november-rain's Full Review: Grand Theft Auto (GTA): Vice City for PlayStation ...
An indication of the level of anticipation and demand for Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is the stories shared by many gamers who, having failed to pre-order the game, went into countless stores on the date of its release hoping to buy it, but procured no results except feelings of disappointment. Luckily for me, I reserved this game one month in advance, fully knowing what little chances I have if I had waited any longer. The reason for all this excitement surrounding Vice City can be traced to its predecessor, Grand Theft Auto III, which has record sales of over 7 million units and have been shunned by negative media reports and even banned in Australia for its notoriously violent brand of gameplay. It became the biggest success story in next-gen gaming, and therefore would make perfect sense to spawn a sequel. Is the wait for Vice City justified? –– Yes, it is.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City takes place in the decadent 80’s, before GTA3’s time frame, and features everything its precursor has – in excess. For Vice City, the same formula used in GTA3 has been refined and plenty of extras have been thrown in to pack maximum heat. A quick rundown of the spanking new stuff include:
- over 120 missions
- bigger environment (with interior locations)
- better and bigger variety of weapons
- more than 100 vehicles to jack
- sharper graphics
- over 60 minutes of cut scenes
- nearly 10 hours of radio play
- locations for sale
- shark sightings ;)
On the whole, it seems that Vice City is merely an extended version of GTA3 with added twists and bonuses since there’s really no point in changing a working concept: stealing cars, doing hits, lighting asses on fire – it’s all about the experience.
-| s t o r y |-
One change of particular note is the main character who’s now given a name and a history unlike the nameless mute we play as in GTA3. Tommy Vercetti is a foul-mouthed and bad-tempered smalltime mobster who works for the Forelli crime family in Liberty City. Recently released from prison after doing a 15-year stint, the family boss sends him down south to Vice City, where he and his gang has been ordered to pull off a massive drug deal, only things went a little differently than expected. After a barrage of bullets interrupted their operation, Tommy’s friends are soaking in their own blood, the drugs are gone and the money’s nowhere to be seen. He and his lawyer manage to make a clean escape, if only to face the threats of the angry boss back home. In order to compensate for the losses, Tommy begins to work for local crime lords and make enough money before he gets cleaned out. Several other characters come into play as Tommy extends his network of contacts in the area, each with their own distinct personalities, philosophies and wicked intentions. During one of his missions, he meets up with the revenge-seeking Lance Vance, whose brother was "iced" during the shootout. Before long, they became fast friends and partners in crime, stretching their ambitions far beyond simply being errand boys for the gang leaders who run Vice City.
-| g a m e p l a y |-
As Tommy Vercetti, the city is your playground, but you don’t rule it. Vice City’s mission-style gameplay requires the player to perform any duties assigned by the bosses. Far from being linear, the large set of connections to crime lords in the city mean that missions are simultaneously available for you to take on. You can accept the missions at any time of your choosing, which are either directly connected to the main storyline or are independent from it. Missions that are tied in with the storyline have an added complexity to them and doing those instead of straying from them allows the plot to flow without interruption, making the experience more like an interactive mob movie than a simple indulgence in my sadistic fantasies. The theme of the missions are anywhere from acquisition to protection to assassination. Such fine examples are launching an one-man attack against troops to steal a tank, racing against other speedboats to get a supply of coke, sniping a whole team of gangsters from a helicopter and calculating the murders of gang rivals. These missions are not intended to be done in simple steps, of course – that would bore the hell out of us. Getting things done the right way require strategy, great timing and quick reflexes, making some missions nearly impossible to execute. Upon the completion of each mission, you'll get a cash reward – and a real nice adrenaline rush.
If, however, you prefer to do things freely, the game is not limiting – you can simply jack cars and cruise around, do car stunts, play with the cops, bang hookers, do Crazy Taxi-style mini missions, explore your environment, destroy things, beat up people for cash, do drive-by shootings, and honestly, the list goes on. The point is: use your freedom as you please. But that’s not to say there are no consequences – do enough crime and you’ll attract police attention. Your ‘Wanted Level’ ranges from zero to six stars, where one star indicates your status a street thug whom the police are on the lookout for and as the number of stars grow higher, so does the number of law enforcement after your fate. (At the maximum of six stars, you can expect the army to be involved, complete with military equipment.) Your health is also measured in numbers, so it’s wise to watch out whom you’re brawling with, but I must say, getting into a scuffle in Vice City is worth the hospital visit.
One thing you couldn’t do in GTA3 was buy property – in Vice City, you can. As part of the plan in taking over the city, you can purchase real estate like clubs and houses and even certain business enterprises like the Malibu Nightclub and the Kaufman Cab company. The point of acquiring these 'assets' is to generate daily revenue and unlock the missions specifically associated with them. Don't forget to buy garage space for storing your stolen cars, which is always convenient in case you need something specific for a mission. Having these extras don't come cheap – each spot will set you back thousands of dollars, but it's absolutely worth it since the assets practically make up half the game.
The only problem I’ve encountered so far that tarnishes the gameplay has been a few bugs in the game, one of which renders the Cherry Popper missions unplayable. When you’ve acquired the Cherry Popper ice cream company as an asset, you were supposed to drive around in the ice cream truck and sound the jingle – a signal for the junkies to come and get their fix – unfortunately, pressing the R3 button to play it does not work, leaving you unable to do the missions at all.
-| v e h i c l e s |-
Driving and shooting – two things on your must-do list while you’re a tourist in Vice City. The display of transportation devices in Vice City is an impressive one: there are some clunky 80’s models, high performance cars, some really hot-looking Lamborghini imitations and even helicopters, boats, and motorcycles. The cars are distinctive from one another in the way they feel, their speed and how they handle, so driving around isn’t so much a chore as it is taking a test drive every time you hop into a new automobile. When traffic is heavy, the motorcycles, particularly the high-speed PCJ 600, are a blast to ride because they’re slim and can get you anywhere – quick. For trips off-land, there are a good number of boats and helicopters to steal – if you have to make a quick getaway, the Sea Sparrow copter can shoot and glide on water. With all these choices, it’s never a dull day for mayhem.
-| w e a p o n s |-
The weapons arsenal has been diversified as well: you’ll have melee weapons alongside firearms and projectiles, such as knives to simply stab around, katanas for ninja-style execution, chainsaws and machetes for gruesome play. (One particularly intimidating weapon is the golf club.) Along with old favorites, there are also some new guns in Vice City: examples are the Colt Python revolver, MP5 submachine gun and even the Gatling Gun. With over 40 weapons total, the selection has definitely raised the complexity of killing – crazy.
-| c o n t r o l s |-
The gameplay mechanics, while essentially the same as GTA3, has been fine-tuned. Rather than simply throwing punches and kicks, you can add some combo attacks in the action. While you’re being shot at, you have the ability to crouch by pressing L3 and avoid getting hit. The targeting system has been improved somewhat and your aim will lock on to the nearby target who presents the biggest threat. The control scheme utilizes all the buttons and needs no tweaking since it’s pretty basic and comfortable, especially for those who’ve played GTA3. Maneuvering helicopters need a bit of practice, but it’s a fairly new feature so that’s understandable. My only gripe is that when you're on a motorcycle, the analog controls are extra sensitive and that can cause a few crashes – a shame, you know, ‘cus I love those damn motorcycles.
-| g r a p h i c s |-
Graphics are a slight improvement over GTA3, with a higher polygon count and better frame rate, but there does seem to be an overabundance of pink. There are some neat lighting effects in use that gives the game a very polished look, although a little more anti-aliasing (a technique used to smooth edges) could be used on some lines since they to tend to look jaggy and distracting on screen. However, in a setting as large as Vice City it’s not the minor details that truly matter, it’s the big picture – and indeed, it is very big, three times larger than Liberty City in GTA3. Obviously a rendition of Miami in the 80’s, Vice City is a beautiful town with large beaches and lots of sand and sun; palm trees line the streets, nightclubs are aplenty and so are bikini-clad women. The scenery is a vision of tropical paradise – if not for the corruption and ugly Hawaiian shirts. The pedestrians are numerous, littering the streets dressed in funky 80’s fashion, some barely wearing anything at all. There’s a very large area of exploration in Vice City and even interior locations you can wander into, such as clubs and hotels. The tropical weather allows for sunny days and rainstorms, which, if you’re outdoors, gives the peculiar effect of full-size raindrops that splatter on your screen, distorting the scene somewhat. On the whole, though, the vibe and design is definitely very 80’s and the bright setting, from the orange glow of the sunset to flashing neon lights, is a fun change from the dark streets of GTA3.
(If you don’t like the soft yellowish glow of the graphics, you can get rid of it – turn off “Trails” in the options menu. However, I think things look rather boring and dreary without it.)
The camera, from the rear perspective, is pretty steady and quick to follow – despite some minor glitches, I can find few complaints here.
-| p h y s i c s |-
The game physics are believable: bumping and crashing while driving in your car will do damage in different degrees from scratches and dents to full-on explosions. Similarly, taking a hammer to it would do the same and popping off wheels with bullets is a cause for driving accidents. If you try to get out of the car without stopping it, you’ll be thrown off into the street and injured.
-| s o u n d |-
In Vice City, the soundtrack is big – and necessarily so. Without something good to rock out to, it’s pretty boring to cruise around, no matter how flashy the car is. In the game, there's about 10 hours of licensed music and original material in its radio feature, beating Rockstar's previous standard. When driving around town looking for trouble, you can turn the dial and listen to the, uh, latest 80’s tunes. Remember Hall and Oates, Lionel Ritchie, Michael Jackson in his good ol’ days? You can hear them on Flash FM, but that’s just a tiny sample – the selection is huge, from the sounds of early hip-hop on Wildstyle! to Latin beats on Espansoto Radio. Not just catering to your tastes, Emotion 98.3 caters to your feelings with such sensitive songs like Mr. Mister’s “Broken Wings.” Along with one-hit wonders, popular bands and artists from the 80’s include, among others, Run-DMC, The Pointer Sisters, Kool and the Gang, Tito Puente, Tears for Fears, and Bryan Adams, scattered in several stations. My favorite, without doubt, is VROCK, hosted by real-life DJ Lazlow, which plays 80’s metal like Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Judas Priest, Slayer, Ozzy Osbourne and others – I can’t tell you how much I love this stuff. Rockstar North, the developer, has gone as far as to create a fictional rock band for Vice City – Love Fist. The funny and often satirical commercials, which have become a signature of the GTA games, return and are sillier than ever.
Ray Liotta, who plays Tommy Vercetti, is the biggest hint of the star power in the voiceovers for Vice City. He does a great job as Tommy in all his arrogant glory and really brings the character to life. Other familiar names who lend their talent to the game are Dennis Hopper, Lee Majors, Burt Reynolds, Tom Sizemore and – ooh, porn star Jenna Jameson as… who else? Candy Suxxx. The cast really took fun in portraying these lowlifes and it shows. The pedestrians themselves have over 9,000 lines of dialogue and hilarious quips to keep Vice City alive and the environment buzzing. Sound effects are used subtly to make the setting as realistic as possible, but you’ll notice the quality and quantity of sounds when the symphony of gunfire and sirens enliven the event.
-| i m p r e s s i o n |-
After playing Vice City for about an hour, I thought the experience was nothing new from GTA3 – until I progressed and saw new things that definitely enhanced the gameplay and brought forth some fresh thrills. The idea of adding to the concept of GTA3 definitely works and the extras improved the dynamics of the game. In many cases, there are several ways to go about doing the missions without the obligation of doing things in a strict way. The best thing is the freedom – doing what you will, taking off in your own direction, and playing into the criminal lifestyle just because. This game doesn’t aim to be serious; the humor is pretty damn sick and the whole scheme is invented for our guilty pleasure – in this regard, Rockstar North pulls it off like a dream, making Grand Theft Auto: Vice City one of the most entertaining games of the year. However, it’s not a true sequel to Grand Theft Auto 3, a game which I found more exciting because of its relatively new concept and infinite shock value. Of course, Vice City is no child’s game and it’s in poor judgment to purchase it for a kid, so I’d only recommend it for the sane of mind and mature at heart. Oh, and for those who can stomach the gore.
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