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Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

What’s the Story?

Reviewed by Aaron Lazenby

The controversial Grand Theft Auto 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).

Is It Any Good?

5

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.

But as offensive as the scenarios presented in Vice City may be, 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.

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