It's Good To Be Bad

Grand Theft Auto Vice City is the latest game in the controversial Grand Theft Auto series. The previous game, Grand Theft Auto III, won numerous awards for it's revolutionary style and non-linear storyline and game play. Vice City continues this tradition and builds upon it through improved graphics, physics and overall realism.

It's hard to describe what kind of game Vice City is. This is because you can do so many things that it can be called an action, racing, shooter, or an adventure game. The story is that you're Tommy Vercetti, a mob pawn who upon getting out of jail, is setup and loses all his mob's money and drugs. Tommy flees to Vice City in an attempt to get his money and reputation restored in the mob underworld.

Your character, Tommy, is viewed in a 3rd person perspective, except in certain instances. The controls are simple, there's a jump button, an attack/fire weapon button, an auto-targeting button, and a button to get into a car. While in a car, you can do more than simply drive it. You can also fire automatic weapons from it (drive by style), jump out and even honk your horn. In addition to cars, other vehicles include, motorcycles, boards, helicopters and even a tank.

The object of the game is to do tasks around Vice City without getting caught or dying. As you break more laws, whether it's car jacking, killing people, or other things, your wanted level goes up. Your wanted level is how aggressively the police will pursue you in an attempt to arrest you or if necessary kill you. There is a map in which certain people reside and you can do missions for them in exchange for cash. Doing missions also advances the storyline. However, you don't have to do these in order to earn money. You can also do more honorable things like pickup taxi passengers and drop them off, you can pickup injured people in an ambulance and drop them off at the hospital. You can even hunt down other criminals as a vigilante and use a fire truck to put out fires.

In addition to these missions there are other hidden things to do around town. You can participate in races, attempt to make unique jumps, find all 100 hidden packages, and even own property. There is so much to do that I can't even list all of it. But trust me, it's all worth it.


Technical Scores

Graphically, Vice City is very well done. People who own Grand Theft Auto III will find that the graphics have improved. If you walk up to people you can see their expression on their face. Buildings are well detailed and the game leaves you with a sense of polish and refinement. The only problems I saw dealt with how the camera operates. It's hard to center the camera in some instances. Also, when you're backed up against a wall, it can be a little quirky.

The controls are very precise and respond well. Buttons are logically placed and it's easy to pickup most of the controls. The only exception is that some of the vehicle controls are a little awkward and do not respond as well as the cars. With regards to this, it'll take a little bit of practice.

The sound is wonderful. If you get in a car, you can listen to 8 different radio stations, all with their own unique style right out of the '80's. You'll hear just about any music style from that era from early rap to punk rock to pop. These are real songs and real artists. There's Michael Jackson, Judas Priest and Ozzy Osborne. General game sounds are very well done too. For instance, if a plane flies overhead you hear it. It took me 4 days to figure out what that noise was. If you walk up to people you can even hear them talking to each other. The only problem with that is that they do not say anything coherent or interactive.

The learning curve for this game is great. For me, it's not too easy, but it's not too hard either. I was able to progress through the game without being hopelessly stuck trying to do one mission. Even though I play a lot of video games, I'm not good at the really hard ones. This one is just right. The other good thing about this game is that if you do get stuck for a little bit, there's lots more for you to do to try and clear your mind and make a fresh run later.

The physics for this game are great. Some cars have a higher top speed than others. Same goes for acceleration, handling and how much damage a car can take. There must be over 100 different vehicles you can drive, so finding the perfect one is a rewarding experience. The weather also can change during the game. For instance, it will eventually start to rain, and it makes it hard to control the car than in sunny weather.


Viewer Discretion Is Advised!

This is a game intended for adults. If you have children, you are a child, or have issues with realistic violence, drug use and sexuality; you shouldn't buy this game. The flipside of this game being so realistic is that you can also do realistic things that expose the underbelly of our society. There is a heavy drug theme in this game; in fact many missions involve running or selling drugs. Secondly, violence in this game is very realistic. If you shoot someone's head with a powerful enough weapon, it will pop off and blood will start squirting into the air. You can kill cops with dead cold emotion. Also, there are strong sexual themes too. For instance, there are porn studio missions, you can buy a strip club and watch a strip show, and you can even pickup hookers and watch as your car rocks back and forth. Although you don't see any nudity, it doesn't leave much for the imagination.

Now I realize that there's a population of people out there who read my last paragraph and collectively uttered "Cool!” And probably think I'm some sort of wet blanket for pointing this out. I'm a parent and I gave this game up because I have a baby now and I don't want her to have to deal with these issues at a young age. Also, even if I didn't have kids, I know that there are parents out there who have to deal with this and aren't familiar with these games enough to know.


Final Words

Despite its vulgarity, this is a really fun and at times challenging game. There is a lot you can do and it's up to the gamer to decide which path he or she wants to take. As far as games go, I believe that this is the best Playstation 2 game currently on the market. This would make a perfect gift for a college student who has a PS2.