GTA: Vice City Review Assignment

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.