View All (8)

Don't throw away that PSP just yet. Here comes another GTA game.

Sony's PSP has often been criticized for not featuring any 'must-have' games in its lineup. Most of the PSP titles are just ports of PS2 games, or compilations of old arcade games from the '80s and '90s. There really wasn't one game on the PSP that made you say, 'Wow! I really need to get one!' Back in July, GWN published an article entitled R.I.P. PSP, which summarized the reasons that the PSP was a failure and even suggested that PSP owners "trade in the PSP while you can still get a decent deal!" And while there have been at least a few decent PSP titles that have been released since then, such as Tekken: Dark Resurrection and LocoRoco, the PSP still remains largely a dissapointment to a lot of owners.



Rockstar hopes to add some much-needed life to the failing system with the upcoming release of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, the follow-up to last year's hit Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories. And from what Rockstar has shown us so far, it looks like PSP owners are about to get a lot happier. Liberty City Stories was one of the best games released on the PSP, ever, so its sequel has alot to live up to. Liberty City Stories was not without its problems, however, as the camera, targeting system, and somewhat uninteresting mission design kept it from being a perfect game. From what little we have seen so far, all of these issues appear to have been addressed in Vice City Stories.



Let us start with the story, though. Rockstar takes great pride in providing a deep, engaging story in all of its GTA games, and Vice City Stories is no different. It takes place two years before the events of the PS2 version of Vice City, in the year 1984, and stars Victor Vance, an ex-Marine and the brother of Lance Vance. Those who played Vice City on the PS2 may remember Lance Vance as being both a friend and later on, an enemy of the main character, Tommy Vercetti. Very little is known of the story, although it appears that Victor Vance actually starts out as a good guy (meaning, not a criminal), unlike the main characters of past GTA games, and that he is dragged into the criminal underworld by his brother Lance. The GTA series has always featured solid voice acting with some major celebrities such as Samuel L. Jackson, Burt Reynolds, and Ray Liotta. For Vice City Stories, while nothing has been confirmed by Rockstar, the rumors are that Philip Michael Thomas will return as the voice of Lance Vance and that Ving Rhames will be the voice of Victor Vance.



The gameplay of Vice City Stories will remain familiar to anyone who has played the GTA series before. The world of Vice City is an open-ended world, meaning that players are able to go anywhere and do anything they want. While Liberty City Stories was a relatively short game, clocking in at around 15 hours, Rockstar promises that Vice City Stories will take a longer time to complete. Part of what makes the GTA series so unique is the wide variety of vehicles you can steal and drive around in. In addition to the standard cars, trucks, boats, and planes, Vice City Stories adds a jet-ski, ATV, and dune buggy. Since there is a lot of water around Vice City, expect to see more water-based missions than in previous GTA games.



Rockstar has promised improvements to the graphics engine since Liberty City Stories. They claim they can display twice as many polygons on-screen in Vice City Stories, as well as doubling the draw distance. These improvements have led to the inclusion of helicopters and planes, which were missing from Liberty City Stories. Don't be surprised to see some story missions take advantage of the new aerial vehicles. They have also improved upon the streaming (the loading of game data and objects 'behind the scenes') so that users will see less pop-in and experience less loading. There should also be less 'clumping' when travelling around the streets of Vice City, meaning that you should see more diversity in the character and vehicle models.