Has the video game medium spawned anything all that interesting? Sure, most of us children of the late-eighties have been raised on a pixilated diet of “Super Mario Brothers” and “Mortal Kombat.” Eventually, most of us graduated to so-called “alternative music” and Tarantino movies. Nostalgia aside, we can find few video game examples that could properly be called a classic.
Admittedly, I bought the Playstation 2, and then used it mostly to play DVDs and gather dust. That is, until “Grand Theft Auto 3” was released upon the civilized world.
“GTA3” (the acronym affectionately used by “Grand Theft” aficionados) made its debut in early 2001, to popular and critical acclaim, as well as infamous disdain from parental groups everywhere.
In “GTA3” you play a nameless thug who has just escaped from prison into the streets of Liberty City, a bleak metropolis swimming in gang violence and mafia corruption.
True to its title, your character can easily carjack any vehicle in the city, drive around like a maniac, run over pedestrians and crash into other vehicles. Or the protagonist could follow various missions courtesy of the local crime-lords, and build up money and power, not to mention a deadly arsenal.
Anyone familiar with video game lore knows that this title, from ambitious video game developer Rockstar Games, soon blew up into a cultural phenomenon. A visit to any Toys’R’Us or Babbages would yield yet another empty slot where “GTA3” had once been. It quickly became a multi-million dollar venture, making more than most movie releases.
It goes without saying that Rockstar’s follow-up to “GTA3”: “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City,” is the most eagerly awaited video game release of the year. And it lives up to the hype.
Like its predecessor, “Vice City” is a fun and addictive game that features a massive world filled with various possibilities and options. It is challenging enough to keep hardcore game buffs busy, yet is accessible for casual players as well.
The environment of “Vice City” is based on Miami, Florida. Yet it is not contemporary Florida, consisting of election errors and a Governor with the president’s last name. This is the Miami of 1986, all pastel and glam. It is a world inspired by the 80s television show “Miami Vice” (hence the title) and the 1982 mafia classic “Scarface.”
Even the soundtrack is taken directly from the 80s (see accompanying article). Rockstar received permission to use countless popular songs from the eighties. Jack any car on the game, listen to the radio and you will hear a cornucopia of 80s hits, from new wave to newborn rap.
This time around, the main character has a name, Tommy Vercetti, and is voiced by “Goodfellas” alumnus Ray Liotta. Vercetti has just pulled a 15 year stretch in the big house for the mob. Of course, the mob appreciates Vercetti for not being a rat, and generously sends him down to Vice City to pull some ambitious business deals.
Nothing ever goes easy, and Vercetti’s first cocaine deal goes awry, leaving him broke with no idea of who screwed him over. This does not make the mob too happy, either, and they plan to come down to Vice City to straighten out the situation. As Versetti, it is your mission to find out who wronged you, and to take over Vice City in order to make sure nobody pushes you around again.
Versetti gets involved in other missions along the way, including having to smash jurors’ cars to pieces, getting involved in a Haitian-Cuban gang war, destroying a local shopping mall and running an adult studio, just to name a few.
In typical GTA fashion, if you can also drive around Vice City like a lunatic and turn it into your own destruction derby. The biggest charm of “GTA” is that you can make it as challengingly structured or as wildly anarchic as you want it to be.
If any of this sounds remotely offensive to you, then you can understand why many parents are complaining. Of course, “Vice City” is rated M for mature, and is clearly not for young kids. After all, would you let a ten-year-old watch the “Sopranos”?
As for the violence and other anti-social aspects of the game, the attitude that “GTA” portrays these in comes along with a very tongue-in-cheek sense of humor. The cocaine-laden tale the game begins with is almost a satire of old movies such as “Scarface.”
The environment and characters in “Vice City” takes the humor even further. The whole 80s milieu, with its Day-Glo colors and bad hair, gives the game a very kitschy vibe. Then we have the fun characters like Pastor Richards (roughly based off of Louisiana’s very own Jimmy Swaggert) and porn director Steve Scott (a caricature of Steven Spielberg).
And then we have the cars. There are basic sedans along with all the fancy Porsches, Lamborghinis, and Ferraris (imitations, of course). And then we have forgotten lemons like the Deloreon (of “Back to the Future” fame). The cool thing is that when you ride in a car, you can actually feel the weight of it. A Cadillac that you pick up in Haitian downtown rides slower and clunkier than the fast Porsche you jack uptown.
Other than cars, you also have access to a large variety of motorcycles, dirt bikes, mopeds — and later on — boats, airplanes and helicopters. For those who have already played “GTA3”, you will be pleased to know that “Vice City” improves on its predecessor’s few shortcomings.
The graphics are much better, giving use of a brightly vivid, multi-textured world, rather than the bland, polygon based city of “GTA3”.
Plus, for all of the praise that “GTA3” was fully interactive, it was unfortunate that you could not enter hardly any of the buildings. In “Vice City”, you can enter numerous buildings and walk around much more freely.
It is notable that a major actor, Ray Liotta, gives his voice as the main character of the game. Other stars who give voiceovers are Gary Busey, Dennis Hopper, Deborah Harry, David Paymer, Danny Trejo, Luis Guzman, Philip Michael Thomas and ex-adult film actress Jenna Jameson. The fact that real actors play roles in “Vice City” proves that video games are finally getting the same respect as movies and television shows.
While no video game has yet to achieve the “high art” status of a Kubrick movie or a Radiohead song, at least the new breed of game championed by “GTA” proves that video games can be great entertainment.
So, go out and grab a copy and give it a spin. Just watch out for pedestrians, they leave marks on your tires.