Game reviews

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

System: PlayStation 2

Company: Rockstar

Price: Not announced

Rating: M

Tony Montana would feel right at home here. As the PlayStation 2 boots up Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and the credits begin to roll, you can almost hear Al Pacino's character from the 1983 shock-crime classic Scarface sneer, "Lemme innerduce you to my leeettle freeeend."

After jaunts through a handful of urban settings and time frames (including swinging London in the 1960s), the GTA series heads south to Miami of the 1980s, complete with palm trees, ugly shirts, fast cars and faster women.

And bad, bad men. You -- Tommy Vercetti -- are one of the worst. Just sprung free after a long stretch in the slammer, Tommy's heading south from his home base in Liberty City (setting of GTA III) to cool his heels in the tropical sun.

Tommy's goombas offer to set him up in style as they try to extend their operations into the sunny South. What he doesn't know is it's all a front: Things go sour, a deal goes bad, and Tommy suddenly finds himself with lots of sunshine and nothing else. Betrayed, he's left with no dough and no source of income.

So he takes to the streets, making money the only way he knows how: jacking cars, mugging passersby -- anything illegal or immoral for a buck. Once he's back on his feet, Vercetti raises the stakes, taking on biker gangs, Cuban gangsters and paid-for politicians in a search for respect and his lost bankroll.

The action is, well, morally reprehensible -- and an adrenaline rush.

The GTA programmers have once again made sure you have all the tools you need for the evil job. From assault rifles, shotguns and high-powered pistols to a baseball bat, Vice City covers all the assault angles.

You'll find yourself behind the wheel of an endless series of automobiles, aboard motorcycles, powerboats, even a golf cart. If that gets old, you can steal a chopper and check out the town from above.

Graphically, this one's a real jaw-dropper. Vice City perfectly captures the pastel and paranoia of Miami with the surrealism Miami Vice brought to television screens during the 1980s. (Remember DeLoreans and cell phones the size of briefcases?)

The animations are seamless, from meetings on boats in Biscayne Bay to parties in South Beach discos pulsating with light and sound. And the game play is nonlinear, meaning you're free to roam and interactively explore every crack and crevice of Vice City, from the sublime to the sleazy. It's an amazing programming feat.

Adding to the retro appeal is a soundtrack (as in the other GTA games, you choose the music via the in-dash stereos in the vehicles you "borrow") that features every imaginable kind of music, from old-school soul to thumping disco to hard-driving rock that's perfect for those fast getaways.

Taken as a morality play, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is an abject failure. Taken as entertainment, it's pretty much the video game equivalent of Scarface or The Sopranos.

-- CHIP CARTER, Times correspondent

Enclave

SYSTEM: Xbox

COMPANY: Conspiracy Entertainment

PRICE: $49.99

RATING: Mature

Enclave is a great concept. Two quests, 12 characters with (supposedly) unique abilities, armor and weapons to buy and a story that sounds like a big-budget movie. But, sadly, Enclave falls short in all these respects.

It will give you a decent bang for your buck. For a rental.

First off, to get the second quest you have to beat the first one, which most people won't do because they'll be bored out of their minds by the repetitive game play and such bad artificial intelligence it makes me want to cry out in pain.

The graphics are decent, with some nice water effects. But the levels are designed poorly, having you search all over for some walkway where nobody would think of putting one. The characters move smoothly but sometimes just don't want to swing the sword when you tell them to.

The final blow against this game is how it handles the separate character classes. While the characters have slightly different strengths and weaknesses, you will mostly end up playing as the first person you get. This is because you get increased strengths and powers after every couple of levels, so by the time you get any more characters, the previous one will surpass them in every category.

Also, the fact that you can sell back your weapons and armor for full price is just idiotic. It takes away the whole principle of saving money for something, instead of buying what you can, then reselling it when you need the money.

All in all, Enclave is a disappointment. The relatively good graphics don't make up for the weak AI, bad upgrade system and crummy level design. It has a decent story, but you don't seem to be immersed in it enough. The whole game feels like a rush job.

Grade: D

-- ANDERS SCHERBERGER, Times correspondent

Desert Eagle Cybergun

SYSTEM: PlayStation, PlayStation 2

COMPANY: Soft Air USA

PRICE: $39.99

The Desert Eagle Cybergun is a handheld light gun used with the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 game systems. A replica of the Israeli 50-caliber Desert Eagle, it is made out of lime green plastic to avoid any possibility that it could be mistaken for the real thing. On the sides and grip of the gun are the buttons that the PS2 controller has. The gun has semi-automatic and automatic fire and a recoil effect. You also can load it manually or use the automatic reload.

It is compatible with a number of games, including Time Crisis, Time Crisis 2, Endgame, Diehard Trilogy 2, Point Blank 1, 2 and 3, Resident Evil Survivor and other Guncon-compatible games. It works well most of the time and is a good accessory to have if you like shooting games.

Grade: B

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111

Contact the Times | Privacy Policy
Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright