iPhone-iPad App Review - Grand Theft Auto Vice City

Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto III may have been the version which set in motion the franchise’s success, as well as introducing us to all the game’s key elements, but Vice City will always hold a special place in my heart. It’s not quite San Andreas – a game my friend and I played for so long, it caused components inside my fat PS2 to break – but it’s close, as it has a proper protagonist, a more interesting setting than the third instalment and a wider array of eccentric characters.

You play Tommy Vercetti, memorably voiced by Ray Liotta, a small-time criminal who’s presence at a drug deal gone wrong sees him sent to Vice City, where he’s not expected to last very long. However, you soon become embroiled in the city’s criminal lifestyle as you search for the missing money and drugs. At first, it’s performing simple tasks for the bosses, such as convincing witnesses not to testify and blowing up buildings, but you eventually move on to better (and higher paying) things.

Playing Vice City is similar to GTA III, where you’re in touch with various people, all of whom give you different missions, which often lead to meeting other people who give you more missions, and so on. In addition to the standard game, there’s plenty to keep you occupied when travelling around the city, as there are many more side missions than in GTA III, along with chance to make some cash (and earn a reward or two if you complete them) by doing taxi, ambulance, cop and even pizza delivery missions.

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Part of Grand Theft Auto’s appeal is simply being able to grab a car and cruise around the city listening to the radio. In Vice City you’re not restricted to vehicles with four wheels anymore, as it introduced motorbikes to the series. These fast alternatives to cars are great fun, but are usually much more dangerous, however being able to shoot forwards while riding one is a big help when trying to complete certain missions. As you progress through the game, the chance to fly helicopters and small planes arrives too, but it’s not as polished or as exciting as it is in San Andreas.

Grand Theft Auto III was a surprise on iOS when it was launched last year, as it played far better than we expected it to. The touch control system wasn’t perfect, but the game was playable enough after a little practice. Rockstar has listened to the complaints though, and has made some alterations for Vice City. The main difference is with targeting, as you can now tap the screen to target a particular villain, instead of letting the game do it for you. In GTA III, it was frustrating to be shooting at the wrong guy at the worst possible moments, and this new method goes some way to fixing that problem. It works well, although it can leave you wanting more fingers in the heat of a particularly vicious firefight.

The same controls are employed for moving around on foot and driving, although now most of the buttons can be resized and repositioned around the screen. Again, with some practice and patience, getting the right set-up is possible and it’s worth it only to move the stupid exit vehicle button which is right next to the handbrake button. Oh the amount of times the wrong one was pressed before they were moved…

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Visually, Vice City has had an overhaul over the PS2 original, with improved characters and lighting effects at the top of the list. But GTA games are all about the neat little touches, such as watching the flaps operate inside the supercharger scoop when you’re driving the Phoenix, and it’s good to see them all accurately recreated on the small screen.

We say small screen, but the best playing experience you’ll get with Vice City is on the iPad. The app is universal, and it has iCloud support to sync your progress between the two devices, but the larger screen makes the sometimes fiddly controls much easier to handle. It plays smoothly and looks great on both the iPad 3 and iPhone 5 though, and only suffered from a little slow down during scenes with lots of explosions, vehicles and action.

While most of you who played Vice City when it was first released will find it equally as enjoyable on your iOS device of choice, newcomers to the series who’ve only ever played GTA IV on a games console may find it a little clunky and the world far too sparsely populated; as positive reviews such as this one may be written with a degree of nostalgia. Regardless of this, Vice City is a solid four out of five star game, and for £2.99 it’s a relative bargain considering the hours of exciting, rewarding gameplay it holds inside.