Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is the second game in the Grand Theft Auto series to go into the third dimension. It took everything Grand Theft Auto III did right, and it expanded on that. Even today, Vice City is still regarded as a notable game in the series, standing against titles such as Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Grand Theft Auto V. Even though it’s been redone several times over, Vice City still stands as a great Grand Theft Auto game and a great game in general. Now let’s see why exactly this is.

Graphics: 8
For an Xbox game, the graphics in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City are pretty good. They aren’t exactly the graphics of Grand Theft Auto V, but that’s to be expected when you consider the ten year difference between the two games. Given the resources they had at the time, they managed to make a pretty good looking game. The city was designed very well, and all of the cars look sleek and well put together (you know, until you crash them, which you inevitably well). The character designs are crude and rather generic, but they are still about the quality expected of an Xbox game such as this one. Most importantly, there’s blood. You can’t have Grand Theft Auto without that sweet, sweet blood.

Sound: 7
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City offers just about what you would expect in terms of sound. It has good sound effects, the voice acting is decent, and it has some good music. The chainsaw sound effect is good too. Nothing particularly stands out other than the occasional song, but it gets the job done.

Addictiveness: 10
If you like the Grand Theft Auto games, then you’ll be hooked as soon as you start this one. It has a sort of humble simplicity compared to some of the more recent games, but it definitely has plenty to offer. Who knew it could be so fun to hit a pedestrian with a golf club, assault a police officer, get in a high speed chase, die, respawn, steal an ambulance, and drive into the ocean (all the while holding a chainsaw like a serial killer)? I’m getting ahead of myself here, but I think you’re starting to get the idea. Vice City is a wide open sandbox where you can drive and shoot as you please.

Story: 7
The story of Grand Theft Auto isn’t its primary draw (that would be the chainsaw running through innocent people), but the story does offer itself to the game. The main character must earn money to make up for a delivery that he lost in an attempt to satisfy an angry crime lord. Along the way, you can buy out various businesses to open up their side missions and reap profits. The story isn’t going to win any awards, but it’s put together well enough and justifies all of the mindless killing. Well, not really. Not even close, actually. But you know you’re going to be doing it anyways. Probably with a chainsaw and a hockey mask.

Depth: 10
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is a wide open sandbox full of cars, weapons, and innocent pedestrians. The main two things you can do in this game are the many missions (very fun) and the constant killing of everyone around you (very very fun). The city itself, though not quite the size of huge modern game maps, is still quite large. There are two main islands you play on with a few smaller ones in between. This gives plenty of room to explore and play in. The missions offer hours of game play with different objectives and game play features. There are also various mini games and side quests. One example of this would be the “Vigilante” game where you hunt down and kill criminals while in a police car (which you probably stole). Similar games are offered with the ambulance, fire truck, pizza delivery and taxi cab. The side quests offer variation of the game as well, such as the one where you get into an ice cream truck to deliver, erm… “ice cream”.

Not only is there a lot to do, but there’s a lot to find as well. A few examples include the hidden packages (of which there are 100), unique jumps (places you drive your car or motorcycle off of), and rampages (touch it and you have a certain amount of time to kill a certain amount of people in a certain way). There are also numerous different vehicles that you can find throughout the city. Most of them are various types of cars, but you can also find motorcycles, helicopters, and a tank. Lots of weapons are involved too. Not only are there every type of gun you can imagine, but many melee weapons including machetes, chainsaws, screwdrivers, baseball bats, golf clubs, chainsaws, hammers, meat cleavers, and katanas.

Difficulty: 5
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is a pretty standard game as far as difficulty goes. The police start off really easy to beat, but become more difficult as you commit more crimes (most of these crimes involving a chainsaw). The missions themselves don’t offer too much of a challenge, with the rare exception of course. They might take a few tries, but when it comes down to it, a child should be able to beat most of them with some practice. A child shouldn't’t be playing this game, but I know they will anyways. Best of luck chainsaw wielding children!

Overall: 9.4
Vice City is a solid game that has a lot of homicidal fun for people of all ages… that are old enough to play this game. There’s a lot to do. And when you bored of doing that stuff? Steal a tank and start blowing stuff up. Even with the mindless violence out of the picture, the game still offers a lot for anyone who may be interested. I think I’ve dissected the game well enough and managed to mention the chainsaw in every section, so I guess my work here is done. Give the game a try if you haven’t already!

Thebiguglyalien : No matter the console, the GTA games were always a great choice for a great time, so much to offer.