Released as part of the Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition, this is a remaster of the 2002 Rockstar hit, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Despite the high praise for the trilogy of III, Vice City, and San Andreas, the remasters were clearly made without the proper respect for those games, and very plainly shows it off through poorly modernized textures and an embarrassing presentation of ugly character models. There are some genuine quality-of-life changes brought, like bringing weapon aiming a few years forward, and selection wheels for choosing your weapon or radio station, ala Grand Theft Auto V.
An unfortunate result of remastering a nearly 20 year old game is that you end up losing out on licensing for certain songs, thanks to the hellhole that is the music industry, and Vice City suffers the most for it. The removal of the Michael Jackson songs, and "Video Killed the Radio Star" are some of the most painful losses to one of the best soundtracks in Grand Theft Auto, but it still boasts a great selection of 1980's hits across multiple genres.
Like The Definitive Edition remasters of III and San Andreas, the remaster of Vice City is still held up by the gameplay it brought us 20 years ago, and can be worth playing if you don't have the original versions on PC or PlayStation 2. Don't expect it to be an accessible, modern remaster: the game still plays like a PlayStation 2 game with some modern changes, and looks like it was modded with graphics that make it look like an early PlayStation 3 game.
An unfortunate result of remastering a nearly 20 year old game is that you end up losing out on licensing for certain songs, thanks to the hellhole that is the music industry, and Vice City suffers the most for it. The removal of the Michael Jackson songs, and "Video Killed the Radio Star" are some of the most painful losses to one of the best soundtracks in Grand Theft Auto, but it still boasts a great selection of 1980's hits across multiple genres.
Like The Definitive Edition remasters of III and San Andreas, the remaster of Vice City is still held up by the gameplay it brought us 20 years ago, and can be worth playing if you don't have the original versions on PC or PlayStation 2. Don't expect it to be an accessible, modern remaster: the game still plays like a PlayStation 2 game with some modern changes, and looks like it was modded with graphics that make it look like an early PlayStation 3 game.