Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories is a 2006 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar Leeds and Rockstar North, and published by Rockstar Games. The tenth entry in the Grand Theft Auto series, the game was initially released as a PlayStation Portable exclusive in October 2006. A PlayStation 2 port was released in March 2007. Set within the fictional Vice City (based on Miami) in 1984, the game is a prequel to 2002's Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (set in 1986) and follows the exploits of ex-soldier Victor "Vic" Vance, a minor character originally featured in said game.[a] The story centres around Vic's attempts to build up a criminal empire alongside his brother Lance. With the initial intention of raising money for his sick brother Pete's medication, Vic comes into conflict with rival gangs, drug lords and other enemies.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
David Bland
- Obbe Vermeij
- Adam Fowler
- Alexander Roger
- Al Dukes
- Andrew Greensmith
Aaron Garbut
Ian Bowden
- Dan Houser
- David Bland
- Stuart Hart
- Steven Stern
- Thomas Hirschmann
Single-player, multiplayer (PSP)
In addition to the traditional gameplay elements and side missions of the series, the game features a unique empire building system, in which players must expand their criminal syndicate from the ground-up by taking over businesses from rival organizations, and completing missions specific for each of them to increase their income and unlock additional rewards. Like its predecessor, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, the PSP version of the game includes a multiplayer mode through a wireless ad hoc network, which allows up to six players to engage in several different game modes.
Vice City Stories received generally positive reviews from critics, and has sold over 4.5 million copies as of March 2008, making it the second best-selling PSP game of all time, after Liberty City Stories. The next game in the series was Grand Theft Auto IV, which was released in April 2008.
Synopsis[edit]
Setting[edit]
Vice City Stories takes place in 1984 within Vice City, and forms part of the "3D Universe" canon of the Grand Theft Auto series. Set two years before the events of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, the game's setting features several areas that are different from the 1986 version of Vice City, including locations being constructed or whose plot used to house something different. An example of this is the site of a car showroom completed in 1986 still being under construction in 1984, while the business is located in a smaller building down the road.
Plot[edit]
In 1984, Corporal Victor "Vic" Vance (Dorian Missick) is stationed in Vice City's army base, Fort Baxter. To raise money for his sick asthmatic brother Pete's medication, Vic agrees to help his corrupt supervisor, Sergeant Jerry Martinez (Felix Solis), finding himself involved in the city's drug trade. After a deal goes awry, Martinez frames Vic for hiding drugs under his bed and bringing a prostitute to the base, resulting in Vic being charged with high treason and dishonorably discharged from the army. Forced onto the streets, Vic assists eccentric gunrunner and self-proclaimed Vietnam War veteran Phil Cassidy (Gary Busey), whom he met during his work for Martinez, in exchange for a place to stay to rebuild his life. Martinez hires Vic and Phil to do more jobs for him, only to betray and try to have them killed, leading to the pair cutting ties with him after escaping the trap. Meanwhile, Vic works for Phil's brother-in-law Marty Jay Williams (Jim Burke), leader of a street gang called the Trailer Park Mafia, who frequently abuses his wife Louise Cassidy-Williams (Chelsey Rives). Angered over Vic's growing relationship with his wife, Marty eventually attempts to kidnap her, forcing Vic to kill him and save Louise.
With Marty dead, Vic takes over his gang and renames it the Vance Crime Family. Aided by his recently arrived brother Lance (Philip Michael Thomas), he slowly begins to take over rackets from rival gangs to increase his power and convert them into his business assets. In the process, he earns the respect of the Los Cabrones, a Cuban street gang led by Umberto Robina (Danny Trejo), for taking out their rivals, and deals with a corrupt DEA agent Bryan Forbes (Daniel Oreskes) who was posing as a drug dealer to steal the Vance brothers' money. Upon stealing a major drug shipment, Vic and Lance find themselves kidnapped by the Mendez brothers, Armando (Yul Vazquez) and Diego (Ruben Trujillo), Vice City's biggest drug lords and the shipment's owners. Lance lies to them that Martinez, who regularly deals with the Mendezes, is an undercover DEA agent and stole the drugs as evidence. After being released, Vic and Lance begin working with the Mendez brothers, who introduces the former to transsexual film director Reni Wassulmaier (Barbara Rosenblat). While assisting Reni and their friend Barry Mickelthwaite (Timothy Spall), the talent manager of Phil Collins (himself), Vic finds himself tasked with protecting Phil from Mafia hitmen, to whom Barry is indebted, before and during his concert in Vice City.
Reni introduces Vic to Ricardo Diaz (Luis Guzmán), a drug baron who seeks to take over the Mendez brothers' operations and employs Vic and Lance for several jobs. However, Armando and Diego grow distrustful of them, and eventually make an attempt on their lives after Martinez exposes their lie. After escaping the Mendezes' trap, Vic works with Diaz to bankrupt them as revenge. The Mendezes retaliate by kidnapping Louise and Lance, leading to Vic assaulting their mansion and killing Armando, though he fails to rescue Louise, who dies from injuries she received while in captivity. Swearing revenge against both Diego and Martinez, Vic works alongside Diaz and Phil one final time to track them down and steal an army chopper from Fort Baxter. Using the chopper, Vic assaults Martinez and Diego's hideout and kills both men. After Lance arrives too late to assist, he tries to persuade Vic into taking part in another drug deal that he plans to set up. Vic firmly stands his ground and states that he has no interest in drugs anymore. Lance accepts Vic's choice and the two brothers leave Vice City to give Pete money for his medication.