Aka: | GTA Vice City |
Console: | Microsoft Xbox |
TV Standard: | NTSC |
Country: | United States of America |
Developer(s): | Rockstar North, Rockstar Vienna |
Publisher(s): | Rockstar Games |
Release Date: | 2003-10-31 |
Players: | 1 |
Co-op: | No |
ESRB: | M - Mature 17+ |
Type: | Action |
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is an open world action-adventure video game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It was released on 27 October 2002 for the PlayStation 2 console, on 12 May 2003 for Microsoft Windows, and on 31 October 2003 for the Xbox console. It is the sixth title in the Grand Theft Auto series.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is played from a third-person perspective in an open world environment, allowing the player to interact with the game world at their leisure. The game is set in 1986 within the fictional city of Vice City, which is heavily based on Miami[b] and draws inspiration from 1980s' American culture. The single-player story follows Tommy Vercetti, a Mafia hitman who is released from prison. After his involvement in a drug deal gone wrong, Tommy seeks out those responsible while building a criminal empire and seizing power from other criminal organisations in the city.
Upon its release, the game was acclaimed by many reviewers who praised the music and gameplay, which uses a tweaked version of the game engine used in its predecessor. It became the best-selling video game of 2002, and has sold over 20 million copies as of 2011; until July 2006, it was the best-selling PlayStation 2 game of all time. The game is cited as a landmark in video games for its far-reaching influence within the industry. The success of Vice City led to the creation of a prequel, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (2006), which revisits the Vice City setting just two years prior. Vice City 's violent and sexual content has also been the source of public concern and controversy.
Its successor, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, was released on 26 October 2004, and also received critical acclaim. In December 2012, in celebration of the game's tenth anniversary, a mobile version of Vice City was released for iOS and Android. The game has also been ported to various other platforms and services, such as OS X and the PlayStation Network.