4/5 ★ – kubachowicki_'s review of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - The Definitive Edition.

I was not the biggest fan of Grand Theft Auto III, but it still managed to keep me hooked enough to get both 100% and the platinum trophy, although it did feel like an absolute chore for parts of it. I was hoping, and was dead certain that Vice City will be the game that truly gets me into GTA and the hype that has been around this franchise for decades now. I was right. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is a blast right from the get-go. The game instantly makes you feel the vibes of fictional 1980s Vice City, obviously heavily inspired by the real-life Miami, Florida. I am an absolute sucker for the 80s. The films, the music, the style, the 80s had it all. Whenever I talk to my Mum about the 80s, she is always so nostalgic about them as she grew up in the 80s, and I feel like it has certainly rubbed off on me. I somehow feel nostalgic for the 80s despite having never experienced them. 80s music for me is the best decade ever for music, and one of my favourites for film, too (I am a HUGE film guy). Anything 80s, my eyes turn. Therefore, it is not a surprise that I loved Vice City, a game that shows off 1986 with such flamboyance. The story of Vice City is great. It is very simple but so good. You play as Tommy Vercetti, an ex-con released after serving 15 years in a maximum security prison. He returns to Liberty City, only for his old boss, Sonny, to move him over down south to Vice City to keep him away from all the attention that he would get in Liberty City. From there, it becomes sort of like a starting from scratch after a 15-year hiatus Scarface type story. There is a bit of a sting in the tale, though, when after arriving in Vice City, Tommy is set up and loses Sonny's money, creating a whirlwind in the tensions between them that lasts the whole way through. Tommy is quite similar to Tony Montana, in the sense that he builds his own 'empire' in Vice City, the same way that Tony did in Miami, of course, the city that Vice City is based on. The cast of supporting characters is also so damn good. The dynamic between Tommy and Lance Vance feels very reminiscent of James Crockett (Crockett's Theme is in the radio stations!) and Ricardo Tubbs from Miami Vice, too, which I am not complaining about. Vice City takes such a beautiful and enjoyable location to be in and turns it on its head by showing us the criminal underworld within it. This juxtaposing nature adds so much layering to Vice City's story, which I loved so much. The amount that Vice City improved on from GTA III in the space of a year is genuinely unbelievable and mind-blowing. The map and locations, the story, the characters, the writing, the combat, the driving, the graphics, the radio stations, the vibes, motorbikes, wheelies, stoppies, properties, media attention, a protagonist that actually speaks, the mission design and game design as a whole. All significantly better in 2002's Vice City than in 2001's GTA III. Rockstar have really pulled it out of the bag here. My biggest criticism, however, is that just like in GTA III, the side content is extremely repetitive and feels very much like a chore at times. Sometimes I am left wondering if the time and effort I have to put into it is worth it just for a platinum trophy because honestly, it is not exactly that fun post-game. I feel like I only pushed through GTA III's side content because it was my first experience with GTA, but now I am not so determined to do it in the later games if this will carry on feeling this repetitive and obnoxious. San Andreas next, finishing off the 3D era of GTA! Before diving into GTA for the first time, I made an early prediction that either San Andreas or IV would be my favourite GTA game, so I will be finding that out next.