Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

"Grand Theft Auto: Vice City" (2002)

***** stars (out of five)

With an all-star voice cast that includes Ray Liotta (Goodfellas, Hannibal), Dennis Hopper (Speed, True Romance), William Fichtner (The Perfect Storm), Tom Sizemore (Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down), Fairuza Balk (The Craft), Luis Guzman (Traffic), Gary Busey (Lethal Weapon), and Danny Trejo (Spy Kids, Con Air), how could this game be anything but a game? "Vice City" has so many elements of a major Hollywood production, that you almost forget that your playing a video game. This is heightened by the fact that there is a movie script floating around Hollywood right now and I'm seriously hoping Liotta gets the lead part.

Ray Liotta plays Tommy Vercetti, an ex-con who has just returned to the streets after doing a fifteen year stint in prison. The family sends him to Vice City, a hell hole that is actually WORSE than Liberty City. How could Vice City be worse than Liberty City you say? Well for one, no one really cares about Vice City. The place is also crawling with drug dealers and corrupt city officials that keep the city properly unsafe for anyone to live.

Anyways, from the start, problems arise for Tommy. A drug deal goes wrong and only quick thinking and some fast driving by his lawyer friend Ken Rosenberg (Fichtner) gets them out alive. As it turns out, this mess leads to missing money, missing drugs and dangerous crime bosses including a corrupt land developer named Avery Arrington (Burt Reynolds) and a rich gangster (Guzman), the latter who Tommy eventually has to deal with. Tommy decides right away that he is going to own this town and so begins his odyssey into Vice City...

"Vice City" is such an amazing improvement over "Grand Theft Auto III" that it is almost impossible to describe it. You basically take Liberty City's worst qualities and multiply them by ten. Everything that was in "Grand Theft Auto III" is here, including the insane jumps, rampages and hidden packages. The missions are a lot harder too. But they are more varied and have a much greater significance in the end.

There are plenty more cars too, but there are boats and helicopters as well. My personal favorite vehicle so far is the Sabre. The helicopters are from what I've seen so far, the only vehicles available that enable flight. Probably my favorite new feature so far, is the fact that with the right amount of money, you can actually buy up real estate. I also forgot to mention that this game is a hell of a lot bloodier than any other previous "Grand Theft Auto" titles.

The leading actors are amazing in this game, especially Liotta as Vercetti. He has a lot of charisma here and it shows in his character. The other voice actors are great as well.

"Grand Theft Auto: Vice City" is so far the most anticipated and best reviewed game to come out for the Playstation 2 this year.

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!

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

(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

This is without doubt the best gangster game made. Everyone who want's to be a gangster without that annooying risk of being incarsonated or killed should stop read right here and go out and by the damn thing instead. Superb voice-overs by Ray Liotta, Burt Reynolds and numerous others, awesome soundtrack with every song you either loved or hated from the eighties, graphics that still look good, an intriguing story, henious crimes, fast cars... This is love on a computer screen and my second favourite game ever. The ultra violence has caused somewhat of a stir in America and the general political incorrectness of the game should have you're mouths watering by now. This game is what gaming should be all about; you start it up for a quick play at eight P.M., at four A.M. you realize that you've been sitting by the screen in eight hours and you still aren't sure how to complete the printwork asset.

Go out and buy!