Fort Lauderdale itself evokes a strangely familiar feel for British visitors, with a beachside promenade reminiscent of fading coastal resorts like Blackpool or Eastbourne – except with actual sunshine. ![]() The city is named after a series of forts established during the Second ‘Seminole War’ – one of more shameful episodes in American history, during which the authorities sought to “pacify” a group of Native American tribes. Sure enough, the prospect of escaping New Jersey’s winter desolation proved too much to resist and we packed our bags for a week in the “Sunshine State”.įirst stop was Fort Lauderdale – a less-glitzy city up the coast from Miami. From Orlando’s garish theme parks to stunning wildlife in the Keys and Everglades, Florida brands itself as a destination for every occasion. In 2018, over 126.1 million tourists visited Florida – the majority coming from inside the United States. The winter-time escape down to Florida is a time-honoured American tradition, with sunshine, beaches and the promise of “good times” just a short flight away. Of course, we weren’t the only family hatching this plan. We would be the kingpins of ‘Vice City’ – what could possibly go wrong? Oh no, I would be accompanied by two highly-skilled accomplices – my wife and our two-year old daughter, an extremely cunning but hot-headed character who’s never far from trouble. Unlike that game’s protagonist, I would not be stepping out alone into this hotbed of intrigue. The circumstances where somewhat different from Grand Theft Auto. Back then, Miami seemed exotic and exciting beyond belief – an American mega city with Caribbean climate and Latin flair!Īnd so it was with great excitement (and a little trepidation) that last month I visited the place for myself. The video game, released in 2002, seemed to really convey the energy, swagger and ruthlessness of ‘Vice City’ transporting the player into a world that combined the dodgiest parts of South London with a tropical paradise. Like most of my schoolmates, I took great pleasure in rampaging through the digitally reconstructed streets of Miami – or at least a city based on “the capital of Latin America” – putting aside all thoughts of revision in favour of criminal undertakings and general mayhem. The references were obviously a playful way for Rockstar to take out the competition in the open world genre and, 15 years later, the GTA games are still on top of the genre they helped define.Stuart Anderson-Davis tries the time-honoured American tradition of a winter escape to FloridaĬompleting Grand Theft Auto: Vice City on the PlayStation 2 was probably one of my finest teenage achievements. Mike Griffin is a reference to the lead character in Mace Griffin:Bounty Hunter. Nick Kong is a reference to Nick Kang Wilson from True Crime: Streets of L.A. Marcus Hammond, Franco Carter and Charlie Dilson are all references to Mark Hammond, Frank Carter and Charlie Dolson from The Getaway series. Dick Tanner a reference to Tanner from the Driver series. The names of the targets set by Mr Black are: ![]() In the mission Mr Black tasks you with eliminating a gang of European bank robbers before they start their job. The 'Autocide' mission in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City directly references characters from the other games that were influenced by Rockstar's own series. All games were open world crime sims in a similar vein to the GTA series. Here are 15 amazing facts you may not have known about the characters.Īfter Grand Theft Auto 3 was released, the game literally defined a genre where many open world games that were released afterward were termed as a "GTA clone." After the success of GTA3, we saw games such as True Crime, Driver 3 and The Getaway. The great cast of characters was led by protagonist Tommy Vercetti, who was fully voiced by Ray Liotta, and helped cement the character as one of the best leads in the GTA series. The characters were as colorful as the Miami themed Vice City itself. What made GTA: Vice City stand out above its predecessor though was the characters with a huge supporting cast featuring a well known voice cast with the likes of Danny Tejo, Danny Dyer, Burt Reynolds, Jenna Jameson and Gary Busey. ![]() It added a layer of strategy and some RPG elements into the mix and was a great way to freshen up the series - which despite the leap into a fully 3D world, the gameplay remained very similar to its top-down 2D iterations.Īs a result GTA: Vice City managed to successfully flesh out the mechanics of GTA3 and Vice City's world building was a huge improvement. It added new ways to expand your criminal empire, with the ability to seize businesses and buildings and earn more money in the process. The gameplay remained in most part the same as in GTA 3, but it's bright and colorful themes were in a stark contrast to the grimy crime-ridden streets of Liberty City.
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