I recently discovered that I own a copy of GTA: Vice City for Xbox. It plays in my Xbox 360, and it still looks pretty good for a five year old game.
I know that at the time it came out, this game received pretty good reviews. I have read many of the reviews that were written when the game came out, but I would appreciate some input from some people who have played the game. How has it held up? Is it still pretty fun to play compared to the current generation of games?
Is this game worth my time to play, or should I just hold off on playing GTA until I buy GTA 4?
I tried playing Vice City again after having played San Andreas, and Vice City is a great game on its own terms, however the inability to climb over small walls like you can in San Andreas (and GTA4). It really sucks to have a useful ability taken away from you like that.
But, that said… if you haven’t played any of them, then definitely play it. Other than my mentioning it, you won’t really know what you are missing. Maybe if I gave it a chance, I could let the 80’s-era colorful Miami setting make up for it.
I’ve been playing San Andreas, and I would have quit long ago if I couldn’t swim. That, and climbing, are my breaking points. But give it a whirl, what’s it gunna hurt?
I think it will still be fun. I loved it at the time, and afterwards I enjoyed picking it up and driving around. Actually, I think it’s the game with the very best voice acting. Also, I love the Commodore 64 Reference in the startup screen. There are some other fun 80s references, but that was my favorite.
One story mission requires you to fight off a horde of enemies from a cramped, awkward position while also keeping two other people alive, then chase down a very fast escaping enemy on a motorcycle. Oh, and before you begin, you need to go pick someone up and head to the site, which takes at least two minutes.
One story mission requires you to flee several blocks home with a 5-star wanted rating; there is no way to avoid this. BTW, you also have to keep someone alive.
No fewer than two missions require you to dispatch something like 90 enemies in an extremely unstable, hard-to-aim-from vehicle before said vehicle blows up.
One side mission requires you to fly an airplane with slightly less power and maneuverability than what the Wright Brothers built.
And of course, the street race against a very cleverly diguised Brian O’Connor in a vehicle with about 150 more horsepower than yours.
For all the violence and racism and suggestiveness and sleaze etc., the one thing that’ll really hit you is that it’s really, really difficult to make any progress. There are more difficult games, but I don’t remember any that had this many roadblocks and blind alleys. Furthermore, unlike the other GTA games, you have to complete all the side missions before you can finish the main story.
If you are going to get it, get it for the cool stuff. Sightseeing in helicopters. Cruising the waterways in a speedboat. Picking up new clothes. Competing in the arena. Bumping into people and getting their annoyed reactions. I can almost guarantee that in the end, you’ll have gotten far more enjoyment out of these than pile driving that useless piece of crap plane in the river for the 200th time.
I don’t remember it being any harder then any other installment of the GTA franchise.
Vice City is actually one of my favourites as the music, the characters and all were just frikking genious.
Unfortunately playing GTA San Andreas and GTA 4 has made sure I will never be able to play it again because you can’t climb even low walls and you can’t swim.
If you haven’t played any other GTAs, please make sure to start with this one.
Vice City is my favorite in terms of atmosphere (and radio stations). They captured the feel of the city and the decade better than any other game in the series.
And to echo what others have said, it’s got some brutally difficult missions towards the end. I got stuck on an airplane mission distributing flyers for a movie and was never able to beat it.
I guess I’m a freak, but GTA: Vice City is the only console / computer game I’ve ever actually played. Woefully behind times, I completed (is this the right word?) the game just this week. Loved every second of it. The combination of the garish '80’s visuals, awesome music, thrill and excitement and humor is unbeatable. Without the music and the comedy (“Farewell Ranch” , “Pastor Richards” “Exploder” etc.) I probably wouldn’t have stayed with the game for any length of time, and just this is what I find lacking in every other game I’ve tried to enjoy.
Inability to swim or climb is a non-issue for me. Just stay out of water and dead-ends.
I loved the PC version, and didn’t find it nearly as difficult as DKW describes - I don’t know if the missions differ or if the keyboard+mouse vs. controller is the issue. There are some great story missions - when you become a porn producer, you’ve got to hire Jenna Jameson as talent, and Dennis Hopper is your director. And if you liked Goodfellas at all, it’s got the same style Ray Liotta voiceover for the whole game.
Definitely worth playing. Some of the storyline and side missions were pretty tough, but I got 100% (and the lousy T-Shirt). There was this race you had to win to prove your skill as a getaway driver, that was insane. After more than 20 tries, I somehow slammed the other guy into a pole and he got stuck. As I was crossing the final bridge, a cop car hit me head on and bounced me into the water. Took me probably another 30 tries after that to finish it. Most missions aren’t that difficult though.
I’d definitely play it a bit before I got GTA IV so I could see and appreciate the advances.
IMHO (I have a PS2-clone gamepad for the PC) the keyboard + mouse control system makes the game much harder.
That said, this is my least favorite GTA game (with the possible exception of Liberty City Stories). Part of that is because I never finished it - I can play through the whole thing without getting wasted once, but as soon as I get to the final mission I get pasted no matter how many rockets I squeeze off.
Once I tried SA, this one was dead to me. Still, if you haven’t played any of the other ones, you’ll love it - the attention to detail is breathtaking at times.
Thanks for all of the replies! I played Vice City for a few hours, and it was pretty fun. Then one of my friends came over and let me borrow San Andreas for my PS2. I have played San Andreas for a few hours now, and I already like it more than Vice City. I can’t exactly put my finger on WHY I like SA more, but I do.
So, for now I plan to try to beat SA, and then go back and beat Vice City. They both seem like fun games, and I think it will be fun to play through both of them.