voice acting is good and the radio just rocks! I am currently in my 80s music phase…old-school rap (WILDSTYLE) is the best!

LAST WORDS…This is a great game, no doubts about it. If you ignore the fact that all the cops look exactly the same, that there are only so many different character models, and that Tommy just has to be a badass all the time, you will discover a great game that has no equal. It’s not the next Deus Ex, but who the hell says it has to be? (I’m just the one looking for another Deus Ex, I guess).

OVERALL (94). Wonderful game.


Things I Would Like To See In GTA: San Andreas

CARS! There should be more of em, and you should be able to modify them and soup em up. Say, like you could buy unpoppable tires for some money or a radar detector or faster engine and what not. Y’know, get a little street racing involved.

BUILDINGS! You should be able to go into any building you want…hell, if Pokemon can do it, why can’t San Andreas?


Recommended: Yes

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