Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this game features all manner of violence, drug use, and foul language. Kids who play this game will be able to steal cars, kill a prostitute after having sex with her, shoot cops, blow up an ambulance, and sell drugs. Vice City is a raw place despite its ocean views and active nightlife: while clever pop culture references to the 1980s make the game creative and appealing, the graphic nature of its storyline makes it shocking. The game is part of a long-running series. Parents also need to know that the star rating given to this game is based on quality of gameplay within this adult genre of video gaming and not an endorsement of the violence within the game.
Families that play this game should talk about the presence of adult content in video games. Does the interactive nature of the experience make it more influential than books or movies? Is it appropriate for game developers to address such mature subjects as drug use and prostitution in what was once considered a children's medium? How does the development of adult-targeted comic books mirror or depart from that of the video game industry?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Aaron Lazenby
If you've heard of the Grand Theft Auto series, it's likely you have formed an opinion on whether it's a fun, groundbreaking, and popular game, or if it's exploitative, x-rated schlock. The game's contents are so objectionable -- and nevertheless well-made and engaging -- that it can't help but be polarizing.
The controversial series continues with GRAND THEFT AUTO: VICE CITY. And while it changes locales from the previous entry, it doesn't abandon the series' trademark recipe of drugs, sex, and violence.
Players control Tommy Vercetti, a recognized member of a big-city crime family, recently released after time in prison. Rather than returning home, Tommy settles in Vice City, a near-perfect replica of mid-1980s Miami. With a surging drug trade, profitable prostitution rings, and brutal violence, Vice City looks like a perfect fit for a guy like Tommy. Sure enough, it's not long before players are pimping women, selling drugs, and strong-arming rivals with the help of shotguns, AK-47s, Molotov cocktails, and a deadly chainsaw (among other weapons).
While the game is painted in pastels and features an amazing sunset over Vice Beach, parents shouldn't overlook Vice City's dark tones. Missions require players to intimidate jurors, bludgeon rivals with a golf club, and crash a car into a co-thug's wife. Players are rewarded with cash that allows them to build their arsenal and buy safe houses and fancy cars. But who needs to spend cash on a car when players can simply drag innocents from behind the wheel and steal their vehicles?
The game's amazing detail, ease of play, deep story, and sprawling game environment make it easy to spend hundreds of hours exploring and exploiting in this adult-content world.
Families looking for alternative teen games with content that is age appropriate, check out Okami or Guitar Hero II.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentExplicitly sexual -- you can be serviced by hookers. |
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ViolenceThe object is to shoot, kill, and beat up as many people as possible. There is gang warfare, beatings, drive-by shootings, killing of innocent bystanders, bloody and grotesque deaths. |
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LanguageConstant swearing is a part of this world. |
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Social BehaviorStealing, killing, and shooting are all a part of this gangster lifestyle. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoUnapologetic drug use. Some alcohol consumption as well. |
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