Hey all,
I was wondering, just from an outsider’s point of view- if you wanted to ‘sell’ GTA to someone (ie- get them involved in playing) and they’d never played it before, or even really knew that much about it, what would you tell them? What sort of things really make the game enjoyable? What made -you- like or dislike the game?
A driving game not restricted to a linear ‘circuit’
One of the most enjoyable things, for me, about GTA and vice city is just cruising around the city, going wherever the hell I want.
You can get a blowjob from a whore and then kill her to get the money back.
Looks around a suddenly silent forum
What? 
I think the “open-ended” aspect is the best part. You can play the missions if you want, or you can just drive around exploring, trying out new cars, or trying insane driving moves. Or, you can climb to the top of the police station or the casino and play “lone shooter on a rampge”…ummm…so I’ve heard.
Anyway, the game is really 3 or 4 games in one.
Don’t overlook the pre-murder hummers though, as yojimbo points out.
Warning: Explicit description enclosed.
Show them the game.
You take your character, grab a bat, and show them a random bat beating. Beat them till they’re drowning in a pool of their own blood and liquified internal organs.
You’ll get one of two responses:
1- An enthusiastic “Let me play.”
2- A polite smile as they decide whether you’re a sinner in need, or the devil himself. (Well… not necessarily a smile. Some will be too freaked to smile… Wusses)
Get yourself involved in a police chase. When you have the cops screaming at your back (but before the SWAT or army show up, since it’s a lot more difficult to be flashy when you can get totaled in one hit) pull off every slick move you can: Insane Stunts, barreling through alleys, twisting pursuits up a parking garage before flying over the edge to escape. The thrill of the chase is one of the best parts of these games, because the level design allows you to be always one step ahead.
What I love about both games is that in addition to the scripted scenarios, there’s the ‘side games’ you can have hours of fun with. I especially like the Vigilante missions (stealing a police car and hunting down bad guys) as well as some of the racing, esp in Vice City. Also, this is my favorite game, by far, as far as how vehicles handle relative to the controller.
I just got this for the PC, and I have a question.
How do you get health back from a hooker? I pick one up (is there a trick to that too, they often won’t get in my car), take her to an alley and watch my money drop. My health stays the same.
Should I be looking for a patch, or what?
Menocchio it sounds like you may need a patch because on the PS2 version (I’ve never played it on a PC) once the car is rocking and your money goes down your health goes up.
IIRC you have to be in a sports car and in a red light area for them to get into your car.
You have to take your new girlfriend to a very secluded spot to get the health increase (up to 125). Anywhere on the coast is good, like the beach in Vice City. Also, the hookers will only really approach fancy sports cars, not vans or taxis, so get one of those first.
For kicks (in Vice City), pick up a girl, race at a ramp then jump out, leaving her in the car to do the jump and then explode at the end. Just because you can.