I still remember the days I cried, because my PC wouldn’t run the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City due to its lower configuration. Though I played them at the later stages of my life, I find it truly hard to believe that ten years have passed since its release. And to make its tenth year memorable, Rockstar Studios have re-released the epic title for the iOS and Android platform. So, let’s quickly check out how the game fares on the Smartphones.
The Plot
As most of us know, we play as Tony Vercetti, a wannabe gangster and a hitman out from prison after 15 years. He begins to work for a Liberty City mafia and a drug dealer Sonny Forelli, who sends Tony to Vice City to avoid landing in unwanted trouble. During one of the drug deal episodes, Vercetti’s men are interrupted by an unknown group and are killed. Tony encounters a narrow escape but eventually loses the cocaine and the heavy sum to the intruders. He then sets out to uncover the people behind the attacks and their intentions, and ultimately ends becoming a drug kingpin in Vice City.
The Gameplay
The game is set in the period of the 1980’s and happens around the city of Miami. The representation of the game like one of the crime movies of Francis Ford, truly adds to the game’s appeal and engagement. Things that further enhance the excitement of this period-portrayal are the in-game radio stations. Listening to those vintage songs while driving a Glendale across the coastlines of Miami truly brings back the retro feel!
Look and representation aside, the gameplay in the 10th anniversary edition is intriguing as well. The major and the prime areas of the game’s plot are narrated in the form of videos and cut-scenes and the gameplay majorly revolves around completing the missions. The missions are briefed by the bosses and are centered towards chasing, killing, protecting, driving an RC aircraft and the likes. Though repetitive, it’s fun.
Vehicles and weaponry – the two areas where any GTA games excels is amazing in Vice City. The collection of cars the game offers is great, though some still require some tweaks in terms of their look and handling. Some of the vehicles include, the Banshee, Comet, BF Injection, Admiral, Voodoo and loads of other public service vehicles and aircrafts. But what’s best to ride on the road is the simple scooter, available in various colors. It’s swift, precise in handling and is super fun to explore the streets with. Weapons on the other hand are brutal as always and offer a bunch of professional tools that range from a chef knife, golf bats, chain saws and other weapons of modern warfare.
To avoid repetitiveness, the game offers various sub-missions like the taxi missions, vigilante missions, paramedical missions and plenty of races to keep up the gameplay. If you feel the game is turning quite redundant, just hop into a vehicle of your choice and simply cruise through the streets of Miami, from dawn to dusk. And yeah, don’t head towards the water by walk or vehicle, because Vercetti hasn’t learned to swim. He can ride stylish bikes; take down people with style, fly an aircraft but just can’t swim.
The controller configuration for the Smartphones was okay, as it showed some glitches in terms of vehicle handling. But the graphics were cool, bright (in fact much brighter than the consoles) and the gameplay was fascinating, which is quite obvious. Overall, an excellent game to play all the way again!
The Bottom Line
A game which I thought only the children of the 90’s would cherish is now out for the kids of the new millennium. So guys please don’t miss it. And children of the 90’s go for it if you want to relive those good old days of GTAing. The final word – due to some glitches we experienced during the gameplay, we give 4 stars out of 5 for the game we loved and ever will, GTA: Vice City.
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