Entertainment/Gaming Consoles

Assassin missions done. Both of the last two were pretty easy, though the fourth one gave me fits because I couldn't keep my (newly re-purchased) PSG-1. ARGH!

So then I whipped out the guide I bought and started snagging hidden packages. I was also working on vigilante missions. They get tougher at around level 6 or so. I understand you have to successfully do 12 levels to get the extra armor. Which I don't really need right now. Oh well.

I also had a fun time just causing general mayhem and killing people. Oh, and I did another rampage. It was like "kill 10 in 2 minutes with the PSG-1". Couldn't get any easier.

I love the Spaz shotgun. I went ahead and bought a bunch, as well as the PSG-1 rounds (I'm at about 150 on both, I think). Good times.

Where are you at, money-wise? Just curious.

[vsp]

I'd have to go back and check where my money's at -- it's been a while. Once you've bought all the properties, it's all uphill from there.

The vigilante missions are a bastard... UNLESS you use the attack helicopter, at which point it becomes a lot easier once you get the hang of its missiles. Since you've finished Keep Your Friends Close, the chopper should be available at the Air Force base. (Note that getting into and out of said Air Force base without being shot to ribbons is another matter entirely.)

Free tip for weapons that'll save you a ton of money: some weapon types use the same ammo. This is particularly useful with the Uzi family; you can buy up thousands of shells of the ultra-cheap variety (MAC10s for $100 in Ocean Beach), then buy ONE expensive MP5 and the ammo will transfer over. Ditto for shotguns (buy standard Chrome, then pick up one Spaz) and assault rifles (buy Rugers, then pick up one M4). Unfortunately, this doesn't work for the Colt Python or the Sniper rifles.

Saving money on weapons is important when you start doing rampages, because your weapons will have an annoying tendency to disappear due to a bug. If you start a rampage that has (let's say) a mini-gun as the weapon of choice, you are given an unlimited-ammo mini-gun. When you finish it or time runs out, it takes away the mini-gun BUT DOESN'T RETURN whatever weapon you had in the Heavy Weapons slot before you started the rampage. This is particularly aggravating for drive-by shooting missions, which take away your submachine gun.

Supposedly, what can tend to happen is that it tries to give the weapon back, but assigns the ammo to the wrong weapon class. This is how I ended up with a Colt Python with 4000 shells. If you have the "right" weapon already readied when you touch the Rampage icon, it generally eliminates this problem, but that implies that you already know what the Rampage is before you touch it.

Yeah, that's how I've ended up with about 2,000 Uzi shells for my MP5 - picking up lots of the other ones, like the one under Skumole. I didn't know about the MAC10 at $100 though - I'll have to check that out.

VC definitely has some annoying bugs; I have lost probably 10 vehicles in garages so far, and I haven't done anything "tricky" (you'll remember that from a year ago).

I was going to collect all 100 packaes to get the helicopter, but if you say it's there now... well, w0rd. I was also thinking that the Rhino would be choice.

Where is it in the AFB? I've tried getting in there before, and yes, it's kinda... defended. But I can probably mange. The problem is saving the chopper from getting shot to pieces on the way out. Maybe if I get a Sea Sparrow and then go in guns blazing? Just an idea.

[vsp]

The deal with the Hunter copter is that there are two ways to unlock it:

* finish Keep Your Friends Close (the last storyline mission)
* get all 100 hidden packages

If you do ONE of the above, the Hunter will appear all the way in the back of the AFB (the north side), behind a bunch of fences.
If you do BOTH of the above, the Hunter will appear in the AFB, and _also_ at the helipad in Ocean Beach (completely undefended).

The soldiers at the AFB are hostile to you even after you've completed both tasks... UNLESS you're wearing a certain outfit. If you're wearing the right outfit, they're friendly to you as long as you don't shoot or bludgeon any of them, and you can walk right up to the Hunter and take off. (For entertainment, get someone chasing you and lead them through the gate, and watch the soldiers blast your pursuer to kingdom come.)

I have gotten the Hunter out a few times without the outfit trick, but it's very hard. What I did was to fly a Maverick in at high speed from the north, and bail out right over the Hunter's pen. If you're lucky, the game will get confused and spawn airport personnel instead of soldiers in that area, and you can take off before anyone else shows up. If you're not, they'll shoot you to ribbons in the several seconds that the takeoff sequence requires. It might actually be easier to fetch the Rhino by this method (more armor), except that that doesn't appear until you've got 90 packages.

How does one come across said outfit?

Also, do you think VC is better than GTA3? I think I've enjoyed it more, because a) I'm better, so it's less frustrating, and b) there's more to do, it seems. I think the properties really added something to it, at least for me.

(If it's just the cop outfit, then I have that already, obviously. Er, I think I do.)

[vsp]

It is the cop outfit; it's in the same place as in "No Escape." (Which is a little odd. Imagine a beat cop charging into an airfield and commandeering an Apache, saying "I need this, there's a mugging-in-progress downtown." Then again, real-life beat cops typically don't have to deal with guys with rocket launchers and Gatling guns.)

GTA3 has some things going for it that Vice doesn't:

* GTA3 came _completely_ out of left field to stun the gaming world. I owned all three GTA titles (1, 2, London pack) before GTA3, so I was no stranger to the series, but even I was blown away as to how perfectly the developers took it to the next level. Vice was nowhere near that kind of generational leap, so while it was also highly entertaining, there was a certain been-there-done-that feeling to many parts of it.

* GTA3 had MUCH better music. Much much better. Not that there weren't tracks on Vice that I enjoyed, but apart from a couple of Love Fist songs, they'd all been heard before.

The homegrown tracks on GTA3 had that funky Craig Conner vibe to them, which was a major plus; the parody music was a highlight of all the previous GTAs. Likewise, while some large-label musicians were included, they weren't 'name' artists like Vice used; they were off-the-beaten-path types that were new to most people. (I bought the relevant Scientist album after enjoying K-Jah, for instance.) If I wanted to hear the non-original songs of Vice City, on the other hand, my local Sam Goody had all of them.

The talk radio for both games was excellent, so one point for Vice for having two stations, though (again) I probably preferred Lazlow in GTA3 to either individually.

* You didn't have to tweak the graphics in GTA3 in the first five minutes to make the game viewable. (Did anyone NOT turn the blurring off in Vice?)

Now, Vice was a more COMPLETE game, with lots of new features, but I expected no less. The motorcycles and helicopters alone were worth the purchase price, the property system gave it new life in late-game, and the storyline was fleshed-out more than GTA3's without limiting the player's in-game freedom.

According to the rumor mill, there are two development teams working on sequels: a PS2 sequel using the GTA3-Vice engine, and a second sequel intended for the PS3 and supposed to be another "generational leap," so to speak. Think 2004 for the former.

I'd take Lazlow over both of the talk radio shows in Vice. Lazlow was the only thing I listened to in GTA3.

As far as music in general, I think VC is trying to fit with the 80's, and honestly, I think it succeeds there. I never forget that it's taking place in the 80's rather than the 90's. But yeah, some of the music really bites. Especially "Gold" in WAVE 103. Good lord I hate that song.

Matt (mwbEEf on the Cellar) actually didn't turn the blurring off. That's the first thing I did. I'm not sure why they put that in, maybe to make it feel more like the 80's. I dunno. But I thought it was awful.

Man, the game just decided to forget my sniper rifle, so I have to go re-buy that shit again. I'm over $1 million now though, so it's no big deal.

I got the vigilante missions done. "Brown Thunder"... hehe. The missiles definitely are kinda difficult to aim, but I got lucky and had a LOT of vigilante missions in the airport on the tarmac (probably 6 of the 13 I completed). So that was easy. I ended the mission with 5 stars, which meant I had to collect a bunch of bribes. I picked up a number in the chopper and then one on foot (at Hyman Condo) - and then did the clothes change to lose the last two stars. Flying around in the Hunter was definitely fun, though it is less maneuverable than the Maverick that I'm used to. Oh well.

I spent a lot of time yesterday running from cops. I'd start some mayhem, get up to 4 or 5 stars and then just make a game of it trying to lose 'em. I love that one bribe in Little Haiti over the ramp, and then the one near Sunshine over another ramp. Those things are great!

Man, I have so much garage space. I noticed last night that I have about 5 PCJ 600's saved; those are great in a pinch. I find them to be pretty much the best for outrunning the cops (though I spent most of my time yesterday in a cop car, just for kicks). BF Injection for tooling around and I have not one but TWO Patriots in the mansion garage. Like you, I have a soft spot for those things.

Also, Hilary sucks.

[perth]

i picked up gta3 for the pc tonight. i played vice city on the ps2 and hated it. im hoping i like the original better, and im hoping that playing it on the pc will help. im about to install it now. wish me luck.

~james

[Cam]

I'm buying Vice city for the PC for the summer, I'm going to be living at my uncles house and will have limited access to the net so I'm going to be bored when not working(kind of sad really). I'm hoping that keeps me occupied for a good chunk of time.

[perth]

the bad news is that im really unhappy with the framerate im getting from the game. the good news is that im enjoying it enough to want a new video card to remedy the problem.

its probably a combination of improved controls (in my mind) and the fact that vice city had a "style" that ive never really identified with (while i did grow up in the 80s i cant really say im proud of that fact ).

~james

perth you SICK SON OF A BITCH! Hated it? Good lord.

Hey, I made it my personal mission the other day to collect hidden packages and do rampages in VC. I have 96 packages and 33 rampages done. I am at a whopping 66% completion. Really, hold your applause.

I don't know WHERE the four are that I'm missing. I found about 30 on my own, then the rest with a guide, and I went down and checked off every one. There's one in Little Haiti and three in Little Havana that I don't think I have, but since I got 30 and then the rest later, I can never be sure (I wasn't marking them the first time). I'll post the ones I'm not sure of later.

As far as rampages, I'm not sure where those are either. Driving me nucking futs, but I think ign's guide can get me through it. I had purchased an EGM one for just this purpose but they just have a map, no description of the location. IGN's got pretty decent descriptions on everything, so I should be fine.

After that, I guess it's just a shitload of vehicle missions and whatnot. I looked through the guide and saw RC stuff, the races at the stadium, etc.

Oh, and I also did the Downtown and Little Haiti Sparrow Checkpoint missions. Wee!

VC is good fun. And then I had to move.

[perth]

Originally posted by dave
perth you SICK SON OF A BITCH! Hated it? Good lord.

hey, sorry man. at least im liking the original, right? i just cant enjoy anything that even remotely reminds me of don johnson in a pastel pink sports jacket.

~james

I like 80's music, and I can look past the rest. Once you get deeper into it, it's not as much like the 80's. It's got more depth than GTA3, which is cool.

But yes, I would yell at you if you didn't like GTA3 too. I can't comprehend how someone could not enjoy either of them. Paul doesn't like VC either, but played the original a ton. Matt hates the original but loves VC. I love 'em both. Takes a true fan, I guess. :P

[perth]

tell ya what. ill play the hell out of gta3 and when i see vice city available for the pc for around 20 bucks, ill pick it up and give it another try.

the thing i like about the pc is that it plays mp3s. on the other hand, i cant get enough of the talk radio station. funny as hell.

~james