Though we fear to admit it, many of us grew up in the '80s and went to dark dance clubs in search of women to bang to the tunes of Annie Lennox, The English Beat, Flock of Seagulls, and Billy Idol. Our friends wore tight, sleeveless shirts, Members Only Jackets, and together we even tried our hands at break dancing. We turned our hair into virtual, vertical souffles and some of the prettier boys even wore mascara. Adam Ant and Morrissey were considered gods. Neon and pastel colors were definitely in, as was cocaine, freebasing and E. Hey, anyone remember Richard Pryor?
But the decade of the 1980s wasn't all Jane Fonda workouts, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and flashy jumpsuits. Ronald Reagan -- the B-movies actor who wanted to be John Wayne -- was president of the United States. There was the Iran-Contra scandal, the descent of the American car industry and the rise of the Japanese automobile. Hell, even the airlines were deregulated.
The so-called trickledown theory worked in conjunction with the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. Crackhouses were invented and homeless people grew in even greater numbers. The 1980s were a time of grandiose excess and bright new possibilities, but they were also a stark time of capitalism at its best -- and worst. We remember the '80s quite well, and we're still not sure if that's a good thing.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, the fifth in the Grand Theft Auto series, takes place in the '80s. It makes perfect sense that the maniacal kids at Rockstar would set this, their newest game in the seedy, neon streets of Vice City. Resembling Miami in more ways than one, Vice City is subject to an influx of Cuban immigrants, soaring cocaine sales, rampant gangs, corrupt politicians, and surly mob bosses.
Vice City will play a whole hell of a lot like GTA3, only with a big bag of goodies thrown in. It's painted with broader strokes and an absurdist's look at the 1980s. A cursory overview of the game reveals several highlights. First, the missions are going to be more substantial, woven more delicately into the storyline, and will get hard, real damn hard. Branching out from a nearly 100% car-based game, Rockstar North has widened the vehicle gap, enabling players to drive cars, but also motorcycles, more boats than before, and now helicopters and airplanes -- as a regular part of the game. And yes, you can take new weapons, such as a chainsaw and lay them into anyone, or for that matter you can grab machetes, samurai swords, screwdrivers or hammers.
Vice City is going to be bigger, bolder, and faster than GTA3, Rockstar promises.
What is GTA: Vice City? It's not a sequel, it's not an add-on pack, and it's not an extra set of GTA3 quests, as if finding a golden rod were part of the game. Vice City is an entirely new game title set in the seedy universe of Grand Theft Auto. In a way, it's a prequel of sorts. Set 15 years before GTA3, this game enables players to take on the role of a different character who can actually speak: Tommy Vercetti. Ray Liotta, who's quite good at clubbing men to death, plays the part.
Vice City is the tale of a man who makes his way to the top of a ladder filled with Mafioso, smugglers, corrupt businessmen, and grotesques (societal pariahs). Instead of last year's female betrayal that had players progressing through an array of missions to find out who stole your "bitch," set you up and swiped your loot, gamers this time around will be an actual wannabe made Italian man who just finished a 15-year stretch in the pen. As Tommy, players take on the role of a gangster who's been around the block, who has ambitions, and who doesn't take being screwed lightly.
Tommy's the troublesome one of his "family." He didn't squeal while in prison (showers don't count), but he's certainly not on the A list. The family decides to "reward" him for his silence, so they exile his ass to Vice City where he'll be charged with expanding business operations. He connects with Ken Rosenberg, a neurotic lawyer who isn't very good at much. Together they work a deal: drugs for money. Too bad the deal's a setup. Turns out the drugs and the money get stolen. Stealing Sonny Forelli's goods isn't a way to win over friends or stay alive, since Sonny is the father of the organization and Tommy's boss. Someone has to pay. Who threw Tommy in the blender? You play and you find out, which basically means you'll have to kill biker gangs, Cuban gangs, and politician gangs.
A great actor to color the voice of the lead character is a good thing. So often, development companies have muted their characters to provide you with the feeling that you are playing the role. On the flip side, companies have often tainted their games by providing poor voice talent, and thus ruining what could have been an otherwise cool, immersive experience. With Liotta on board, Rockstar has truly found the right person and the right voice. Remember, it's not often that this works out, but in this case, it seems to be a solid marriage of character and talent. Liotta's unwavering quality of bad-guy bravado promises to flesh out Tommy pretty darn well. Other talented voices included are those of: Luis Guzman, Danny Trejo, Gary Busy, Maria Chambers, Frank Chavez, Lazlow Jones, David Paymer, Lawrence Taylor, and even the oh so lovely and often naked and busy engaging in sexual intercourse, Jenna Jameson.
Using Scarface and Miami Vice as source material, Vice City also borrows numerous ideas from other media, such as character models and scenario depictions from Godfather I> and presentation styles from action-based television programs (not to mention pretty much any other film or show that conveyed the brash, bright duplicity of the 1980s).