Final Review
First: my initial impressions.GTA Vice City is a disapointment, but not a huge one. First, you need to understand what I look for in games:
1. Realism. Realistic physics, graphics, sounds, dialoge, and scenarios.
2. A logical plot.
3. Suprises.
4. Extended gameplay.
5. An "aftergame" game.
For number 1, GTA falls seriously short compared to games like Splinter Cell and Mafia. I only have extended experience with Mafia, although Splinter Cell is my next purchase. The Vice City graphics look like they were made for the playstation. Not a compliment. It looks like the next version of the game will be no better as it will release exclusively on the Sony. Once you've driven down the streets of Lost Heaven, pulled up alongside a trolley stop, placed your sawed-off in the back of an unsuspecting gangster and pulled the trigger, ...Vice City looks so last generation. In every way, Vice City is cheaper looking, sounding, and feeling. Graphically, the game is no better than GTA3.
As far as plot goes, most video games fall short. I don't think the gaming companies like to spend money on writers, so they get their plot lines from developers and there are noticeable holes. For example, in Vice City, you knock off a bank. Ok, cool. It's a nice mission. One thing I don't understand is WHY. There are about 100 possible plausible explanations, but none of them are given. Perhaps this hole (and other holes) in the plot have more to do with the freedom they allow you to have. You can finish your missions in many different orders. By design, it is not a linear plot, but I would like more of a rigid plot even if it takes away from some of the freedom. Frankly, I don't care that I can complete the Cuban missions before the Haitian missions or vice-versa. That does not excite me. Also, a stronger plot does not have to be a limitation. If it is done well, it can enhance the freedom of the game.
Very few suprises in this game. Some nice ones are: the motorcycles, the apache hellicopter, the boats, the music on the radio, the guest stars, the ability to purchase propterty. The stadium mission could have been better, the shooting range could have been more exciting, and in general, the game could (should) have been more difficult. The ending was a little bit of a suprise, but the actual final mission was not very difficult.
The game ended too quickly. I was done with this game very quickly and did not have to work very hard at it. A little trial and error is all it took. Very little actual thought is needed to comple these missions. I'd like a $40 game to last longer and be more challanging.
It does have a series of "aftergames". You can re-run the races, find all the hidden packages, see all the easter eggs, do all the cab, vigilante, racing, and pizza missions, and do all the unique jumps.
Overall, I almost liked GTA3 better.
That's not to say it wasn't fun, ...but I like doing missions, not jumps. The variety of missions was pretty good, but not great. Mafia takes it, hands down.
7 out of 10.
Great music. Huge city. But I was done with the game so fast that I did not even have to memorize most of the city as I did in Mafia. That tells you something. Having all those streets and alleys is nice, but unless they are used, they are pretty much overlooked. BTW, Mafia got nine out of ten. Look for my Splinter Cell review soon.
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