Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Review (no fat)

Game Description

With Vice City, Rockstar took their tale of car and carnage to a new vista. Driven by an intriguing plot, the action moves along fluidly as diverse elements, vast terrain and overall mayhem mesh together seamlessly, to provide a gaming experience that's unmatched.

Drive or walk around, stare at the realistic architecture and landscape, listen to some great 80s tunes on the Vice City Radio, interact with humanoids and cut a path of mayhem as you unravel the secrets of Vice City.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - Gameplay

Vice City is a gangster tale set in the 80s. You control a gangster called Tommy Vercetti who takes on an assignment to swap drugs for money. The transaction is ambushed and Tommy nearly finds himself in a body bag. Owing a drug lord some serious money, he sets forth on a trail of destruction that forms the crux of this game.

There's a lot of things to do in Vice City. As you progress, you'll interact with unique characters that range from dead serious to downright silly. The characters and cut scenes help move the plot along. There are also hidden articles to find, weapons to wield and loads of missions to take on. Missions are pretty challenging and most of them are races against the clock. You have to be real sharp here.

The map is huge and its easy to get lost in a city as complicated and massive as this one. In any other game this would have destroyed the gameplay and made it a mundane job of moving around for many a minute without achieving anything. In Vice City however, you move around in awesome vehicles that include scooters, bikes, cars, boats and even a helicopter. And by the time you finish the game you’ll know the whole map like the back of your hand.

There's also music to listen to while you commute. You can even wreck your vehicles and attempt a crazy stunt or two. And if you so intend, you can run over anyone unfortunate enough to be in your path…just watch out for the police.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Munitions

Weapons range from anything to everything. From meat knives to machine guns, the 40 odd weapons that you get to use are all pretty straightforward to use. However, the best weapon might just be the car that you just stole.

The initial stages of the game feature useful hints that help you familiarize yourself with the game. A very thoughtful addition. GTA is one series that never compromises on gameplay, Vice City cements this fact. The game's sheer volume will ensure that you spend hours and hours glued to your controls.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Graphics

The vast expanses of Vice City offers a wide array of lanes, roads, buildings and landscaping that are realistic. The polygon rendered characters and vehicles are more functional than aesthetic. Then again, GTA is all about being practical and not worrying too much about how a characters hair or a car's dashboard looks like. The camera exhibits a marked improvement from GTA3.

Overall, the graphics are visually appealing and adds to the ambience of the game. Just a bug or two here an there ruin some of the gameplay. So while you are recruiting a team for a major mission, the driver you race falls through a bridge and gets killed each time you try…so you have to be quick enough to finish the race before he drowns himself.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Sound

The game scores huge in this department. The voice acting is great and blend in with each sprites character. The highlight, however, is the Vice City radio that plays some great 80's hits and also throws in a humorous quip or two.

Many a time, you'd be tempted to drive around in a stolen car just to hear the music wafting from the radio. After all, what can be more fun than listening to Laura Branigan, The Cutting Crew, Hall and Oates and the incomparable Judas Priest on the radio while driving over a pedestrian or two.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - Summing Up

Its 100% thought and effort from Rockstar Games and 100% entertainment and value for money for gamers. The action is fluid, the game's lavish sets, sprites and props are visually appealing, the sound is top notch and playability is great. What makes this title truly worthwhile is the fact that there's never a dull moment in it.

Missions are unique and range from driving a taxi around collecting passengers and fare to running over dozens of gang members in a truck in a 2 minute timeframe.

The only downside, if any, is the fact that the game throws morals and values out of the window. Brush aside this little technicality and you get a game that's worth every cent you spend on it and then some to spare.

A truly awesome gaming experience!

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - Cost

At just $4.98, GTA Vice City is a steal.