Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories

Once I got to the East island, and the Lance storyline picked up, Vice City Stories became just as much fun as I expected. I guess that's really my problem with the game: I already know what to expect. Hell, I already know the ending.

My feelings on empire building are mixed. It's much less frustrating than the gang warfare in San Andreas, and less of a pain in the ass than asset ownership in Vice City - there's no pointless running around town just to walk through a money-collection icon. And it's actually easy enough that I took over the entire city in a single night, turning all 30 ownable locations into high-rolling whorehouses. But that's pretty much the end of it. Now I get $72,000 deposited into my wallet every evening.

It's certainly more rewarding than previous GTAs' side-mission components - both financially, and because it's easy to make progress - but by the time you realize how little there is to it, you've seen it all.

As I've said, there's no doubt in my mind that Vice City Stories is the best of the PS2-era GTAs. But that isn't good enough to keep me going anymore. I'm tired of RenderWare engine bugs, I'm tired of unfair balancing (getting perforated at the end of a 10-minute mission is never fun!), and I'm tired of the dated pay-n-spray wanted system. It's time for me to move on.

Better than: Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Not as good as: Grand Theft Auto IV
I wish I could cycle backwards on the radio: because V Rock and Flash FM are the only good stations

Progress: Gave Up -- Didn't finish "Turn on, Tune in, Bug out"