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Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
GameRatio Review
PS2 |
View Full Game Info
Published by
Rockstar Games
Released on
2002-10-28
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| 94% GameRatio |
95% GR% Review |
Shay
Reviewed on
2003-11-02
Vice City is not a perfect game. In fact, minor bugs and glitches abound just like they did in GTA3. But none of this matters because you will be totally engrossed in the pure fun that this game offers. Vice City isn't even a full-fledged sequel, but manages to add tons of new stuff and overhaul everything from the first game to prevent it from being just a rehash.
Let me get the technicalities out of the way: the graphics are not much better from GTA3. There happens to be a bit more detail to buildings and places. Also, the graphics are much more vibrant and colorful than the dreary graphics from GTA3. The game brings along all the clipping issues from the last game and seems to add even more of them. There is one important fact about the graphics that I didn't know about while playing GTA3: the game looks much, much better if you use an s-video or component cable instead of the normal A/V cable. When I played GTA3, I didn't have a clue what the option "Trails" did because it doesn't show up with the normal cable. Both games look like total crap if you are not using S-video or component video. Go get a new cable, turn Trails on, and see what you were missing.
Do I even need to talk about the sound department? Rockstar realized that the radio stations from GTA3 were a hit, so this time they added lots of real music exclusively from the 80's into the game. Some of the songs probably hold some sentimental value to older players, but I don't recall most of them since I was only seven when the 80's ended. A few are quite famous and stick out, while a few others make me wonder what kind of weed people were smoking back then. There are a total of eight radio stations, two of which are non-stop talk shows. They are quite hilarious the first time you hear them but grow old after that. The six music stations are categorized by type of music. V Rock plays the heavy rock, which you will most likely listen to as you raise hell in the city. Emotion has some memorable tunes, and so does Flash. The other three are compromised of Soul/Rap, and I can't even remember what the other two play because I hated them. Anyways, I wish that a classical station was in the game like in GTA3. The best moments occurred when you were fleeing from twenty cop cars, running dozens of people over, trashing the city, the entire time listening to Pavarotti singing opera. I can't believe they took that out!
Like the music, the sound effects are also great. Everyone talks like in GTA3, except now famous people (AKA actors) provide the character voices this time. The character you play as, Tommy Vercetti, also talks on a regular basis. He doesn't run around and take orders like the loser in GTA3. Tommy harasses people, talks back, and gives other people orders. While running through the streets, the pedestrians shout out random things. Though they aren't as funny as the things they said in GTA3 ("I'm an old lady for Christ’s sake!"), some people do have funny stuff to say. A fat woman in a bikini will ask for you to put lotion on her thighs, while the old women in this game let you know that they are going to shove their cane up your butt (they don't say "butt"). If you get a group of people together, you will hear all of them shouting at the same time, which ends up making a lot of unintelligent noise. Oh well, run them over for being stupid.
The vehicle aspect of the game is a tossed deal. On one hand Vice City gives us motorcycles, helicopters, a plane, new boats, scooters, golf carts, and new cars. On the other hand, 1) there are new crappy cars that you don't want, and 2) you will quickly notice that all of the cars on the street are the same car. This means that you could drive around and see nothing but taxis, or maybe nothing but motorcycles, or mananas (Heaven forbid). I thought that they would have changed this because it forces you to drive crappy old-people cars. But I guess that’s the point: if fast cars were constantly available, I would never have the opportunity to drive a car that has less power than my electric shaver. Sounds mean, but it’s necessary to add variety to your driving experience.
As for the good side: the motorcycles and helicopters are awesome, so awesome that I'm giving the game a 10 instead of a 9 because they add so much fun to the game. The motorcycles consist of scooters, Harleys, dirt bikes, and sports bikes. They are so much fun to ride around in, especially when you find a good ramp. The only drawback is that it is easy to get thrown off constantly, and I mean constantly. You hit a tree or another car, their goes Tommy flying, losing health when he lands. This happens to be so much fun that it is hard not to just waste time by wrecking. I spent hours just slamming into things to watch him fly (along with passengers). The other new vehicle type, the helicopter, is also pretty fun to use. It is hard to fly at first, but it doesn't take much to get used to. They get you on top of most buildings and provide the fastest transportation, and the Blackhawk comes with machine guns and missiles. As for the new set of cars in the game: golf carts, baggage carriers, and lots of new cars that run like crap. The unique ones, such as the golf carts, are great additions that make the driving varied, but some of the new cars run worse than the manana.
The missions and storyline for Vice City are so much better than the ones in GTA3. The missions are much more varied this time around; no more going from point A to point B every mission. Now there are movies during the missions, which usually serve to change the objectives and give you an idea of what is happening. There are multiple buildings and businesses to buy, some of which give you optional sets of missions. Buying the printing press gives you some missions to obtain money counterfeiting plates, buying the ice cream factory allows you to sell drugs undercover, and buying the porno studio... jeez, I seriously don’t know how Vice City got by with a mature rating. There are about five porno missions that involve picking up hookers (one is named Candy Suxxx), distributing flyers that advertise the porn, etc. That doesn't sound much worse than GTA3, but that's because it isn't. What is shocking is when you walk in and a movie shows two people screwing, when a woman wearing stars on her nipples is commenting on the size of the guy's ding dong, when the hooker is telling the director that she doesn't feel like swallowing... those things go a bit far if you ask me. Keep this game away from kids under age 14 at all costs!
In addition to the porno missions, Vice City is more violent and profane than GTA3. People use just about every cuss word in existence, with the exception of the "F" word. Fighting is more brutal, thanks to the addition of more weapons. Chainsaws, katanas, sniper rifles, uzis, pistols, revolvers, brass knuckles, sub-machine guns, hammers, screwdrivers (what?), rocket launchers, grenades, smoke bombs, and tons of other weapons make it possible to raise hell in seconds. The movies are also much more violent and "colorful." People are usually doing or saying something profane when Tommy walks in. This adds much more life to the game than the simple GTA3 "You, go do this." The movies that play during a mission do come at a price, namely that they are not free of bugs. If you park a car where a character is supposed to walk during the movie, there's a chance you will have to reset because the character will be too stupid to walk around the car. I had this happen on a few missions, but thankfully Tommy was able to push the cars out of his way after banging into them for five minutes.
Miami City... I mean Vice City, is about the same size as Liberty City. However, many buildings allow you to wander inside, adding more exploring grounds. There are two main islands instead of three, along with two small middle islands. This is great because you don't have to travel five minutes to get from island one to island three. The two islands are basically parallel, so you can get to places in a flash. The city is made up of all the usual places that Liberty City had, plus some new places like the Air Force base and beach. Secret items and missions are scattered all around again, including the hidden packages. One thing I like is how the city seems to grow with your progress. As you buy more property you will notice many Italians hanging around. This is a good thing because they watch your back and defend you. Also, the environment is more interactive now. You will see accidents happen and the people surrounding the victim, ambulances showing up for help. Thieves will run off with cops chasing them. If you hit a running thief you will get a $50 good citizen bonus.
As you see, Vice City succeeds in adding so much new stuff that you won't care that it's simply a sequel at all. It has plenty of graphical bugs, plenty of minor inaccuracies and screw-ups, plenty of little things that just aren't right. And the most important aspect that it lacks is the utter shock value of the original game. Fortunately, it won't take you long to become completely enveloped by the enjoyment Vice City is filled with. It's one of those rare games that make you laugh when you encounter a glitch or something that would normally make you scream foul. When you are having this much fun, minor details can't curb the enjoyment. I don't think I can go back to playing GTA3 anymore.
Shay O'NeilGameRatio review by Shay
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