More than just a Vice City spin-offAt least since "GTA: Liberty City Stories" for the PSP it is known that Rockstar's most popular game series can also convince in small size. In addition, the first PSP GTA is one of the best-selling games for Sony's handheld. So it's understandable that fans were served another tidbit in 2006. "GTA: Vice City Stories" should capture the glamor of the fictional 80s metropolis and make it wearable. Everyone who reads on now will find out whether this has been successful.
The player slips into the role of "Victor Vance", who performs minor criminal tasks for his superior officer "Jerry Martinez" in the army must finish. However, these become his undoing when the drugs he was supposed to hide for Martinez are discovered. As a result, he is discharged from the army and has to keep his head above water by doing illegal small jobs for various employers. But after he kills one of his clients, he takes over his empire and continues to expand it.
What stands out in contrast to the direct PSP predecessor are the many usable vehicles. While in Liberty City you could only drive motorcycles and common four-wheeled vehicles, you can explore Vice City with boats, ATVs, jet skis, helicopters and airplanes. Another great addition is the ability to conquer other farms and thus build an empire outside the missions. However, this entails that own, already conquered farms are attacked by enemy gangs. These attacks can only be fended off if you drive to your company in time and eliminate all attackers. Keyword switch off: Of course, as in every GTA, the player again has many different weapons at his disposal. In the AmmuNations of Vice City, you can use various pistols, submachine guns, (shot) rifles, assault rifles, and numerous special weapons, such as.B. Buying rocket launchers, grenades, or a minigun.
When it comes to game world design, Rockstar's developers can only be praised. It's just incredibly fun to drive/fly through the glittering metropolis and pass the time with all sorts of nonsense outside of missions. I found myself several times just racing through Vice City and testing numerous supposed redoubts, instead of devoting myself to the story. Vice City is virtually a huge playground with an incredible amount to discover. But those who played the Ur-Vice City will not find any particular changes. The city has in fact hardly changed. Differs from its former form only by a few story-related details.
Unfortunately, the mission design is once again not completely convincing. While the tasks are always varied and never one-sided, the difficulty level varies so much that there are always missions that are almost unmanageable. It can happen that in one mission you just have to drive unhindered from A to B, but two missions later you are confronted with an almost unsolvable situation. But this has always been a point of criticism of the GTA series, and even though it can be quite annoying, it has never had a lasting effect on the fun of playing the game.
"GTA: Vice City Stories" can, like its predecessor, score with really very good graphics. Okay, pop-ups make themselves known on a regular basis, and collision detection sometimes leaves something to be desired, but the impressive wide views alone make the graphics a true splendor by PSP standards.
The controls have also been superbly implemented. You run and steer with the control "nipple (optionally using the directional pad), sights with the R button, centers the camera with the L button, and performs various actions with the triangle, circle, cross, and square buttons. The only control-technical difference compared to "GTA: Liberty City Stories Is the lack of ability to manually target, which is way too difficult anyway and rarely leads to success.
A real highlight, as usual in the GTA series, is the music. There are many different radio stations available, each with a different genre to play. There are not many cases where the clichéd phrase "There's something for everyone" is not true!" Fits, but in this case it can be used without reservation. The mix of rock, disco music and 80s electro music contributes a lot to the atmosphere and makes it almost unbearable to drive a vehicle that does not have a radio. You also have the option to convert your own tracks to a certain format and use them in the game. It's a bit questionable why you can't just use normal Mp3 files, but so what?. The main thing is that it works.
Conclusion: Mission handheld GTA succeeded again! Rockstar has managed to maintain the strengths of its PSP predecessor, expanding and improving it with sensible elements. Nevertheless, one should not expect too many surprises. Strictly speaking, "GTA: Vice City Stories" is a very good game an absolutely typical GTA: the game world is very beautiful and large, the many different vehicles provide variety, the music is brilliant, and the mission design has noticeable weaknesses. You already know all this from the predecessors. And the game can hardly be described in a better way: It is GTA, exactly as you know it!