Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

After a brilliant homage to the era of the Commodore 64 in the opening credits, the first thing you'll notice is the improved graphics, which are smoother and more detailed, and--with effects like neon lights reflected on rain-slick streets, and intense Florida sunlight--have a lush, tropical look that immediately gives you a strong sense of place. The architecture is more fabulous by tenfold, with art deco buildings, high-rise hotels, and believably seedy back alleys. The control scheme is essentially the same as in GTA3, but the cars handle much better, and in pedestrian mode there is a new crouch move. You will have access to fast, great-handling cars right away, as opposed to GTA3 which made you unlock the second island before you could get your hands on any respectable wheels. This game has such riches to offer that there is no need to be chintzy with the vehicles.

Cops are more vigilant this time--minor offenses like whacking innocent bystanders will more often than not get you a two-star wanted level--and are harder to elude (though they still can't seem to climb stairs or negotiate sharp turns). So while free-roaming exploration is as fun as ever, there is more incentive to perform the missions instead of randomly raising hell. Not that that's a bad thing: even lazy criminals like myself (in GTA3, I would rather toss hand grenades into traffic than follow orders from some rude Mafia boss) will be quickly caught up in the vivid characters and hilarious, fascinating story, in which you play an acid-washed-jeans-wearing thug named Tommy Vercetti. Where in GTA3 missions were blocky, schematic affairs only nominally connected to the story, this time tasks move the story briskly along and deftly blend cinematics and game action. For example, there is a scene of a character throwing Tommy a gun, at which point you are suddenly thrown back into the action and must make an instant decision about whom to trust and what to do.

There are more, and more detailed, indoor environments, including a hotel, police station, and mall (a slight downside to this is that some of the more elaborate indoor environments require load times). The layout of the city, with tons of backyards, narrow alleys, and fire escapes, encourages creativity when eluding pursuit, as does greater access to rooftops. Get your motorcycle up the fire escape and a whole new world of action is possible, including... well, use your imagination.

This overview barely scratches the surface of the Vice City experience, its colorful explosion of music, clothes, combat, and brilliant voice acting, not to mention the plot twist midway through the game that changes the very nature of the game itself. Though it was the outrageous, amoral violence that got all the press, the essential genius of GTA3 was its intoxicating blend of script and open-ended action. In Vice City this is--to use a cliche that is for once apropos--taken to a whole new level. --David Stoesz

Pros:

• Astonishing, innovative gameplay
• Godlike attention to detail
• Opportunity to drive on the beach at midnight listening to the Human League's "Fascination"

• More load times

Our "hero" is Tommy Vercetti (voiced by Ray Liotta), a gangster just out from a long stint in lockdown. Working for the Forelli family, Tommy is involved in a shady business deal that goes horribly wrong. So begins his quest to regain money, power, and respect in Vice City. As in GTA3, stealing cars, relieving folks of their cash, and whacking targets is the order of the day, but the open-ended story line and other elements that made its predecessor a smash hit have been expanded in Vice City. Taxi driver mode is back, but Tommy can now score a host of new odd jobs, including pizza delivery guy. Along with the missions, hundreds of hours' worth of such side activities are promised. Even so, the plot is tightly integrated with the missions through the use of nearly 120 minutes of cutscenes associated with Tommy's many quests.

The combat system has been tweaked and will allow you to easily target combatants while pummeling more than one victim at a time. There are a number of new weapons including machete and chain saw, and an improved targeting system that makes it easier to pick out your victim in a crowd. Along with your improved abilities, though, come smarter cops who can use more hand-to-hand combat moves, evade gunfire, and attack in various squad formations.

The much improved graphics give a better feel of how large Vice City is (about two times larger than GTA3's Liberty City) while conveying its distinctive style. The highly detailed, nicely animated inhabitants of Vice City look more alive. Music will also be a huge part of the game's atmosphere. The radio will feature nine hours of talk, fake ads, and Reagan-era pop music, with such artists as Hall & Oates, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Lionel Richie, and Wang Chung.

Vice City will feature 120 different cars, none of them licensed, but each with a distinctive '80s style and unique looks and handling. A variety of boats will also be part of the game, including everything from tugboats to yachts that can cruise the meticulously planned waterways. Motorcycles are another new element, with a whole range of stunts and moves possible, such as weaving in and out of traffic and the ability to do drive-bys. The action also takes to the skies with some very cool helicopters that appear to be easy to fly and to have unrestricted freedom of movement. Some of the helicopters will reportedly have weapons attached.

Vice City could be one town many gamers won't be leaving for a long time. --Mark Brooks

Cronique Amazon.fr
La serie des GTA est certainement consideree comme l'une des plus insolentes de l'univers videoludique. Il s'agit egalement de l'un des jeux d'action plus reussis. Grand Theft Auto : Vice City vous entraine dans le Miami des annees 80 et pour l'occasion voit son moteur graphique revu et corrige par rapport a GTA III. La raison de ces modifications tient essentiellement a la presence de nouveaux vehicules totalement inedits (helicoptere, voiturette de golf...) et a quelques nouvelles acrobaties (rouler en voiture sur deux roues par exemple !). Vous pourrez egalement piloter de puissantes motos, sans oublier toute une serie d'actions supplementaires pour vos explorations a pied. N'oublions pas non plus de nouvelles armes de poing comme entre autres le M60 et les Python 357 Magnum. Esthetiquement, les possibilites graphiques et sonores de la PlayStation 2 sont tres largement exploitees. Un dernier mot a ce propos sur les voix-off qui sont quatre fois plus nombreuses que dans GTA III (plus de 8000 enregistrements !). --Arnold Vincent

I love GTA: Vice City. The difficulty is perfect, the graphics are amazing, the stroryline is great, the cars are great, the music sucks (no one's really listening tough!!!) and all around the game kicks major ass.

You play a criminal sent to Vice City by his old boss as he returns from another mission. You work with your lawyer who gives you missions to accomplish and leads you to other areas in the game, as you recieve cash and complete more missions.

You are accompanied by your partner, the humble but untrusting Lance. As you meet new characters, you get more missions you must accomplish and the story evolves into a twisty-turny action-packed ride.

The soundtrack, though cheesy, makes a great way of making you feel you are in the 1980s, with the most memorable in rock, rap, new wave, and pop from the area. There is also an option to import your own soundtracks into the game. However, in my opinion, the best part of the radio option is the hilarious talk radio and advertisement parodies.

The weapons selection is amazing. It veries from guns to other objects, like the screwdriver and the ever-popular chainsaw. The vehicle options are great, letting you drive everything from cop cars to ice cream trucks. With these vehicles you can acomplish mini-missions to get more money or recieve different options in the game.

With endly variety, GTA: Vice City is a perfect game for the fans of every game genre. Definately a classic!