Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories takes place in 1984, two years prior to the events of GTA: Vice City. Players take on the role of Victor Vance, a 28 year old ex-marine who just happens to be the older brother of Lance Vance from GTA: Vice City. Players will be able to swim (hooray) and take to the water on jet-skis. The city itself is quite different from the '86 version we saw back in 2002; it is now much larger, with many landmarks under construction or packing a slightly older look. There will be new weapons and vehicles, and flight will once again be possible thanks to the addition of helicopters. Vice City's radio stations will return with a brand new soundtrack, although details were scant - we hope Rockstar can match or improve upon the level of atmosphere created by GTA: Vice City's soundtrack. Of course, there's a few other minor gameplay additions, such as the trip skip and an amusement park ride called the "Chunder Wheel" which players can ride in first person.
Rockstar is quite confident about the technical aspects of the game too, boasting that Vice City Stories makes Liberty City Stories look like "a rookie first-gen PSP title" in comparison. The animation is apparently much more life-like, the colours much richer and the population density is higher. Rockstar claims to have solved the problem of "clumping", whereby many identical citizens would be found in a particular area. The draw distance is apparently greatly improved over what we saw in Vice City on the PS2 many years ago. On the downside, Rockstar claims the game will not have the seamless transitions between interior and exterior areas that Liberty City Stories enjoyed, but there will be a greater number of interior areas than previously seen in any GTA title.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories is due to hit shelves this November.
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