Any Non-Fans?

[Guest Mr. Slim Citrus]

Well, now that you... uhm... mention it... aside from the fact that the game well done from a technical standpoint, I'm curious as to what the fascination is with this game, and the GTA series in general. Is it the desire to vicariously live the life of a criminal?

 

One of the kids that work for me told me that I'm just taking the game too seriously, and that it's meant to be entertaining. Where it breaks down for me is that I guess I don't really understand why people find it entertaining?

[Guest The Mighty Damaramu]

The fact that you're building you're own crime empire is it for me.

[Guest Lethargic]

I haven't played Vice City but I played the third one. It was OK. I don't get the hype. It was an average game at best. It's fun for a while, then you get sick of it, just like mostly every other game. Once you get done with it, it's over, put it on Ebay. I mean, it's fun when you just run around do what you want to do. But that only last for so long. Then the novelty wears out and you have to try to actually play the missions and all the missions are the same tired old retread missions from every other driving game.

 

I was shocked that they even got to a part 3. The first two games looked like something out of the Atari age.

[Guest Mr. Slim Citrus]

The fact that you're building you're own crime empire is it for me.

 

I fail to see the attraction. I don't suppose you'd care to enlighten me?

[Guest SP-1]

I enjoy it for a while when a new version comes out. Mostly because it's such a free roaming kind of thing, and a good outlet for aggression. But sooner or later I get tired with it.

[Guest Dr. Wrestlingphysics]

I don't mean this as a slur on anybody, but amongst my friends, the people who don't like it are the more experienced "serious" gamers, and those who do like it are more casual game players.

Possibly because, if you want killing, there are better killing games, if you want driving, there are better driving games, and many "serious gamers resent the negative media attention that the game has received, and feel it has brought the public perception of computer games back 10 years.

[Guest jimmy no nose]

I think it is the freedom you are allowed in the game that appeals to such a great number of people. Also, everything in the game is very well done. The driving and the killing are both good, the main story is good and has a variety of missions, the little side missions are very fun, and you can also just cruise around and try out the insane jump places. It brings together all of these elements like no other game before it(except GTA3) and it has something that will attract almost all gamers.

[Guest The Man in Blak]

The appeal with the GTA series lies in its open-ended nature and its violence. Casual gamers like it because they can step in and see immediate results, such as stealing a car and running over an old lady. Hardcore gamers like it because the missions usually have more than one approach that can work. The gameplay system is robust enough that any player can feel like they can do anything, from taking on a six-star police chase to stunt jumping silos at the airport with your sports car.

 

Grand Theft Auto 3 is a great game.

But Vice City is a decent expansion pack, at best.

 

The revised mission structure, with buying and doing missions for properties throughout the city, is about the only real meaningful addition.

 

But, past that, VC is a total mess. The targeting system is exactly the same, despite advertisements of improvements. VC introduced a good deal of graphical/AI bugs that weren't in the original one. The car selection, even with the inclusion of motorcycles, is actually crappier than GTA3 and the distribution of the cars is all fucked up. The new weapons, while inventive (chainsaw, sword), are also totally unbalanced - witness the last act of the game, where you can sit back and just blast wave upon wave of bad guys with impunity as long as you have a Colt Magnum. And I'm sure there's a number of people that despise playing through the game just because of the 80's setting.

 

So yeah - I guess I'm a non-fan of VC, but a fan of GTA in general.

[Guest The Mighty Damaramu]

Well I'm a serious gamer and I love the game. Sure a lot of people play it but why hate something just because it's popular!? That's like those people who like a band and when that band gets popular they complain that "they sold out!"

 

Anyways the game is so open ended. And i love the fact that you go from small time crook to king of the city. The lure of being this criminal overlord is it for me. I've always loved gangster movies and mafia movies. So I loved to do this. I like any game where I can be the bad guy in this respect.

[Guest KoR Fungus]

I don't like the series because I don't like the gameplay. The violence is neither here nor there for me. I don't play games just because they're violent, but I don't object to violence in games either. I am a little annoyed that the series has become the new face of videogames to the media and the general public, but that's no big deal. My only real problem with the series is that in my opinion, it just doesn't play very well. The targeting system is awful, the missions are ridiculously hard, even early on, and it's damn near impossible to get anywhere without cheating, and I hate cheating. I appreciate the freedom and the attention to detail, but I still don't enjoy the games because I hate the core gameplay.

[Guest Mr. Slim Citrus]

Okay, I have another question then: If this were, say, Contra instead of VC, and you got to drive around and run over and shoot monsters instead of little old ladies, and the goal was to save the world rather than become the Kingpin of crime, but otherwise the game played ostensibly the same way, would it be as popular?

[Guest DrTom]

If this were, say, Contra instead of VC, and you got to drive around and run over and shoot monsters instead of little old ladies, and the goal was to save the world rather than become the Kingpin of crime, but otherwise the game played ostensibly the same way, would it be as popular?

I don't think it would.

 

The last two GTA's have been good games. (While I agree with MIB's opinion about the relative merits and flaws of the last two, I still like Vice City.) A lot of the appeal, though, is the violent nature of the game and the glorifcation of the mob life. Look at "The Sopranos" on HBO: sure, it's a well-assembled show, but if the Soprano family was on the up-and-up, do you think it would be as popular? Or even be on HBO? GTA has in it a lot of Things You Should Never Do, like go on killing sprees, steal cars, club old ladies to death for their money, run drugs for the mob, etc. It's a release for a lot of people, and a way to live vicariously a lifestyle they'd never be able to achieve. I'd never steal cars and run over joggers on the beach for their money in reality, but if a game lets me do it and get away with it, why shouldn't I?

 

Basically, the last two GTA games are a complete 180 from a lot of people's lives, and I think living out that violent and dangerous lifestyle -- even if it is in a video game -- is a strong part of the appeal. It's like putting your hand in the cookie jar even though you know you're not supposed to.

[Guest The Mighty Damaramu]

Yeah what he said.

However running over monsters would be fun.

[Guest Mr. Slim Citrus]

Thanks. I more or less figured that's what it was, I just wanted to hear it from somebody else.

[Guest The Mighty Damaramu]

Is there something wrong with liking the game for that reason?

[Guest Mr. Slim Citrus]

"Wrong?" Not as such, no.

 

I'm just trying to broaden my perspective, that's all. That lifestyle isn't attractive to me in particular. Trying to understand what about it appeals to other people.

[Guest TheyCallMeMark]

I like it because you can get instant gratification. You don't have to be very good at video games, and you don't have to be very good at GTA to do a whole lot just randomly sitting down and playing it. That has really always been the attraction of all the GTA games. Unlike most, you can sit down, not be any good and still do alot of stuff.

 

It's like living in an action movie (at least for a little while). That's basically what there is to it, as far as I can see. After you get out of the theatre or off your ass after watching a good action flick, part of you wants to hold you fingers up and run around going "PCHEW PCHEW PCHEW!" But since video games are socially acceptable and make-beleive finger pistols are not, GTA gives you a nice outlet for your imagination.

[Guest Youth N Asia]

I liked the game for a while, but it was way easier then GTA 3. I guess Vice City was longer, but just a lot easier.

 

And they kept going on about how the city was bigger, I thought it was smaller and easier to remember.

[Guest Kotzenjunge]

I've yet to actually get my mitts on it myself, because every time I go to someone's house who has it, they've accomplished all the missions and are content to simply walk around and blast people. That didn't get old with them, but after a while, I wanted to see something more constructive done, if not original. As for all these complaints about them, they are totally understandable, as it really is a very violent and depraved game. Still, I've never been a proponent of censorship in any form.

[The Dames 0]

Honestly....it's the closest I can ever come to being Tony Montana and that's the appeal to me.

 

Dames