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Music CDs
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GRAND THEFT AUTO: VICE CITY Late last year, just when anticipation for Hideo Kojima’s magnum opus, “Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty”, was at its highest, a little game called “Grand Theft Auto 3” snuck in the back door and kicked us all in the balls. Its mixture of open-ended gameplay, a solid, Godfather-inspired storyline and bold use of violence and other criminal activities wowed the gaming nation. GTA 3 remains one of the largest sellers of all time and shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, it has been on or near the top of the monthly sales charts every month since its release a year ago. In light of GTA 3’s amazing sales and appeal to both hardcore and casual gamers, it was no surprise that the next offering in the series, “Vice City”, quickly earned staggering pre-order sales of close to 4 million nationwide; my local Fucoland had over 1000 reservations alone. Promising improved visuals, deeper gameplay than before and all new weapons and vehicles to play with, Vice set out to do the impossible: best what is considered one of the best games of all time. So does Vice succeed in its goal? NO! I have tried to force myself to like this game but to no avail. Vice City feels like an add-on or a mission pack rather than a stand-alone game. As far as art direction goes, this is a very stylish game. It takes place in the whacky 80’s and it looks like it takes place in the 80’s. Neon lights abound, and pastel suits are all the rage. The Style of VC cannot be denied but the much needed graphical improvements that we heard so much about and saw so much of in screen shots are not to be found in the game. Pop-up is still prevalent, textures are blurry, there is an awful lot of polygon bleed-through, the framerate is horrid, and the animations are still simple and unpolished. Gameplay is old hat aside from the addition of a new crouch maneuver that can be executed by pressing L3. The missions feel like regurgitation from GTA 3 and have that shampoo syndrome about them: get mission, find blip on radar, shoot something, repeat. Walking around the city is still a fun activity…for around 15 minutes, after that you realize that besides the new buildings and pedestrians, walking around Vice City is the same experience as walking around Liberty City. How many Vigilante Missions can I complete or how many hookers can I pick up before it becomes boring? THIS IS THE SAME STUFF IN A NEW PACKAGE, PEOPLE!!! Also, is it just me or does Vice City seem smaller than Liberty? I thought this game was supposed to be bigger than its predecessor. Rockstar did make a few additions to spice up the gameplay a tad. Combat is much improved by a new targeting system that allows you to actually hit targets. Gone are the days of emptying entire clips at nothing but air. Getting around town via automobile is much easier now as it seems the driving engine has received a massive overhaul. Do not, however, attempt to do any driving during sunset unless you have a mastery of the force, because the apparent swelling of the sun that occurred during the 80’s causes a massive orange glare on every street, making your eyes useless. The addition of motorcycles is cool at first but is rendered useless for any missions where you might attract the attention of the law, i.e. all of them, when you realize that even a small bump on a bike will you cause you to go flying. The music of Vice City is great; everything from Michael Jackson to Motley Crue will blaze across several different radio stations. There is a rock station, a pop station and even a chat radio station which is hilarious to listen to. The music is by far the best part of the game and the 7 disc soundtrack which can be purchased alongside it is a wonderful collection of the best of the 80’s; a must have for anyone who lived through that decade. What really bothers me is that VC is going to sell a few million copies because of a name while true masterpieces like “ICO” are overlooked. The flood of reviews of Vice that I’ve read so far are sickening as well; 10’s, 9’s, 9.5’s. It has received so many good reviews that it actually toppled “The Ocarina of Time” as “the best game ever” on gamerankings.com. Now that, is sad. Don’t get me wrong, “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City” is a fun game. The problem is that it was fun when it was called “Grand Theft Auto 3” and it has already been available for a year now. What made GTA 3 such a big hit was the freshness of it; nobody had ever seen a game so open, so violent, so raunchy. Now, at least for me, the novelty has worn off. Vice is not what its big brother was. No wait, Vice City is exactly what its big brother was, that’s what’s wrong with it. -The Kid- 7.25 out of 10
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