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If you haven't had the chance to play Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, where have you been? This game is a *must play* for any serious gamer - pc, console, or otherwise. Both Grand Theft Auto 3 and Grand Theft Auto Vice City have managed to attract a great deal of attention from gamers, game developers, and the "anti-media-violence" police. Vice City has excellent free-form gameplay along with a healthy dose of hardcore mayhem.

Right now you are probably wondering "Vice City has been out for PC for over a year -- and far longer on PS2; why the hell are you reviewing it?" With Grand Theft Auto San Andreas due out in a matter of months, I believe Vice City deserves one last look. Not only that, I believe you should still go out and give the PC version a shot. Scroll down to the bottom of the page to find out what new modifications are available for Vice City and how to play the game online.

Vice City did a lot of things right. It took Grand Theft Auto 3's weaknesses and made some big improvements. Property ownership was an option in the original -- in Vice City your property makes you money daily. Climb to the top and you will be able to make tens of thousands a day sitting on your ass. Everyone would like to do the same in real life -- thus the appeal. Vice City also brings vehicles to the mix. You will probably spend most of your time driving exotic cars and crotch rockets.



Did I mention that Vice City was violent? While playing this game you will probably find yourself running over hundreds, if not thousands of pedestrians. Sometimes its a complete honest to God accident. Other times.. well you know. This is, of course, where certain people have a problem.

Critics claim that these types of games train people to be killers. Beside the obvious fact that only a handful of nutjobs with apparently no connection with reality have blamed video games on their sadistic acts, and beside the fact that violent crime has dropped in the United States in the past decade, certain individuals insist that everyone who plays a game such as Vice City is turned into a walking killer. I'll save the rest of the commentary for a later date.



One thing I have noticed many people miss out on are the motorcycle stunts. Ever played Tony Hawk? Well, its time to find a crotch rocket and take a drive. Stunts are one of the more exciting aspects of Vice City after you have beat the game.



Using your control pad (with the PC version) you can do wheelies which enable you to do a flying stunt off of a car windshield. Just like the "violent" part of Vice City, you are strongly discouraged from attempting these stunts in real life.

Vice City is clearly influenced by classic mobster movies, most obviously Scarface. Judging by interviews concerning the next GTA game, San Andreas, we are going to be seeing a lot more of this. The cut scenes are humorous yet build a strong storyline for Vice City. In free-form gaming where you can basically "do your own thing" the storyline is usually the first thing to go. Not in Vice City.

Today, Vice City's graphics look old and out of date. With games such as Doom 3 out now, we have to wonder if San Andreas is going to "wow" us like Vice City did. The graphics certainly are not ugly, despite being dated. Thanks to good artists Vice City's graphics are stylized bringing character to the game. Other GTA 3 clones have not been so lucky. True Crime: Streets of LA is one such example.

Vice City Mods

Mods play a critical part in PC gaming today. Half Life was released in the late 90s, yet still boasts record numbers of online players in mods such as CounterStrike and Day of Defeat. The $50 spent on Half Life back in 1998 gave many people $1000 worth of computer gaming.

Thanks to some modders, you can now play Grand Theft Auto Vice City online with your friends. Multi Theft Auto is available for both Grand Theft Auto 3 and Grand Theft Auto Vice City.

Multi Theft Auto allows you to log on to (or host) an Internet or LAN server to play Vice City online. Multi-player was promised for the PC version of Vice City -- but it did not appear in the retail version of the game. The guys at Multi Theft Auto have fixed this.

There are a few downsides to Multi Theft Auto. Please be aware, Multi Theft Auto is still under development so my opinion may not accurately portray its current state. The first downside is -- no pedestrians, no cops, no other cars, just you and your friends. Due to the way Vice City was programmed, this downside is certainly acceptable. This means you have the entire map of Vice City, but perhaps as few as 4 players. Even a full server can feel empty at times. The other downside is that the game may be laggy. I strongly recommend that you play this broadband or LAN.

If you own the PC versions of Grand Theft Auto 3 and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, this next mod is for you. Liberty City allows you to play GTA 3 with the Vice City engine and a few goodies. The game looks and runs better. A military helicopter and motorcycle are available for you at the click of a mouse. The mod is big, but definitely worth it.

 

 

Graphics.......... Good
Sound.............. Good
Gameplay........ Excellent
Replayability....... Excellent
Overall Rating...... 96%