- Reviewed on: PSP
- Also available for: N/A
- The Good: Captures the atmosphere of the original Vice City and the 1980s at large. Missions are vintage GTA but aren't too repetitive. Music and audio commentary is fantastic. Lance Vance is the standout character
- The Bad: Graphics and game engine really show their age. Vic Vance's motives are fuzzy at times. Empire-based missions are horribly repetitive and mundane. Driving mechanics are a little erratic
- The Verdict: As dark and funny as the original, and draped in pastels
One of the more memorable characters from Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was Lance Vance, a jive-talking, two-timing opportunist whose greedy antics brought about his own demise in that game. One wonders how often his name was teased as a kid.
Vice City Stories is only partly about how Lance became that way, and fans of the series will relate to him based on the familiarity of his character. But this game isn't really about Lance at all.
To the Victor go the spoils
Vice City Stories tells a tale of how Lance's smarter and more intuitive brother, Vic, founded an empire after going through a humiliating discharge from the army. Putting Vic next to GTA's other main characters is like putting a pristine car next to SUVs drenched in mud. Unlike the pushers and gangsters in the other games, Vic is so clean he practically squeaks.
But that changes quickly when forces beyond his control start taking advantage of him, which naturally includes his brother. But Vic is also complicit in it all, despite his assertions that he doesn't "wanna get too deep into this." The problem in the storytelling, specifically, is that we don't know why he feels inclined to go out and do things like kill Mexican gang members, steal cocaine from drug dealers and lay waste to a bar full of gay bikers.
This kind of attitude is expressed continuously with a rogues gallery of characters that include some from Vice City (Phil Cassidy, Ricardo Diaz and Umberto Robina) and some new ones that likely won't be all that memorable. Though the ultimate reasoning for Vic's dabbling in crime is his brother's medical bills and family obligations, that part of the story is never really fleshed out in a meaningful way.
"I do need the money."
Building Vic's empire requires following the same GTA formula of old. Only in this case, the missions aren't as short as they were in Liberty City Stories, the first GTA game for the PSP. Multi-tiered mission objectives are part of this but the setup also includes attacking rival gang hideouts and expropriating them for the purpose of setting up fronts.
Doing this increases your daily cash flow and helps establish your reputation. Each business can also have a reputation of its own, but that requires finishing a set of 15 small missions. While 15 may sound like a lot, this is actually more like one really drawn out mission. Opening up a brothel, for example, means you'll have to transport prostitutes to and from house calls, as well as protect them from unruly clients.
And this has to be done repeatedly. It's a tedious and repetitive exercise that almost defies description. If there are moments in Vice City Stories that could be considered mundane, these missions are at the top of the list.
But in all fairness, these missions are optional and don't really add much to the game experience or your coffers. The typical vigilante, firefighting, taxi and ambulance missions are all here, along with the option to drop off specific cars to an impound yard for cash. Naturally, these offer nothing to the main story, and serve only to make you money and increase the percentage of the game's completion.
The pastels are back
The Vice City in this game is very similar to the one seen in the original classic, except some buildings are under construction and others aren't exactly the same. But that doesn't really matter because this iteration still captures the essence of the rat race that was the 1980s. Pastels, sports cars and neon lights are all part of the aesthetic appeal of the place, but the music and radio programming steals the show.
With a different soundtrack than the original, 80s music aficionados will have a field day playing this game and listening to all the great tunes. Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight" was showcased in the game trailer, but that hit is just one great one among many. Listing them would take up more than half of this review.
The radio DJs and commercials are by far the funniest aspect of the game. Some of the same voices are back with their respective stations, and there is definitely more of an edge in the content they talk about. Cracks and barbs directed at American politics and some of the fashion trends of the decade are definitely worth listening to.
The commercials are equally hilarious, with a personal favourite being one where a man tries to convince a boy that he's from the future. The outright arrogance of the man is a great counter to the questionable innocence of the boy, but it's just one example of some of the other outlandish monologues.
Multiplayer mayhem… sort of
Multiplayer is worth noting only because it's in the game in ad hoc mode. No announcements have been made regarding online play just yet. Empire Takedown and Might of the Hunter are two great multiplayer offerings but that's only if you can get the full six players to take part.
Aside from that, the multiplayer doesn't have enough going for it under the current conditions. But if online play opens up, then the experience could change dramatically.
Vice City redux
The unrelenting humour, outrageous characters and unmitigated violence are staples of any GTA game, and they're all handled well here, even if some of them are all too familiar. Lance Vance gets to shine in the spotlight a little more by playing second fiddle to his brother, and we all get to relive that precarious lifestyle in the decadent decade that was the 80s.
The game isn't stunning in its graphics, by any means, but it certainly does enough to engage fans of the original by keeping the atmosphere the same. Consider this an add-on to the original Vice City, but it's best not to look at it in the greater context of the GTA series.
