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You touch-a my car, I break-a your face, comprenda?
By Martin
Kingsley
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Tommy's
morning walk involves putting
on his shoes and reloading his Uzi 9mm
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It's been a little while
since we last saw Tommy Vercetti or his alter-ego, Ray Liotta.
Yet here he is again, looking as sharp as ever (sharper, actually),
with nothing but a MAC-10, a Hawaiian shirt and some American jeans
assembled in Guatemala for those who live in a city where the pastel
suit reigns supreme.
But now Tommy has a new weapon in his arsenal to take to the streets:
Separate 3D Acceleration!
*Smattering of applause*
Yeah, you heard that right. Vice City is finally on PC, and boy
does it look nice. Ripped away is the blurred PS2 exterior, revealing
the raw sharp interior that lies within Rockstar's latest incarnation
of the ever-popular GTA series.
When it comes to PC ports, Rockstar have always been exceptional.
Mouse support, a choice of audio codecs, definable controls, support
for 3D acceleration, etc, etc ad infinitum; the list just goes on
and on, and the most important part of all this is that it works.
No crashes, no horrific clipping errors, no bugs, cheat codes…in
all respects, its one watertight setup.
There's not much else I can say about the actual gameplay that
isn't already said in my PS2 review of Vice City, so I'll be lazy
and quote:
"You play Tommy Vercetti, a mobster who went down for a
murder rap and stayed quiet, instead of squealing in exchange for
a lesser sentence. The year is now 1986, and you've been released.
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The motorcycles
not only look cool, but
the physics back-end is seriously solid
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"While the Family is not exactly enthused to hear that
you're back, they send you (Tommy) down to Vice City to prepare
the area for the arrival of the Mafia. To do so, they give you a
fat wad of cash that is going to be used to fund the Family's first
big drug deal in the area.
"Unfortunately, things do not go to plan, and you are betrayed
and left with no cash, no drugs and the Godfather breathing down
your neck like there is no tomorrow. To reveal anymore of the plot
would be a crime, so I'll leave it at that. Suffice to say, there
are more twists and turns than in an episode of the Sopranos...
"The voice acting is uniformly excellent, even more so
than in GTA3. Unlike in GTA3, Tommy is not a mute, indeed it would
be fair to say that he can get exceedingly vocal at some points.
Voiced by the ever-dependable Ray Liotta (Hannibal, Goodfellas),
he comes across perfectly as the rough, tough gangster-man he should
be.
"Bill Finchter plays your coke-fiend lawyer Ken with feeling,
and Phillip M. Thomas (Miami Vice) reprises his role as an 80s sidekick,
playing the part of Lance Vance, your partner in crime.
"Rockstar have gone for the star treatment this time as
far as major roles go, with names such as Gary Busey (Under Siege,
Lethal Weapon), Dennis Hopper (Speed, Waterworld), Tom Sizemore
(Saving Private Ryan, Black Hawk Down, Natural Born Killers) and
Jenna Jameson showing up in supporting and major roles."
There, that's a nice big quote for you. And here's another:
"This game isn't called 'Grand Theft Auto' for nothing.
The vehicles, all of them, just scream 80s styling. Some of the
cars are predecessors to cars featured in GTA3, like the Banshee.
It's amazing to see the changes in car design that have taken place
between then and now.
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Tommy
wasn't happy with the
take-away Drive-Thru service...
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"The Banshee of modern times is an ultra-sleek sports car
that resembles, in more ways than one, a Dodge Viper GTS, but in
Vice City, hard lines are the name of the game. That doesn't have
a lot of influence on speed, though. The Banshee absolutely flies!
And I haven't even started on the pseudo-Lamborghini…
"The biggest addition vehicle-wise is that of motorbikes.
Yep, motorbikes. Mopeds, dirt bikes, street bikes, Harleys and various
other two-wheelers, they're all there. And I have to say that, for
an engine that wasn't designed to accommodate two-wheeled physics,
the GTA engine does a marvellous job.
"I would even go so far as to say that the physics are
better than in some dedicated motorbike racing games. It's a pure
adrenalin rush to hurtle through side streets on a dirt bike, taking
pot shots with a MAC-10 at the similarly equipped object of your
fury."
One thing I might as well point out is that sometimes Vice City
can get a little too sharp, and missing polygons that would otherwise
have escaped your gamer's eye become quite apparent.
Although, for a game designed with a 300MHz processor in mind,
these graphical artifacts are very few and far between, which is
always good. Oh, yeah, while we're still quoting, here's a nice
short one to finish off the review and leave you with that warm
fuzzy feeling.
"For those of us who appreciate dark humour, excellent
gameplay, attention to detail and a fun atmosphere, Vice City is
for you."
There, now didn't that make you feel better?
Game:
Grand Theft Auto 3: Vice City
System: PC
Players: 1
Online: No
Developer: Rockstar
games
Distributor: Take
2
Rating: 95%
(Ratings
Key/Explantion)
Grand Theft Auto 3: Vice City is on the shelves now.
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