Lone Wolf
10-29-2002, 04:00 AM
October 28, 2002 - I've been reminiscing about the past recently. Last year's onslaught of AAA games had us staggering with delight -- and exhaustion -- when the year finally came to a close. In comparison, this year's lineup of games, well, it initially looked stunning, before the delays, anyway. But now it's clear what 2002 is all about. Like a co-worker of mine said a few weeks ago, there's Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and there's everything else. The biggest, most anticipated game of 2002 is upon us. A large population of the gaming public has come to a halt as Rockstar North has slaved away to finish the second massive Grand Theft Auto game just one year after GTAIII lit the videogame world on fire. And now it's here. It's finally here.
So how is it? How does the sequel, prequel, or next iteration of the series (whatever you want to call it) play? It's a spectacular piece of videogame technology and design, a large-scale operation that no other action games can come close to replicating, at least so far. It's still wonderfully designed with a luxurious open mission structure, it's enormous, stylishly draped with '80s regalia, adorned with mature themes, and on and on, and it's as fun, if not more fun than last year's effort. But it's nowhere near the wake-up call surprise Grand Theft Auto III was. It no longer shocks me with its ambitious gameplay design or the sharp hilarious radio sociopolitical commentary, or the deliberate presentation of mature and stylish themes that its predecessor did. Sure, it's still got all those qualities; but I now expect them from the Grand Theft Auto series. Over the last year a little of that sheen, that surprising magic, has worn off. Now that I'm back on planet Earth, it's time to take a closer look at the good, the bad, and the ugly in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
Although Rockstar North has solved a handful of problems and minimized others from last year's game, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City plays a whole lot like GTA3, with a giant 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: The missions are more substantial, woven more delicately into the storyline, and they get hard, real 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. The impressive details stretch on like the greatest roll of unending newspaper that ever was.
But before we get caught up in that very minutia, let me get this straight first: This year's model is bigger, badder and slightly prettier than last year's effort, and most people will enjoy the game like few other games before it. It's enormous, packed with an immense amount of gameplay, and it's a truly unique gameplay experience. Nothing right now comes close to Grand Theft Auto. But with last year's game the die was cast, the formula trademarked, and the medium made. GTA: Vice City is like a new suit fitted on last year's model. It's genuinely impressive, but underneath the Don Johnson suit, it's the same old boy, and you already know him quite well.
What's New, What's Not
In re-imagining the GTA universe, Rockstar North looked around at its old maps, and there, staring up at the team appeared a shiny bright star, a tacky neon pink badge begging to be paid attention to, like a fleshy young Madonna on MTV or Michael Jackson singing Billy Jean and before the surgeries. That icon on the map was Vice City, an old section of the GTA universe, but yet one that's never been exploited to this degree. Also, setting this game in the 1980s, the team expanded on ideas it previously wanted to implement -- and also it incorporated ideas from its own fan base to create a game its fans would adore.
GTA: Vice City does things GTA3 didn't do. The full list is far too extensive, but the crucial elements are as such: 1.) You can ride motorcycles (four different kinds, a high-powered street bike, a chopper, a scooter and a dirtbike) all over the city. They all handle remarkably well: Some are incredibly fast, and others handle traffic better than others. And you can pull off Stunt Jumps with them, adjusting the bikes in mid-air, thanks to a city specially designed with ramps, jumps and surfaces designed for launching you into the air. 2.) You can pilot helicopters through the skies of Vice City, lifting up above everything and landing down on whatever permits a vehicle of that size. Vice City is designed as two large, mostly symmetrical thumb-like islands, enclosing at least three smaller islands, providing channels of water in which to skipper boats. 3.) Yes, Rockstar expanded the use of boats, and just like the acquisition of cars, motorcycles and helicopters, players can now acquire a quiver of water-ready vessels to ride.
Just as the city has expanded on the outside to include more waterways and more rooftops (you'll be surprised to see the lines of rooftop jumps designed for you Stunt Jump artists our there), it's also expanded internally. 4.) Lead character Tommy Vercetti opens doors and then walks inside them; and after a short load time of five to 10 seconds, he's inside, be it a strip club, mansion, dance club, movie studio, apartment, hotel, what have you. Missions take place inside buildings, sometimes using a combination of both inside and outside structures. Inside, the camera work isn't perfect. In fact, it grows quite aggravating; and for the most part the architecture isn't stunning either, but the idea of levels taking place inside is a natural extension of the game, and it work out well enough.
Adding to this diversification of new areas is the ability to use an extensive new set of save spots, which are tied into properties. Yes, properties. 5.) Once you pass a critical stage of missions, you earn enough money on a regular basis to acquire property, each with its own special quality. The first is a mansion (though it would spoil to say whose), but the string of acquisitions afterward is exhausting, consisting of businesses, such as taxi houses, ice cream companies, movie sets, and various estates, consisting of mansions, boat docks, hotels, etc. You earn money to buy real estate. Each new property serves as a safe house (sometimes just to stores vehicles or clothes), a save house (for which to save your game), and a location generating new missions. And each one represents the growing power Tommy Vercetti, the new guy in town, on his way of the corruption ladder.
The cache of weapons is larger, more versatile and organized, and deadlier. Players can pick up the classic weapons from before, such as handguns, uzis, rifles, shotguns, etc., but now they can grip their hands onto chainsaws, hammers, screwdrivers and machetes. 6.) Weapons are classified into categories now, thus enabling you to carry one weapon from each class, such as one kind of semi-automatic, melee weapon, long-range rifle, handgun, etc, streamlining the selection process. And you can shoot from motorcycles, too, be it on the right, left, or in front of you. 7.) With this new set of guns players can perform excellent new tasks too, such as blowing out car tires and using sniper rifles to shoot enemies through their car windows.
Rockstar has improved the troublesome aiming system a bit, though it hasn't perfected it by a long shot. 8.) Enabling Tommy to fight more efficiently, Rockstar enlarged and emboldened the reticule, as well as streamlined the aiming system. The camera moves instantly to focus on your enemy with third-person weapons, and quickly zooms into first-person mode with sniper-style guns. There are few problems now with swerving cameras that once produced dizziness and confusion. It's also added a priority aiming system, meaning that in a crowd of enemies, your gun will automatically aim at the most powerful one of them first. Like before, you press R1 to aim, and you press L2 or R2 to toggle through the enemies. In addition, players can crouch and duck, which is handy in a fight with little protection except for a few crates.
Yet, the targeting system is still light years from being perfected, and you'll find yourself dying quickly in a jam because the toggle system is still clumsy and the character doesn't move that fast or smoothly on the ground, and because the reticule sticks to dead bodies, instead of automatically switching to a live one. Games such as Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Devil May Cry, among others, are far more advanced when it comes to swift and efficient combat control.
Other areas of newness: 9.) The city AI is slightly more sophisticated. You'll see cops hassling gang members in malls, traffic accidents that cause death, cops chasing people down the street, and gang warfare in broad daylight -- which cops pay attention. Cops are smarter about you, too. Aim a gun at a cop in front it him and he draws his weapon (though not from behind ' he can't see you). And they can do what you can, ducking behind cars and blowing out your tires, if necessary. You can interact with storeowners, too, buying from them like before, or holding them up for money (at the risk of being caught, mind you).
10.) And finally, many more missions are structured around the central storyline and they're also multi-tiered, meaning they're slightly more complicated, gleaning various gameplay elements into one mission, instead of just one.
Story/Presentation
Much like GTA3, GTA: Vice City tells the tale of a guy who makes his way to the top through the corrupt structures of the mafia, smugglers, corrupt businessmen, and grotesques (in other words, outcast societal types). Instead of last year's tale of female betrayal, where you, the nameless, voiceless lead character, progressed through an armada of missions to find out who stole your girl, set you up, and stole your money, you're an Italian mafia member who's just finished a 15-year sentence in jail. Playing Tommy Vercetti (perfectly voice cast by Ray Liotta (Goodfellas), players take on the role of a gangster who's been around the block, who has ambitions, and who doesn't take being screwed with well.
The story sets the scene with Vercetti as a troublesome type for the family. He didn't squeal while in jail, but he's not on the A-team list either and he's certainly not a made man. So, the family decides to 'reward' him, i.e. sent away to Vice City, to expand business operations. He connects with Ken Rosenberg, a neurotic lawyer who isn't very good at much, and who's clearly modeled on Fredo from the Godfather. Together they set up a deal -- drugs for money -- but the scenario is a set up, and the drugs and the money are stolen. The result is that Tommy lands in deep sh*t with Sonny Forelli, the father of the organization and his boss, so he sets out to find who set him up and find his lost money.
Naturally, as you progress through the game, you befriend a cast of people connected or suspicious of the betrayal, from real estate moguls to drugs barons and soft porn movie directors, to bike gang leaders and gun aficionados, and just like the game's luring side missions, the story often gets side-tracked from the original theme. Much of the story, in fact, focuses on Tommy's own adventures, entirely irrelevant of the main premise, including his friendship with Lance Vance, a knobby-headed English weasel who is associated with the band Love Fist, and an assortment of other crooks and freaks.
Lastly, the use of 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 the gameplay experience. With actor Ray Liotta (Goodfellas) providing the voice of Tommy Vercetti, Rockstar has truly found the right person and the right voice. Remember, it's not often this works out, but it's this is the perfect marriage of character and talent, and the Tommy's personality is fleshed out well and with the unwaivering quality of bad-guy bravado.
Using the movie Scarface and the TV show Miami Vice as source material, GTA: Vice City also borrows numerous ideas from other media, such as character models and scenario depictions from and presentation styles from action-based TV shows, and pretty much any film or show that conveyed the brash, bright duplicity of the 1980s. The game opens like a movie, showing credits and a stylized action entrance, though I preferred GTA3's introduction much better.
Once players get into the game, new menu modifications become apparent. The entire map of Vice City appears in the map option instantly. On it, players can toggle on or off a key, explaining the icons on the map, and they can move about the map in any direction as well as zooming in or out of the screen to highlight a special area of interest. The menu offers stats, radio station selections, wide screen support, and DTS compatibility. And among other choices, players can switch on or off that conspicuously annoying blur effect, if they want.
Gameplay
For those who have played GTA3, GTA: Vice City is the most impressive action game of its kind, with a scope and range of qualities that in many way surpass the other PlayStation 2 greats Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Devil May Cry. Perhaps what's most impressive about this game is not that it handles mature themes well -- though that's highly commendable -- or that it once again opens the videogame mortality jar, it's the game's design that's so strikingly good. Funnily enough, when you think about the original Grand Theft Auto, it shared the same design, which hasn't fundamentally changed since 1997.
While many of the missions are based on the trial-and-error theory, a doubled-edge sword of good and bad, the progression scheme is what wins me over. Enabling players to get lost in the city itself, searching out secret stunt jumps, finding hidden packages, experimenting with the AI, and most of all, permitting players to progress at their leisure -- is undeniably likeable. Instead of quitting after a difficult mission, throwing down the controller, and putting in another game that's quick, light and playable, I can instead just tool around Vice City. The game offers the light, brainless arcade stuff that doesn't require thought at all -- a good quality that games often provide -- and it also feeds your need to dig deep into the core story and progress through those hardcore levels, giving players a feeling of satisfaction and achievement.
Naturally, there are many excellent additions to the game. Driving motorcycles is unparalleled. Flying helicopters around the city is also a rush, especially using the blades to slice people up. The new weapons, especially the tools, is less than exciting. A hammer? Screwdriver? Well, nice but who cares. Boring. A chainsaw' Now that's exciting, yet, it's not as gory and intense as I expected it to be. But buying property, robbing stores, and finding new missions via the new acquisitions is a whole new way of seeing the game that I hadn't ever imagined -- I love buying property! It's a natural extension of the premise and an organic way of getting the gamer to invest in the game itself, so to speak. Clever, clever.
Gripes, Fixes and Near Misses
The list of cars and weapons in immense, and there are clearly more in all categories than in the GTA3. The weapons list includes: Brass Knuckles, Screw Driver, Golf Club, Hammer, Nightstick, Baseball Bat, Knife, Cleaver, Machete, Katana, Chainsaw, Grenades, Teargas, Molotov, Bomb/Detonator, Colt 45, Colt Python, Chromed Shotgun, Spaz Shotgun, Stubby Shotgun, Tec-9, Ingram Mac, Uzi 9mm, MP5, Ruger, Colt M4, Rocket Launcher, Flame Thrower, M60, Minigun (or Gattling Gun), Sniper Rifle, and PSG-1.
So how is it? How does the sequel, prequel, or next iteration of the series (whatever you want to call it) play? It's a spectacular piece of videogame technology and design, a large-scale operation that no other action games can come close to replicating, at least so far. It's still wonderfully designed with a luxurious open mission structure, it's enormous, stylishly draped with '80s regalia, adorned with mature themes, and on and on, and it's as fun, if not more fun than last year's effort. But it's nowhere near the wake-up call surprise Grand Theft Auto III was. It no longer shocks me with its ambitious gameplay design or the sharp hilarious radio sociopolitical commentary, or the deliberate presentation of mature and stylish themes that its predecessor did. Sure, it's still got all those qualities; but I now expect them from the Grand Theft Auto series. Over the last year a little of that sheen, that surprising magic, has worn off. Now that I'm back on planet Earth, it's time to take a closer look at the good, the bad, and the ugly in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
Although Rockstar North has solved a handful of problems and minimized others from last year's game, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City plays a whole lot like GTA3, with a giant 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: The missions are more substantial, woven more delicately into the storyline, and they get hard, real 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. The impressive details stretch on like the greatest roll of unending newspaper that ever was.
But before we get caught up in that very minutia, let me get this straight first: This year's model is bigger, badder and slightly prettier than last year's effort, and most people will enjoy the game like few other games before it. It's enormous, packed with an immense amount of gameplay, and it's a truly unique gameplay experience. Nothing right now comes close to Grand Theft Auto. But with last year's game the die was cast, the formula trademarked, and the medium made. GTA: Vice City is like a new suit fitted on last year's model. It's genuinely impressive, but underneath the Don Johnson suit, it's the same old boy, and you already know him quite well.
What's New, What's Not
In re-imagining the GTA universe, Rockstar North looked around at its old maps, and there, staring up at the team appeared a shiny bright star, a tacky neon pink badge begging to be paid attention to, like a fleshy young Madonna on MTV or Michael Jackson singing Billy Jean and before the surgeries. That icon on the map was Vice City, an old section of the GTA universe, but yet one that's never been exploited to this degree. Also, setting this game in the 1980s, the team expanded on ideas it previously wanted to implement -- and also it incorporated ideas from its own fan base to create a game its fans would adore.
GTA: Vice City does things GTA3 didn't do. The full list is far too extensive, but the crucial elements are as such: 1.) You can ride motorcycles (four different kinds, a high-powered street bike, a chopper, a scooter and a dirtbike) all over the city. They all handle remarkably well: Some are incredibly fast, and others handle traffic better than others. And you can pull off Stunt Jumps with them, adjusting the bikes in mid-air, thanks to a city specially designed with ramps, jumps and surfaces designed for launching you into the air. 2.) You can pilot helicopters through the skies of Vice City, lifting up above everything and landing down on whatever permits a vehicle of that size. Vice City is designed as two large, mostly symmetrical thumb-like islands, enclosing at least three smaller islands, providing channels of water in which to skipper boats. 3.) Yes, Rockstar expanded the use of boats, and just like the acquisition of cars, motorcycles and helicopters, players can now acquire a quiver of water-ready vessels to ride.
Just as the city has expanded on the outside to include more waterways and more rooftops (you'll be surprised to see the lines of rooftop jumps designed for you Stunt Jump artists our there), it's also expanded internally. 4.) Lead character Tommy Vercetti opens doors and then walks inside them; and after a short load time of five to 10 seconds, he's inside, be it a strip club, mansion, dance club, movie studio, apartment, hotel, what have you. Missions take place inside buildings, sometimes using a combination of both inside and outside structures. Inside, the camera work isn't perfect. In fact, it grows quite aggravating; and for the most part the architecture isn't stunning either, but the idea of levels taking place inside is a natural extension of the game, and it work out well enough.
Adding to this diversification of new areas is the ability to use an extensive new set of save spots, which are tied into properties. Yes, properties. 5.) Once you pass a critical stage of missions, you earn enough money on a regular basis to acquire property, each with its own special quality. The first is a mansion (though it would spoil to say whose), but the string of acquisitions afterward is exhausting, consisting of businesses, such as taxi houses, ice cream companies, movie sets, and various estates, consisting of mansions, boat docks, hotels, etc. You earn money to buy real estate. Each new property serves as a safe house (sometimes just to stores vehicles or clothes), a save house (for which to save your game), and a location generating new missions. And each one represents the growing power Tommy Vercetti, the new guy in town, on his way of the corruption ladder.
The cache of weapons is larger, more versatile and organized, and deadlier. Players can pick up the classic weapons from before, such as handguns, uzis, rifles, shotguns, etc., but now they can grip their hands onto chainsaws, hammers, screwdrivers and machetes. 6.) Weapons are classified into categories now, thus enabling you to carry one weapon from each class, such as one kind of semi-automatic, melee weapon, long-range rifle, handgun, etc, streamlining the selection process. And you can shoot from motorcycles, too, be it on the right, left, or in front of you. 7.) With this new set of guns players can perform excellent new tasks too, such as blowing out car tires and using sniper rifles to shoot enemies through their car windows.
Rockstar has improved the troublesome aiming system a bit, though it hasn't perfected it by a long shot. 8.) Enabling Tommy to fight more efficiently, Rockstar enlarged and emboldened the reticule, as well as streamlined the aiming system. The camera moves instantly to focus on your enemy with third-person weapons, and quickly zooms into first-person mode with sniper-style guns. There are few problems now with swerving cameras that once produced dizziness and confusion. It's also added a priority aiming system, meaning that in a crowd of enemies, your gun will automatically aim at the most powerful one of them first. Like before, you press R1 to aim, and you press L2 or R2 to toggle through the enemies. In addition, players can crouch and duck, which is handy in a fight with little protection except for a few crates.
Yet, the targeting system is still light years from being perfected, and you'll find yourself dying quickly in a jam because the toggle system is still clumsy and the character doesn't move that fast or smoothly on the ground, and because the reticule sticks to dead bodies, instead of automatically switching to a live one. Games such as Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Devil May Cry, among others, are far more advanced when it comes to swift and efficient combat control.
Other areas of newness: 9.) The city AI is slightly more sophisticated. You'll see cops hassling gang members in malls, traffic accidents that cause death, cops chasing people down the street, and gang warfare in broad daylight -- which cops pay attention. Cops are smarter about you, too. Aim a gun at a cop in front it him and he draws his weapon (though not from behind ' he can't see you). And they can do what you can, ducking behind cars and blowing out your tires, if necessary. You can interact with storeowners, too, buying from them like before, or holding them up for money (at the risk of being caught, mind you).
10.) And finally, many more missions are structured around the central storyline and they're also multi-tiered, meaning they're slightly more complicated, gleaning various gameplay elements into one mission, instead of just one.
Story/Presentation
Much like GTA3, GTA: Vice City tells the tale of a guy who makes his way to the top through the corrupt structures of the mafia, smugglers, corrupt businessmen, and grotesques (in other words, outcast societal types). Instead of last year's tale of female betrayal, where you, the nameless, voiceless lead character, progressed through an armada of missions to find out who stole your girl, set you up, and stole your money, you're an Italian mafia member who's just finished a 15-year sentence in jail. Playing Tommy Vercetti (perfectly voice cast by Ray Liotta (Goodfellas), players take on the role of a gangster who's been around the block, who has ambitions, and who doesn't take being screwed with well.
The story sets the scene with Vercetti as a troublesome type for the family. He didn't squeal while in jail, but he's not on the A-team list either and he's certainly not a made man. So, the family decides to 'reward' him, i.e. sent away to Vice City, to expand business operations. He connects with Ken Rosenberg, a neurotic lawyer who isn't very good at much, and who's clearly modeled on Fredo from the Godfather. Together they set up a deal -- drugs for money -- but the scenario is a set up, and the drugs and the money are stolen. The result is that Tommy lands in deep sh*t with Sonny Forelli, the father of the organization and his boss, so he sets out to find who set him up and find his lost money.
Naturally, as you progress through the game, you befriend a cast of people connected or suspicious of the betrayal, from real estate moguls to drugs barons and soft porn movie directors, to bike gang leaders and gun aficionados, and just like the game's luring side missions, the story often gets side-tracked from the original theme. Much of the story, in fact, focuses on Tommy's own adventures, entirely irrelevant of the main premise, including his friendship with Lance Vance, a knobby-headed English weasel who is associated with the band Love Fist, and an assortment of other crooks and freaks.
Lastly, the use of 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 the gameplay experience. With actor Ray Liotta (Goodfellas) providing the voice of Tommy Vercetti, Rockstar has truly found the right person and the right voice. Remember, it's not often this works out, but it's this is the perfect marriage of character and talent, and the Tommy's personality is fleshed out well and with the unwaivering quality of bad-guy bravado.
Using the movie Scarface and the TV show Miami Vice as source material, GTA: Vice City also borrows numerous ideas from other media, such as character models and scenario depictions from and presentation styles from action-based TV shows, and pretty much any film or show that conveyed the brash, bright duplicity of the 1980s. The game opens like a movie, showing credits and a stylized action entrance, though I preferred GTA3's introduction much better.
Once players get into the game, new menu modifications become apparent. The entire map of Vice City appears in the map option instantly. On it, players can toggle on or off a key, explaining the icons on the map, and they can move about the map in any direction as well as zooming in or out of the screen to highlight a special area of interest. The menu offers stats, radio station selections, wide screen support, and DTS compatibility. And among other choices, players can switch on or off that conspicuously annoying blur effect, if they want.
Gameplay
For those who have played GTA3, GTA: Vice City is the most impressive action game of its kind, with a scope and range of qualities that in many way surpass the other PlayStation 2 greats Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and Devil May Cry. Perhaps what's most impressive about this game is not that it handles mature themes well -- though that's highly commendable -- or that it once again opens the videogame mortality jar, it's the game's design that's so strikingly good. Funnily enough, when you think about the original Grand Theft Auto, it shared the same design, which hasn't fundamentally changed since 1997.
While many of the missions are based on the trial-and-error theory, a doubled-edge sword of good and bad, the progression scheme is what wins me over. Enabling players to get lost in the city itself, searching out secret stunt jumps, finding hidden packages, experimenting with the AI, and most of all, permitting players to progress at their leisure -- is undeniably likeable. Instead of quitting after a difficult mission, throwing down the controller, and putting in another game that's quick, light and playable, I can instead just tool around Vice City. The game offers the light, brainless arcade stuff that doesn't require thought at all -- a good quality that games often provide -- and it also feeds your need to dig deep into the core story and progress through those hardcore levels, giving players a feeling of satisfaction and achievement.
Naturally, there are many excellent additions to the game. Driving motorcycles is unparalleled. Flying helicopters around the city is also a rush, especially using the blades to slice people up. The new weapons, especially the tools, is less than exciting. A hammer? Screwdriver? Well, nice but who cares. Boring. A chainsaw' Now that's exciting, yet, it's not as gory and intense as I expected it to be. But buying property, robbing stores, and finding new missions via the new acquisitions is a whole new way of seeing the game that I hadn't ever imagined -- I love buying property! It's a natural extension of the premise and an organic way of getting the gamer to invest in the game itself, so to speak. Clever, clever.
Gripes, Fixes and Near Misses
The list of cars and weapons in immense, and there are clearly more in all categories than in the GTA3. The weapons list includes: Brass Knuckles, Screw Driver, Golf Club, Hammer, Nightstick, Baseball Bat, Knife, Cleaver, Machete, Katana, Chainsaw, Grenades, Teargas, Molotov, Bomb/Detonator, Colt 45, Colt Python, Chromed Shotgun, Spaz Shotgun, Stubby Shotgun, Tec-9, Ingram Mac, Uzi 9mm, MP5, Ruger, Colt M4, Rocket Launcher, Flame Thrower, M60, Minigun (or Gattling Gun), Sniper Rifle, and PSG-1.