Welcome to Retroplay! This is a new permanent addition to the Levelling Up that focuses on timeless classic games. What qualify as a timeless classic? A timeless classic is not only a great game when it was first released but it must be enjoyable and fun even by today's standards. While there plenty of good new releases every year, classic games still have its charm and possess a certain flair that the modern high budgeted titles do not have.
In this Retroplay, I will be bringing back memories from the orange skies and sandy white beaches of Grand Theft Auto Vice City.
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| The game is not as mild as the pink colour suggested. |
Gameplay
Even though the game is 11 years old now, the core mechanics of the game is still very familiar to those who only played the newer entry to the series. It involves a protagonist that is entangled in the world of crime syndicates and has to complete missions that is set in an open world, typically the size of a metropolitan. There will be side missions that can be completed for bonuses when you are not engaged in the main storyline.
What primarily set GTA Vice City apart from any other game in the series is its setting. It is set in the titular city which is inspired by Miami in the 1980s. This is a far cry from the uninspired and generic theme that many contemporary games features. From the first moped ride with Michael Jackson's Billie Jean blaring on the stereo to the A-Team inspired missions and characters, the game oozes atmosphere. The radio stations in the game also vastly contributed to the entire feel of the game. Memorable hits from Hall & Oates, Laura Branigan and Aneka makes the driving between missions highly enjoyable while faux talk shows and advertisements will sure to give you a chuckle every single time.
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| I drowned right after I screenshot this. |
The characters in the game are well written and memorable. Unlike Claude from GTA 3 or Niko Bellic from GTA 4, the protagonist of Vice City, Tommy Vercetti is not just a mindless pawn. He got anger and trust issues. His various emotions are expertly portrayed with the use of clever dialogues and great voice over. Meticulous details are similarly applied to all other characters, friends or foes like the always panicking lawyer, Ken Rosenberg to the temperamental and crazy druglord, Cortez. The dialogues are vulgar, funny but never feel forced or corny.
Missions in GTA Vice City are some of the best thought out in the series. It does not feel repetitive and always come with a good little backstory to it. The missions are slowly trickles down to you from a myriad of characters in order to keep it fresh. It ranges from the usual fanfare like murders and drive-by to the bizarre like chauffeuring rock band and erecting a signal light for a porn star (no pun intended). Outside the main mission, there's plenty to do. Steal an ambulance, police car or even a fire truck and you have the option to do a variety of side missions that will reward you with hefty bonuses upon completion.
The game is not without flaws though. Between Tommy's inability to swim to the clunky combat, it may sometimes makes you throw your controller away. When you got thrown off your bike into the water for an instant death during the last leg of a mission, it can be pretty frustrating. Besides that, there is no difficulty settings in the game, thus it can be quite difficult at times due to the above reasons.
Technical Details
The game looks very dated but the colourful and picturesque settings do soften up the blow. It will pretty much run effortlessly on any desktop bought within the last 8 years or so, even the entry level ones. For laptop, if you got any sort of discrete graphics card or Intel HD 2000/3000/4000 series integrated graphics with 128MB of RAM, you're pretty much golden. In order to run a smooth 60 frames per second without screen tearing, you have to disable the V-Sync function in the game itself and enable it at your graphics driver. Also, despite providing a widescreen function in the game, disable it as it will distort the aiming because the HUD is not properly aligned in the widescreen mode.
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| Car manufacturers are continuously baffled by the vast petitions for car locks from customers in Vice City. |
For those with problems making the mouse to work, enter the game and Alt-Tab, open up your Task Manager and set the game to run with only a single core to fix it.
Additional Details
The game is currently available at Steam for USD 9.99 or USD 19.99 when bundled with GTA 3 and GTA San Andreas. My advice is to wait for the upcoming sales within a couple of weeks to grab it with potential up to 75% discount.
Don't let the minor flaws and the dated graphics deter you from revisiting one of the best virtual city in gaming. With GTA 5 set to be released in November, this game is the perfect filler until it comes along. Time to don that flower printed shirt and ride the moped.
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