Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories

[MegaSvensk]

Lots of new info and screenshots on VCS here:
http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=253137

The game takes place in 1984 (two years before VC) and you'll play as Lance Vance's brother Victor Vance (the bald guy who was killed in the beginning of Vice City.)
The game has a higher polygon count and longer draw distance than GTA: Vice City.
Among the new features are jet-skis, helicopters, swimming, a new hurricane weather effect and improved driving physics.
Also, the mission are going to be longer and more in-depth than in Liberty City Stories.

[skittlebrau]

Ooh, I like!

Really glad they kept it in the 80s since most GTA players I've talked to say that as far as the setting and atmosphere goes, Vice City's is the most memorable. I love the idea of playing Lance's brother. Could definitely make for a memorable lead character such as Tommy or CJ.

Will be really interesting to see just how much the city has progressed in two years (1984 to 1986), much like Liberty City in 1998 had some subtle differences compared to 2001. Oh, and I can swim now instead of drowning :dance:

Oh man, I can't wait for this one. LCS didn't let me down and was actually surprisingly good for what it was, so this one can only be better. Hawt.

[kupomog]

Vice City Stories features the ability to swim.
Vice City Stories features the ability to swim.
Vice City Stories features the ability to swim.
What? I love swimming...there's a fucking beach, you should be able to swim!

Anyway, at first I was like "Lance's brother? Meh..." because at least Toni was a boss and junk. But I'm game. I can't think of any boss from VC that I really would want to play as anyway.

And I still looooove the box art for the game. VC art in general is purty...all colorful. I saw GTAVice's box art analysis the other day and I thought it was pretty neat, whether it turns out to be true or now.

And seeing as VC was my personal favorite, I can't wait to see how the city was before Tommy's arrival. I thought they did a good job on LCS (although I'm still not a fan of getting rid of the details on cars just to make them bulkier, smoother, but "shiny and more reflective in real time"). The missions were pretty fun, too, I can't remember a certain instance where the repetitiveness was extremely obvious (I mean in instances like in GTA3 when doing those Marty Chonks missions...).

I wonder what the excuse for not letting you to other islands will be this time. I liked the strike/protest idea in LCS.

[H Thompson]

The main thing I wonder about now though is, is a 3rd game in this series inevitable, surely there's no chance of San Andreas stories. Maybe they'll just do Los Santos stories or something. But I doubt it.

Anyway this might intrest me, will this go straight to ps2 this time? they might as well.

[phil]

shitty graphics though

[skittlebrau]

Much sleeker looking than the original Vice City, phil.

And it looks as though a moderator removed the scans from that particular board. BOOOO.

[kupomog]

Scans here:

http://www.gtavicecitystories.com/

[Greased Scotsman]

The radio stations featured in Vice City will return, complete with new songs from the 80's.
This is enough for me. The game could be totally shit, and I would still buy it for this. Dear God, I hope a soundtrack comes out.

[H Thompson]

did liberty city stories feature a funny talk radio station?

[Jeremy]

Yup. It had an internet geek mockery show on it, and a Dr. Phil parody. It isn't known if this will go straight to PS2 as well as PSP, but I can see them putting it on the PS2 after maybe six months of PSP exclusivity.

[kupomog]

Liberty City Free Radio was the station's name, and like Jeremy alluded to, it was more or less like WCTR containing show segments. Everyone loved The Electron Zone, of course. Chatterbox also had a small segment on there (Toni's mom called in to bitch about Toni, heh), then there was Nurse Bob, Coq o Vin, and Breathing World. I rarely ever got to hear any shows other than Nurse Bob, Electron Zone or Chatterbox, though. LCS had a weird ass glitch where LCFR would frequently reset on you when you got off/exited a vehicle and Nurse Bob is the first show in the loop so I'd almost always get stuck listening to it. And somehow every single time I turned to Head Radio, "Keep Dreaming" would always be playing...but it's a good song so I didn't mind.

[SubSane]

shitty graphics though

Amen. They were good for GTA III and Vice City, but by the time SA rolled around it was getting pretty old.

As for this... meh. I enjoyed the original PS2 games for their new, totally open worlds. Replaying those same worlds is likely to get a bit old.

[Sloppy Jimbo IV]

am i the only one who thought that vice city was poorly designed. the streets felt too narrow... nothing really felt connected properly and there was just too much water for a game where you couldnt swim

i also felt the soundtrack was awful. the only thing i hate worse than heavy metal is 80s hairband heavy metal... and 80s pop is almost worse than current pop. so so so tacky

riding motorbikes was cool though!

[H Thompson]

I do agree on both accounts actually, It was just flat and unyielding. and the fact that it's shaped more like a rectangle than a square causes the streets to too narrow which isn't that intresting. In liberty city and especially in San Fierro it's all very hilly and slopey in places, which makes for intresting jumps.
To be fair though they want to have authenticity to it, so there not going to change the shape of a city to suit that.
And the 80's was a terrible decades for music. I thought most people agreed on that, so why does everyone think the soundtrack was so great.

[skittlebrau]

am i the only one who thought that vice city was poorly designed. the streets felt too narrow... nothing really felt connected properly and there was just too much water for a game where you couldnt swim

i also felt the soundtrack was awful. the only thing i hate worse than heavy metal is 80s hairband heavy metal... and 80s pop is almost worse than current pop. so so so tacky

riding motorbikes was cool though!
Vice City is a faithful (albeit much smaller) recreation of Miami (and I find this out by watching CSI: Miami :-$) and I have almost no problems with the way the city is laid out. The streets are laid out decent enough to drive normally on, and when they get too narrow or congested with traffic I just drive on the sidewalk and take out a pedestrian or two (something I sadistically like to do every now and then, hehe) or drive right down the middle (something I became a pro at, even with big bulky cars like the Esperanto or the Oceanic).

The reason I said almost is because of two things I dislike: A) What everyone has pretty much said about being surrounded by water and beach (I want to be surrounded by beaches HONK HONK) and not being able to swim. At least give Tommy the ability to try and save himself before drowning instead of instadrowning like a pussy. Meh. And B) Leaf Links Country Club. I always thought it took up too much space which could have been utilized for more city landscape or whatever else. Granted there's a mission that involves Leaf Links (Four Iron), but you only ever see about 25% of it (if that) during the mission. The rest is just a huge waste of space.

As far as the soundtrack goes, most GTA fans consider VC's to be the best (myself included). Each station epitomizes the 80s just right. New Wave, Pop, Emotional (it never really crossed my mind at just how emotional (or emotionally cheesy) some songs were until I heard this station, heh), early electronic/hip-hop et al.... I don't think there's one song I dislike from any of these stations. I especially love the inclusion of Radio Espantoso since there's a large population of Cubans/Haitians in the city. Adds to the atmosphere, all in all. But yeah, I love the soundtrack so much that I own the boxset and downloaded/added the songs that were missing from the CDs :nerdb: Not terrible by a long shot.

And yes, the PCJ-600 gets lots of love from me. <3.

[gravymaster]

Stupid question here, but is this just going to be for the PSP? Vice City happens to be my favorite GTA. I'd like to play it on my 360.

[skittlebrau]

They say it's "exclusive" to the PSP now, but that's just bullshit talk and will eventually get ported to PS2 much like LCS did. As far as it reaching the 360, I don't know, gravy. Too early to tell. Doubt it, though :-/

[gravymaster]

They say it's "exclusive" to the PSP now, but that's just bullshit talk and will eventually get ported to PS2 much like LCS did. As far as it reaching the 360, I don't know, gravy. Too early to tell. Doubt it, though :-/
Yeah I know, its a longshot. At least 360 has "4", though. I am so fucking curious what they are going to do with that game. We all know it is going to be huge and look fantastic, but I'm more wondering about the atmosphere. They've done present day, 80s, 90s, etc. Call me crazy, but I'd like to see 1930s Chicago. I wanna be a rum runner, motherfucker.

[Wonderboy]

I'm still hoping Liberty City stories gets a Xbox port at the least. Maybe after awhile they do another GTA doublepack for the Xbox with VCS and LCS.

[H Thompson]

As far as the soundtrack goes, most GTA fans consider VC's to be the best (myself included). Each station epitomizes the 80s just right. New Wave, Pop, Emotional (it never really crossed my mind at just how emotional (or emotionally cheesy) some songs were until I heard this station, heh), early electronic/hip-hop et al.... I don't think there's one song I dislike from any of these stations. I especially love the inclusion of Radio Espantoso since there's a large population of Cubans/Haitians in the city. Adds to the atmosphere, all in all. But yeah, I love the soundtrack so much that I own the boxset and downloaded/added the songs that were missing from the CDs :nerdb: Not terrible by a long shot.



It may epitomize and cover it all just right, but that doesn't stop the fact that songs really suck and are mostly just awfully bad.

[kupomog]

Eh, I like 80s music, so I don't have a damn problem with it. It will always be my favorite soundtrack, even if "it's a fact that they really suck." I don't think they're as shitty as stuff today, but that's just me. I know tons of people who hates 80s music for sucking, but I know just as many people who also love 80s music. I've found that most songs are cheesy as fuck when you really bother to listen to them. My mom doesn't like 80s music worth a shit but she just looooooves Daddy Yankee and Korn so whatever.

As for Vice City itself, the city was flat and fairly boring. I don't necessarily have a problem with that because I enjoyed most of the sights around me and I was great with the layout (although I always found VC West to be really boring...maybe just because it was so much less colorful than VC East), but compared to cities like Liberty and and all the cities in San Andreas, Vice is probably my least favorite in the way of design. Atmosphere-wise it was nice, and again, VC was my favorite as far as car models and lighting/rain effects went.

And I'm sure this is just Mafia's craptacular-port ass fault, but I really don't wanna play a game in the 20s or 30s where you have to drive a lot...ever again..

[gravymaster]

And I'm sure this is just Mafia's craptacular-port ass fault, but I really don't wanna play a game in the 20s or 30s where you have to drive a lot...ever again..
It IS Mafia's fault. If done right, a game in the 20s-30s would kick some serious, serious ass.

[kupomog]

I'm sure it could (if done right....), especially in the way of the story and on foot action. I'm just remembering the horribly slow cars and shit turning I had to endure *shudder* The fastest car in that fuckass game was about as fast as a non-LCS Manana. I can't remember who made that game but goddamn I hate them for tainting me now. But I seem to remember everyone just raving about Mafia on PC so eh. I wouldn't want to play that kind of game on the PC to begin with.

[phil]

there'd be lots of awesome 30s action. and not necessarily mafia shit.

canadian rum runners used to slap airplane engines on the backs of small boats to outrun police, that would be cool in video game form. there could be lots of puzzly weird stuff at a speakeasy, strike riots, there could be a bonnie and clyde segment too.

[Lounge Fly]

Vice City is still the best of the GTA series IMO.

[H Thompson]

I've been replaying it at the moment, and it's got nothing on san andreas for me, but still very good of course. But I don't like how the story seems pretty much just dissapear in the middle, you take over diaz's mansion and do a few missions for that, and then you're just left to your own devices to scrape money together to buy properties and complete the missions for them. With 3 and San Andreas kept a tighter focus and there were twists and turns and developments along the way that kept me intrested. But it's very thin in vice city.

Although I seem to be the only one that thinks the missions and story are the most important thing in GTA games.

[skittlebrau]

But I don't like how the story seems pretty much just dissapear in the middle, you take over diaz's mansion and do a few missions for that, and then you're just left to your own devices to scrape money together to buy properties and complete the missions for them.
Yes, but owning the properties and assuring that they'll generate revenue (via the missions) after killing Diaz is a prerequisite for the finale. Remember, Forelli doesn't like Tommy dicking him around over his stolen coke and money. And he certainly doesn't like the fact that Tommy's doing his own thing in Vice City, slowly taking it over. The threatening phone calls you continually get from him only remind you of what you're supposed to be doing. It's a cool little plot reminder, methinks.

The story never disappears...you've just gotta play the missions in the right order.

[H Thompson]

But that's still show's it's a very thin story that all you get is phone calls reminding you that Forelli's pissed of at you. And my point is the properties you own, don't really tie into at all, most of the characters you'd meet in 3 and San Andreas were factors (some big, some not so big) into the plot. It's not that big a deal I guess, but it's good to have an extra motivation when replaying some missions for the 10th time.

[Toli]

Sounds great. I look forward to it's release.

[kupomog]

Official site has the trailer now.

Check it out here (http://www.rockstargames.com/vicecitystories/gtavcs.html).

One thing kinda bugging me is Vic's voice. In GTAVC I didn't even know he was Lance's brother because he just looked and sounded like a typical Cuban character in the game. Now he looks and sounds just plain black *shrug*

Unless I'm thinking of the wrong guy in the beginning of the game...

Anyway...

Heh intern Lazlow and MeTV. Ohhh this will be great. I'm loving the site and trailer and the music already (the background for Wave 103 is neat). Paradise FM seems to be a new radio station. Just watching all that stuff makes me so excited *drool*

Michelle Carapadis was mentioned so far in what I've seen, mwahaha, that was a funny bitch on K-Chat.

JACK HOWITZER.

Release, the gum that shoots a load in your mouth :x

[skittlebrau]

Ooh, I like!

Hearing Foreigner's "I Want To Know What Love Is" in the trailer only means one thing: more licensed music awesomenessss :dance:

[Greased Scotsman]

Just seen the trailer, and...FOREIGNER!! Oh, if they're all this good, I might just shell out for a PSP JUST for this.

God to hear about the return of V-Rock and Wave 103, and Paradise FM sounds good (maybe it's an alternative to Flash). But I pray they bring Emotion back - the inclusion of another Foreigner track makes it very likely.

I don't think this has been mentioned here yet, but V-Rock has Couzin Ed as its host (the guy who phoned up in VC and complained about Lazlow taking his job), with Lazlow as his assistant. And on Wave 103, Adam First now has an English girl as his co-presenter.

Songs I've heard on MeTV so far are Dio's "Holy Diver" and another song called Breakin' the Chains.

And great to see that Evacuator (the original film that came before Exploder) is featured. That's great continuity.

One month to go - can't wait...

[skittlebrau]

Even if it turns out awesome, I wouldn't shell out money for a PSP just for this one game. Just...don't see the need for one, especially when this'll get ported to PS2 soon enough. Then I will dance.

Paradise FM is a disco station that's been rumored to be Fever 105's predecessor in 1984, so we might still see Flash FM in this game. Can't see why it wouldn't be around...there needs to be a top 40/pop station with awesome tuneage.

And yeah, I need to hear Fernando Martinez in this game :-$

[Toli]

They say it will not be ported to ps2 but that is massive loads of crap. This notion will draw in the psp crowds and then after a little while it will be on ps2 and sony will be all the richer.

[Joe Dumbass]

I wonder if there will be a referance to Maurice Chavez's former career as a clown.

[Mitchell]

where is the trailer, can somebody give me a link please? thanks in advance!

[kupomog]

http://www.rockstargames.com/vicecitystories/gtavcs.html

[Greased Scotsman]

Main site's been updated again - Emotion and Flash are both coming back. Flash has two presenters, like Wave 103, but Emotion has a completely different guy (because Fernando only arrived in Vice City a few months before the time of GTA:VC).

Full list of known songs is on Wikipedia. Two Pat Benatar songs have surfaced so far, a bit like Michael Jackson in GTA:VC.

What songs do you guys want to see in the soundtrack? (bearing in mind that it has to be pre-1985)

I want to see Bon Jovi - "Runaway", because I was so disappointed that they weren't in VC, when 1986 was when their biggest hit was released. Also some more Iron Maiden and Ozzy Osbourne, and other songs by the artists on Emotion (e.g. Mr Mister, REO Speedwagon).

[MegaSvensk]

I want Megadeth, Judas Priest, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Van Halen and Ozzy Osbourne on V-Rock (Only Sissies Cry. Real Men Stand In The Rain And Listen To V-Rock.)

[skittlebrau]

Ladies and gentlemen, let's pop.

New trailer is sexy beyond belief. I really like the fact that Flash FM is coming back with Toni(!) at the helm because let's face it, it just wouldn't epitomize the 80's without a pop station now, would it?

New screenshots are amazing. The detail they put into each one is astounding. And I love new MeTV stuff.

I'm all giddy now, teehee.

[Greased Scotsman]

(Only Sissies Cry. Real Men Stand In The Rain And Listen To V-Rock.)For people who wear nametags to work!

If you can't wear a spandex jumpsuit, what can you do?

So many great ones. Can't wait to hear the new ones.

[kupomog]

I really like the fact that Flash FM is coming back with Toni(!) at the helm because let's face it, it just wouldn't epitomize the 80's without a pop station now, would it?
Woooo Toni! I wonder what happened between GTA:VC and GTA:LCS that caused Toni to leave Flash/Flashback. In LCS, that crazy German shim Reni takes over...so creepy but so fucking hilarious...and Reni is supposed to be a boss in GTA:VC (it would explain all the middlesex porn star talk in LCS :-O)

[MegaSvensk]

http://www.myfilehut.com/userfiles/43481/1.jpg
http://www.myfilehut.com/userfiles/43481/2.jpg
http://www.myfilehut.com/userfiles/43481/3.jpg
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http://www.myfilehut.com/userfiles/43481/6.jpg
http://www.myfilehut.com/userfiles/43481/7.jpg

[Greased Scotsman]

That's a great review, although no mention of any new songs on the soundtrack - disappointing.

[Greased Scotsman]

MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR MAJOR site update this week. New trailer & loads of new info.

The same people from VC are returning to voice Phil Cassidy & Lance Vance.

The new trailer features a video of Phil Collins playing in Vice City, but no-one knows if he's actually doing a cameo in the game. One thing's for certain - "In the Air Tonight" is on the soundtrack.

Speaking of the soundtrack, new radio stations - Fever 105's predecessor is Fresh 105, a hip hop station similar to Wildstyle. A soul station is also available.

Also, confimation - Foreigner is an Emotion 98.3 song.

[skittlebrau]

Hmm, I would venture to say that VCFL is predecessor to Fever 105 since they have practically the same format, and Fresh FM (don't see any mention of it being at 105 FM) is the predecessor to Wildstyle. Maybe someone came in, bought out the stations, updated their images by changing names and DJs but kept the formats similar (while dropping Paradise FM since disco's dead) sometime inbetween 1984-1986? Still, good to see good music and stations there. Good stuff.

As for the trailer, awesome Phil Collins stuff in there. Heh, he's probably performing at Hyman Memorial Stadium. Rest of the stuff looks awesome, too. Hurry up and port to PS2, plz!

[Spartan]

Yeah I know, its a longshot. At least 360 has "4", though. I am so fucking curious what they are going to do with that game. We all know it is going to be huge and look fantastic, but I'm more wondering about the atmosphere. They've done present day, 80s, 90s, etc. Call me crazy, but I'd like to see 1930s Chicago. I wanna be a rum runner, motherfucker.

i want london, just to see how large of a playing field they can really mess with.

[Kuje]

Oh my god. I really need to buy LCS and VCS.

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/3529/lukepo2.png

[camelenchilada]

i'm not really sure where i want grand theft auto 4 to take place...chicago and london would be pretty cool, but they always make fictional cities, so i'm kind of hoping they continue that trend.

[Greased Scotsman]

Fresh FM (don't see any mention of it being at 105 FM)If you look at the picture that Kuje-o posted, between the girl's legs you can see the words "Fresh 105".

Also, Wikipedia has an updated soundtrack list, now with at least 8 songs per station known. (KISS on V-Rock!! w00t!!)

[skittlebrau]

Ooh, I didn't see that. Yeah, maybe I'm still partly right. Stations were bought out, switched around (including frequencies), names changed, DJs replaced but formats kept sometime after '84. But I'm thinking about this waaay too much here. All I know is the wiki article has some great songs listed :bang:

[skittlebrau]

Alright, dudes. It's been out since Tuesday. I know at least one of you has a friend of a friend of a friend who has a PSP and let you play it. Let's hear about it.

But for those of us that haven't, full soundtrack listing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Theft_Auto:_Vice_City_Stories_soundtrack) and a few short videos to wet your whistle.

Opening credits (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUxGWgJhoS0)

First mission (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqWHtf4CcRs)

"Jive Drive" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--HhVQokJ5M)

Empire building (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Av49TVIzKAE)

[Homer 4 President]

I love the GTA franchise. It started off with GTA 3, and now I've moved on to San Andreas <3 However, the graphics don't run well on my computer and it's quite slow and choppy. :(

[Toli]

Finished this game a week ago. It's well written and I enjoy the ending where Lance never learns.

[camelenchilada]

i have a psp, i just hate playing gta on it because...well...it's just easier to play it with a tv screen and a real controller...especially when you come to the more intense missions

[Greased Scotsman]

So, any news on whether the soundtrack is being released on CD? It damn well better be...

[Greased Scotsman]

Sorry to bump this thread, but GTA VCS is coming to PS2 on March 6th (North Ametica) and 9th (UK), once again saving me £250. The game will be budget-price, just like LCS PS2 was.

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSS!! I can't wait to play in Vice City again.

[skittlebrau]

Well I'll be goddamned. (http://www.gamespot.com/news/6165548.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=morenews&tag=morenews;title;5) *plethora of dancing smileys*

Well, not really. I knew it was only a matter of time before it happened. PSP exclusive, my ass.

Press release. (http://ir.take2games.com/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=229033)

New York, NY – February 7, 2007 – Rockstar Games, the world-renowned publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (Nasdaq: TTWO), announced today that Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories will be coming to the PlayStation 2 system. The title will be available in North America on March 6, 2007 and will be on European retail shelves on March 9, 2007.

So soon. Thy will be mine.

[kupomog]

MARCH. So it pretty much is exactly like they did for LCS. Pretend it won't port, and then announce the port ridiculously close to release date.

It's time to rub this shit in faces. I've had approximately five different people gloat over me that this would NOT come to PS2. And one person even suggested that they wouldn't post because "LCS didn't sell well" which is pretty much NO.

"They aren't gonna put it on the PS2, I KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT."
"But that's exactly what they said about LCS and it got put on the PS2 a few mont--"
"I SAID THEY'RE NOT PORTING, I'M SMRT!"

[H Thompson]

Hell yes, this is good news.

I was starting to think the ps2 was running out of good games, but Okami is released today in the U.K, FFXII on the 23rd Febuary, and now this.

[Greased Scotsman]

Is four weeks the shortest time between a game's announcement and its release? I know it's only a port, but still...

And what I like even better about this is that LCS on PS2 was announced in January but wasn't released til June. Rockstar must have been working on VCS at the same time as the PSP version.

[kupomog]

They announced it in January, really? I can only find articles that have them announcing it in April after months of saying they wouldn't and releasing in June. So it would be like them doing the same thing again.

[Greased Scotsman]

They announced it in January, really? I can only find articles that have them announcing it in April after months of saying they wouldn't and releasing in June. So it would be like them doing the same thing again.Nah, I remember they announced their 2006 games in early January and the original release date given was April, and then everyone (i.e. me) got mad when they delayed it til June.

[skittlebrau]

DUDES, it's out today for PS2! Run out and get it now! I am :dance:

[skittlebrau]

And I did :ninjabang:

I arrived at Best Buy at noon and was surprised to not see any out on the shelves. Fearing they sold out I asked several people that blew me off until one dude FINALLY went back and checked and found out they had them in inventory...but they weren't stocked because NO ONE knew it even released today. Nice to have people working in the game department that don't know diddlyshit.

The guy that finally helped me tried to convince me it wasn't gonna be a big seller because it sold poorly on the PSP and that I'd be wasting my time. My response: "First off, I don't own a PSP. Second, I don't know a swinging soul that owns one. Third, I don't care what you think. Just give me the game and I'll be on my way." Good business ethics telling the customer they'd be wasting their time. It definitely gets the money coming in *rolls eyes*

Anyway, fuck all this noise. I've got me a new game to play!

[Magnum]

bought it for PSP saturday

outside of my problems with the "stories" series, it's a truely spiffy game

[kupomog]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh trails...well at least the trails are not annoying in the slightest bit this time, I hardly notice them. And they do give VC that healthy, colorful 80s glow. $14.99 at Circuit City, wooo.

I'm only up to the Boomshine mission...which I failed already. It's fun so far though, sweet memories...Vic's a pretty good guy. Starting out in the military is kind of funny :X

I'm gonna do some exploring later :bang:

[H Thompson]

I got this today, I kind of thought it might be better to finish FFXII first, but fuck it I don't care about that anymore. Did the first few missions, up to Vic getting kicked out of the military (It's so early on I don't consider that a spoiler) And then just drove around, re-aquianting myself with the city and listening to the music (which I already think is much better than the original Vice City, I can't understand the love that middling soundtrack gets) and that "Moorehead rides again" play, For some reason I always find the ongoing joke that communism is the most evil thing in the world, funny.

[kupomog]

...the hell is wrong with VC's soundtrack??

I'm good with VCS's soundtrack but as far as I'm concerned there's no way I will ever love it as much as VC's which was one of the most fitting and atmospheric ones to me with a damn good pick of songs. This soundtrack is okay for what it is, more or less on par I would say, and has a less mainstream pick of songs, plus some songs that would've worked beautifully in VC (I would've switched the Talk Talk songs, maybe, wouldve been so awesome on the old Flash but both are hawt...+ Phil Collins, woo), it feels great for the time even with 2 years less to choose from as far as 80s music goes.

It would be sooo much better though if the radio would stop looping so fucking frequently making me listen to the same song every time I get on/in a vehicle. Would be nice if it didn't suffer the radio glitch that LCS had as well that resets the radio (would also be nice if my fucking car didn't disappear every. single. time.). And I really wish they didn't shorten the songs as much as they did, that pissed me off in SA. I've managed to hear Love is a Battlefield one single time and I've already opened VC East. And when I heard it...the song lasted like...2 fucking minutes.

[H Thompson]

Well I got to the end of the story a few days ago and while the game as a whole has been great, I was slightly underwhelmed by the ending and final mission, it seemed to come too soon, also I can't belive my percentage completion can be so low, which isn't a good thing, it's deceptive, for the way they count up percentage completions, is a dirty filthy lie, the percentage the side tasks count up should be lower and the mission percentage should be higher.
I think it's ultimatley a little unsatisfying that you control a likeable character that can't get a break and that you know gets killed in a couple of years time, the whole story is a bit depressing.
But it's still great, better than 3 and LCS. probably not better than VC, which is hard for me to say since I've irritated people before with my blabbering about how it's overated
So though I was more pleasently suprised with stories, it doesn't quite have the same inventivness and variety in the missions that VC had.

[skittlebrau]

Yeah, I've only done a few missions so far on East Island (up to "High Wire"). The rest of the time was spent overtaking properties and completing the R3 missions on said island (already own all properties on West Island). Most of my time has been spent dodging the Sharks who'd try gunning me down each time I took one of their properties away. I swear, those fuckers are everywhere >: If it wasn't that, then they were attacking one of my properties on the other island in retaliation. It got so bad and tiring defending I just said "fuckit" and left them be to damage my properties. Much easier to repair everything once all the properties have been overtaken...which I've done, mwahaha.

Also managed to finish all empire building missions and max out my respect across the board. Now I'm bringing in over $90,000 each pay day :dance: Easiest money ever.

With all that I've done, I'm still only hovering around 35% completion, but I'm not underwhelmed. Means there's still a lot of jobs and side missions to do which gives the game excellent replay value. If the mission percentages were higher and 100% completion was easier to manage, then it wouldn't be as much fun. I'm the type of guy that likes to explore every little nook and cranny of the game, anyway, so finding new stuff to complete is always a joy. Makes it more challenging to accomplish 100%.

But yeah, surprisingly great game. I think it's time I got back into the storyline missions again :x

[H Thompson]

But it wouldn't make a difference to how much you have to complete, I'm just saying the percentage values should be different. you'd still have to do the same amount.
It's not really a big deal.

[Greased Scotsman]

It is a fantastic game, but nowhere NEAR as good as VC. I'm currently doing all the side missions after opeing up the Islands, and here's what I think:

The story is non-existent. There's no real setup like in previous games, Vic just gets kicked out of the military and then does some stuff. The acting isn't a scratch on VC either - even Lance and Phil seem weaker somehow, and they're played by the same guys. (Haven't heard Diaz yet, but he ruled in VC so I have high hopes.)

The missions are far too linear. This is a complaint I had with San Andreas as well, as there isn't the freedom of choice that Vice City had to offer with the property missions. There are dozens of side-missions to do, which is good for a place the size of San Andreas, but I think there are too many for a place as small as Vice City. Not to say that the Air Ambulance and new additions to the taxi missions aren't strokes of absolute genius.

Some of the locations have changed too dramatically. Are we supposed to believe that the entire Washington Mall was built in less than two years?

The Jet-ski is a bastard. As is swimming. The camera is either too low-down for you to see where your going or there isn't a ramp for miles.

The empire building is great, but having the gangs attack you EVERY THREE MINUTES with AK47s just as you've go your weapons back and stolen a car beside the hospital where you arrived after they wasted you last time, is not a good thing.

Finally, the soundtrack. It is brilliant, but just doesn't have as much variation or as many classics as the undeniably perfect VC soundtrack. (No Michael Jackson? No Ozzy? No Bryan Adams? No Mr Mister?)

V-Rock - Slightly to heavy for my tastes now, the likes of Balls To The Wall and Queen of the Reich are waaay too heavy. I do like Breaking The Chains, Rock You Like A Hurricane and All I'm Gonna Take, but there aren't any truly memorable songs that had great hooks like in the VC version. The ony exception is Lick It Up, which is classic enough to have been in VC. It's obvious that Judas Priest's, Quiet Riot's and Autograph's best songs were picked for the first game.

Favourite songs: Lick It Up, Breaking The Chains, All I'm Gonna Take, Rock You Like A Hurricane

Flash FM - The best station in VCS. Some of the songs like The Warrior are perfect for Flash FM's 80s pop-style vibe, and Talk Talk's and Wang Chung's songs in this game are perfect 80s anthems - It's My Life should have been in VC instead of Life's What You Make It. Dance Hall Days was Wang Chung's better song, but Don't Let Go is a fine alternative. The only songs I don't like are Appaloosa and Living on the Ceiling. Every other song I can happily listen to. If they weren't so damn short.

Favourites: The Warrior, Together In Electric Dreams, It's My Life, Don't Let Go

Emotion 98.3 - I think whoever chose the soundtrack saw how popular Emotion was in VC and decided to overfill the VCS version. Whereas every song on Emotion VC was an instant classic (e.g. Broken Wings, Died In Your Arms Tonight), there are only a select few that I could even compare in VCS. Of course, Foreigner, Roxy Music and Toto are always great, and Phil Collins's and Pat Benatar's best songs are on this station, but Eddie Money and Rainbow are so out of place, and 10cc and The Pretenders are just dull. I can't decide whether Avalon is better than More Than This in VC. Where are REO Speedwagon? I was positive "Can't Fight This Feeling" would be here.

Favourites: Make Believe, I Wanna Know What Love Is, We Belong, In The Air Tonight, Avalon

Wave 103 - RELAX!! This was one of the only songs missing from VC. Other than the brilliant trilogy of Blondie, FGTH and ABC, there's The Human League and A Flock of Seagulls...and the rest just doesn't work for me. Where are Spandau Ballet? Also, does anyone know why Berlin's "Sex, I'm A..." was removed from the European version?

Favourites: Love Action, Heart of Glass, Relax, How To Be A Millionaire, Space Age Love Song.

VCPR - 4 out of 5 are hilarious. Time Ranger is too disgusting even for my tastes. Moorehead Rides Again is the best: "He doesn't carry a gun." "That's means..." "That's right - he's a sissy." Pressing Issues is great (it's good to hear Maurice Chavez again), but not as good as the comedy genius from VC.

[kupomog]

*gasp* I love Living on the Ceiling! Haha I mostly like it because of the Egyptian music. Reminds me of Radio Del Mundo from LCS which was the best station in that game for me. Honestly the only stations I bother listening to are Flash, Wave, and Emotion. In VC I listened to pretty much all of them. Even some songs on Espantoso rocked.

LCS has some stuff that are hard to fathom, too, though. I dunno which is harder to believe...Washington Mall in 2 years, or entire Porter Tunnel system in 3 years. I could at least believe the Callahan Bridge because it was nearly finished, anyway.

I like the Jetski though, it's super fast and not that hard to control. And if you've done the boat list for the Civil Assets Forfeiture Impound...well, you'd kiss the Jetski too. Seriously, taking in the Reefer was one of the most boring 8-10 minutes of my life.

And I've finally taken all the businesses, so the fuckass Sharks no longer attack me every single time I leave a building. I got so fed up I just let all my property get damaged and repaired it later. I'm currently doing the Mendez brothers missions.

Speaking of bros...um, Lance...he like...REALLY irritates me in this game.

[skittlebrau]

I'm on the very last storyline mission myself. Finished "Over the Top" today (second to last mission) and now I've decided I wanna finish up several side jobs before completing the storyline missions. Buuuuut knowing me, I'm gonna become antsy and nervous and anxious and I'm just gonna have to finish that final mission so I can be a happy man. This will probably come to fruition tomorrow :x

Heh, anyway, regarding the radio stations, I really only listen to Flash, Wave and Emotion, too. I'd listen to VCFL and Fresh more, but the playlists are so short and I always tune into the same song at any given time on either station ("You Can't Turn Me Away" on VCFL and "Beat Box" on Fresh). V-Rock is too heavy for me in 1984 so I rarely listen to it (although Vice City's V-Rock playlist had a great range of songs which I enjoyed). Espantoso and Paradise...take 'em or leave 'em (although they're not bad by any means...I just don't listen to them very much). And VCPR is hilarious. Love the old radio shows, hehe.

Regarding some songs: When Vice City first came out, I was disappointed that "It's My Life" was passed over for "Life's What You Make It" since "IML" is Talk Talk's biggest hit. Now that it's in VCS, I can appreciate the two songs even more since "LWYMI" came out in 1986 and "IML" in 1984. Nice attention to release dates, me thinks. Aaaand "Too Shy" on Wave...why the midnight mix? I mean it doesn't take a genius to realize it's merely the song stripped of vocals, but what the hell? Why not just put the vocal version in and make me happy? Oh well. Not that huge a deal, but you know what I mean.

A few things I only recently noticed: The lack of police and taxi CB bands makes those particular R3 missions much less fun. BOOO. Oh, and the rain. At least in VC you saw the clouds building up before the rain. And SA became overcast and gloomy before the actual event. It just starts raining out of nowhere in this game. You're driving around the sunny beach and then BAM, instant downpour. Sucks and I don't like for the mere fact that it always always always seemed to start raining whenever I was doing an important mission involving fast driving... >:

Woah, long post :o

[kupomog]

The rain effect is pretty crappy this time around, though the rain itself looks quite nice. I can forgive it for not having the awesome fog effects from VC and to an extent, SA (I LOVED the misty wet look of VC before and after it rains, SA's rain just kind of looked like static..) because that would also help brace me for slippery driving. But the rain renders in and out of screen horribly and is hard to see to begin with so I rarely know it's raining until I see lightning or something. Nitpick, yes.

And the wind resistance kills me this time around. Air Rescue is a pain when the wind keeps blowing me away.

[gonz]

i do think that its a great game, but i think both vice city stories and liberty city stroies should have stayed as psp exclusives, that was what got all the hype

[skittlebrau]

i think both vice city stories and liberty city stroies should have stayed as psp exclusives, that was what got all the hype
Umm, why? I don't know a single soul that owns a PSP and every gamer I've talked to has no intention of ever getting one, myself included. Releasing both games on PS2 was the best thing they could have ever done.

Who cares about hype?

[kupomog]

^pretty much, yup.

[skittlebrau]

Well, I went and I did it. I passed "Last Stand" and completed the storyline missions earlier today.

Managed to kill both Martinez and Mendez after only one failure. <3 the spaz shotgun.

All in all, I felt as if the final showdown here was a little too easy. I mean, the final showdown with Sonny Forelli in Vice City was relatively simpler than this, but I'll be damned if it didn't take me several attempts to pass it. The final cutscene was abrupt and short and Lance...is even highly annoying to the credits. Speaking of which, I sat through the entire credit segment because I didn't want to miss any easter eggs or maybe an epilogue or something...nothing. Not even a mission passed screen with a buttload of cash. Sneh. Oh well. I like the winner outfit, anyway, haha.

Managed to fit in a few side jobs before breaking down and completing the storyline so now I'm somewhere near 48% completion, wooo. Still got a lot of stuff to do in this game...

Oh yeah, and Phil Collins concert is :bang:worthy.

[The General]

I'm stuck on the mission where you have to blow up the antennas on top of the police stations. It's hard because everytime you do so you get a star, so by the time you get to the last one, you've got 4 stars and can't stand still long enough to aim. Oh well, I like just running around and snapping necks anyway...

[H Thompson]

Speaking of bros...um, Lance...he like...REALLY irritates me in this game.
Yeah, kind of makes you want to kill him again in Vice City.

Also I just loved Phil Collins manager, they've had a few different british accents in this game, but I really never expected to hear a birmingham accent - hilarious.

[skittlebrau]

I'm stuck on the mission where you have to blow up the antennas on top of the police stations. It's hard because everytime you do so you get a star, so by the time you get to the last one, you've got 4 stars and can't stand still long enough to aim. Oh well, I like just running around and snapping necks anyway...
Take out the two antennas on the roof of the Washington Beach police station (easier with grenades since the antennas are easily accessible), then kill the two cops that show up. Hop in the police helicopter, fly to the station in Little Havana and land on the rooftop. Again, take out the two antennas with grenades, then switch to the rocket launcher to take out the police helicopter that shows up to avoid being shot at and/or chased. Hop back into your own chopper, fly to the station downtown and land on the helipad. Take out the nearest law enforcement if need be (although I just ignored them), then use the rocket launcher to take out the three (I think it's three...can't remember) final antennas there.

By this time, you'll be instructed to lose the wanted level, so hop back into the chopper and fly all the way to the Pay 'n Spray near the car impound yard (the Pay 'n Spray in Little Haiti is closer, but you're 100% guaranteed to get into a vehicle at this one). Land right next to the box truck that's parked there and jump in. Just drive into the Pay 'n Spray literally right next door and it's mission passed.

[Greased Scotsman]

Damn it! I've got a glitch in my game, so I can't get 100%. The Biker empire site just south of the hospital in Vice Point has no bike outside it, so I can't take it over. And I ain't doing it all again, 'cause the Import/Export boat list takes hours (the boats are SO SLOW!!!).

Although I'm surprised how little the story missions count in the percentage. I haven't done any of the East Island missions and I'm already at 80%.

[skittlebrau]

Damn it! I've got a glitch in my game, so I can't get 100%. The Biker empire site just south of the hospital in Vice Point has no bike outside it, so I can't take it over.
It's not a glitch; it's a storyline mission acquisition for the Mendez brothers. You can't overtake that property until you get to that specific mission, upon which after running the bikers out in said mission, you can purchase the property and make it your own.

[Greased Scotsman]

Damn it! I wish I had read that before I wiped my file and started again. :(

BTW, has anyone done the teleport trick? It's great if you want to get all the balloons and unique jumps early, before unlocking the East Island:

Click here (pics about 7 posts down) (http://www.gtaforums.com/index.php?showtopic=268867&st=20)

You stand on top of the dirt mound between Escobar and Little Havana, and jump onto the exposed part of the underground pipe. If done correctly, the Vice City postcard loading screen should appear and you land on the Leaf Links golf course.

[Jolly Bengali]

I'm curious, since I'm not going to ever have either a PSP or a PS2... how much am I missing with never playing either LCS or VCS? I realize that they heavily trade off the macro-story of the games, but is there anything that's particularly fantastic and absolutely essential, or is it mostly just fleshing stuff out that sucks to miss but isn't hurting the overall understanding of the series.

[H Thompson]

I wouldn't say there essential, in a way it's slightly annoying because it makes you sympathise with characters who die in other gta's (except for lance, who you just hate even more after this) But no I don't think your missing out on a great deal, there about the size and quality of 3 & vice city although they don't quite feel so epic.
But I don't really see what's to understand about the overall series anyway.

[-Bart-]

gta vice city stories, is a bit disapoiting for the following reasons:

When you fall in the water, you instantly die, instand of gradually losing your life like in san andreas.

Lack of realism. when you cause an accident, all the other cars stop, instand of ignoring it, like in san andreas.

...These reason make GTA san andreas the best gta game out to date

[skittlebrau]

When you fall in the water, you instantly die, instand of gradually losing your life like in san andreas.
Umm...do you not know how to swim? Swimming was instated in Vice City Stories which is spun off from San Andreas, you know...

Lack of realism. when you cause an accident, all the other cars stop, instand of ignoring it, like in san andreas.
The majority of car wrecks in San Andreas happened on the open freeway where everyone's speeding at ridiculous rates. They don't have enough time and braking distance to stop properly resulting in multiple crashes. Vice City is quite small compared to the state of San Andreas with its mutiple towns, cities and freeways, so of course people are gonna take it slower and have more reaction time to stop before crashing. Seems realistic to me.

[Toli]

They say it will not be ported to ps2 but that is massive loads of crap. This notion will draw in the psp crowds and then after a little while it will be on ps2 and sony will be all the richer.

-

[Henrik P]

I'm getting this for my birthday!

April 20th! :bang:

[-Bart-]

Umm...do you not know how to swim? Swimming was instated in Vice City Stories which is spun off from San Andreas, you know...
wait... i must have confused liberty city stories with vice city stories in this one.
as for the car crashes, i still think they're more realistic is san andreas. i know the city is smaller, but in real life, not everyone breaks if they see you having an accident...