The year is 1986 - the 80s. You are Tommy Vercetti, an ex convict released from Liberty city (R*'s fictional version of New York city) prison after serving a fifteen-year sentence. His boss Sonny Forelli promotes him to a higher rank in his crime business and sets him loose in Vice City (R*'s fictional version of Miami, Florida). Tommy is instructed to participate in a cocaine deal and see that everything goes according to plan. Unfortunately for him, it all goes to shit when unknown mobsters start firing mid-cocaine-exchange and all hell breaks loose; the job fails. Tommy and his crooked lawyer Ken Rosenberg barely escape intact. After reluctantly explaining the mess to Sonny, they try to find out who "stole the money!". They devise plans and get to know Vice City's criminal underworld, make contact with the biggest players in the city and extract information.
From then onwards Vice City is your sandbox and you can do pretty much everything you can imagine. You can progress the story, you can dance at night clubs, you can do stunt driving. You can drive a variety of cars, motorcycles, helicopters (even drones! later in the game) or you can massacre everyone and the US army itself will hunt you down (this would be the perfect opportunity to grab "Rhino" - an army tank - if you can). Progressing the story unlocks new abilities and areas in the game; the in-game radio tracks your progress with news reporting. There are multiple side quests you can partake in. Vice City felt like a breathing city at the time of release. The developers have done a PERFECT job in capturing the essence of 80s Miami 100% American (at least how it's portrayed in movies etc), the architecture, the lights, the music, the neon lens flares, the pink touch in everything, the sun. It's all there. The game's style is a clear mix of 80s Miami Vice, with the greatest inspiration from the 1984 movie Scarface, coupled with a satiric, but realistic nonetheless struggle for the American dream. The map/game world is big enough for you to explore and find many unique secret locations. There are multiple interiors, like shops, cafeterias, purchasable safe houses, hotels, night clubs, hospitals, police stations and more, even a HUGE mall! There are dozens of different guns and tools you can use in the game, from handguns and meat cleavers (my then personal favorite) to miniguns and missile launchers. There are a bunch of miscellaneous things to do, and I won't try to list them all in fear of leaving something behind. Those mentioned already should be enough to hook you up for the ride of your life.
Everything in this game is perfect. The mature story rivals that of the best movies. You meet plenty of complex and deep characters along the way leading you on the path to the top of the Vice City. Those characters develop fully as you progress. If you play as a kid you won't understand why you're doing what you're doing, you'll just enjoy doing it and have a good time. And of course none can talk about Vice City without mentioning the music. The music includes fictional, hand-crafted radio stations, complete with radio hosts that talk & feel completely in the mood and interacting on the multiple game's current events as the plot unfolds. Make sure you check them all out. The songs for the various stations couldn't have been selected more meticulously. Finally, visuals and Graphics are top notch. For it's time VC was a technical achievement (not as groundbreaking as GTA 3 though). Also, I don't even remember experiencing any major bugs at all, although I've heard of a couple.
Grand Theft Auto Vice City is my second favorite video game of all time. This game was the reason I bought a PS2. Suffice to say that I played it to death. While I was playing the game nothing else mattered in the world. I was Tony, a super badass crook doing as I please, basically just chillin, riding n' killin. I remember back then almost every friend of mine was playing it for years to come. Me and my friends were visiting each other's houses to play together. To this day, those are one of the fondest memories I have of my childhood. Overall, the amount of laughs that have come from this game is unmeasurable. I am grateful for them and will treasure them forever. Vice City remains my favorite GTA game. You could argue that before Vice City I had pretty much no taste, no personality (especially in music). Afterwards I was a new person, with new experiences. VC was a controversial game, because it allows anyone to commit extremely violent stuff and have a laugh at it. I was ~11 years old when I first played the game and I never once thought that I could do stuff like that in real life, in fact I was more prone to be opposed such violent behaviors than many other people I've met (and I'm old enough now - in my late 20s - to know what I'm talking about). I just felt cooler at times, particularly seeing how Tommy Vercetti talks & walks. In Vice City the World is yours.
Rating: 10/10 - Masterpiece
From then onwards Vice City is your sandbox and you can do pretty much everything you can imagine. You can progress the story, you can dance at night clubs, you can do stunt driving. You can drive a variety of cars, motorcycles, helicopters (even drones! later in the game) or you can massacre everyone and the US army itself will hunt you down (this would be the perfect opportunity to grab "Rhino" - an army tank - if you can). Progressing the story unlocks new abilities and areas in the game; the in-game radio tracks your progress with news reporting. There are multiple side quests you can partake in. Vice City felt like a breathing city at the time of release. The developers have done a PERFECT job in capturing the essence of 80s Miami 100% American (at least how it's portrayed in movies etc), the architecture, the lights, the music, the neon lens flares, the pink touch in everything, the sun. It's all there. The game's style is a clear mix of 80s Miami Vice, with the greatest inspiration from the 1984 movie Scarface, coupled with a satiric, but realistic nonetheless struggle for the American dream. The map/game world is big enough for you to explore and find many unique secret locations. There are multiple interiors, like shops, cafeterias, purchasable safe houses, hotels, night clubs, hospitals, police stations and more, even a HUGE mall! There are dozens of different guns and tools you can use in the game, from handguns and meat cleavers (my then personal favorite) to miniguns and missile launchers. There are a bunch of miscellaneous things to do, and I won't try to list them all in fear of leaving something behind. Those mentioned already should be enough to hook you up for the ride of your life.
Everything in this game is perfect. The mature story rivals that of the best movies. You meet plenty of complex and deep characters along the way leading you on the path to the top of the Vice City. Those characters develop fully as you progress. If you play as a kid you won't understand why you're doing what you're doing, you'll just enjoy doing it and have a good time. And of course none can talk about Vice City without mentioning the music. The music includes fictional, hand-crafted radio stations, complete with radio hosts that talk & feel completely in the mood and interacting on the multiple game's current events as the plot unfolds. Make sure you check them all out. The songs for the various stations couldn't have been selected more meticulously. Finally, visuals and Graphics are top notch. For it's time VC was a technical achievement (not as groundbreaking as GTA 3 though). Also, I don't even remember experiencing any major bugs at all, although I've heard of a couple.
Grand Theft Auto Vice City is my second favorite video game of all time. This game was the reason I bought a PS2. Suffice to say that I played it to death. While I was playing the game nothing else mattered in the world. I was Tony, a super badass crook doing as I please, basically just chillin, riding n' killin. I remember back then almost every friend of mine was playing it for years to come. Me and my friends were visiting each other's houses to play together. To this day, those are one of the fondest memories I have of my childhood. Overall, the amount of laughs that have come from this game is unmeasurable. I am grateful for them and will treasure them forever. Vice City remains my favorite GTA game. You could argue that before Vice City I had pretty much no taste, no personality (especially in music). Afterwards I was a new person, with new experiences. VC was a controversial game, because it allows anyone to commit extremely violent stuff and have a laugh at it. I was ~11 years old when I first played the game and I never once thought that I could do stuff like that in real life, in fact I was more prone to be opposed such violent behaviors than many other people I've met (and I'm old enough now - in my late 20s - to know what I'm talking about). I just felt cooler at times, particularly seeing how Tommy Vercetti talks & walks. In Vice City the World is yours.
Rating: 10/10 - Masterpiece