GTA Vice City stands out as an iOS game that truly embraces its limitations to use them as strengths. Where previous GTA ports had jerking graphics and text that was difficult to read (unless you had access to a PC with sufficient processing power) Vice City looks beautiful, runs smoothly, and actually offers much.
The game takes place in 1986 and follows Tommy Vercetti and his crew of mobsters led by Sonny Forelli – his mob boss – sent him to Vice City with the intent of overseeing a drug deal, alongside crooked lawyer Ken Rosenberg. However, when things go terribly wrong he vows to get his money back from those responsible and embarks upon his quest to become the most influential individual in Vice City.
As is typically the case with GTA games, violence is at the core of this one as well. You’ll have plenty of opportunities to slaughter innocent civilians with your car, helicopter or fists; heads will explode, bodies rip open and blood will spray everywhere! Additionally, this time around there are prostitutes available for pickup – an added perk from most ’80s movies! And don’t be surprised to encounter swearing – with many swearwords being spoken such as s***f*** and h*** being spoken along the way!
Rockstar has clearly invested much effort into improving the visuals in this one and it shows. The frame rate has significantly increased while cars shimmer in beautiful heat haze with some fantastically psychedelic visual effects as you drive along. Even music from the 80s sounds better than it did before!
GTA IV features missions with different rules than we saw in GTA III, shifting away from traditional job-list-like missions towards an open world experience where missions can be randomly found or completed randomly by wandering. Missions vary, some requiring you to kill specific individuals while others simply require you to visit specific locations.
The other major change lies within the weapon arsenal. Many of your favorite weapons return, while there are also newcomers like a chainsaw (which looks really cool) and melee weapons to choose from. Furthermore, now you can ride a scooter around town and deliver pizza, which requires skill but makes for great fun gameplay and an awesome addition to the series.