Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

The second game in the vaunted trilogy. It didn't make the same leap from 3 as 3 did from 2 or San Andreas did from it, but it was still an important addition.

After 3, some wondered where the series would go from there. Not many expected it to go back in time. 3 was basically contemporary, but you didn't get that much of a feel for the setting or main character. That was probably Vice City's biggest contribution to the series. Instead of a nameless, voiceless criminal, you played Tommy Vercetti, a person with goals and opinions. It was refreshing to play someone who could think for himself and often took matters into his own hands instead of just taking orders. Sometimes he was still doing grunt work, but he was in charge of his own fate. Along with the character, the game's radio played a huge part in placing you in the world. Instead of some generic house and pop music, there was a variety of stations playing a bunch of real music from the 80's. It set the mood about as well as it's been done in a video game. The music, along with the general aesthetic of the city and people in it went a long way. I don't have that much nostalgic attachment to that decade, being three years old when it ended, but it still made the experience more entertaining. The talk radio wasn't quite as good as 3's Chatterbox, but there were two stations and they were both good.

There were a lot of small gameplay tweaks and improvements that made the experience better. The addition of motorcycles might not sound that significant, but they were quite useful, and I still usually pick them over cars unless I know I'm going to be taking heavy damage. They're more maneuverable, allow you to fire straight ahead, and can be bailed from without injury. The only problem is that crashes can be pretty hazardous to your health, especially when you go flying over a railing and into the river, which Tommy still couldn't swim through. There were much better boats though, and helicopters and planes were a fun way to get around quickly. The variety of melee weapons instead of just the bat was cool, although it stifled the more dangerous part of your inventory quite a bit. There was more freedom progressing the story, too. You had to build up a criminal empire by taking over and improving various businesses like a club or marina, And it was cool buying up safehouses all over town. The story was more interesting than 3's, easy when your protagonist is so much deeper, and the missions featured more variety and complexity. My only problem with the gameplay was the design of the city itself. Part of the fun is always the car chases, either pursuing traitors or evading the cops, banking around tight turns and barreling down hills. There just weren't that many hills to be found. There were nice jumps sprinkled around, but it was all just a little flat in places. Still, it was a fine game that improved over 3 in almost every way.