This review contains spoilers
Vice City Stories is the last of the 3D Universe GTA games. It is set in 1984, 2 years before the start of Vice City. You play as Victor Vance, Lance Vance's brother who was killed in the opening cutscene of Vice City. He starts out as a recruit at Fort Baxter Air Base and wants to earn money to send back home to his younger brother (not Lance) who is sick with an unnamed affliction and in the care of his drug-addled mother who often spends that money on drugs instead. He seeks out honest work after being dishonourably discharged but due to Lance's meddling and many other events ends up continuously turning to the criminal underworld and building an empire.
The game is, like Liberty City Stories, your standard GTA fare, but Vice City Stories has with more in common mechanically to Vice City. Swimming is present unlike in Vice City, but there is no diving and Victor cannot stay in the water for too long before running out of stamina and dying. Several characters that were around in Vice City do return. Tommy is not among them as he is still in prison during the time the game takes place. Phil Collins has a special guest appearance in the game, and he is the only celebrity to date that has appeared as themself in a GTA game and not another character. The game has an asset mechanic similar to San Andreas and V, but it is much more unique in how it works and is a bit hard to explain. I did not like this mechanic the first time through but did not mind it on the second go, which is pretty typical of me when revisiting games. Like Vice City, the music choice for this game is stellar. Never a dull moment with those stations. All in all, it's pretty average but can still be worth your time.
The game is, like Liberty City Stories, your standard GTA fare, but Vice City Stories has with more in common mechanically to Vice City. Swimming is present unlike in Vice City, but there is no diving and Victor cannot stay in the water for too long before running out of stamina and dying. Several characters that were around in Vice City do return. Tommy is not among them as he is still in prison during the time the game takes place. Phil Collins has a special guest appearance in the game, and he is the only celebrity to date that has appeared as themself in a GTA game and not another character. The game has an asset mechanic similar to San Andreas and V, but it is much more unique in how it works and is a bit hard to explain. I did not like this mechanic the first time through but did not mind it on the second go, which is pretty typical of me when revisiting games. Like Vice City, the music choice for this game is stellar. Never a dull moment with those stations. All in all, it's pretty average but can still be worth your time.