Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City — the legendary spin-off of Grand Theft Auto 3, which developed the ideas and mechanics laid down in it, connected by common characters and references, but with an independent plot and a new city for the series, Vice City (prototype — Miami). The unique atmosphere of the 80s is created by neon signs, golden sunsets, huge angular cars, era-appropriate clothing, and music — from lively disco to loud heavy metal. The plot is dedicated to a young gangster, Tommy Vercetti, eager to climb "to the top" and ready to step over others.

Despite the decades since its release, Vice City remains popular due to a huge number of global mods. There is also a modern official re-release GTA: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition.

Vice City is a third-person shooter in an open world with elements of fighting and driving simulation. Among the new gameplay mechanics, after GTA 3: shooting from vehicles and improved vehicle damage geometry, aggressive police, time slow-down, an unconventional movement model, due to which the character could not climb or swim.

Almost all missions are deepened by changing the type of action. For example, starting with a party on a yacht, the hero will continue running through the city on foot, and in the finale will try to escape from a chase in a car. And for each quest, Tommy dresses appropriately — sometimes as a janitor, sometimes as a hippie, sometimes as a distinguished gentleman.

There are many more types of weapons and vehicles. Firearms are divided by type (pistols, SMGs, shotguns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, and heavy weapons), but you can only carry one at a time. The vehicles are expanded with new models of cars, boats, and planes, with the addition of motorcycles and helicopters, each with more or less reasonable physics.

Vice City is one of the smallest virtual worlds in the GTA series. Just two small islands with a narrow strait between them, a couple hundred buildings, a stadium, an airport, a military base, and a long beach, all connected by a couple of looped highways. Fast travel wasn't even necessary.

Unlike Liberty City from GTA 3, Vice City appears to the player as a clean, coastal, sunny tropical city with sandy beaches, clear blue water, and blue skies. Most events take place in huge mansions, villas with yachts in the backyard, expensive clubs, luxurious restaurants, skyscrapers, and other spectacular locations, which skillfully mask the modest size of the world.

There is a life simulation: NPCs go to work and about their business, public and regular transport circulates, and the police will come for the lawbreaker. These and other improvements made the corrupt city much more alive than Liberty City.

The structure and content of Vice City, as well as individual buildings, were borrowed by designers and artists from real Miami, the films "Scarface", "Miami Vice," and "Carlito's Way." From there, the game world was filled with many events, gangs, and ethnic groups. Many scenes from movies, TV series, and real events also served as prototypes for the story.

Tommy Vercetti, a hitman for the Forelli crime family, is released from prison and sent to Vice City by his boss Sonny. He is tasked with expanding the family's influence in the south and establishing a drug trade (something the Forellis had previously avoided). However, the first deal goes awry, and Tommy is left without money or goods.

Vercetti finds himself at rock bottom — without money, a job, a car, or a roof over his head, and with huge debts to his boss. It's no surprise that throughout the story, he earns money and respect without hesitation or limitation — through prostitution, racketeering, robbery, drugs, and murder.

For his criminal empire, Vercetti literally conquers Vice City, and the writers skillfully depict the story of a greedy and vengeful criminal without any embellishment or glamour. Another strong aspect of the script is the harsh and uncompromising humor/sarcasm on any topic.

At the time of development, Rockstar wanted (and managed) not only to impress players with the scale of the game but also with the depth of the story, featuring a series of unexpected twists and brutal betrayals, as well as a Hollywood-style production with many characters. Compared to the latest GTA , the former gloss has been lost.

Vice City is an evolutionary step in perfecting the GTA formula of complete freedom of movement and action. The gameplay remains linear and still consists of completing missions, mini-games, and occasional chaos with the police.

Among the innovations is the division of quests into main and side missions, some of which are optional. Robbing "caravans" and shops is no longer the only way to earn money — to rise up, the player needs to acquire real estate and large businesses. These will need to be made profitable in separate missions, unlocking new content for progression. Purchased properties will help to rest, evade the police, store weapons and vehicles.

Familiar mini-games from GTA 3 remain: stunt jumps, collecting hidden packages, and more. New activities include shooting ranges, time-based checkpoint collections on land and water, stealing cars, motorcycles, and boats, riding city and municipal transport, stadium races on bikes, races with small remote-controlled planes, helicopters, and cars.

Additional missions, though requiring grinding, significantly upgrade the character, increasing health, armor, stamina, or providing permanent perks like fire protection.

After nearly three decades, Vice City is heavily outdated, primarily in terms of controls, gameplay, and features. Even just launching the original can be quite a problem. For playing the game, we recommend the following mods: