Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories - M

New GTA is another brutal, unabashedly adult game.

Publisher: Rockstar Games Category/Genre: Video Games - Action/Adventure Platform: PlayStation 2, PSP Price: $49.99 Online Enabled: Yes Graphics: Medium. Nice vistas, but blocky characters and often slow frame rate. Playability: High. A snap, thanks to excellent camerawork and intuitive controls. Reading Level: Light Release Date: 10/30/2006 ESRB Rating: M for blood and gore, intense violence, strong language, strong sexual content, use of drugs

Common Sense Note

Parents need to know that the content of this game is consistent with previous entries in the series -- meaning brutal violence, smarmy sexuality, drug use, and bad language are all in full effect. Players will be involved in contract killings, gang wars, torture, and drive-by shootings, and are encouraged to kill people (there is a body count measure that includes the number of cops killed). Ethnic caricatures abound, and many characters snort cocaine. Despite the game's amazing depth and detail, the developers have made another unabashedly adult game that revels in explicit content, albeit with a sly sense of humor. The Grand Theft Auto (GTA) series is all about dabbling in the dark fantasy of the criminal world, and this world is only suitable for mature players.

Families that play this game can talk about the complex ethnic and racial world depicted. Does the revelation that white supremacist bikers are gay somehow mock their hateful ideology? Is the coarsely named "Cholo" gang a lazy use of a Latino stereotype or a reflection of street crime reality? Also, does the main character's noble motives -- and persistent reluctance to engage in criminal behavior -- somehow soften his antisocial acts? Why do you think the GTA series is so popular?

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Aaron Lazenby

The Grand Theft Auto (GTA) series is now 10 installments deep (if you count expansion packs and Game Boy Advance entries), but seems to have found a perfect home on the PSP with GRAND THEFT AUTO: VICE CITY STORIES.

The second GTA for the Sony handheld delivers almost everything you'd expect from a console game -- comparable graphics, a sprawling game world, intuitive controls, memorable characters with top-notch voice acting, and a vast array of unlockable extras. The missions and mini-games are the perfect length for quick gaming sessions, extending the game's replay value almost to infinity. Ten multiplayer challenges give you ample opportunity to compete against your friends.

Too bad the game is too dark and violent for any kids to enjoy.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories takes place prior to the events of its console predecessor, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Players control Vic Vance, brother of a leading character from the earlier game. Faced with a drug-addicted mother and a sick sibling, Vic enlists in the military to provide his family with some financial stability. But when his corrupt commanding officer forces him to run drug errands, Vic is kicked out of the Army and pursues a life of crime to help his family.

Along the way, Vic meets a wild array of characters: a sexually omnivorous gang leader, a sleazy undercover cop, a white supremacist who runs his criminal empire from a trailer park, and an androgynous filmmaker who likes spankings. These colorful folks populate a dark world of drug dealing, extortion, prostitution, and robbery, to name a few pastimes.

Gameplay is mostly focused on progressive missions, each providing a new challenge for Vic while extending the storyline. To earn money, players can also build their criminal empire by taking over the illegal businesses of rival gangs and defending them from constant attack. While building your empire is fun, fending off the steady onslaught of attackers becomes tiresome, distracting from the rest of the game.

But as with other GTA entries, the shocking content is really what is on display here. Unless you're OK with dropping your kid into a seedy virtual backwater, the PSP's trip to Vice City is an adults-only affair.

Families looking for alternative teen games with content that is age appropriate, check out Okami or Guitar Hero II.

Reviewed: 01/09/2007

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Content		CS	adults	kids
Content
Sexual Content Just a sample: houses of prostitution are part of your criminal empire and a sexually ravenous, androgynous character constantly propositions you.
Violence Contract killings, gang wars, torture, drive-by shootings, and a body count measure (including number of cops killed).
Language No restraint is shown here -- prepare for a flurry of F-bombs, a slew of S-words, and assorted variations on the word "ass."
Message
	Social Behavior Typical of the series: violence is the answer to every problem, ethnic caricatures abound, and crime pays.
	Commercialism Part of the GTA series.
	Drug/Alcohol/Tobacco Episode featuring homemade liquor pales in comparison to the drug content. Cocaine is central to the plot and characters are depicted snorting the drug.
	Educational Value