Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories

Overview

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (often referred to as simply Vice City Stories) is an open-world action game for the PSP, developed by Rockstar North and Rockstar Leeds and published by Rockstar Games in 2006. It is the fifth and final instalment in the Grand Theft Auto III canon, and the second game within that canon to appear on the PSP handheld system. It was ported to the PlayStation 2 the following year. The game follows the exploits of Victor Vance, and acts as a prequel to 2002's Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.

Setting

Despite being the last game to be released in the GTAIII canon, the events of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories are chronologically the first to occur within that canon. The game takes place in the exotic locale of Vice City, Florida, a fictional city loosely inspired by the real-world city of Miami. The events of Vice City Stories are set in the year 1984. As previously mentioned, the game is a prequel to Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, which takes place two years later in 1986. As a result of this fact, a number of familiar locations from Vice City cannot be found on the map in Vice City Stories, replaced by formative infrastructures or trailer parks.

Gameplay

Gameplay in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories is fundamentally identical to every other recent game in the Grand Theft Auto series. It is an open-world action game, commonly referred to as a " sandbox game", where a great deal of freedom is presented to the player. It is up to the player to decide which aspects of the game to tackle and when to tackle them, if indeed they choose to tackle them at all.

Missions

As with all other Grand Theft Auto games, Vice City Stories tells a mission-based story in which various tasks must be completed in order to progress through the game. Missions typically involve following the orders of notorious criminals, often entailing law-breaking activities such as drug trafficking, theft and murder. Upon completion of these missions, a cash reward is usually awarded to the player and more missions may become available. There are two main types of missions in Vice City Stories; story missions, which are tied to the game's narrative; and side missions, which are not linked to progression in the game, but may offer rewards in the form of money, weapons, or unlockable content.

Criminal Activity

As the game's name implies, criminal activity plays a major role within the gameplay of Vice City Stories. Any number of crimes may be committed by the player over the course of the game, either as part of the game's storyline, part of a side mission, or just for fun.

Empire Building

New and exclusive to Vice City Stories is its more detailed exploration into the concept of building a criminal empire. Although touched on in the original Vice City and to a lesser extent in San Andreas, Vice City Stories expands on the concept and gives the player the opportunity to custom-build their own criminal empire from the ground up.

Weapons

Grand Theft Auto features a wide variety of weapons available to the player. As with previous games in the franchise, weapons are divided into different categories, such as melee weapons, pistols, shotguns, rifles, and so on. The player may have one of each weapon type in their possession at any one time. A detailed description of the available weaponry can be found below.

Fist Weapons

When all else fails, Victor can always fall back on Mother Nature's own arsenal. Fist weapons are more rudimentary than melee weapons, and cause less damage.

• Fists
• Brass Knuckles

Melee Weapons

When fists won't quite cut it and you want to leave more of a mark. The game boasts a wide variety of melee weapons, ranging from blunt to bladed, and all of them are very handy in a brawl.

• Baseball Bat
• Golf Club
• Nightstick
• Gaff Hook
• Knife
• Butterfly Knife
• Axe
• Machete
• Katana
• Chainsaw

Explosives

Explosive weapons offer the most bang for your buck and are useful when dealing with crowds of people or vehicles.

• Molotov Cocktails
• Grenades
• Satchel Charges

Pistols

Your standard firearm, pistols are likely to be the first gun you'll encounter in the game. They are useful in one-on-one combat situations.

• Pistol
• Equalizer

Shotguns

Shotguns are useful when dealing with numbers of enemies at close range. They are powerful weapons, although their effectiveness is severely limited over long ranges.

• Shotgun
• Stubby Shotgun
• Spaz-12

Sub-Machine Guns

Useful when dealing with large numbers of enemies at a distance, sub-machine guns are fairly commonplace on the streets of Vice City.

• Scorpion
• Mac-10
• Micro SMG
• SMG

Assault Rifles

The most useful all-round weapons, assault rifles offer the utility of a sub-machine gun combined with more stopping power.

• AK-47
• M16

Heavy Weapons

Although not very practical in general combat, heavy weapons often provide the most fun way of dispatching one's targets and tend to be the weapons of choice for causers of chaos.

• Flamethrower
• Rocket Launcher
• Minigun
• M249

Sniper Rifles

Incredibly useful over very long distances, sniper rifles may be used for assassination missions or simply as a means of picking off undesirables from afar.

• Sniper Rifle
• Laser Sniper

Soundtrack

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories follows in the footsteps of its predecessors, offering an impressive array of licensed music in keeping with the early '80s setting. The game features nine radio stations, including eight themed music stations and a public radio station. Details of the radio stations can be found below.

Emotion 98.3

DJ:

Lionel Makepeace

Genre:

Power Ballad

Tracklist:

• The Motels - "Only the Lonely"
• 10cc - "I'm Not in Love"
• Quarterflash - "Harden My Heart"
• Toto - "Make Believe"
• Elkie Brooks - "Fool If You Think It's Over"
• The Passions - "I'm In Love With A German Film Star"
• Foreigner - "I Want to Know What Love Is"
• The Assembly - "Never, Never"
• Pat Benatar - "We Belong"
• The Pretenders - "Private Life"
• Phil Collins - "In The Air Tonight"
• Roxy Music - "Avalon"
• Eddie Money - "Baby Hold On"
• Rainbow - "Stone Cold"
• Giuffria - "Call To The Heart"
• Art of Noise - "Moments In Love"
• Dan Hartman - "I Can Dream About You"

Espantoso

DJ:

Hector Hernandez

Genre:

Latin Jazz

Tracklist:

• Ray Barretto - "Acid"
• Pete "El Conde" Rodriguez - "I Like It (I Like It Like That)"
• Tito Puente - "Oye Como Va"
• Bobby Valentin - "Mi Ritmo Es Bueno"
• Celia Cruz and Johnny Pacheco - "Quimbara"
• Hector Lavoe - "Mi Gente"
• Eddie Palmieri - "Revolt / La Libertad Logico"
• Willie Colon - "El Malo"

Flash FM

DJ's:

Teri, Toni

Genre:

Pop

Tracklist:

• Laura Branigan - "Gloria"
• Rick Springfield - "Human Touch"
• INXS - "The One Thing"
• Philip Bailey & Phil Collins - "Easy Lover"
• Scandal - The Warrior"
• Alison Moyet - "Love Resurrection"
• The Alan Parsons Project - "Games People Play"
• Hall & Oates - "Family Man"
• Pat Benatar - "Love Is a Battlefield"
• Nik Kershaw - "Wouldn't It Be Good"
• Phil Oakey and Giorgio Moroder - "Together In Electric Dreams"
• Talk Talk - "It's My Life"
• Missing Persons - "Destination Unknown"
• Wang Chung - "Don't Let Go"
• Gino Vannelli - "Appaloosa"
• Genesis - "Turn it on Again"
• Blancmange - "Living On The Ceiling"
• Paul Young - "Come Back and Stay"

Fresh 105 FM

DJ:

Luke

Genre:

Old School hip hop, period Electro

Tracklist:

• Afrika Bambaataa & Soul Sonic Force - "Renegades of Funk"
• Jonzun Crew - "Pack Jam (Look Out for the OVC)"
• Run-D.M.C. - "It's Like That"
• Planet Patrol - "Play At Your Own Risk"
• The Egyptian Lover - "Egypt, Egypt"
• Art of Noise - "Beat Box"
• Man Parrish - "Boogie Down Bronx"
• Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three - "Request Line"
• Midnight Star - "Freak-A-Zoid"
• Whodini - "Freaks Come Out At Night"

Paradise FM

Imaging Voice: Leslie "Big Lez" Segar

Genre: Post-disco

Tracklist:

• Unlimited Touch - "I Hear Music in the Streets"
• Plunky & the Oneness of Juju - "Everyway But Loose (Larry Levan Remix)"
• Geraldine Hunt - "Can't Fake the Feeling"
• Raw Silk - "Do It to the Music"
• Jimmy Bo Horne - "Is It In"
• Exodus - "Together Forever"
• Jackie Moore - "This Time Baby"
• Class Action - "Weekend (Tonight Is Party Time)"
• Gwen Guthrie - "It Should Have Been You"
• Thelma Houston - "You Used To Hold Me So Tight"
• Sister Sledge - "Lost in Music"
• Donald Byrd - "Love Has Come Around"
• Change - "The Glow of Love"

VCFL

DJ:

Tina Jane

Genre:

Soul, Quiet Storm

Tracklist:

• Marvin Gaye - "Sexual Healing"
• Earth, Wind & Fire - "Fantasy"
• Hot Chocolate - "It Started With A Kiss"
• Rick James - "Mary Jane"
• The Commodores - "Nightshift"
• Sylvia Striplin - "You Can't Turn Me Away"
• Wally Badarou - "Mambo"
• Barry White - "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next To Me"
• Roy Ayers - "Everybody Loves The Sunshine"
• Keni Burke - "Keep Rising to the Top"
• Teddy Pendergrass - "Love TKO"

V-Rock

DJ's:

Couzin Ed, Lazlow

Genre:

Heavy Metal, Hard Rock, Glam Metal

Tracklist:

• Dio - "Holy Diver"
• Queensrÿche - "Queen of the Reich"
• Kiss - "Lick It Up"
• Dokken - "Breaking the Chains"
• Autograph - "All I'm Gonna Take"
• Accept - "Balls to the Wall"
• Scorpions - "Rock You Like a Hurricane"
• Krokus - "Long Stick Goes Boom"
• Ted Nugent - "Stranglehold"
• Ratt - "Round and Round"
• Judas Priest - "Electric Eye"
• Mötley Crüe - "Looks That Kill"
• Quiet Riot - "Metal Health (Bang Your Head)"

The Wave 103

DJ: Trish Camden, Adam First

Genre: New Wave, Synthpop

Tracklist:

• The Human League - "Love Action (I Believe in Love)"
• Thompson Twins - "Love On Your Side"
• Depeche Mode - "Everything Counts"
• Blondie - "Heart of Glass"
• Frankie Goes to Hollywood - "Relax"
• ABC - "(How To Be A) Millionaire"
• New Order - "Blue Monday"
• Japan - "Quiet Life"
• Kajagoogoo - "Too Shy (Midnight Mix)"
• Heaven 17 - "Penthouse and Pavement"
• Berlin - "Sex, I'm A..."
• Howard Jones - "Like To Get To Know You Well"
• The Cure - "A Forest"
• A Flock of Seagulls - "Space Age Love Song"
• Yazoo - "Don't Go"