GTA: Vice City

Title: GTA: Vice City
Platform Played On: PC
Release Date: March 12, 2003
Date Played: Summer 2003
Time Played: 30+ hours
Completed (Y/N): Yes
Score: 5/5



Opinion:
Grand Thief Auto's move to 3d took everyone by surprise. A lot of people bought PlayStation 2's just to play it. And a  year after GTA3 defined what it meant to be an open world 3rd person shooter Rockstar (developer) used the same engine to make and release GTA: Vice City.

Set in the 80's Vice City takes everything GTA 3 pioneered, puts a fresh coat of paint on it and improves on almost every single mechanic. This was possible due to the fact that the engine was already made which allowed the developers to spend the entire development cycle on perfecting the gameplay experience instead of making things function properly under the hood (this was all done during GTA3 development). The result was amazing!

The basic premise remains the same... start as a nobody and make your way all the way up to being the lord of all criminal activity in the city by eliminating all other dons and mob honchos.

While the basic gameplay is as awesome as it was in GTA3, there are a lot more cars, bikes, and mission types in Vice City. Not to mention the addition of planes and helicopters and the absolute best soundtrack in any game ever.

There isnt much to say about Vice City. It is basically a better version of GTA3, and out of the 3 games released with that engine (GTA3, Vice City, and San Andreas) this is by far my favorite one. The 80's atmosphere is welcoming and the great soundtrack is a good mood setter.

No doubt that Vice City has aged and GTA 4 has eclipsed it in all categories; however if you want to go back and play the games that brought this genre to the forefront of gaming then GTA: Vice City is the one to go for.