Korben_Dallas
08-04-2003, 00:11
was the debate of GameSpy's 2002 "best of" awards: the fight for PC Game of the Year. In one corner, the single-player greatness of No One Lives Forever 2; in the other, the multiplayer mayhem of Battlefield 1942. Standing in between, a fantastic PC conversion of one of the finest games we've ever seen: Grand Theft Auto III.
Although the PS2 version of GTA3 won numerous awards, many of us here at GameSpy thought the PC port was the ultimate version, with high-res graphics support, mouse/keyboard controls, and even some fun extras like the ability to create a custom MP3 soundtrack. It was, by far, one of the most satisfying PS2-to-PC ports we'd played in a while.
So when we had a chance to visit Rockstar Games in NYC and see what they had in store for the PC version of GTA: Vice City, we were all over it. The good news is that the conversion looks like it's following in the same steps as its predecessor: a great-looking port with lots of new PC features, arguably superior to the PS2 original. Fuhgeddaboudit!
A Little South of Heaven
Before we get to all the new PC stuff, it's worth taking some time to cover the basics of Vice City, as much has changed. In terms of gameplay, it's pretty similar to GTA3, but Rockstar has piled in so much content and so many new features it's hard to believe they squeezed it out in only a year.
Vice City is set in the mid-1980's, in a Floridian metropolis that most closely resembles the neon-and-pastel world of Miami Vice. You play Tommy Vercetti, an ex-con in his mid-30's who's just finished serving 15 years in Liberty City. Tommy has ties to the Forelli family, who sends Tommy down south to handle what should be a simple drug deal. When things go bad and Tommy finds himself short both on the cash and the stash, he's forced to prove his innocence and set things straight.
Like GTA3, Vice City is set in a living, breathing world that you're free to explore as you see fit. As you begin your life in Vice City, you'll take on a variety of missions -- car chases, assassinations, protection, intimidation, and all-out executions -- until you've established your own criminal empire. Plenty of other colorful figures dot the landscape: Lance Vance, out to avenge his brother's death from the failed deal; Ken Rosenberg, a nervous lawyer who helped set up the deal (who's a clone of Sean Penn's character in Carlito's Way if we ever saw one); and Ricardo Diaz, who's been fighting for control of Vice City for some time now.
These characters are once again brought to life by an all-star cast. Your character may have remained silent throughout GTA3, but this time Vercetti is voiced by Goodfellas' Ray Liotta, who brings a great tough-guy persona to the role. Mob boss Sonny Forelli is played by Tom Sizemore (Black Hawk Down), and the weasely Rosenberg is voiced by William Fichtner (Armageddon, Contact, The Perfect Storm). We could spend all day going over the rest of the cast -- Luis Guzman, Dennis Hopper, Burt Reynolds, Robert Davi, Fairuza Balk … even Lawrence Taylor and porn queen Jenna Jameson have small roles. And yet Rockstar doesn't spend a lot of time promoting the cast; to them, it's more about the game and the world of Vice City than anything else.
New To The City
If you've seen any bits of gameplay from Vice City, you're well aware that world game draws from almost every aspect of 80's pop culture -- movies, TV, music, you name it. To give us an idea of what inspired Vice City, Rockstar played us a 12-minute montage of some of that decade's most memorable and iconic moments, featuring movies like Scarface, Less than Zero, Purple Rain and Xanadu, and music by A Flock of Seagulls and Judas Priest. Almost everything you remember (and possibly want to forget) about the 80's is somewhere in the game.
Although some might find it easy to categorize Vice City as "GTA3 in a new city," many significant additions have been made. There are now 30 weapons (as opposed to GTA3's 10), including an entire set of melee weapons such as brass knuckles, a chainsaw, a hammer, and even a golf club. (Of course, the baseball bat returns as well.) There are also two sniper rifles, and with the ability to shoot through windshields, you can create even more havoc from rooftops.
Those rooftops no longer sit atop empty buildings -- Vice City allows you to enter many structures, and they're not just warehouses filled with empty crates. Offices, dance clubs, malls … heck, you can buy certain structures if you want, giving you a new place to save games and park cars. Owning certain buildings can also help you generate cash when you're not around, so money takes on a more significant role in Vice City.
There was no shortage of vehicles available in GTA3, and for Vice City, motorcycles have been added to the mix. Not just "another car," you can do all sorts of interesting things with the bikes -- you can pull wheelies and other stunts, and you can shoot directly in front of you, making drive-bys and assassinations a lot easier. Boats also play a larger role in Vice City, with waterways running throughout the town and a number of missions putting you out to sea.
Planes weren't supposed to play a big part in GTA3, but gamers consistently found ways to keep the Dodo in the air for ridiculous periods of time, bragging about it as if it were a badge of honor. This time around, Rockstar is officially giving gamers their wings with the ability to fly helicopters on a few missions. We took one up for a spin, giving us a breathtaking look at all of Vice City in the process. The controls are pretty simple -- we can only imagine what enterprising modders might do once they get their hands on the game.
Perhaps the best thing about GTA3 was that there was no shortage of things to do. Aside from the main game missions, you could get side jobs driving a taxi, take on police or firefighting missions or spend the rest of your life searching for hidden packages. All this is has returned for Vice City, and more: you can get a job delivering pizza on a motorbike, take place in helicopter races, visit a shooting range or even buy an ice cream delivery truck (although you'll have a special brand of "snow" cones, if you get our drift).
Making The Jump
One of the most important things to understand about the PC version of Vice City is that it's not just another contracted project farmed out to a third-person studio -- it's being created by Rockstar themselves. Of course, the PC has never been a strange land for the team: dating back to when they were DMA Design, it's the platform the first two Grand Theft Auto games appeared on before the series made the leap to 3D and the PlayStation 2 for GTA3.
Although Vice City PC is still using the Renderware engine, it's impossible not to notice how much more brighter and crisper everything looks. The game supports DirectX 9 and resolutions as high as 1600x1200 and beyond, and new textures have been created to complement the higher resolutions (reportedly a full gigabyte of the installation can go to textures with some video cards). Draw distances have been improved, effects such as floor reflections have been enhanced, and the "widescreen" option (one of my favorites) returns, giving a more cinematic feel to the game. (The "trail" effect option, the source of many complaints in GTA3 PC, has been removed altogether).
Of course, you won't be confined to using a gamepad to play Vice City on the PC -- mouse and keyboard support will once again be present, which for some gamers makes all the difference. I'll be the first to admit the controls have always been my biggest frustration with GTA on the PS2; I can muddle along using the Dual Shock controller, but I'm a first-person shooter junkie at heart and for me there's no substitute for using the mouse to aim and look around. Sniping missions in particular are much easier to manage with the mouse, and Rockstar notes that the PC control scheme also seems to open the world up more -- to many players, it's much more natural to scan vertically and aim using the mouse than with an analog stick.
One of the most popular additions to GTA3 PC was the custom soundtrack feature, and it returns for Vice City PC as well. As you might already know, Vice City has an amazing soundtrack on its own -- 7 music stations playing the best of the 80's, along with two talk radio stations -- but you can also play deejay and import your own MP3's to create a customized 10th radio station. For all you audiophiles with tricked-out sound systems, Vice City will also support EAX 3.0 -- during our playtesting, it was often hard to tell whether the sirens were coming from the game or from outside on the streets of New York (it was a little of both).
One of the joys of the GTA games is tooling around the city, performing stunts and looking for trouble, and -- just as in GTA3 PC -- a replay feature is present, constantly recording the last 30 seconds of gameplay for you to view at any time. We were a little disappointed to hear that the game won't offer any way to archive favorite replays, but if you really want to share your favorite moments with your buddies, it won't be tough to briefly pause the game and back up the replay file. The game will also support custom skins, so if you want to remodel Tommy Vercetti into your own image, all you'll need is a program like Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro (and some art skills, of course).
Entering City Limits
When GTA3 was released for the PC last year, the few major complaints were some crashing issues and demanding system requirements. This time around, Rockstar says they're doing everything possible to keep the game bug-free, but it does appear Vice City will once again push the boundaries of your PC. The minimum specs are currently just under a 1Ghz machine, with a recommended system clocking in somewhere between 1.5-1.8 Ghz and a GeForce 3 or better.
Of course, no preview would be complete without mentioning the controversy that's surrounded the series since GTA3 premiered in 2001. You've heard it before, but this isn't a game for kids -- it's an R-rated movie playing on your PC, but like Scarface, it's an instant classic, and we can't wait to get our hands on the final version.
If you're a gamer without a PS2 and have been dying to play Vice City since it debuted late last year, your wait is nearly over. The game is nearing completion and is expected to ship right around the middle of May. I've got my trip booked -- grab your acid-washed jeans and a can of hairspray and I'll meet you there.
fonte: gamespy.com
Tá quase aí pessoal!!! :eek: :eek:
Although the PS2 version of GTA3 won numerous awards, many of us here at GameSpy thought the PC port was the ultimate version, with high-res graphics support, mouse/keyboard controls, and even some fun extras like the ability to create a custom MP3 soundtrack. It was, by far, one of the most satisfying PS2-to-PC ports we'd played in a while.
So when we had a chance to visit Rockstar Games in NYC and see what they had in store for the PC version of GTA: Vice City, we were all over it. The good news is that the conversion looks like it's following in the same steps as its predecessor: a great-looking port with lots of new PC features, arguably superior to the PS2 original. Fuhgeddaboudit!
A Little South of Heaven
Before we get to all the new PC stuff, it's worth taking some time to cover the basics of Vice City, as much has changed. In terms of gameplay, it's pretty similar to GTA3, but Rockstar has piled in so much content and so many new features it's hard to believe they squeezed it out in only a year.
Vice City is set in the mid-1980's, in a Floridian metropolis that most closely resembles the neon-and-pastel world of Miami Vice. You play Tommy Vercetti, an ex-con in his mid-30's who's just finished serving 15 years in Liberty City. Tommy has ties to the Forelli family, who sends Tommy down south to handle what should be a simple drug deal. When things go bad and Tommy finds himself short both on the cash and the stash, he's forced to prove his innocence and set things straight.
Like GTA3, Vice City is set in a living, breathing world that you're free to explore as you see fit. As you begin your life in Vice City, you'll take on a variety of missions -- car chases, assassinations, protection, intimidation, and all-out executions -- until you've established your own criminal empire. Plenty of other colorful figures dot the landscape: Lance Vance, out to avenge his brother's death from the failed deal; Ken Rosenberg, a nervous lawyer who helped set up the deal (who's a clone of Sean Penn's character in Carlito's Way if we ever saw one); and Ricardo Diaz, who's been fighting for control of Vice City for some time now.
These characters are once again brought to life by an all-star cast. Your character may have remained silent throughout GTA3, but this time Vercetti is voiced by Goodfellas' Ray Liotta, who brings a great tough-guy persona to the role. Mob boss Sonny Forelli is played by Tom Sizemore (Black Hawk Down), and the weasely Rosenberg is voiced by William Fichtner (Armageddon, Contact, The Perfect Storm). We could spend all day going over the rest of the cast -- Luis Guzman, Dennis Hopper, Burt Reynolds, Robert Davi, Fairuza Balk … even Lawrence Taylor and porn queen Jenna Jameson have small roles. And yet Rockstar doesn't spend a lot of time promoting the cast; to them, it's more about the game and the world of Vice City than anything else.
New To The City
If you've seen any bits of gameplay from Vice City, you're well aware that world game draws from almost every aspect of 80's pop culture -- movies, TV, music, you name it. To give us an idea of what inspired Vice City, Rockstar played us a 12-minute montage of some of that decade's most memorable and iconic moments, featuring movies like Scarface, Less than Zero, Purple Rain and Xanadu, and music by A Flock of Seagulls and Judas Priest. Almost everything you remember (and possibly want to forget) about the 80's is somewhere in the game.
Although some might find it easy to categorize Vice City as "GTA3 in a new city," many significant additions have been made. There are now 30 weapons (as opposed to GTA3's 10), including an entire set of melee weapons such as brass knuckles, a chainsaw, a hammer, and even a golf club. (Of course, the baseball bat returns as well.) There are also two sniper rifles, and with the ability to shoot through windshields, you can create even more havoc from rooftops.
Those rooftops no longer sit atop empty buildings -- Vice City allows you to enter many structures, and they're not just warehouses filled with empty crates. Offices, dance clubs, malls … heck, you can buy certain structures if you want, giving you a new place to save games and park cars. Owning certain buildings can also help you generate cash when you're not around, so money takes on a more significant role in Vice City.
There was no shortage of vehicles available in GTA3, and for Vice City, motorcycles have been added to the mix. Not just "another car," you can do all sorts of interesting things with the bikes -- you can pull wheelies and other stunts, and you can shoot directly in front of you, making drive-bys and assassinations a lot easier. Boats also play a larger role in Vice City, with waterways running throughout the town and a number of missions putting you out to sea.
Planes weren't supposed to play a big part in GTA3, but gamers consistently found ways to keep the Dodo in the air for ridiculous periods of time, bragging about it as if it were a badge of honor. This time around, Rockstar is officially giving gamers their wings with the ability to fly helicopters on a few missions. We took one up for a spin, giving us a breathtaking look at all of Vice City in the process. The controls are pretty simple -- we can only imagine what enterprising modders might do once they get their hands on the game.
Perhaps the best thing about GTA3 was that there was no shortage of things to do. Aside from the main game missions, you could get side jobs driving a taxi, take on police or firefighting missions or spend the rest of your life searching for hidden packages. All this is has returned for Vice City, and more: you can get a job delivering pizza on a motorbike, take place in helicopter races, visit a shooting range or even buy an ice cream delivery truck (although you'll have a special brand of "snow" cones, if you get our drift).
Making The Jump
One of the most important things to understand about the PC version of Vice City is that it's not just another contracted project farmed out to a third-person studio -- it's being created by Rockstar themselves. Of course, the PC has never been a strange land for the team: dating back to when they were DMA Design, it's the platform the first two Grand Theft Auto games appeared on before the series made the leap to 3D and the PlayStation 2 for GTA3.
Although Vice City PC is still using the Renderware engine, it's impossible not to notice how much more brighter and crisper everything looks. The game supports DirectX 9 and resolutions as high as 1600x1200 and beyond, and new textures have been created to complement the higher resolutions (reportedly a full gigabyte of the installation can go to textures with some video cards). Draw distances have been improved, effects such as floor reflections have been enhanced, and the "widescreen" option (one of my favorites) returns, giving a more cinematic feel to the game. (The "trail" effect option, the source of many complaints in GTA3 PC, has been removed altogether).
Of course, you won't be confined to using a gamepad to play Vice City on the PC -- mouse and keyboard support will once again be present, which for some gamers makes all the difference. I'll be the first to admit the controls have always been my biggest frustration with GTA on the PS2; I can muddle along using the Dual Shock controller, but I'm a first-person shooter junkie at heart and for me there's no substitute for using the mouse to aim and look around. Sniping missions in particular are much easier to manage with the mouse, and Rockstar notes that the PC control scheme also seems to open the world up more -- to many players, it's much more natural to scan vertically and aim using the mouse than with an analog stick.
One of the most popular additions to GTA3 PC was the custom soundtrack feature, and it returns for Vice City PC as well. As you might already know, Vice City has an amazing soundtrack on its own -- 7 music stations playing the best of the 80's, along with two talk radio stations -- but you can also play deejay and import your own MP3's to create a customized 10th radio station. For all you audiophiles with tricked-out sound systems, Vice City will also support EAX 3.0 -- during our playtesting, it was often hard to tell whether the sirens were coming from the game or from outside on the streets of New York (it was a little of both).
One of the joys of the GTA games is tooling around the city, performing stunts and looking for trouble, and -- just as in GTA3 PC -- a replay feature is present, constantly recording the last 30 seconds of gameplay for you to view at any time. We were a little disappointed to hear that the game won't offer any way to archive favorite replays, but if you really want to share your favorite moments with your buddies, it won't be tough to briefly pause the game and back up the replay file. The game will also support custom skins, so if you want to remodel Tommy Vercetti into your own image, all you'll need is a program like Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro (and some art skills, of course).
Entering City Limits
When GTA3 was released for the PC last year, the few major complaints were some crashing issues and demanding system requirements. This time around, Rockstar says they're doing everything possible to keep the game bug-free, but it does appear Vice City will once again push the boundaries of your PC. The minimum specs are currently just under a 1Ghz machine, with a recommended system clocking in somewhere between 1.5-1.8 Ghz and a GeForce 3 or better.
Of course, no preview would be complete without mentioning the controversy that's surrounded the series since GTA3 premiered in 2001. You've heard it before, but this isn't a game for kids -- it's an R-rated movie playing on your PC, but like Scarface, it's an instant classic, and we can't wait to get our hands on the final version.
If you're a gamer without a PS2 and have been dying to play Vice City since it debuted late last year, your wait is nearly over. The game is nearing completion and is expected to ship right around the middle of May. I've got my trip booked -- grab your acid-washed jeans and a can of hairspray and I'll meet you there.
fonte: gamespy.com
Tá quase aí pessoal!!! :eek: :eek: