Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

7 years ago Grand Theft Auto: Vice City came out and single handily made me a video game addict again. I remember frothing at the mouth for the build up for this game as I would visit the games website everyday looking at the screencaps and game trailers fantasizing to what the game would play like.

The game itself took place in 1986 in Vice City (a play on Miami) immediately I had a hard on for this game seeing how I have a pension for the 80's as well as anything Miami due to my severe love for Miami Vice. Needless to say this said hard on lasted easily more then a year as my eyeballs would practically bleed from endless hours on end of game play.

With Grand Theft Auto: Vice City came the introduction of Motorcycles into the game. This may not seem like a huge deal to some but the fact of being able to redline a bike a bike and hit jumps for some sweet air almost put me into a convulsion. Along with that there was something so sweet of cruising down a virtual Miami Beach front and pull a drive-by on someone that I wouldn't get a satisfaction of in real life (as if I needed too).

Motorcycles weren't the only thing that would make me go into shakes of withdrawal by the sheer thought of. In Grand Theft Auto: Vice City gamers were introduced to the luxury of cruising around in boats in the cool beautiful sea green waters of Vice City. The only downfall of this is if you fell in the water you were as good as dead because the game developers didn't create the ability to swim in the game until the next installment of the series; Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

Along with Motorcycles and Watercraft you could also take to the sky in helicopters and prop planes as you could float around in the gorgeous Vice City skyline while overseeing the beautiful landscape from a bird's eye view. If I was able to sleep after playing days on end I would dream of this as I slobbered all over my pillow case.

Another feature that the game developers added to the game was the ability to bailout of a car while it was moving. This brought about one of the fondest memories about this game that I will never forget. When I first got the game I brought it over to my buddy Dan Raps' place so we could all crack out on the game. When my buddy Martin (who miss the hell out of!!) got a hold of the game the first thing he did was pick up a hooker and then bailout on a jump into the water, I couldn't stop laughing.

The gameplay of Vice City wasn't the only thing that kept me up at night as it also had a phenomenal soundtrack! The soundtrack featured such giant 80s hits by Cutting Crew, Rick James, Michael Jackson, Hall & Oates, the Buggles, the Outfield, Motley Crue, Quiet Riot, Gary Numan, A Flock of Seagulls, Run DMC & Kurtis Blow all of which captured the time perfectly (coming from someone who was born in 85 and has no recollection of the 80s at all!).

Besides all of the little elements of the game I already described the fact that you could own store fronts that created missions itself to go along with the story line missions was brilliant. The missions and all the elements alone took a good portion of my life that I will never feel that I wasted. 

I have been debating on whether or not to start a whole new game and try to complete it without codes but I'm already thoroughly addicted to Fallout 3. This being said all the while I need to be applying myself get a real job and do something with my degree. After this weekend I'm going to start getting serious about that whole job thing so we'll see what actually happens in due time.