I have played every version of GTA:VC, and they are all excellent, perhaps even outstanding. The graphics are probably best on the XBox version; that version also has the best MP3 radio system. Nevertheless, the content is the same in all versions, and what separates this game from being a 10 for me persists through all releases.
If you read my review of Planescape: Torment, you can see I had some negative things to say. Nevertheless, I felt the overall essence of the game, what Gamespot calls the reviewer's tilt, warranted a 10. Few games can overcome like that. Final Fantasy Tactics: Advance. Counter-Strike. These games are excellent in a way that supercedes whatever you can cite as negative about them.
GTA:VC is an amazing game. The breadth of activities available is expanded over the the original, and whether you play all the side missions before finishing the plot, never complete a mission, or blaze through the main script, this game will please almost any gamer, so long as they are well-aware of the game's well-publicized blue side. But who am I kidding; most gamers today regard the game's sex, violence, and crudeness as a draw, not a warning sign.
The contols are seamless. In any version, the graphics and sound fully immerse the player in the environment and make the Miami-inspired city of Vice City truly live while the controller is in hand. The game offers something for almost everyone; I think the only gamers who won't get their fix here are RTS gamers. The game is so good it's almost bizarre.
But you know this. You're reading user reviews on GR.
So I will cut to my criticisms. Vice City's plot is weak. Focusing on Tommy Vercetti (vice the nameless hoodlum from GTA3) is a shrewd design decision. But this is the worst work from every player involved. The voice acting is amateur hour from every B list player. The plot is vintage, not in the delightful spirit of the rest of the game, but in the sense that it offers nothing new. It's tired, and it telegraphs every poorly-wrought twist as soon as any characters introduced.
The writing is shoddy, the plot underdeveloperd, and the characters sadly warped and cartoonish against the backdrop of a vital and immersive world.
I love this game, but I chide against those who would place its plot, place its voice-acting, or place its integration of those with gameplay into a revolutionary light. This game undercuts its genius by short-changing the audience on the central core of its design: the plot and characters.
Play this game. Love it. But don't pretend that it ushers in a new era of mature storytelling.
Create an Account
Member Login
