Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

(This review refers to the PC port.) This game is a much needed breath of fresh air. It's incredibly fun, and like Grand Theft Auto 3, it's very easy to pick up and play. You can easily play this game for hours on end, but you don't hours to be able to play. From the moment you start, it's seamless to start doing your thing and simply have fun.

The missions are quite fun. They're better than before, cooler, and just plain entertaining. I thought not being the nameless thug would be annoying, but it's better than ever. The story is perfect for a game of this type, and the game's atmosphere is flawless. Don't be surprised if you find a love for 80's music after playing this game.

The only downsides are like GTA3, there's bugs left in that really should have been taken care of. Also, it's rather obvious it's a PS2 port as the game's memory is rather short. You can clearly see a car coming, turn around so it's out of sight, and poof... gone. "Out of sight, out of mind." And like GTA3, after awhile the fun may wear thin and things may get repetitive depending on your tastes.

• Rirath_com

I never bought GTA3, which dominated the sales charts for a long time (and still does). I felt it wasn't my kind of game. The off-shoot of GTA3, GTA:Vice City was announced and the millions who bought GTA3 were counting the days for its arrival.

As a frequent visitor to IGN.com, all the posters could talk about was this game. I originally planned to buy GTA3 as soon as I finished one of my other games, but after seeing the track listing of licensed songs for Vice City, the 80's theme, and reading a million posts about it, I pre-ordered it and got it on its first day of sale. Although I won't call it the best game I've ever played, it's in my Top 10. Vice City is an outstanding game.

Vice City is about Tommy Vercetti (voiced by Ray Liotta) who has been released from jail after doing 15 years. He is sent by Sonny Forelli to work in 1986 Vice City (Miami). You'll be doing all sorts of illegal activities, such as murder, stealing military equipment and microchips, drug dealing, sniping, and robbery. You'll even blow up buildings for other bosses. Eventually, you too can make Tommy a boss. It's just like The Sopranos. You can even do non-illegal things like drive people around in taxis, save hurt people with an ambulance, and deliver pizza. There's "Fast And The Furious" street racing, dirt bike racing, helicopters, boats, you name it, it can be driven.

You'll meet up with tons of characters who'll pay for your successful missions. which helps you buy property that will allow you to get rich. The game is totally non-linear, so if you don't feel like doing a mission, you could be a taxi driver or just cruise the well-done and huge city that looks just like Miami (I've been there, it's eerily similar). There's so much stuff to do, even doing crazy jumps, rampages (where you do some mass murdering of thugs), or the fabled hidden packages.

The graphics do the job, but the gameplay is what counts. It has a few niggles but doesn't detract. Even if you fail, you'll want to keep trying a mission until you succeed; that's why this game is so good, sooner or later, you'll win the mission. The sound is the best I've ever heard. You'll hear tons of voice clips just by bumping into the denizens of Vice City. The voice acting done by the likes of Liotta, Burt Reynolds, Luis Guzman, William Fichtner, and Dennis Hopper is excellent. The real gem is all the licensed 80's music. There are several radio stations that play all sorts of different hit songs from the era, so you'll get to hear some of your all-time favorites (all listed in the manual). Don't forget the talk radio (I just love DJ Amy). All in all, it delivers a great idea of what people in 2002 think what 1986 was like.

Yes, the game is controversial in nature so it's not for kids, but for adults or teens who do have responsible parents who love and teach their children right and wrong and are active in their lives, this game is indeed the PlayStation 2's defining moment, as Todd Zuniga put it. I'm sure both GTA3 and Vice City are great, but VC is the one to get. The 80's still rule!

I'm thirty-five and recently married. I hadn't played a video game since the late eighties--in fact, I hadn't even given them a second thought. Then everything changed. I watched my brother-in-law play GTA:VC one afternoon on his PS2. I was transfixed. I was appalled. I was, in a word, hooked. When it came out on XBOX, I bought a used copy at Blockbuster and haven't looked back.

First of all, the gameplay is phenomenal. The fact that you can freely roam the large Vice City map is worth the price of admission by itself.

Second, the voice acting is amazing--especially the commercials. Ray Liotta. Gary Busey. Burt Reynolds. Phillip Michael Thomas. Lee Majors. Robert Davi. Dennis Hopper. Luis Guzman. Fairuza Balk. Jenna Jameson. Danny Trejo. These are just a few of the names that make appearances. The radio material is so well produced, I can drive around all day listening to nothing but VCPR or KCHAT. The radio commercials are witty, sarcastic and spot-on.

Third, the story is great. You start as a nobody, recently released from jail. You finish (if you really ever do finish) as a Tony Montana-esque criminal psychopath.

Fourth--this is probably the most immoral game ever created... and it's beautiful. It's sick, sick, sick! Apart from the usual "waste him" missions, tasks include delivering drugs from an ice-cream van and driving a humvee drunk while avoiding the cops. I mean, one mission has you carving up a guy with a chainsaw! In addition, there are dozens of "rampage" icons throughout the game. When you run into one, you have two minutes to kill a certain amount of people a certain way (e.g. "kill 20 gang members in two minutes with a meat cleaver") It's never boring.

Conclusion: GTA:VC is the sickest, funniest, most engrossing and immersive video game ever made. It looks and plays better on the XBOX, but it's a blast on any platform. Rockstar's next GTA release, San Andreas, has immense shoes to fill.

Since GTA III, The gta series had jumped into the mainstream. it had a great 3rd person view and a great in-depth storyline. bottom line, it was straight up fun. but one year later, the series was rather brought back, but not in the department of fun, and awesomeness, but rather, in time.

Set in vice city, a fictional Miami in 1986, Tommy Vercetti is sent from Liberty city, a Fictional New York, by his mob boss, Sonny Forelli. He is set up in a drug trade and loses all his cash. Sonny is now mad with him, and it seems the whole world is out to get him. his plan? Take over Vice City.

This Game makes several different references to many different events of the time. It emulates the movie Scarface almost completely, with the exception of the outcome of Tommy Vercetti. it also poses several references to Miami Vice, a TV show at the time. For music, there are different stations to listen to, From Reggae to talk radio, to what might be the best Radio station of all time...V-rock.

Bottom line, if you want to play a good game, want to have fun, or just jump back to the 80s for a nostalgic feeling, I say GTA: Vice city is the way to go.

10/10

"Vice City", now you're talking about something really special. As a sequel, it builds on and refines "GTA III" in every single way. More vehicles, massive replay value and even more inviting sense of freedom. What they created here was a living, breathing proxy of South Florida, a pastel '80s drenched world that was as fun to explore as it was to mock. I have spent countless hours (over the last 13 years) revisiting and plunging into this game. It's got "Miami Vice" written all over it and the sense of humor's light-hearted but pointedly satirical (back in the earlier days when their ribbing was fun but not overly cynical - I'm looking at you, "V"). And then there's that soundtrack! The heavy hitters they've got playing on the radio stations in this game are admirable, and it's wholly addicting. It's a big part of what makes this environment so fun.

No pretense of objectivity here. This might just be the greatest console game I've ever played. My love for this will never die.

10/10