playing GTA VC for PC makes me think...

[mtkafka]

... more game should be like this... its like the rpg/fps games ala SS, Deus Ex, Ultima Underworld... there's never enough. All we have if Mafia, GTA3 and GTA VC.

should be more... could even be crpg or futuristic too!

GTA VC PC is just so damn cool.

etc

[Enidigm]

Wow and i just played this game in the last few days as well...

But i thought it was horrible, at least for mature players.

Setting all the pubescent fixations on cars, prostitutes and guns aside as being half of what the game is about, and recognizing the brilliant satire of the talk radio stations, i found the whole game experience feeling very empty. I keep comparing it to Morrowind's strengths and weaknesses and what stands out is a total absence of morality. I don't mind beating pedestrians senseless for some spare change but at least try and stop me occasionally. Morrowind allowed the same helter skelter mentality of going postal in a city but limited it and made clear it was aberrant behavior, with some potentially crippling consequences. Sure the whole game is about fast cars and seeing how many cops, FBI and SWAT guys you can cut down before dying, but for me its just not enough. Its as though ive already seen everything the game can offer in less than 10 hours.

Not to say that listening to KCHAT or that NPR wannabe station at night in the rain isn't one of the most engrossing moments in gaming. But i keep thinking "is this all there is, isn't there anything more?". Are there any 'freeform' career opportunities, like selling drugs or being a pimp? I guess the semi-career paths of taxi driver and paramedic...

Its probably nothing with the game but that i just am a bit too old for this sort of thing now, and am not terribly partial to beating in the skulls of helpless beach bunnies for their lunch money, virtually or not. How old do i have to be before applying to the Sons of the Grog-federacy?

[Qenan]

Everything you just said made sense to me. Guess I'm a geezer or something.

[algahar]

I watched a kid played it in a game store. all he did was running people over with his car (i think partly because he couldn't quite control the car, but that could be a small part cause he would reverse and roll over the guy again), or hit pedestrians while hes running pass them.

ya i think its odd that whatever law violating acts the players do are ok until they do them in front of a police officer...

other than that i think its a good depiction of a 'real world' (similar to morrowing depticting its own version of a real world), be a criminal in this game and eventually the police will catch u (they are invul. right?)... thats what i gathered after watching the kid finishing the 1st 3 quests

[Jazar]

Personally I've always been in love with the GTA series. With GTA3 and Vice City, beating up hookers and innocents is hardly the draw for me. Money in the game is pointelss IMO and killing innocents gives me little pleasure. What I enjoy from the game is that when you pick up and play you're almost always in for a unique experience. Whether it's doing the missions (my main goal), running from the cops (always good for that dukes of hazards feeling), playing vigilante, delivering pizza, or just exploring your surroundings, GTA3 and VC provides the player with a living breathing metropolis to play around with as you please.

[Wholly Schmidt]

Having played the PS2 version and exhausted my impressions of Vice City, all I've got left now are cynical complaints about how it's in no way improved for the PC.

[wumpus]

I wouldn't touch the PS2 version with a ten foot pole once I knew that the PC version was coming. It's the same basic game, granted, but it is a better experience on the PC in every imaginable way.

[mtkafka]

well i think Rockstar's pretty good in there representation of the eighties and late nineties in both GTA3 and GTA VC. I have no problem with the caricatures of everything from whores, gangbangers, corrupt police to even soccer moms (driving the huge SUV's and the commercials on the radio- hilarious!)... its meant as tongue in cheek, but beneath it all... I sorta get that Rockstar is kinda paying homage to the liberal idea of America as 'one big ethnic soup' or cosmopolitan america. the GTA games give us this sort of a represented american experience in a game. whereas you could say the sims gives us the generic suburb existence. there's a lot of, should i say, nice graphic detail in how VC is presented... almost Dickensonian in the corrupt rich/poor white/black/hispanic city areas. anyway, enough with my NPR descriptions.

still i just like the style of VC and GTA3... there much more 'mature' in vision of a metropolitan america than say something like Max Payne or Postal... actualy NOLF 1 and 2 does humor well with the different global areas represented... sorta tongue in cheek but with some respect. same kind of tone as GTA imo... though NOLF is a bit more, should i say, cultured (who would have thought BOLLYWOOD INDIA would be represented in an American FPS?!?). Both Rockstar and Monoloth (at last with NOLF 1 and 2) are pretty sharp! Shall I say, they got there shit together!

and with the PC version of VC, it rocks. the shooter aspects are so much more playable on a pc and the driving aspects dont lose anything from the PS2. only piloting the RC vehicles is a bit more confusing at first, but nothing you cant get thru after a few minutes.

etc

[Jason Becker]

Well I guess I'm a lawless thug cause I've had a blast with GTA III. I got kinda bored with the missions especially the timed ones that I just stopped doing them. I've spent most of my time just seeing how long I can go running from the cops/FBI/military. The freeform play of just running around a big city and not some linear level is just fun. My latest mission is to see how many cops I can get to chase my off the ramps/ledges. Its a kick to go flying off and seeing a pair of cops flying off after you in slow motion.

[mtkafka]

the next-big-thing will be GTA gameplay for a CRPG... who the hell will do it?!? probably nobody because what represents cars in a medieval world? Horses? Hijack horses? hmmm, maybe magic carpets...

etc

[Jason Lutes]

I sorta get that Rockstar is kinda paying homage to the liberal idea of America as 'one big ethnic soup' or cosmopolitan america.

You, my friend, are high. That's crazier than my attempt to defend The Matrix on philosophical grounds.

there's a lot of, should i say, nice graphic detail in how VC is presented... almost Dickensonian in the corrupt rich/poor white/black/hispanic city areas.

Are you referring to Emily Dickenson or Angie Dickenson?

etc.

[Dirt]

I'm guessing Charles Dickens.

[Dirt]

"You, my friend, are high. That's crazier than my attempt to defend The Matrix on philosophical grounds."

It's what happens to people with English degrees.

[mtkafka]

BTW, the matrix 2 kinda sucked! GTAVC blows it away!

Think about it... GRANDTHEFTAUTO THE MOVIE! IT'LL BE BETTER THAN THAT 2 FAST 2 FURIOUS SHIT! ACtualyl John Singleton is directing that, maybe it'll be okay....he did BOYS IN THE HOOD btw

etc

[BDGE]

What do you guys do for control on the PC game? I mean are you using straight mouse/keyboard setups, or do you have a fancy dongle that allows for Dual Shock compatability?

I have been curious to give this game a try, but with this cruddy Sidewinder pad I own, I fear for the worst. I'd just as well get it on PS2.

[Luke M]

"You, my friend, are high. That's crazier than my attempt to defend The Matrix on philosophical grounds."

It's what happens to people with English degrees.

I guess I should give him more credit. He types like he's not even out of middle school.

[Mike Cathcart]

What do you guys do for control on the PC game? I mean are you using straight mouse/keyboard setups, or do you have a fancy dongle that allows for Dual Shock compatability?

I have been curious to give this game a try, but with this cruddy Sidewinder pad I own, I fear for the worst. I'd just as well get it on PS2.

Mouse and kb are perfect, much easier to play than with the dual shock (especially shooting). On top of that, you get a higher resolution and the ability to use your mp3s as a radio station. There's no contest, the PC version is much better.

[xahlt]

I switch between them on the fly. Gamepad for driving, mouse/kb for running and shooting. Sounds a bit annoying and weird, but once I got used to it, I would switch between them automatically without noticing. There's always a lag time involved in getting in/out of a car before you can control the game, so it works perfectly without hindering your gameplay.