Grand Theft Auto: Vice City – The Legacy Review

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City arrived on PlayStation 2 in 2002, a mere 12 months after Grand Theft Auto III rewrote the rules for open-world games. Developer Rockstar North could have shipped a mission pack and called it a day — instead they delivered a fully fledged sequel set in 1986 that oozes more personality than most modern franchises manage across an entire trilogy. For players revisiting the series ahead of Grand Theft Auto 6, Vice City stands as a reminder that speed of development does not have to mean compromise; it can mean momentum.

The significance goes beyond nostalgia. Vice City introduced motorcycles, pilotable aircraft including choppers and a seaplane, outfit changes, property purchases, and an in-game map — features that became series staples. It also benched the mute protagonist concept entirely, giving Tommy Vercetti a voice courtesy of Ray Liotta and surrounding him with a supporting cast that reads like a 1980s crime cinema hall of fame. The result is a game that feels sharper, funnier, and more cinematic than its predecessor, even if its targeting system still fights you in a firefight.

Here's a thinking process:

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is an action open-world game developed by Rockstar North and released on PlayStation 2 in 2002. Set in a fictionalised 1986 Miami analogue, it follows Tommy Vercetti — voiced by Goodfellas star Ray Liotta — as he climbs from hired muscle to criminal kingpin. The game builds on the 3D foundation of GTA III with greater mission variety, new vehicle classes, and a licensed soundtrack that weaponised 1980s pop, rock, and new wave across multiple radio stations. It remains a cultural touchstone for the series and the medium.

For genre fans, Vice City matters because it proved the GTA formula could support distinct personality, not just mechanical iteration. The 12-month turnaround from GTA III seems impossible by modern standards — Rockstar has spent over 12 years between GTA V and GTA VI — yet Vice City feels more ambitious, not less. Players who value atmosphere, writing, and world-building over pure mechanical polish will find a game that still delivers on all three fronts, provided they can tolerate its combat quirks.

Here's a thinking process:

Vice City's vehicle roster expands dramatically over GTA III. Motorcycles return for the first time since the top-down era and handle with a slide-happy tuning that lets you drift aggressively into corners without high-siding. Aircraft become pilotable — choppers and a seaplane with a full wing set — opening vertical traversal and combat options that simply did not exist before. Cars feel heavier and sharper than in Liberty City, giving chases a satisfying sense of weight that matters in an open-world action game.

On foot, the auto-targeting system remains a love-hate proposition. It locks on effectively when it chooses the right target, but frequently prioritises distant fleeing motorcyclists over the cops directly in front of you — or worse, locks onto allies you personally drove to the shootout. This idiosyncrasy causes mission failures that feel unearned. There are still no mid-mission checkpoints, a design choice that forces full restarts on death, though Vice City softens the blow with automated taxi rides back to failed mission start points. That quality-of-life addition respects player time and reduces map resentment from repetitive drives.

Property purchases and outfit changes add strategic and expressive layers. Buying businesses open ups asset missions and passive income, giving the map a persistent economic dimension. Outfit changes let Tommy dress for the occasion — whether that's a pastel suit for a deal or casual wear for a beach run — reinforcing the fantasy of a rising crime lord curating his image. The in-game map, a first for the 3D series, finally lets you navigate without pausing constantly, though the paper map in the box remained a cherished artifact.

Visuals, Audio, and Performance

Vice City's 1986 aesthetic remains its strongest technical achievement. The neon-drenched beachside cityscape — angular exotic supercars, boxy American land whales, pedestrians in leather jumpsuits peeled off Michael Jackson — creates a cohesive time capsule that Liberty City's grimy greys never matched. Sunrises and evenings over the glinting ocean chop still look striking by PlayStation 2 standards, and subtle touches like Tommy's clothes flapping on a motorcycle sell the illusion of speed and wind.

The soundtrack is the game's crowning achievement. Licensed tracks across multiple radio stations — Mister Mister's "Broken Wings," Nena's "99 Luftballons," and dozens more — are curated so expertly that they have rewritten the etymology of these songs for a generation. A dirtbike chase through Washington Beach backed by uptempo pop works unexpectedly well; the "Baby Driver" effect of emergent musical scoring remains one of the series' greatest strengths. As far as this reviewer is concerned, Vice City's soundtrack edges out San Andreas and Vice City Stories as the best in the franchise, and ranks among the best in video games full stop.

What Doesn't Work

The auto-targeting system is the most persistent frustration. It locks onto allies instead of enemies, prioritises distant threats over immediate ones, and turns firefights into wrestling matches with the camera. In a game where combat features heavily, this idiosyncrasy remains an annoying relic of the era — particularly when it causes mission failures that feel like the game's fault, not the player's.

The absence of mid-mission checkpoints compounds the problem. A single death near the end of a multi-stage mission sends you back to the start, and while taxi rides eliminate the drive back, they do not restore the time lost replaying earlier phases. For modern players accustomed to generous checkpointing, this design can feel punitive rather than challenging. The mission structure also inherits GTA III's occasional reliance on tailing and timer-based objectives that have not aged gracefully.

The voice cast, while stellar, reflects a casting philosophy Rockstar has since abandoned. High-profile film actors — Tom Sizemore, Dennis Hopper, Burt Reynolds, William Fichtner, Robert Davi, Luis Guzmán, Gary Busey, Lee Majors, Danny Trejo, Danny Dyer, and Philip Michael Thomas as Lance Vance — deliver memorable performances, but the practice of stunt-casting Hollywood names has largely given way to performance-capture specialists in later entries. The result is a time capsule of a specific industry moment as much as a game.

Verdict

Vice City earns its landmark status through sheer force of personality. Three reasons it still matters: the 1986 Miami Vice and Scarface pastiche is richer and more cohesive than any open-world period piece before or since; the voiced protagonist and all-star cast elevate the storytelling to cinematic heights GTA III never reached; and the soundtrack remains the gold standard for licensed music integration in games. The auto-targeting and checkpoint omissions are genuine frustrations, but they are the friction of a specific era — not fatal flaws. For series veterans preparing for GTA 6, Vice City is essential context. For newcomers, it is the most stylish entry point in the franchise's history, provided you make peace with its combat quirks.