Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories Review

I loved the original Grand Theft Auto: Vice City a lot. Vice City is probably my favourite city out of all the GTA cities just because it was so colourful and full of personality. Vice City Stories does more of the same with the city, leaving most of the places intact and also showing some familiar faces. What has changed is the story and the main protagonist. The story does come down to your usual kill baddies and take over the city, though I did feel it to be a bit on the weak side. This mainly has to do with the main protagonist Vic Vance. One of the antagonist actually describes him best, namely ''You're trying to be the good guy in a bad man's game''. He does not want to do anything with taking over the city or getting high on drugs, but just wants to earn money for his family. This is very noticeable in the story as he's constantly pissed off whenever he has to do something morally bad, and literally is unable to smile. I know Grand Theft Auto games aren't really played for the story or characters, but I felt Vic to be one of the weaker main protagonists the series has to offer. The gameplay is surprisingly good and lends itself to the PSP very well. Driving feels very smooth and combat is pretty easy (although I feel that also has something to do with the pathetically weak AI). There is still enough to do in Vice City aside from the main storyline, and there's even some co-op! I've never tried out the latter, especially not now that wifi is pretty much dead on the PSP, but I can imagine it being a nice addition at the time. Another unique addition to this game is your own Empire. Not unlike the gangs from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, you can take over empire buildings to increase your overall presence in the city. Empires come with their own sets of missions, increasing the worth of the empire. They can also be attacked by rival empires a la San Andreas. I didn't bother too much with this gameplay mechanic since I mostly focused on the story, but the option is there for you. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories is pretty much a 3D GTA on a portable console, and I wouldn't have it any other way.



9/10