Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories is great fun to play… as long as you ignore the glitches.
As usual the latest GTA game is extremely good. There's the usual glut of missions to carry out for other characters and side missions to take part in whenever you want. If you played and enjoyed GTA:LCS you'll enjoy this as well as it plays just the same. Obviously it's in a new city but basically it's more of the same. The controls are identical to before, (good or bad thing depending on your personal likings), the mini missions are similar, (vigilante, fire fighter, ambulance), and the story is still just as forgettable.
There are a few changes, some for the better, and some not. Mini missions from LCS such as RC racing and take away delivery have been ditched and replaced by newer missions such as air ambulance and beach patrol. Again some people will like them, some won't. I personally hated the RC racing games from LCS but I also dislike the air ambulance mission from VCS. Another addition this time around is the ability to create an empire of businesses by kicking rival gangs out of theirs. Messages on forums have had mixed comments about this. Some people hate it and some love it. I am somewhere in the middle. It can be frustrating when you are having to go backwards and forwards to defend businesses under attack, (there are ways around it which I won't mention here), but it can be satisfying attacking rival businesses and seeing your empire grow. The more businesses you own the more money you get each day. However, once you own a load of businesses the amounts of money coming in are far too high. There's no way you could spend it all. It's too easy to get obscenely rich very quickly, (I suppose not unlike the yuppies of the 1980's when it is set).
Speaking of the 1980's the soundtrack is once again absolutely fantastic. I have found my self driving around for ages just to listen to the radio stations. Graphically however, VCS is a double edged sword. The game looks gorgeous when you are wandering around, but once you are driving a fast vehicle or piloting a helicopter the dreaded pop up rears its ugly head. Objects and scenery will just pop into view, sometimes just after you've crashed into them. I think that this is because the PSP can't load the textures fast enough to display them.
So whilst GTA:VCS is still a great game to play and has already taken up a considerable number of hours of my life, it does have its faults. These faults may really irritate some players but I think that most people will probably just put up with them as a small price to pay for such a massive game.
Create an Account
Member Login
