Grand Theft Auto: Vice City turned 18 years old this week, which means it's old enough to go out for ten pints, a curry, and a fight here in the UK. In America it'd have to sneak some cans in and have a less exciting birthday, but that's by the by. The point is that Vice City is starting to get on a bit - hell, you could reasonably consider it a "retro" game at this point, which seems utterly bananas to me.
Growing up Vice City was a formative game for me and my friends, as was San Andreas, which I wrote about earlier this week. What's always amazed me is that there's nothing but debate about which of these two PlayStation 2 titles is better, as if they're remotely comparable.
Of course San Andreas is a bigger and more expansive game with a more ambitious story and a world that feels infinitely more alive. That's not really up for debate. Vice City came out a full two years before San Andreas, and while it made some huge improvements on the overhauled 3D open-world formula introduced by GTA III, San Andreas had the advantage of learning and improving on both of its 3D predecessors.
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So yeah, you can argue that San Andreas is technically more impressive, but that doesn't automatically make it better. Vice City brings more than enough to the party for us to reasonably consider it as one of the best PlayStation 2 games of all time, right up there - if not right next to - San Andreas.
The world, while not as big or ambitious as its successor, is surely one of the more memorable open worlds of the generation. Rockstar Games has always proven adept at creating windows into immersive worlds, whether that's the dusty Wild West or a spoof of a self-obsessed modern-day Los Angeles. Here, the studio took aim at Miami in the 1980s and came away with a world drenched in tacky neon lights, shady dealings, and more references to Scarface than you could shake your little friend at.
While the world of Vice City certainly worked well enough in terms of its overall design, look, and feel, the one crucial factor that brought it to life - the element that elevates this game to "legendary" status in my eyes - is its soundtrack. Simply put, the Vice City soundtrack absolutely goddamn slaps. It's one of the greatest collections of songs in any video game I've played, that's just a fact. Hell, I'm listening to it as a I write these words and I'd go so far as to say it might just be the best of all time. Maybe TOTO is currently getting the better of me, though.
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In this day and age, games like GTA V and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 & 2 - Remastered can offer hundreds of songs easily, and if you don't like what's on offer you can just mute the music and whack Spotify on. Back in 2002, the sheer variety of artists and tracks in Vice City blew minds and opened up an entire generation to a decade of music in a way I don't think any other game or TV show ever could have.
You can just imagine how confused parents at the time were when kids were suddenly expressing an interest in the likes of Hall & Oates, Bryan Adams, Go West, Squeeze, and Cutting Crew. That's not to say these aren't classic artists with great songs most of us wouldn't have discovered at some point in our lives, but I know I wouldn't have learned the words to 'Broken Wings' if I hadn't spent 100 hours driving around Vice City listening to it.
Even if you've never played Vice City, I urge you to head to Spotify right now and search for the game's playlist, which plenty of users have put together in an unofficial capacity. It's simply groaning under the weight of top-quality bangers, and it doesn't just stop at mainstream 80's pop hits either, although lord knows it could have done and would still have been absolute fire. The likes of Iron Maiden, Slayer, Ozzy Osbourne are in the mix too, offering a blend of classic pop, metal, punk, funk, and even jazz. Vice City opened some real doors for me, musically speaking, and I'm certain I'm not the only one.
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'Never Too Much', 'Juicy Fruit', 'Video Killed The Radio Star', '2 Minutes To Midnight', 'Raining Blood' - I could go on, but I'm sure you get the picture. The sheer variety was enough to make my head spin as a kid, as I'm forever grateful for the music Vice City introduced me to.
To summarize before I lose the rest of the day vibing to Trouble Funk: Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is a fantastic game, and easily one of Rockstar's best. It often finds itself overlooked by San Andreas, and while I certainly understand how the bigger game went on to be considered the better game by most of us, let's never forget that when it comes to the soundtrack? There isn't a Rockstar game out there that touches Vice City.
Featured Image Credit: Rockstar GamesTopics: Rockstar Games, Grand Theft Auto