Cr-Uzi-ing on my Harley. (Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (PS2))

Member Name: chrispitts

Product:	Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (PS2)
Date:	03/12/02 (2214 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Realistic?!, Great fun., Immense

Disadvantages: Addictive, No multiplayer

It's been a little while since I felt the need to write an opinion on a PS2 game, but I felt I had to put fingers to keyboard to tell you all about the most enjoyable gaming experience I have had in a long time.

Most of you will have heard of Grand Theft Auto - either from the older releases, or from the occasional TV adverts for the newest edition, Vice City. And, if you've seen the adverts, you'll probably agree - that looks pretty cool.

You ain't seen nothing yet!

Having now completed 56% of the game and spent 30 hours doing so, I feel qualified to tell you about it, why you need it, and how to complete it.... no, I'm lying - you won't find any spoilers from me - so the storyline and hints and tips are strictly off-limits.

Firstly, an apology. This opinion may be a bit lengthy. That's because the game itself is huge! Enormous! Unbelievably vast!!!

Back to the very beginning. You play Tommy Vercetti, an ex-con, who has moved to Vice City to make his fortune. Having been swindled in a drugs deal, he finds himself owing his employer a lot of money, and so begins his climb to the top of the crime tree in Vice City.

He does this by driving (a lot), walking/running (quite a bit), flying (occasionally), beating people up (depends on how you want to play it...), stealing cars (ditto), robbing shops, sleeping with "ladies of the night", and, later (for me, one of the highlights), owning and running businesses.

Told you it was big.

What's Vice City like?
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GTA:VC is set in the 1980s, so neon features a lot, as do suits with the sleeves rolled up, bikinis, and.... 80s music. Many people believe the in-game radio stations make the game special. The makers have even released a 7-CD set of the radio soundtracks. They all feature genuine 80s hits in a variety of styles from "Esperanto - Latin Music" to "Rock FM - Heav
y Metal"... plus two very nostalgic pop stations. The cars, clothes, even the buildings live up to the 80's "glamourous" image. Very cool. The question is.. can it ever be bettered as a setting?

The people in Vice City behave as normal people would - changing their clothes in the evening and in stormy weather, running away from violent incidents (unless they happen to be gang members, of course...). You can even help the police catch other criminals, if you feel community-spirited enough to do so. The police seem more intelligent in this version than in other games, and it can make things very tricky indeed. And some Vice City residents resist being car-jacked rather strongly...

The City itself contains a variety of different areas, from slum-like Little Haiti, to posh shopping region Downtown, from the Docks to the Airport. There's a lot to explore, so lets get started...

Controls
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The controls are generally pretty simple. Driving physics are good - easy enough to be enjoyable, but tricky enough to cause major hassles in heavy traffic or tight corners. Walking and running has been vastly improved since the last version (GTAIII), but you occasionally find the camera angle wanders off on its own a bit. Hand to hand fighting can be frustrating, but is made much more enjoyable by the ability to purchase/steal/find "melee weapons" such as hammers, baseball bats and even a katana. Shooting has been made a lot simpler - the auto-aim feature has been upgraded, and, with weapons which utilize this (pistols, SMGs and shotguns), it is quite easy to wipe out a whole gang of enemies. Other weapons use manual aiming, which again is pretty easy to get used to. Flight (joy of joys!) is, again, pretty easy. It takes a bit of getting used to, but, once mastered, allows you a lot more freedom.

So what transport can I use?
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One downfall of GTA:VC is the lack
of licencing - so no real vehicle names appear in the game. Having said that, the designers have done a good job of making cars look very much like their real counterparts, so, even though it says you're driving an Inferno, you know it's really a Lamborghini)... There are too many 4-wheeled vehicles to mention, ranging from the slow family sedans to the super-speedy sports cars. If you're really careful, you can even nab yourself army trucks, FBI cars (armoured), and much later, a tank. Other quirky cars include the baggage handler and an ice cream van. A new addition to the GTA garage is..... motorbikes! OK, so falling off a motorbike hurts (sometimes quite a lot), but.... how cool is that?! You can even perform wheelies and stoppies. There are fewer bikes to choose from, but they include a scooter, a Harley-lookalike, a sports bike, and even a Pizza Delivery scooter.
GTA:VC uses the water a lot, as well, so there are a range of water-borne vehicles to choose from. No hovercrafts yet (next time?), but certainly a variety of different sizes and shapes to choose from.
And then there are the helicopters! Again, a few different types, and you have to hunt them down, but once you've got one, you'll wonder what you ever did without it.

OK, enough already. What do I actually do?
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Well, it's not all about stealing cars, killing people, and generally causing mayhem. Oh no. There is a main mission stem, allowing you to unlock extra bits. There are side-missions and extra missions, diverting you from the true course, but giving you much-needed cash and giving you entertainment at the same time. Then you can spend some time collectiing hidden items (and they're well-hidden in some cases, believe me!), performing "Unique Stunts", and completing mini-games and challenges, such as remote-controlled car/plane races.
And then there are the businesses, but more of
those later...

You mentioned cash?
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Did I? Oh yeah. Well, in previous games, cash flooded in from all angles. Hit a car - 50 bucks. Blow up a bus - 500 bucks. Run over a pedestrian - 20 bucks. It was, quite frankly, daft. All you had to do to make some serious wonga was cause as much mayhem and damage as possible. But VC has refined this. You don't get rewarded, unless you deserve rewarding. Completing missions will get you cash. If you kill a pedestrian, you can collect the money he/she happens to have on them (could be $5, could be $500). And the businesses earn you cash (later, I said!). But having cash is useful. Very useful.

Why?
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Why? Because, instead of having certain save-game points in the game, you get to buy properties in which you can save the game. Obviously, not all properties are for sale - that would be daft, but there's a selection scattered throughout the town.
Also, you can buy a wide range of weaponry from the now-infamous Ammunation Stores. And believe me, for some parts of the game, you'll need a lot of weaponry. Oh, and you can also change clothes as well. And you could save up the cash to buy businesses.

Tell us about the businesses, please.
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Well, OK, if you insist. After completing a certain number of missions, you are able to purchase businesses. Once you buy them, you have to complete a task or a few missions. Once you've done this, the business earns money for you. The money builds up on the doorstep of the business up to a maximum of a few thousand (depending on the business) every day. If you collect it every day, it starts again. If not, it just stops at the maximum until you do collect, then starts again. (Did that make sense). Once you have completed all businesses, you can potentially bring in tens of thousands of dollars every day. Which is nice. Businesses range from Strip Joints to Car S
howrooms, and the missions, by and large, are great fun. As I said earlier - this is a pivotal part of the game, and, in my opinion, lifts it from great to fantastic.

Anything else to say?
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Buy the game. Just buy it. I can't describe what it's like to play. I can't describe the fun, or the addictiveness of it. In fact, even now, my PS2 thumbs are itching to get back and play some more. Just to find that last hidden object.....

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