Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories Review - PSP

And now it’s time for more Grand Theft Auto… the dead horse that just keeps on giving. It’s no wonder that Rockstar is more than willing to milk the venerable sandbox series for all its worth. If you had to shell out millions due to “hot coffee” lawsuits, you’d be looking to recoup your loses too. The latest is the second PSP-to-PS2 port, GTA: Vice City Stories.

It’s a City, see? And it’s got Vices, see…?

For only $20, it’s hard to fault Vice City Stories too much. Strictly speaking, it does exactly what GTA lovers expect. Vice City Stories puts players into the combat boots of young Vic Vance. Vic grew up on the mean streets, trying to protect and take care of his family. He joined the service for a steady job and good pay, but instead finds himself neck deep in trouble thanks in part to one of the worst commanding officers ever.

Disgraced, thrown out, and homeless, Vic soon finds himself picking up questionable odd jobs in typical GTA fashion. The gameplay in Vice City Stories doesn’t deviate from the GTA mold at all, and this port of the game doesn’t add any content since the PSP version. So, if you’ve played through the game on the PSP, there’s not much to recommend it for a second time.

Auto theft, beat downs, murder, drugs, and mayhem is a hard combination to beat, and on the PSP, Vice City Stories ran down the entire GTA gameplay checklist. The game engine powering it was, at best, slightly improved over Liberty City Stories, but on the small screen, it provided a more than ample helping of on-the-go violence. On the PS2, however, it now seems like a small, technically inferior portion.

The controls, especially the camera, are certainly improved through the inclusion of two analog sticks, and the vehicle handling is spot on. Motorcycle handling, a problem in the previous PSP game, is excellent, and to prove it, the game immediately starts you off with one. The targeting and other interactions are on par with earlier GTA outings on the PS2, and overall, even if the series is getting old and stale, it’s not hard to understand why it’s been so popular. Vice City Stories is fun. For a portable game, it’s surprisingly meaty, with a large open world to explore.

PS2… Portable

New tasks are generally conveyed via a new-fangled pager, and for any newbies, it gives you tips on the controls through the opening portion of the storyline. The problem is that converting a PSP game to the PS2 essentially blows up all the flaws in the game. Vice City Stories is really ugly and full of annoying graphic issues. The draw-in rate is so close that cars just seem to suddenly appear out of thin air and the visuals look muddy, grainy, and unrefined. Even the movie sequences show off an appalling lack of detail in the characters.

Thankfully, the audio is topnotch. The sheer, hilarious level of vulgar dialogue keeps almost every conversation engaging, and the mix of known actors lending their voices makes the delivery of such lines nearly pitch perfect. The music is, of course, straight out of the 80’s, so your mileage there may vary, but the radio stations are always entertaining and bizarre.

Pick a Vice, any Vice

It’s hard to find a particular flaw in the actual core gameplay of Vice City Stories. Despite the age and lack of innovation of the series, it’s still fun. Even shrunken down for the PSP, Vice City Stories offers hours of exploration and exploitation. Vic is an interesting protagonist, and Vice City Stories packs in the usual level of M-rated material.

In the end, however, this is clearly a port in the wrong direction. The PSP visuals that looked great on the small screen now look terrible, and visual glitches and shortcomings flood the screen. The price is right for fans, but this likely isn’t the series’ PS2 swan song that fans were hoping for.

Article by: Jason D'Aprile
Video produced by: Paul Bonanno