Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories

Written by Adam Woolcott  on October 10, 2006

Final Glimpse: It's the first dance for Vic Vance

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If anything, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories was proof that even on a portable console, you can think big and pull off something nobody expected was possible Ц a full-fledged GTA game with little, if any, corners cut. It certainly didn't equal the high-quality offerings on a home system, but for PSP...man, they pulled off miracles. To the surprise of nobody, Rockstar is back on the job for the newest installment of GTA on PSP, dubbed Vice City Stories. Once again taking place before the events of its console parallel like LCS did with GTA III, this glorious return to 1980's excess is set to hopefully respark interest in Sony's troubled handheld Ц considering how popular Vice City was on PS2, expectations for success are very high. Like Liberty City Stories was the best reason to own a PSP last year Ц Vice City Stories is destined to become the best reason for owning a PSP in 2006.

Those GTA fans who actually pay attention to cutscenes likely recall the first moments of Vice City, when Tommy Vercetti arrived to make a drug deal, only to have it go horribly wrong when his trading partner gets shot up and killed. That guy was Vic Vance, the brother of annoying turncoat Lance Vance Ц and 2 years before the events of Vice City, he becomes the main character of Vice City Stories. Technically, Vic is on hiatus from his military duties, laying over in Vice while awaiting transfer to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. While Rockstar has kept much of the plot under wraps in their usual fashion, one can recognize what happens here Ц Vic gets caught up in the illegal activities of the city, no doubt due to his pest of a brother Lance (who is basically a parody of your average nerd) and the other kingpins like Ricardo Diaz and Cuban warlord Umberto Robina. So obviously Vic's directive changes drastically as he gets sucked in to the underworld, and instead of merely waiting for transfer, he's now out to own Vice City... though it's more like keeping it warm for Tommy in a couple years. It's a bit morbid actually Ц playing as a guy who you know gets whacked in another GTA game.

Like Liberty City Stories crammed all of Liberty City onto one UMD and even brought in some new terrain to boot, VCS is set to do the same. The entire city of Vice is here, with numerous cosmetic changes to 'age' the game properly; some buildings will not be there, others will have different names, etc. Rockstar has also mentioned some brand new areas around Vice, likely island areas that can only be accessed by boat, jet-ski, helicopters (finally!), and by swimming Ц indeed, swimming has returned to GTA after being absent in LCS. Apparently Italians can't swim. Because Rockstar Leeds/North has an extra year of PSP knowledge under their belts, many fixes from LCS will be present, like the aforementioned new areas, and more variety in cars and pedestrians at any given time Ц instead of 2 or 3 different models on the screen at once, the range of character designs and car makes will be more realistic. I'm really hoping VCS steals something from Saints Row Ц there has to be at least a few guys dressed up as giant hot dogs.

Generally, you can expect VCS to contain all the usual GTA staples Ц the usual side missions, rampages, hidden packages, weird timed missions, and the like. Missions themselves are set to be more varied compared to LCS, which contained many short, repetitive mission styles Ц though the one where you remotely carjack Paulie Sindacco's car and then take control of it was gold. Instead, expect a lot of variance in mission styles, especially those that take advantage of the water and air vehicles and skills. What's wholly new to GTA is Empire Building, something that probably will appear full-force in Grand Theft Auto IV next year. If you've played The Godfather, you know one of the core gameplay mechanics was the ability to take over businesses, and then frequently overtake the racket behind the legit business to earn maximum pay each week. Vice City Stories takes that to another level with Empire Building. Basically, there's a ton of businesses in Vice that Vic can take over by killing whoever controls it. Upon taking over the building, you can then use what you've taken to create your own venture Ц nightclubs with, uh, benefits, drug fronts, whorehouses Ц pretty much anything that's illegal.

The only real concern is how much the controls could be improved Ц while Liberty City Stories was manageable, the targeting was sorely hurt from the lack of a 2nd analog stick, and a few other GTA trademarks were hampered by the PSP's design flaws. Playing LCS on PS2 only amplified these problems. Problem is, there's hardly anything that can be done to improve these issues, so unfortunately VCS might end up being an occasionally frustrating game that might be begging for a port to the more capable Dual Shock... or Sixaxis, whatever. Alas Rockstar claims that won't be happening, so in order to really enjoy the game, you'll just have to deal and hope for the best. It can all be dealt with, but in the back of your mind there's going to be many moments of irritation.