Grand Theft Auto 3 was released almost a year ago and received huge accolades across the board. Featuring open ended game play and a whole host of mini-games and sub quests. GTA3 was a massive transformation from the 2 other games, and purely kicked serious butt. Now Rockstar Games has done it again with an all new GTA game, Vice City.
Vice city begins with a tale of an ex-con being released back on the streets after doing time for one of the crime syndicates, this is you. Tommy vercetti
(you) finds that things have changed since he's been locked up. Cutting a long story short. This game is set in the 80's almost as a homage to the period. The city is pretty much sewn up by the syndicate and there is not a lot to do. So Tommy's bosses decide to send him off to pastures new, Vice City. You arrive in Vice City to initially do some kind of drug deal with the local Columbians. Just as you are about to make the switch, something goes wrong and smells horribly like a set up. Fearing for your life , you and your contact get out of there " sharpish". The game now begins.
If you are familiar with GTA3 then you'll feel right at home here as it all looks and plays like the former. If your a newbie then the basic premise here is to either complete the various missions set out to you from various shady types, crime bosses and gang members whilst also working out who set you up over the drug deal. Or playing one of the many sub games which includes GTA's own version of Crazy Taxi. You can also just drive around Vice City and take in some sites and get a feel of the vibes.
Vice City is an extremely vibrant place to be. Featuring shopping malls, fast food joints, strip clubs and much more. This time round you get to enter these buildings, to and explore or fight in. Vice City is also populated with the usual social misfits such as hookers, gang members and plain old members of the public. Each person having some kind of remark, even commenting on your style of clothing. The inhabitants of Vice City are
Definitely more active and involved compared to GTA3's bunch. Another cool feature is that you can change your clothes to suit a particular mission and then keep that outfit to wear at your leisure. If you want to change clothes then you can go to one of the many shops to purchase a new outfit.
Later on in the game you are able to purchase actual establishments which will provide you with a reasonable daily income. Vice City is a rather expensive place to live, so your going to need every penny you can get your hands on. This all adds to the feeling of immersion into the GTA world.
As the title suggests, this games roots lies in the vehicles. Here there are plenty to choose from. Each Vehicle having its own strengths and weaknesses. Vice city also sees the return of the classic motorbike which was sadly omitted from GTA3. Motorcycles offer great speed and an effective way to get around easily. You can also use you weapons on a motorcycle, cool. The problem with the motorcycle is that your terribly vulnerable to the slightest nudge from another vehicle. This will send you flying, with a loss of time and energy (painful). GTA Vice City finally allows you to take to the skies. Helicopters and seaplanes are available for you to steal and take off in. Vice city really is in your hands. Vice city also features a wider range of weaponry to unleash your hatred. These include Uzi's, Shotguns, grenades, pistols and many more.
This game, as I've mentioned before is set in the 1980's and is loosely based on the Miami Vice series and such. The games soundtrack also reflects this, boasting real 80's music from the likes of Michael Jackson, Lionel Ritchie, Jan Hammer, Grandmaster Flash and many others. I guess if you are a younger player you may have no interest in the music. Luckily you can either switch it off or tune in to one of the 3 chat stations on offer.
Other sounds are reasonable here but nothing major seeing as there is usually a lot going on at once.
Playing GTA Vice City is great and easy to get into . With the huge amounts of things to do here, it will entertain you for quite some time, especially if you are new to the series. However for me having played GTA3 to death, I felt that some of the sparkle that GTA3 had, has been lost.
The new features are a welcome addition to the series, but I felt they could have been implemented better. The graphics here are also very basic and have not moved on much since GTA3. There are also a lot of glitches which does not hamper your game play but creates a feeling of things being unfinished. On the whole Vice City is a cool game and definitely worth getting if your a fan or not. Get the next plane to Vice City now.
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