Grand Theft Auto: Vice City brings all the violence and exploration of its predecessor to a bustling mid-80s replica of Miami. The "hero," Tommy Vercetti, just finished 15 years of hard time up in Liberty City, and has been sent by his Mafia bosses to Florida for business as well as pleasure - he's to broker a major drug deal. Unfortunately, a rival cartel nicked the transaction is progress, and Tommy lost the coke and the cash. To avoid his employer's wrath - and because he's pissed - Tommy sets out to make contacts in Vice City's seamy underbelly to discover his saboteur and take his money and his revenge. Along the way, he'll build up his own criminal empire - and you thought Reaganomics were bad for small business!

Vice City manages to capture all the camp of the 80s and all the mystique of a beachfront resort. Far removed from the dark, gritty aura of Liberty City, the City of Vice sports loud tropical shirts, bikini-clad skaters, and a blinding morning sun rising over a beach almost a half-mile wide. The difference may seem superficial, but it brings a drastic change in the atmosphere, and gamers turned off by the grays and browns of GTA3 will find the colorful and visually busy Vice City more attractive. The violence and debauchery doesn't come across quite as strikingly in such an over-the-top environment - either that, or GTA3 has desensitized us.

The adult content of the GTA series garners it a lot of attention - good and bad, but it isn't necessarily more intense than comparable titles. Sure, you can pick up hookers and run down pedestrians, but the former is generally such a waste of time that it isn't useful for much other than shocking spectators, and the latter will only raise the ire of Vice City's finest and make your objectives that much more difficult. Most of the more objectionable content is found outside the main missions, which generally implore you to "eliminate shady person X" or to obtain an item and return it - although later missions involve a strip club and a porn studio, and sexual innuendo is rampant. Still, I've seen worse in movies rated PG-13 or on prime-time TV.

Gameplay in Vice City is mission-based, although players can continue to explore the city while a mission is in progress. Generally, Tommy will rendezvous with a contact (who might be a neurotic Jewish lawyer, a retired colonel, or a coke baron) and he will be assigned an objective. Often, he will have to kill someone before he gets paid (targets include rival gang members, treacherous underlings, the police and the French secret service), but other missions such as deliveries, checkpoint races and demolition can be found. In the course of his work (or causing random disturbances), Tommy will often pick up unwanted attention. The level of law enforcement interest is measured in stars. One star will bring the occasional cop on foot, three or four attract helicopters and the Vice City Vice squad (nice touch!) and the full six calls in tank battalions. Tommy will have to lose the heat or end up with a visit downtown - or to the morgue.

Fortunately, Vice City gives you an wide array of vehicles from which to choose. Apart from general style, this is where this game really outshines its predecessor. It's not hard to find a ride - simply walk up to a stopped vehicle, pull out the passenger, and drive away before he can retaliate. Most of the cars are replicas of popular models of the era (even I could recognize the Lamborghini Countach design) as well as older models. The characteristics vary from model to model: a sports car can outrace a van, a compact can outhandle an SUV, and a truck can outlast a sedan. You'll also find boats and motorcycles (the latter of which is more agile than a car, but it hurts to fall from one) and possibly even tanks, planes and choppers. Rockstar also added nuances to the damage model, allowing you to pop tires and shoot though windshields. You'll appreciate the detail until you find yourself with four stars and two blown tires. My only gripes regarding the vehicles are the occasional difficulty of finding one to steal and the frequency with which similar cars appear - though this may be due to hardware RAM constraints.

Driving is only half the Vice City experience; you'll also spend plenty of time on foot. Tommy can run and jump like any good player-character, but the real fun lies in the weapons. There are pistols and shotguns and rockets and machine guns and chainsaws to find, and for the impatient, Tommy always has his fists. Weapons differ in their use: some lock on with R1 and switch targets with L1 and L2, while others present a targeting reticule with R1. As a result, you'll always want a variety of weapons on hand so you always have the right tool for the job. In addition, some weapons allow Tommy to shoot while driving, but this isn't as precise. Unlike in GTA, Tommy can hold only one of each similar type of weapon, but given the sheer number of unique weapons, this actually helps to make weapon switching much less cumbersome. You'll lose all your weapons upon death or arrest, so once you amass an arsenal, get used to saving.

Actually, get used to saving anyway, because Vice City is perhaps the buggiest game I've played since the NES. Given the quick deveolpment period and the high degree of environmental interactivity, I'm incline to be more forgiving, but Rockstar did have a year of lead time to work out the bugs of the GTA3 engine on which this game is based. The bugs range from the amusing (floating corpses, federal agents surfing on your hood) to the annoying (lock-ups, enemies clipping through walls and attacking) to the outright devastating (corrupt save files). My enjoyment of the game wasn't hampered in any significant way, but players should still be aware of the issues and save early and often. Fortunately, Vice City has many more save points (sixteen, by the end of the game) so saving isn't as much of a hassle as in GTA3.

Visually, Vice City is clean and competent, if not stunning. The textures have been cleaned up noticeably from GTA3, and, as mentioned earlier, the overall tone is brighter and in my opinion more inviting. The framerate appears to be fairly solid, and although it can slow down a bit during intense action, it's nothing that distracts from the gameplay. There's still some pop-up and draw-in, but given the amount of units onscreen at a time, it's understandable, and although vehicles and signs may pop in, larger structures can generally be seen from long distances away. Players have the option to toggle the trails feature - images will blur somewhat with trails enabled, making for a more cinematic look, but objects won't appear as sharp, and perhaps worst, the rising and setting sun will be blinding.

Vice City's soundtrack could warrant a full review by itself. Rockstar enlisted some serious voice talent for its characters - Goodfellas' Ray Liotta is the voice of Tommy, and Burt Reynolds, Dennis Hopper, Jenna Jameson and even Miss Cleo show up in the voice credits. The story script is only half the story, though - Vice citizens will often spout various quips as you walk by them or mug them. A cop on your tail might whine, "Don't make me run," and Tommy might yell back, "I did your wife!" Vice City also has a legendary musical score - you can cruise to one of seven radio stations playing the best the 80s had to offer, from Mister Mister to Kool & the Gang. Hate all that? Then tune into one of Vice City's chat stations and listen to a self-help guru, a football star turned used car salesman and even an ultraconservative Florida religious leader. Rockstar loves irony and satire.

Vice City is a title no adult gamer should miss. Only those who hate everything about the 80s, played GTA3 and really disliked the core gameplay, or are extremely sensitive to violence should think twice. Vice City doesn't pack the revolutionary punch of its predecessor, but it refines the formula just enough to make a great game even better. It has its blemishes and sometimes lacks polish, but the sheer number of things you can do and ways you can do them more than makes up for any flaws - this review can't even scratch the surface. It's almost a shame that Vice City gets more attention for its controversial content than for its interactive urban playground.

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