Editorial Review

How big is this game? Even publicists for other games end up talking about Vice City when they call our office, babbling in the same helplessly intoxicated way that afflicts everyone who plays it. The achievement of Vice City (which, as everyone knows by now, is set in the 1980s and offers an all-new, Miami Vice-inspired story) is not only that it manages to live up to an absurd level of expectation, but that it takes the game places that fans of its predecessor Grand Theft Auto 3 never dreamed of, and that it achieves this astonishing level of innovation without losing anything that made GTA3 the bestselling PS2 game of all time.

After a brilliant homage to the era of the Commodore 64 in the opening credits, the first thing you'll notice is the improved graphics, which are smoother and more detailed, and--with effects like neon lights reflected on rain-slick streets, and intense Florida sunlight--have a lush, tropical look that immediately gives you a strong sense of place. The architecture is more fabulous by tenfold, with art deco buildings, high-rise hotels, and believably seedy back alleys. The control scheme is essentially the same as in GTA3, but the cars handle much better, and in pedestrian mode there is a new crouch move. You will have access to fast, great-handling cars right away, as opposed to GTA3 which made you unlock the second island before you could get your hands on any respectable wheels. This game has such riches to offer that there is no need to be chintzy with the vehicles.

Cops are more vigilant this time--minor offenses like whacking innocent bystanders will more often than not get you a two-star wanted level--and are harder to elude (though they still can't seem to climb stairs or negotiate sharp turns). So while free-roaming exploration is as fun as ever, there is more incentive to perform the missions instead of randomly raising hell. Not that that's a bad thing: even lazy criminals like myself (in GTA3, I would rather toss hand grenades into traffic than follow orders from some rude Mafia boss) will be quickly caught up in the vivid characters and hilarious, fascinating story, in which you play an acid-washed-jeans-wearing thug named Tommy Vercetti. Where in GTA3 missions were blocky, schematic affairs only nominally connected to the story, this time tasks move the story briskly along and deftly blend cinematics and game action. For example, there is a scene of a character throwing Tommy a gun, at which point you are suddenly thrown back into the action and must make an instant decision about whom to trust and what to do.

There are more, and more detailed, indoor environments, including a hotel, police station, and mall (a slight downside to this is that some of the more elaborate indoor environments require load times). The layout of the city, with tons of backyards, narrow alleys, and fire escapes, encourages creativity when eluding pursuit, as does greater access to rooftops. Get your motorcycle up the fire escape and a whole new world of action is possible, including... well, use your imagination.

This overview barely scratches the surface of the Vice City experience, its colorful explosion of music, clothes, combat, and brilliant voice acting, not to mention the plot twist midway through the game that changes the very nature of the game itself. Though it was the outrageous, amoral violence that got all the press, the essential genius of GTA3 was its intoxicating blend of script and open-ended action. In Vice City this is--to use a cliché that is for once apropos--taken to a whole new level. --David Stoesz

Pros:

• Astonishing, innovative gameplay
• Godlike attention to detail
• Opportunity to drive on the beach at midnight listening to the Human League's "Fascination"

• More load times

Editorial Review

To get it out of the way: yes, The Getaway is a by-the-book knockoff of the massively successful Grand Theft Auto series. It is, even if it was started five years ago. (Did anyone at Team Soho play the London expansion pack for the original GTA?) But Ms. Pac-Man was a clone too, and no one complained about that. Ripping off ideas is as old as the idea of gaming, period, so this fact alone is not a sin. The Getaway carries through on its mission well enough, if falling a bit in the shadow of its predecessor.

The mission of the game is this: in what's becoming a post-Sopranos, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels stereotype, you're a tough guy, with guns, of course, and a fair amount of attitude. Having formerly worked for the British Mafia, you're looking to exact some brute force/we-ain't-no-James-Bond revenge on the boss. You jump in your car (or any car, really) and the turn signals let you know the path to follow your enemies. By the next scene, you're off and shooting, throwing out and receiving British slang and curses (e.g., "Look out! This guy's a nutter"). This pattern--car and shoot, shoot and car--is repeated over and over as you complete more missions. There's clearly a great deal of technical expertise in the game's design: knock the car door and it swings open wide, altering the aerodynamics and causing drag on that side of the machine.

Is The Getaway a good game? Yes and no. If you're a die-hard fan of GTA, you'll most likely be annoyed that you have no health meter, that the famous GTA humor is missing (Getaway is pretty dour), and that the missions are fairly linear and exacting. If you're not a rabid GTAer, you may actually like the fact that there's no health meter, since the idea is, after all, authenticity. In real life you wouldn't exactly have a "low life level" meter ringing in your ears in the event of a scuffle, after all. There are no maps and no ammo counters--causes of concern to some players--but again, the idea is: "real life." The superb photorealism (40 square kilometers of London were carefully mapped out with cinematic quality) goes hand in hand with this pursuit of reality above all else. Stylish and intentionally minimalist in its game mechanics, The Getaway is likely to have more than a few die-hard supporters (otherwise known as "mates"). --Jennifer Buckendorff

Pros:

• London, looking really cool
• UK one-way streets, any which way you want
• Notable array of vehicles
• Catchy/cute Britishisms

• Parents beware: the F word is in use
• Lo-o-o-ong cut scenes. Getaway thinks it's a movie.
• Nope, no strafing
• Enforced camera angle

Editorial Review

Grand Theft Auto is back--and the popular mission-baseddriving game is nastier than ever! Grand Theft Auto 2 plays muchlike its predecessor, and that is not necessarily a good thing.

The graphics in the original were terrible, and GTA 2 does littleto amend this deficiency. The game camera looks straight down on theaction, making it difficult to judge relative heights. The grainy gameobjects don't help matters much, either. Plus, the game's missionsmainly consist of fetching things for crime lords, with a fewassassination missions thrown in every so often.

Still, Grand Theft Auto 2 is a terrific game to boot up for 30minutes if you want to blow off some steam. You don't necessarily haveto take on any missions. Instead, you can brainlessly roam around theenormous city environments performing random acts of violence. (However,we don't recommend that you try this at home!). Few games of any typeoffer this sort of reckless, open-ended mayhem.

Police chases are wilder than ever thanks to new units with improvedinterception techniques. New weapons also add some much-needed varietyto the carnage that players are bound to create. If you never played theoriginal, skip it and pick up this version. You might also considergetting some therapy, if time permits. --T. Byrl Baker

Pros:

• Artificial intelligence is somewhat improved
• Controls are a little better than the original

• Few gameplay improvements from the original
• Less than impressive graphics
• Gameplay suffers from slowdown

Reviews (8)

Two Corrupting Game For The Price Of One
Grand Theft Auto is an awesome game that every gamer should experience. Getting to play as the bad guy for a change is truly awesome, and is a welcome break from the played out (no pun intended) scenario with the good guy having to save everyone from the bad guy. After all, the bad guys are the ones who get to have all the fun, right? The graphics in GTA are pretty dated, but aren't all that bad (the level designs are pretty good and some of the vehicles look nice as well). The vehicles range from Sports Cars, Motorcycles, Trucks, Vans, Police Cars, and a whole lot more. Some cars go blazingly fast, while others are incredibly slow, and others just have average speeds. GTA has tons of variety to keep you coming back for more. The missions are always randomized, and you have some much freedom you'll often find yourself walking around the city doing what you want rather than completing your missions. The Weapons are cool too, they range from a Machine Gun, Flamethrower, and Rocket Launcher, and their a lot of fun to use. You just have to love blowing up cars, torching people, and mowing down rival gangsters. Let's not forget you can also run people over with vehicles (except the Motorcycle I think). GTA is tons of evil fun. One of the most original features of any game ever is the radio stations in the vehicles. A lot of the music is pretty cool and fits in well with the game. The levels make you feel like your in that particular city. The controls are a little confusing and difficult to work out at first, but you eventually get the hang of it, and the controls become a breeze once you learn. GTA is definitely one of the most original and addicting games of all-time, and without a doubt one of the most innovative and refreshing. The only downside is that some of the missions can be frustrating, but other than that it's an excellent game that every gamer should definitely consider.

The Director's Cut comes with the original GTA and the London 1969 expansion pack, which is essentially the same as GTA only in London. Still it's a fun game even if it's mostly a rehash. It's very funny at times and there are some really fun missions (like the one where you drive a Tank and use it against a rival gang). The Director's Cut has these two great games for the price of one. You can't go wrong with this package, and I highly recommend it.

A good package, but it feels dated.
This is one of those games that is classic. The package includes Grand Theft Auto, and the London Mission Pack. However, the London missions were never as fun as the ones in the original. When compared side-by-side with the original GTA, the London mission pack does not really stand up very well. However, if you ever wanted to play GTA, this is a great chance.

Should be a Greatest Hits title
It's really a shame one can't find this game anymore.Sure, you could get GTA1 as part of Sony's Greatest Hits Series (games with the green stripe) and GTA2 for that matter, but this was a great opportunity to pick up GTA1 and the super-peppy London 1969 expansion for a reasonable price.Though this was most likely done since you needed to have GTA1 to play London 1969 (I believe that was the only PS1 game to go with that particular "expansion" route.)

And speaking of London 1969, wow did it have flavor!The characters were hilarious and had more character and great lines than either GTA1 or GTA2 (my personal fave being the old UK crime boss warning you with the line "Remember, I'm the monkey and you're the cheese grater.")

The graphics remain mostly unchanged from GTA1 to London 1969, but this series was never about graphics, it was about free andunfettered mayhem.Pick up a phone, do a job, harass the cops, run over some pedestrians, it never got boring.And the tunes in both games (GTA1 & London 1969) are great with London 1969 having some truly authentic retro flavor.

Reviews (21)

I DON`T AGREE WITH JESSICA!!
I like this game alot its very much like the 2000 hit Driver 2 on Playstation ONE,and the missions are 90% the same and you get 2 cities Chicago and Rio De Janiero and both are half cities because the GameBoy:Advance has not got enough power to include full scale of the 4 cities,because if Reflections,Atari and Sunnari tried the game will mess up and freeze alot like Rockstar and others attempted to sqeeze GTAIII into the small cart. and there are now rumours saying it has cancelled or just been made in the classic helicoptors view style.Anyways this game is not the Racing genre its just Driving cos,you`re not a pro- racer wearing branded sponsors on a leather suit with a helmet and on a special track with a spercial type of car,No this game is about a half-sided cop,over half Criminal called Tanner who returns to Undercover with a friend,Jones.The games main charictors are Tanner,Jones,"Pink" Lenny,Caine,Jericho and Vasquez all of these guys are criminal and are far from friends the groups are Tanner and Jones,Caine and Jericho,Vasquez and Lenny.the story begins when Lenny cuts a deal with a rival,one of Vasquezes soldiers(Gangsters) and switches sides and then trying to make his former boss,Caine die but later in the game Tanner joins with Caine to take down Vasquez.The graphics of the game are alright but ever one looks like LEGO people but the 3D areas look cool.The sounds are good but the music is lame.overall this game is great i reccomend it to any one 8+.

Driver 2 Advanced
Driver 2 advance is 80% similar to the PS1 version. It have the 2 instead of the 4 cities, Chicago and Rio. The area size isn't as big but it's a Game Boy, not enough power, but that's alright. The thing I don't like is when you turn the car, the it's a sharp turn not very smooth, and you don't have the options to turn it off. Also, the sound gets stuck and you have to turn it off. The thing that's great is the loading time when you drive down the street, in Driver for the PS1, you could only see maybe 50 feet down the street but on this one, you can see all the way down, it's amazing.

Graphics: 4/5.
Sound: 3/5.
Music: 2/5.
Difficulty: 3/5
Game play: 3/5.
Area size of the cities: 3/5.
Control: 3/5.
Fun: 4/5.
Colors: 3/5.
Frustration: 3/5.
Chances of being bored with the game: 2/5.

Editorial Review