THE SHORT: Just about everything. This game adds so much to the series and does everything, new and old, so well that I wonder if I'll ever be able to go back and play Vice City again.
THE LONG: Everything you heard about this game is true. It's HUGE. If you're not driving around the business of the cities, drive around the various neighborhoods. Or go for a long drive in the country, through fields, woods, mountains, and more.
That's not enough? Then how about betting on horses or playing some casino games? Go to the gym and lift some weights or box. Or maybe you'd like to hit the club and do some dancing? Wanna customize how your character looks? Maybe shopping is more your style. There's a bunch of clothes stores with dozens of different pieces of clothes to put together, or tattoo and barber shops for altering your look with Afros and Cornrows. Or, spend some time collecting packages or spraypainting your gang graffiti over your rivals' tags.
None of this is exaggeration, you can do all these things and more. Want a more improved fighting system with a few combos and blocks? You got it. Want to take a swim? Yep, this time you can swim all you want, no more instant drowning. And just to illustrate how much more capable this version's GTA hero is, you can now leap over fences and ledges by pulling yourself up over them with one quick button tap, and you can now jump up to grab hold of anything you can reach and pull yourself on top. Yeah, that means that now, when running from the cops, you can just jump up and pull yourself onto someone's roof and jump from house to house. Your character this time around is amazingly interactive with the environment. And as for the missions, they're just as fun and funny as always. Oh, and here's something for those who hated the multi-part missions. You know, where you pick a guy up, then drive him somewhere far away where you just keep getting wasted? Well, now you sometimes get the option of just skipping the whole first part and going right to the meat of the mission. Handy.
I try to never review a game before I finish it. Not because I feel like some professional, but simply because I want to get a full opinion of all the good and bad. And I do regret that I'm literally only 7 percent through this game, but I've spent about 8 hours on it and I have found nothing, not one thing, that I don't enjoy. I've loved every minute of it, and firmly believe this game to be the best Grand Theft Auto, without a shred of a doubt. Again, I haven't played all the way through it, but trust me- something in the game would have to radically change for me to have a different opinion.
Right from the getgo, the story line is interesting and the voice acting, from every single character, is some of the best I've ever heard. I've done missions that dealt with drive-bys and even just one to bring my homeboys to the drive-thru. All of it feels very fluid, very natural, like I'm really watching a plausible situation in these peoples' lives.
The soundtrack is fantastic as well. Being an average 26 year old white man, I figured I'd hate the soundtrack this time around. There's very little rap I like, but I was shocked at how much GOOD rap they got on here. This is subjective of course, and many of you might hate Snoop or Dr. Dre or Ice T. Well I say bring them on. This isn't the modern, interchangeable hardcore gangsta stuff of today, this is the trend-setting and breakout stuff of the early 90's that I heard in high school. The rasta station is back, but in my opinion even THAT is greatly improved. But if you just can't stand rap, soul, or jazz at all, there's at least a dedicated country station including Willie Nelson, some classic rock from people like KISS, and even some Tom Petty and Lynrd Skynrd. All I can definitively say is that with Vice City, I spent my time flipping stations until I got to the dozen tunes that I really loved. This time, though I don't have as many favorites, there are many, many fewer that I hate, and I find myself just leaving stations on for half an hour at a time. I expected to hate the soundtrack, but at least in this reviewer's opinion, I wound up really grooving on it.
That's part of the catch though, some people are going to avoid the game based on its specific cultural lean. I saw several ratings of "1" for this game here on Gamerankings, and I can only assume that those came from people who didn't play the game, or tried it for a minute and just wouldn't accept the african american theme to this game (and forgot that a black character was selectable even in the original GTA).
To begin with, I have to say that, hey, the black community hardy ever gets a game that features a member of their culture in the main role, so I don't see why they can't have this one. And besides, why should it matter? Make the character black, make him white, make it a woman, make it gay. I couldn't care less. If the game is solid and fun, I'm behind it 100%, and I say without question that this is the game that will set new standards of solid and fun. Besides, this is a very realistic position to take and portrays the culture very well, what with the option to wear African jewelry and with such a heavy emphasis on brotherhood and respect. There's nothing wrong with any of it.
So, what we have is a story featuring these characters and their roles in the hood as they center around the main character, Carl, who's come home to bury his dead mother. Trouble immediately starts with two corrupt cops (one of whom is voiced by the great Samuel Jackson), and things go from there. Carl's life with his gang friends is everything, as he has no one else to depend on. And the gang affiliations are important, because wearing the colors will get you the love of the family, but the hatred of the enemy. It's all very interesting, and while I of course can't vouch for the cultural accuracy, I can say that the game definitely seems real, heartfelt, and genuine. The personalities aren't over the top, they sound just like people I know.
And when you surround all that with so many options and things to do, you have a phenomenal game. Cruise around building your weapon or driving skills (which improve with repeated use) or lay around and get fat. Night activity's great too, allowing you to break into houses and sneak out merchandise, or head over to the club for some dancing. The fact that this game allows you to tap the buttons, Parappa style, to songs by people like James Brown is just awesome. If that isn't your gig you can go participate in some street races or low-rider bounce contests. There's just so, so, much to do, and like I said before, it's all done extremely well.
Gripes? No, I really don't have any. I do notice that load times are a little long (about 10 secs.) when leaving and entering buildings, but once the outdoors are loaded, that's it, no more loading unless you go indoors or get killed or busted. I do have to say that you now MUST move with the stick, because the pad is now used for actually speaking to characters and other options. That sucks, but it makes sense.
Other than that? No, in almost a dozen hours I haven't had a single big problem. The acting is superb and believable, as are the situations and dialogue. The cars handle well, there's much more area to explore (especially now that you can jump and pull yourself onto anything you can reach), and there's all kinds of varied terrain. Your character can work out, get fat, kill gang members, gain respect in his own gang, buy clothes, pimp out his ride, do vigilante and taxi missions, gamble, dance, swim, buy property, and it goes on and on. And let me repeat myself one more time: It does all this stuff WELL. I've had a blast playing it these last couple days, and I've hardly even accomplished anything.
If you're holding back, don't. This game adds to almost every single aspect of its predecessors, yet still manages to make the game much bigger AND keeps an engaging, entertaining storyline. If you ever liked any of the other GTA's, pick this one up. Almost everything has been improved or expanded, and it adds a whole bunch of things that you could never even do before. All around, it's just a sprawling, customizable, loaded-with-things-to-do game, and it's amazing.
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