As in all modern GTA games, we’re treated to a collection of songs from the period the game was set in. Personally, I thought Vice City Stories’ soundtrack was a bit weaker than the other GTA games, but there’s still plenty of great songs to listen to on the two good radio stations.
There’s tons to do in Vice City Stories, but like other GTA games, once you’ve beaten the game, there’s really no reason to bother picking it up again. The only thing there really is to do is to build and defend your empire, which eventually gets very tiring and irritating.
Vice City Stories’ biggest problem is that it really becomes repetitive very, very quickly. All GTA games suffer from this in some regard, but I’ve routinely found myself playing the same four or five styles of missions over and over again. You have to protect something, kill something, steal something, chase something, or any combination of the four.
There’s also the problem that nothing in Vice City Stories really feels too unique. As a fan of the GTA series, I’ve found myself wondering more than a few times, “Did I play this mission before in another GTA game?”
Lastly, there’s one small problem in Vice City Stories with the game’s A.I., namely after you open up the eastern island. Much like the mafia in GTA III, rival gangs will pretty much jump you out of nowhere with a ton of firepower. This becomes very annoying and inconvenient, especially when they start attacking all of your empire sites one after the other.
Vice City Stories shows the age of the game engine that was introduced more than five years ago with GTA III and doesn’t really offer anything new to the franchise. However, there should be enough content in Vice City Stories to tide GTA fans over until GTA IV hits shelves this fall. Or at least until the GTA IV trailer is unveiled at the end of this month.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories is rated M (Mature) by the ESRB for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Sexual Language, Strong Sexual Content, and Use of Drugs. This game can also be found on: PSP.
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