The Grand Theft Auto series need no introduction, therefore we write this with the view that you are familiar with the series. In GTA3 we played the part of a nameless and shy hero. In Vice City our lead gangster is Tommy Vercetti, who's voice is supplied by non other than Ray Liotta of Goodfellas fame. This time our lead character is confident, witty and in a whole lot more trouble than can be generally conceived. As you may suspect the plot is gritty and evolves when Tommy gets screwed over in a botched cocaine deal. From the outset you make your way to a beach side hotel to get your bearings and plan your revenge.
It doesn't take long to get accustomed to playing the role of Tommy who hooks up with a myriad of shady characters in an attempt to take over the gorgeous Vice City. Once again the game can be played however you choose to approach it. By this I mean you can spend your first 10 hours exploring the landscape and generally getting to know the layout of the available areas, yet to progress through the story you must complete missions.
This time around the missions are a little more involved and are slightly more difficult, yet the overall game is not that hard. I think the size of the city can be daunting to new comers yet must be looked at as a positive because the bigger the landscape, the more adventure your gaming experience contains. It will take you longer to get through it all due to the size of the playing areas and additional sub missions. My first approach was to get through every mission as quickly as possible to get the ending which made the game seem relatively short. Once you work on the hidden packages, rampages and vehicle missions you have countless hours of gameplay. Some nights I have spent 5 hours walking the streets simply checking out the scenery, it's that impressive.
The good parts, well where do I begin? Perhaps with all the "what's new" items like the motorcycles. You are now able to tear through the streets from dirt bikes to Harley's. The physics of the bikes is fantastic giving you more variety when taking on the insane jumps. How about the fact that you can now wear different clothes depending on your objectives. Dress as an Hispanic gangster and infiltrate their territory or grab a police uniform and vehicle to assume the role of Vigilante. This time around the police are better equipped; they will now lay road spikes down to blow out your tyres, or if you're feeling devilish you can blow out other peoples tyres to slow them down. Try getting on top of a building and lining up a motorcyclist with a sniper rifle. Shoot out the front tire and watch what happens.
Vice City is much larger than Liberty City and the developers have done a great job with the atmosphere. Some days it seems moist and sticky when the sun shines through the palm trees, the feel of the game has been delivered brilliantly. The size of the city helps give you more to do, especially when on Taxi missions or just killing time.
Once again the core element of the game is it's non-linear structure. Feel free to spend several hours trying to jump across a river bed on a high powered road bike, or walk downtown and listen to the wacky dialog the citizens murmur as they go about their business. There are new mini missions including pizza delivery driver and an arsenal of new weapons including a chain gun and ultra cool chainsaw which Tommy users in a similar fashion to Leatherface.
Whilst the game plays similar to GTA3 there is still enough uniqueness to set this on it's own. The variety of missions and sub missions is fantastic along with the additional strategy aspects which give you the option to buy property and make some serious money, a fantastic enhancement. This only excites me when I think of what will be upcoming in GTA4 and the reason we all love this so much simply comes down to the non-linear way the game is put together. In essence this is a virtual murder simulation.
Not counting the additional missions I found the standard game to be relatively short. Whilst I knew that Vice City was something to tide us over until GTA4 the ending came up much quicker than I had anticipated, however to get 100% completion is a different story. The playing field is gigantic and will keep you going for months. I finished the game and started a new one straight away because I didn't want the experience to end.
All I can say is that this is one of the greatest gaming experiences I have ever had. Check our additional links for a plethora of information on this amazing piece of art. Thank you Rockstar North!
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