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Getting More Than a Fudgesicle Fix

Eventually, you build such amounts of cash that you can start purchasing real estate. Some are residences that function as added save points, while others are full businesses that can earn you money. Each business comes with both a hefty sticker price and the requirement that you pull off a series of jobs before any moolah is generated. This design allows for a lot of creativity with individual mission design.

'80s cellphones--as portable as loaves of bread

Starting a riot the hard way

Burt Reynolds IS Avery Carrington

Unlike in GTA III, where the jobs consisted of cookie-cutter mob stuff, GTA: Vice City lets you get down and dirty with assignments directly related to what you’re doing at the time. The Pole Position strip club, for example, makes you spend $600 for lap dances before it starts to earn money. Sunshine Autos can only be taken over if you steal 24 different car models for the dealership’s chop shop. Cherry Popper’s Ice Cream is actually a front for selling dope, so you have to drive a truck and attract 50 people who want more than a fudgesicle fix. By the end of the game, you practically own Vice City, from the cab company to the ritziest nightclub.

Missions are more fulfilling individually here, as well. Most of them play out like the “Autocide” example detailed off the top, in that they have multiple objectives and often feature a few nasty surprises along the way. This is especially noticeable in the later missions, where you always have to handle unexpected problems. “Check Out at the Check In” begins with a simple kill-and-grab at the airport, but turns deadly on the drive home when you’re assaulted by armored sedans equipped with federal agents firing submachine guns. The quick pick-up in “Naval Engagement” gets serious when your boat is blown up and you’re stranded amidst Haitian gangbangers. All the bike skills you’re asked to show off at the start of “Hog-Tied” don’t mean much after you’re attacked by gang vans in the middle of the job.

The Low Spark of High-Heeled Congressmen

These surprises can lead to a lot of frustration in spots, although even the hardest missions are do-able with a little experimentation. Being able to complete every mission in the game in multiple ways is the biggest strength of the game design. “Autocide” is one of the best missions here largely because there are so many ways to do it. I’ve completed it at least a couple of dozen times, on both PC and PS2, on a bike, in a car, in a tank, and even mostly on foot once. “Martha’s Mug Shot,” the ridiculous escapade where you take photos of a congressman in drag while in the company of a porn star, can be easy if you fly away from the FBI in a helicopter, or insanely difficult if you leg it out.

This would be a stick-up

Death to the Faggio!

Heh-heh

Even the early missions give you a lot of choice. You can finish “Riot” on foot with a lot of gunplay, or cut down the opposition in the by plowing into the rioters with a nice, big car. Drive a car up to the clubhouse fence in “Four Iron” and you don’t have to rely on a golf club to assassinate your victim at the driving range. Although you still have to complete many missions in order, few games leave so much up to the player’s discretion.