There can't be any more sure-fire a hit
in the gaming world than Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Grandma may not
approve, but the 143 million people who bought GTA III will be chomping
at the bit for this PC version of the PS2 follow-up. Not quite a
full-blown sequel, but far more than the average lazy mission disk, Vice
City relocates the action of the previous game from the New York-esque
Liberty City to the Miami-influenced metropolis of the title. Clearly as
soon as someone mentioned Miami the developers immediately thought of
Miami Vice, because they've gone and set the whole thing in 1986 with an
incredible soundtrack featuring everyone from Michael Jackson to Sigue
Sigue Sputnik.
As the
game starts you take control of Tommy Vercetti (voiced by Goodfellas
star Ray Liotta) who gets involved in a bungled drug deal and must set
himself up from scratch as a crime boss. Unlike in GTA III, you're not
restricted to being a small-time hood any more; the game now allows you
to purchase property (porn studios, strip clubs, cab companies and so
on) and run extortion rackets. This cleverly widens the scope of the
game while keeping the controls and gameplay pretty much the same. It
also means that you still spend the majority of your time driving cars
very dangerously and shooting and maiming anyone that happens to get in
your way. Indeed, in most respects the game is very similar to its
predecessor--the graphics, for example, are improved but hardly
ground-breaking--though there are numerous minor additions, most notably
the chance to ride motorbikes--which is particularly satisfying--and
fly proper aircraft.