➤ 80 desire for GTA 🎮

After celebrating in a more than worthy way the tenth anniversary of the historic GTA III with a very appreciable conversion for iOS and Android, Rockstar reserves the same treatment to the sequel starring Tommy Vercetti, still today one of the most loved episodes by fans of the series. Given the positive previous experience, it is almost obvious to check if this Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - 10th Anniversary Edition successfully manages to bring all the contents of the original to tablets and smartphones: it is more interesting to see if the title convinces from a technical point of view and if there have been any evolutions compared to the port of GTA III.

Vices and virtues

The criminal adventure of Tommy Vercetti was perhaps the most stylistically particular one of the entire history of GTA, thanks to an 80s setting that allowed Rockstar designers to indulge themselves with regard to the look and music of the product, which in this latest incarnation they are not affected by the weight of the years, far from it: thanks to the recent flashbacks for synthesizers and company in the current pop scene, the well-stocked soundtrack of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - 10th Anniversary Edition appears even more apt than its original release date, while the graphics compensate for the decade it brings on its back with a guessed exploitation of the potential of iOS and Android devices.

Tested on an iPhone 4S, the title first showed an absolute fluidity, practically never showing the side of frame rate drops or slowdowns of any kind. The resolution and size of the display then do their duty, making the inevitable shortcomings of the product less evident in terms of texture definition and attention to detail and at the same time enhancing the brilliance of colors. The final effect is undoubtedly of great impact, with the neon and bright shades of Vice City that marry perfectly with the characteristics of a smartphone screen: thanks also to the stylistic peculiarities of the game, therefore, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - 10th Anniversary Edition it represents an even more prestigious technical achievement than its predecessor. Significant improvements have also been achieved on the loading front, now much faster and therefore aligned with the standards of mobile playful use: there is also the possibility of closing the application and resuming from the exact point where you left off, and the save screen. includes two cloud slots to share your progress in case you want to use another device to play. An eventuality to be taken into consideration if you have both a smartphone and a tablet, since the control system - as with GTA III - has different strengths and weaknesses depending on the device on which it runs.

On a smaller touchscreen it is more convenient to use the thumbs to manage the movement and the various virtual keys, even if the latter are necessarily very small in size; vice versa, on a generously sized display the interface and indicators appear much clearer and more fingers can be used to better manage the situation, but with the obligation to have a support on which to place the device. In general, however - starting from the assumption that obviously playing with a pad is another thing - one cannot complain too much about Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - 10th Anniversary Edition in this context, given that it could hardly have been done better: and even if the cumbersome controls were to lead to some game over too much, the faculty granted by the title to immediately restart the failed mission manages to counterbalance everything. What is certain is that at the price at which it is offered, the Rockstar product represents one of the best deals currently available on the App Store and Google Play: spending less than five euros, you can take home a long and articulated adventure, full of secondary activities and above all punctuated by an exciting story narrated in a masterly way, a very rare commodity in the mobile sector.

Comment

Version tested: iOS (1.0) Terminal used: iPhone 4S, iPad 3 Price: € 4,49 (iOS), € 4,67 (Android) App Store link
Link Google Play Resources4Gaming.com

9.0

Readers (21)

7.4

Your vote

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - 10th Anniversary Edition renews the good feeling that flows between Rockstar and mobile gaming, revealing itself to be a product of excellent quality despite the great technical difficulties of confining such a title between the narrow walls of a touchscreen. Certainly this version will not go down in history as the most comfortable to play, but the excellent work done by the developers in the graphics field and above all the happy intuition of making the application available at a very attractive price are the greatest qualities of a highly recommended package. both to those who already know Vice City and to those who have never had the opportunity to visit it.