You can again fire certain guns from vehicles including bikes for drive-by shootings, but in addition you can also now tactically hit targets through car windows and blast tyres sending vehicles careering out of control - a technique that's used in the game by police with "stingers".
The GTA police force certainly hasn't mellowed since the last game - in fact, you have to be more vigilant of your "Wanted" rating, signified again by six stars in the top-right of the screen. As you commit crimes, the more stars you light up, the more aggressive the law enforcement officers will become. Get to three stars and they send the police helicopter after you - six stars, and the army will pay a visit in a tank. As in GTA III, if you get busted, you're taken to the nearest police station and have all your weapons confiscated, before your dodgy lawyer has time to spring you from jail.
Avoiding the authorities is almost a mini-game in itself. If you are frustrated and can't complete a mission, why not go on a good old-fashioned killing spree around the city for fun? Steal a motorbike, drive it into a crowd of people and smash it up. Buy an Uzi and start indiscriminately spraying the neighbourhoods with bullets, before stealing an ambulance when it arrives and squishing as many innocent roller-skaters as you can. Vice City is literally bursting with laugh-out-loud surprises and genuine great gaming moments.
You can search out the many areas for spectacular vehicle jumps again, as in the last GTA, complete with slo-mo camera angles and Insane Stunt Bonuses, plus there are hidden packages to discover and psychopathic Rampage missions. Then there's the dirt bike tracks, the different clothing for Tommy, the lap dances where you can watch girls jiggle about while your money goes down, as well as the old trick of picking up the naughty ladies of the night and heading to a secluded spot for a bit of the other.
There's just so much stuff in there - you'll be playing Vice City for months as it has at least hours of standard gameplay. The Al of NPCs and other vehicles is sometimes a little suspect, with cops suddenly stopping looking for you and pedestrians jumping into the path of your vehicle in an apparent suicide attempt.
However, it's good enough to create a feeling of being in a large city and there are more random events now, so cars will beep at you, people can shout abuse or ask questions, gangland shootouts will suddenly break out and traffic accidents occur. Rockstar has really polished the graphics in the PC version of Vice City, and although you'll need a hefty machine for the best results, we had a x setting double the resolution of the PlayStation 2 version with fps that looked stunning, with sunlight reflected realistically off cars, and a beautiful neon glow lit up buildings at night.
There was some pop-up cars appearing out of nowhere etc , and character animation is a little creaky, but this is being very picky - it's akin to criticising The Beatles' White Album for having a bit of a plain cover.
Vice City provides a rich environment where you can indulge every dark fantasy you've ever had, as well as enjoying some of the best level design and genius mission ideas ever featured in a game. Rockstar obviously knows its pop culture - there are many references to other films and TV shows, especially Miami Vice and the classic s movie Scarface the Giorgio Moroder soundtrack of which has already been raided for GTA III, trivia fans.
As we've experienced two GTA games in two years, you can actually forget how daring the whole franchise is: bad language, police murders, prostitution, illegal narcotics, porno movies, bloody chainsaw killings, scathing social criticism, political corruption, the sanctioned destruction of innocent people's property and possessions, and an amoral playable character.
But after all that. Vice City is a title that has defined a generation - a videogame that's hugely entertaining and cool as f.. The Lights dim and Mr. Mister's Broken Wings thumps into action as a man in a sharp suit plunges his flared nostrils into a pile of coke so big it would have cost Daniella Westbrook more than her septum. Cut to a couple of bouffanted blondes In pink skirts on roller skates, and back to Nice Guy Eddie explaining that he doesn't know who's dead, who's alive, who's caught and who's not.
The action switches to more drugs, violent shootings, more roller skates and a few more lines of the finest Peruvian.
If you asked most developers to name the inspiration behind their latest game, they'd go slightly red, look down at their feet and mutter something about a teacher back in school who gave them shelter in the computer labs from the bullies who made their lunchtimes hell.
But this is different. Sometimes, life is sweet. As is becoming the norm, Vice City has been out on PlayStation 2 since Christmas, but if you've got any sense you've kept yourself well away from it.
I had to force myself into a quick three-hour razz around just so that I didn't come across as a clueless tallywhacker in New York, but even that was enough to convince me there's only one version of the game worth playing. Vice City might be identical in content between the two platforms, but visually they couldn't be further apart.
The best analogy is pirate films. You can't wait for Star Wars 3 to hit the cinemas over here, so you buy a grainy DVD copy filmed from a digital camera perched in some obese American's bulging crotch. And in doing so effectively ruin the experience you could've had if you'd been patient.
You might not think visuals are that important, but the revamped DX9 engine adds to the experience immeasurably. This is something I discovered as soon as the game was fired up on a huge presentation screen by Devin Winterbottom, Vice City's product manager, leaving me struggling to maintain my cool in the face of one of the most stunning games I've ever seen.
The official line on why the game gets released on PC after PS2 is that the developers have to go back in and buff the city up until it's gleaming though we suspect the truth might have something to do with a company called Sony, and the word 'exclusive'. Either way, Devin looks as proud as any father clutching his newborn as he runs us through the visuals: "Oh yeah.
It's all DX 9 stuff, and we've gone back in and re-done I all the textures, he says. Switching from day to night, the game suddenly explodes in a mass of neon shop fronts and street lamps. Pedestrians ditch their swimmers for suits and smart party clobber. Standing in the middle of the road, an oncoming motorbike blinds me with its headlights. Dazzlingly bright at the core, the light diffuses round the edges creating an amazingly lifelike effect - the first of hundreds of subtle effects I was going to get unnaturally excited about as I played through the game on the enormous screen they had rigged up.
The next thing that grabbed me by the balls was the draw distance. If you can't see something clearly, it's more likely that it's your eyes that are defective. And to make the most out of all this, you can use your mouse to look around and take in every little nuance. Something Devin points to in highlighting differences between playing the game on either platform: When you're a console gamer you're always looking at what's ahead of you.
You never take the time to look around you, look behind you. Which means you won't get to see some of the pedestrian antics the team has been lovingly slaving over. Antics made all the more amusing and convincing by Rockstar's decision to motion capture the movements of professional stage actors. All the pedestrians have their own mannerisms, and things they do and say. The pedestrians reflect that, walking around in bathing suits, or roller skating in tight pink spandex and headbands.
Right on cue, a skater who wouldn't have looked out of place in the WWE in the mid '80s tries to skate round us only to fall on his pert, pink arse. As he gingerly gets to his feet, the room dissolves in hysterical laughter, much as it would if we'd seen his slapstick fall in the real world.
It's great demoing the game, because the same thing never happens twice. But the improvements in Vice City aren't just cosmetic.
Rockstar might not be giving Vice City full sequel status, but there's enough new to make it a huge evolution from the last game. First off, where Liberty City might as well have been a cardboard film set, giving the appearance of a city without anywhere for you to go except the streets, Vice City lets you move around inside buildings, and even buy your own properties when you get enough cash.
You can't go in any building you want we presume they're saving this for the online version of the game, when, or indeed, if, it comes to fruition - see the Gangbang boxout below for more info but the various hotels, discos and shopping malls help extend the illusion of the city, and provide some pretty funky backdrops for the shady deals and gunfights you get into through the course of the game. And this is no lazy add-on. The two entities co-exist, which means that although there's a short loading time when you move from outside to indoors, everything carries on in the city as if you were still out there.
So any pedestrians hanging around outside will still be there doing their thang when you come back out. And any cops on your tail might not give up the chase just because you've ducked inside a building - a quick peek out of the window should tell you if this is the case. The next tick on the checklist is the addition of new vehicles, most notably helicopters and motorbikes. There are six flyable helicopters in the game plus a radio-controlled model , and although they take a bit of getting used to, they're nowhere near as hard to fly as the Dodo from GTA III.
You can land on secluded rooftops for an afternoon's sniping, or use your blades to chop up a group of pensioners enjoying a round of golf. You'll also see choppers if your wanted rating gets too high, though these will be the ones the SWAT teams sent to bring you in are abseiling down from - if you're quick enough, a burst from your uzi or sniper shot to the pilot can take them down.
But the addition of motorbikes is an even more significant change to the way the game plays. Ranging from the ultratrendy, but ultimately ultra-slow Faggio scooter, up to the classic Hariey-types, the first thing you notice is how well they handle. You can pull wheelies and fall off the back if you get a bit carried away, as I did , and do some serious damage to yourself if you crash, with your body flying through the air and coming down in a crunch of bone and tarmac.
But the coolest thing is that you can also shoot while you're riding, a feature that alters the skew of the previous game, enabling you to shoot left, right, or directly ahead.
Other changes include the ability to shoot out tyres, causing vehicles to slew, or shoot through windscreens to take out the driver. Play it right and you can take the head off a driver with a well-aimed shot yep, it's more violent than GTA 3 and then watch in glee as the car crashes and the decapitated torso flops out. Sue me. Of course, all of this means that you're not as safe as you used to be in a vehicle, as Devin was quick to point out. In GTA III, when you in a car you felt pretty invincible, but now cops can shoot your tyres out or turn on tyre spikes, so things are a bit tougher.
In a less specific sense, Vice City seems to have more of an adult feel to it - not that there's more unnecessary language or content. I might only have had five or so hours to get acquainted with the game, but right from the off you get the feeling Rockstar has been watching all the right films.
In jail since Liberty City went tits up, you've been sent up to Vice City by the The Forelli brothers to scout out the new turf and see if you can start making money. The only problem is that within seconds of the game kicking off you're involved in a drug deal that goes very sour. You lose the drugs, you lose the money, and your boss, Sonny Forelli, is not a happy chappy as you find out in one of the first cinematic cut-scenes.
You'd better not be screwing me Tommy, because you know I don't like to be screwed with. Tommy: Hey Sonny. You've got my personal assurance I'm going to get you your money back. And the drugs. And I'll mail you the dicks of those responsible. Sonny: "Hey, I already know that. If it was anybody else you'd be dead already.
But because it's you, I'm going to let you handle this. A fairly typical exchange, but it took a while to click that this is the first time in a GTA game that you've heard your character Tommy Vercetti, voiced by Ray Liotta actually speak. One of the few criticisms we had about the last game was that your character was a bit of a dick, just moving from boss to boss, taking orders without displaying any personality.
That's all changed now, and you start the game as a playa - someone who commands respect and is well known throughout the criminal fraternity, all of whom you're introduced to early on, Goodfellas-style. The freeform nature and mission structure is the same, but using feedback from people like you, Rockstar has opted for bigger missions where you feel like you're doing more than just taking something from A to B.
We wanted to do more of this in Vice City, so the missions are longer and more involving. When it inevitably goes wrong you have to jump on a bike and chase the gunman, firing and riding as you go.
And what about bugs? We didn't actually have any problems with the game, but going on the forums around the time of release a lot of you did. We're going to spend more time testing on as many different systems as we can. And to the cries of 'but it's just more of the same', I'd reply that when it's this good, what's the problem?
In essence the game might be the same, but the improvements are real. It's GTA III, polished to perfection and wrapped up in the same unique humour, a fantastic '80s soundtrack which gives instant lie to the claim that Rockstar is targeting children with its sick games , better visuals, new vehicles and weapons including a chainsaw!
Can you tell that I'm just a wee bit excited? The follow up to one of the most popular console games of all time has finally hit the streets and there is happiness in videogame land like never before. Vice City manages to meld a great story, serious action, and limitless gameplay to produce one of the best games of all time.
Trying to describe Vice City is a bit difficult because how you choose to play the game really revolves around the individual player. You can follow a very linear path and complete only the direct missions but in doing so, you will miss out on a majority of the game.
One of the main aspects that make Vice City so great is the sense of freedom you have. You can drive around the city, listening to tunes on your favorite 80's radio station, checking out the sites. You can jump in a taxi and make some extra cash driving people around. You can explore all of the hidden nooks and crannies looking for weapons or other secrets to help out on your missions.
The choice is completely yours and how fun it is. In Episode , it is assumed that Ryan has a cat move in, but it is not confirmed, and it's name is unknown. In Episode , the AH gang had created a hole underneath Ryan's house, making it seem as an exact opposite of Geoff's house. Caleb 's "house" is a 2x2x1 pool of water next to the de-gubbins pit, which is a 2x2x1 pit of lava use for getting rid of items.
It was created after he was banned from the Let's Plays. Later, he got an obsidian block for tower wins that goes next to the logo. Kerry 's "house" is simply a small pine-needle tree with an Obsidian block. It was created by Gavin in Episode 74 , while Ryan was on a temporary leave of absence. As of Episode 89 , Kerry now lives in the basement of Michael 's house. Jeremy 's house is the newest addition to Achievement City. It was constructed were Ray 's house used to stand.
It was built starting at the end of Episode after Ray's leaving and lasted three episodes until it was fully renovated with the deconstruction of Ray's Mud Hut, with construction lasting through Episode The new house sat unoccupied until Episode , when Jeremy won the Tower of Pimps for the first time, prompting him to "rent" the house.
In a skit filmed later, but still part of Episode , Geoff claimed that Jeremy's rent check had "cleared" and that the house was officially his. When Jeremy chopped the sign down, the "Jeremy's House" sign was revealed. While the outside appears to be made simply of dirt with a pillar quartz walkway, it is the largest house in Achievement City besides Geoff's.
The ground floor is made of hardened clay with netherrack underneath giving it a heated floor, and there are two basements below. Below that is the sub basement, which Michael turned into a "Pleasure Room.
Inside is three beds, a bookshelf, and a note block. Next to the house is a small gardening area with a waterfall, which is the only way into the sub basement.
Jeremy earned the house when he won the Tower of Pimps in Episode as his first victory. In Episode , Jeremy built a chest in the pleasure room that is filled with diamond swords. It is assumed to be removed because it would give him an unfair advantage in the Let's Plays but it is unknown. Ray 's house was made entirely of dirt and was the smallest out of the original five. Geoff claimed that he let Millie make Ray's home. Initially, there were no amenities like beds, furnaces, etc.
Ray attempted many times to improve his home by stealing green wool, and even stealing Gavin 's paintings, but to no avail. During the later Let's Plays, he was seen with a bed, a chest full of roses, and paintings. Later on, Gavin, Geoff, and Ryan built a system where 17 dispensers behind the kung-fu artwork would spit out a total of 9, cakes when triggered by a pressure plate at his front door. As a result, Ray would smash into the side of his home to gain access to the roses in his chest.
Ray's two roommates were Pat the Head and Percival the Ocelot. There was also Conrad the Chicken who lived in a cauldron as of Episode 85 , but unknowingly escaped. Conrad is thought to have been eaten by Percival as Conrad disappeared and Percival came in the same episode. The fates of both Pat and Percival are not exactly known after the demolition, though it is strongly implied Pat is presumed to be the head framed in Geoff's memorial to Ray and Percival was most likely killed or set free by Michael as confirmed by Episode , when he sets Ray's horse free and marches it into the lava pit.
Ray also had 2 item frames displaying a lump of coal and a spawn egg which represent his victories in the RPS and Hit List competitions. At the end of Episode , Ray's house was demolished and deconstructed a few minutes after he left Achievement City through the tunnel and left the game and after he packed up his stuff, left the offices and went home.
After Ray's leaving, Geoff packed up Ray's stuff from Ray's chest and moved it all into the basement as Ray's stuff would live on. The rest of Ray's supplies and equipment including the roses they planted at the tunnel would later be acquired by the other AH guys. Ray also wanted to ride off into the sunset with the donkey but just chose to walk on foot through the tunnel instead. At the center of the city lies a giant rendering of the Achievement Hunter logo made out of black, lime green, and white wool.
Beneath the logo is a vast supply of TNT, triggered by a button near the cactus farm on the city limits. Upon pressing the button, the TNT basement starts detonating, destroying much of the city. In the original press; Jack's home was barely damaged by the explosion, Geoff's home had what Michael described as a 'dent' due to its size, the entire front half of Michael's home was destroyed in the blast, Gavin loses one of the walls of his home, and Kung-Fu house and Ray's home are almost totally destroyed.
Upon later mis uses of Plan G, the destruction varies. Over the course of the series Plan G has been activated 18 times:. In its place is the Plan G Museum that can be accessed next to the button that was used to activate Plan G which is now encased in glass.
Some features of the Museum include:. More recently, the city does not seem to be as enclosed by dirt cliffs and has been flattened out, especially the area next to Geoff's 'monolith'. Also, there seems to have been a river added behind Jack's stilt house along with accompanying bridge. As of Episode 31, Achievement City has a minecart station between Michael's and Jack's houses, intended to enable the crew to make their way to each episode's location. It stops on the east side of the map where Wool Wall and Shopping List are located because, as Gavin and Geoff have mentioned in Let's Builds, they couldn't be bothered to make it go anywhere else.
There is also a tunnel in between Michael's house and the minecart station which former employees of Achievement Hunter pass through on their final Let's Play Minecraft episode. Though it wasn't shown it is believed to lead simply to a door, as the sound of a door opening and closing can be heard when Ray left the world.
A bulletin board was set up which would be updated with important information. During episode 54 it was used for putting up the point system for finding the rare occurrences in the world. Geoff and Gavin jokingly said they should have made a Let's Build for it due to it taking so long to make.
It has been used since then in episodes such as 56, 62, 93, and In episode , Geoff started construction on a map wall behind the Bulletin Board. Between Jack and Ryan's house, there is a bridge going over a river made by Geoff in the eastward direction made out of cobblestone and mossy cobblestone with some lights designed to look like street lamps on it.
In its place is now an anvil to be used to name or repair tools. Unfortunately, due to outdated nature of Achievement City's seed, Achievement City does not and cannot have strongholds, abandoned mine shafts, or end portals.
This forces the team to create new worlds such as Achievement Burg, Achievement Ville, etc. In Episode 25, due to the 1.
The latter was raided by Geoff and Michael, and Gavin's house was covered in lava reminiscent of his actions in the first episode. In Episode 26, they found an underground library within a stronghold that they set up base and farm in. Gavin, ever the griefer, burned some parts of this base. In Episode 27 they returned to an updated Achievement City, but whenever a new update appears they generally create a new seed to show off the features they can't get in Achievement City.
As of episode , the world of Achievement City is now on Xbox One, meaning that it is now much, much vaster, and does allow for new features, such as Abandoned Mineshafts, Mushroom Biomes, and Temples.
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