Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is a legendary spin-off of Grand Theft Auto 3, which developed the ideas and mechanics laid out in it, connected by common characters and references, but with an independent plot and a new city for the series, Vice City (inspired by 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 revolves around a young gangster, Tommy Vercetti, who is eager to rise to the top and is ready to step over others.

Despite the decades since its release, Vice City remains popular due to a vast 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 vehicle simulation. Among the new gameplay mechanics, after GTA 3: shooting from vehicles and improved damage geometry, aggressive police, slow-motion, and an unconventional movement model that prevented the character from climbing and swimming.

Almost all missions are deepened by changing the type of action. For example, starting with a party on a yacht, the hero continues running through the city on foot, and in the finale, he tries to escape from a chase in a car. Additionally, for each quest, Tommy dresses appropriately — sometimes as a janitor, sometimes as a hipster, and sometimes as a respectable gentleman.

There are many more types of weapons and vehicles. Firearms are divided into categories (pistols, SMGs, shotguns, rifles, sniper rifles, and heavy weapons), but you can only carry one type at a time. The transport options have expanded with new models of cars, boats, and planes, as well as motorcycles and helicopters, each with more or less realistic physics.

Vice City is one of the smallest virtual worlds in the GTA series. There are only two small islands with a narrow strait between them, a hundred or so buildings, a stadium, an airport, a military base, and a long beach, all connected by a couple of looped highways. Even fast travel was not needed.

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

There is a simulation of life: NPCs go to work and attend to their affairs, public and regular transport circulates, and the police will arrive for a troublemaker. These and other improvements have made the corrupt city much more alive than Liberty City.

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

Tommy Vercetti, a hitman for the Forelli mafia family, is released from prison and, at the request of his boss Sonny, heads to Vice City. He must expand the family's influence in the south and establish drug trafficking (which the Forellis had previously avoided). However, during his first deal, everything goes wrong, and Tommy ends up without money or goods.

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

For his criminal empire, Vercetti literally conquers Vice City, and the writers skillfully portray the story of a greedy and vengeful criminal without embellishments or glamour. Another strong point 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 plot, featuring unexpected twists and brutal betrayals, as well as a Hollywood-style production with many characters. Against the backdrop of the latest GTAs , the former gloss was 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 periodic chaos with the police.

New features include the division of quests into main and side, with some being optional. Robberies of "caravans" and shops are no longer the only way to earn money — to get ahead, players need to acquire real estate and large businesses. These will also need to be returned to profitability in specific missions, which will unlock new content for gameplay. Purchased properties will help players relax, evade the law, store weapons, and vehicles.

Familiar mini-games from GTA 3 remain: ramp jumps, collecting statuettes, hidden stashes, and more. Among the new activities are: shooting at a shooting range, collecting checkpoints in a timed challenge on land and water, stealing cars, motorcycles, and boats, riding on city and municipal transport, racing at the stadium on bikes, and racing small remote-controlled planes, helicopters, and cars.

Additional missions, while requiring grinding, significantly upgrade the character, increasing health, armor, stamina, or providing permanent perks, such as fire resistance.

In the third decade, Vice City has become quite outdated, primarily in controls, gameplay, and features. Even just launching the original will be quite a challenge. For completing the game, we recommend the following mods: