GTA: Vice City Review Assignment
This assignment I was
set the task of comparing two reviews of a video game or film of my choice, one
being a critical analysis and the other being a biased review. My critical
analysis review can be found here and my biased review can be found here. I will individually analyse both of
the reviews of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and explain why they say the things
they do about this age old classic.
Critical Analysis
My critical analysis
review is written by Steve Butts and published by IGN.com. This review
highlights the key aspects of the game with a few quirky jokes thrown in to
keep the reader occupied and explains everything you should need to know in a
video game review.
This review is very
simple with formal with the title of ‘GTA Vice City Review’. This review
initially addresses the changes from GTA 3 to Vice City by saying “The story
is much stronger this time around with a fully-fleshed out protagonist.”
which then leads on to explain the strength of the missions supplied to you in
the game. It then follows on with “Vice City tells a much tighter,
more personal story that GTA3.” which, although again comparing the
game to GTA3, helps us to understand all the game stands for and is succeeding
in portraying with its compelling story.
Further down the
review the writer explains the key story elements around Tommy Vercetti (our
protagonist) and his struggles in Vice City. The key point here is then ended
with “As you might imagine, this type of scenario does involve a fair bit of
violence. What you might not expect is how the game can walk a line between
humour and horror while presenting all this material.“ this, unlike the
biased review, explains the necessary use of violence in the game using
slapstick violence for comedy instead of violence for the sake of violence.
This review is 4
pages long and covers everything anybody would need to know before purchasing
the game. From the usefulness of driving with a mouse to the render distance
troubles when using a helicopter to scope out vice city itself. I believe this
review is a fantastic reference for a first time player as it tells you
everything you need to know in an unbiased fashion and keeps the reader
interested with humour in every few paragraphs.
Biased Review
The other review I
chose had the simple title of ‘Grand Theft Auto: Vice City’ and was published
by www.commonsensemedia.org under writers unknown. The website
this review was posted on is a review website for children, schools and
families and serves the purpose of warning parents of children that may want to
purchase any unsuitable games.
It begins with “Parents
need to know that this game features all manner of violence, drug use, and foul
language.” which clearly shows it biased opinions within the first few
words of this piece of writing. It then follows on to say “Kids who play
this game will be able to steal cars, kill a prostitute after having sex with
her, shoot cops, and sell drugs.” which is focusing on the content of the
game instead of the game’s intentions and, again, shows us the biased opinion
this writer holds.
In the final sentence
of this short review is written “Parents also need to know that the star
rating given to this game is based on quality of gameplay…” which shows
more analysis into the game that isn’t shown anywhere else in the writing. It
implicitly states that although this game has an incredibly graphic and sexual
nature, it still has strong gameplay and storylines within its propaganda based
mask of murdering prostitutes and selling drugs.
This review is
incredibly short with a sentence count of 4 within the single paragraph it is
shown in. However, within this short review they clearly state their beliefs in
this game and whether or not they think it is safe for children to play.
Comparison and
Conclusion
In conclusion, the biased review
clearly shows its beliefs to its demographic of children and parents. It
clearly states the violence, sex, drugs and other such controversial topics as
they are the points that need be highlighted to the children potentially
wanting to buy this game. However, this review gently brushes over the story
and gameplay of the game which are both very important factors when reviewing a
game, even for a specific young demographic. The game itself uses the violence
and sex as either for the sake of humour, as a story prompt or as necessary
additions to the gameplay due to the style of the game.
On the other hand,
the critical analysis review analyses all the little things that GTA: Vice City
stands for. As a 4 page review it has the chances it needs to explain every
little thing about the game whether it is good or not which the biased review
clearly fails in due to its basic and specifically targeted nature.
Finally, I believe
that the critical analysis review fails to show the game for what it is. The
IGN review happily shows us all the bad and good of the game and tells us the
pros and cons of all the decisions Rockstar made in the production of the game
whereas the Common Sense Media review focuses on its child based demographic
and fails to tell us almost anything about the game apart from its
controversial topics.
My Own Review
Upon ignoring the
nowadays giants of gaming the standard of gameplay and story in games all
whittles down to a few classics. GTA: Vice City is one of these classics. No
game nowadays can offer you a unique experience in a unique environment such as
Vice City itself.
Grand Theft Auto:
Vice City was first released in 2002 for the PlayStation 2 and PC. The game is
set in 1986 in the fictional city of Vice City where Tommy Vercetti returns
from a stretch in prison. Upon his involvement in a drug deal gone wrong, Tommy
must find the ones responsible and take back his money that was stolen.
GTA: Vice City throws you straight into
the action and gives you a feel of Vice City life upon entering the game,
showing you some of the surroundings and implicitly showing you the 80’s style
mask over the game. Dune buggies, -skating and bikini toting women and flashy
Bermuda shirts give us a feel of the vibe before we even know the story of the
game.
Missions are supplied
to you after one another and are given by a range of different characters who
offer you “business opportunities” for cash. The missions offer the player a
wide range of opportunities to both explore and understand Vice City itself,
such as using RC helicopters to demolish buildings and stealing speed boats to
support a friend’s drug smuggling operation by destroying competition.
Gameplay in Vice City
is simple yet engrossing. The key elements of the game are backed up by
fantastic smooth controls and entertaining visuals. As the game doesn’t take
itself too seriously, what it lacks in graphics it makes up for in the
character movements which use the graphics to their advantage and create some
hilarious bodily movements from both the player and the NPCs.
The controls for the
game can be a bit confusing at times as the look keys (Left, Q / Right, E) can
cause complications when, say, entering a minigame when those same keys are
used to bank an RC plane and use of the arrow keys could be more effective.
Another problem is the graphical disadvantage it may hold against other games
in competition. As a true fan, you should be able to look past bad graphics and
respect the game for it’s gameplay and strong story elements but any reviewer
can pick apart the game and use the graphics as a downfall.
Finally, i believe
that GTA: Vice City will go down in the history books as one of the strongest
games in the franchise due to its fantastic gameplay and enticing story with
enough difficulty mixed in for you to want to keep coming back. A few graphical
disadvantages here and there hold this game back from have 10/10 ratings across
the board and from a biased point of view, this game will always hold a special
place in my heart.
Comparison
In this final part of
my assessment I will be covering the differences between my review and the
biased review which can be found here. One of the main topics expressed in
the biased review was the violent content of my game which was primarily under
fire due to the demographic that the review was aimed at (children and
families).
The graphic content
of the Grand Theft Auto series (such as the cover girl mascot for the game on
the right) will constantly be under fire from anybody and everybody who does
not understand the game. GTA is a series that is mostly well known for its
graphic content and Rockstar seem unphased by all of the abuse the series
receives.
The reason i chose
the point of graphic content in the game is because of the review’s thoughts on
why it is needed. The writer seems to express that the violence is unnecessary
and is a bad influence on the children who aren’t legally allowed to play the
game. We can see their views in the review when they say “Kids who play this
game will be able to steal cars, kill a prostitute after having sex with her,
shoot cops, and sell drugs.”
In my review,
however, I explain the use of violence is often a story prompt or just part of
the necessary gameplay to support the story about gangs and drugs. The story
cannot be judged when viewed by younger audiences as it is aimed primarily at
18+ year olds who wouldn’t take offense to the game’s crude nature.
In conclusion,
although my review expresses a biased opinion as a lover of both the game and
the franchise, I can accept and explain the crude nature of the game and how it
implements the violence into the story without the controversy being
unnecessary. The other review, on the other hand, simply explains the game as a
violent skirmish of murdering hookers and selling drugs.
Tommy Vercetti (our protagonist) in his
trademark bermuda shirt.
Just from in-game
screencaps you can really get a feel for the 1980’s Miami vibe that the game
puts across.
