Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Review (ThePrechoo)
As most people I've heard in advance how horrible the definitive edition is for all 3 games and not to bother playing it. After waiting a few months for patches to be applied I decided to give it a shot as it was on sale.
Basically - as long as you dont play it only to confirm how bad it is from what you heard and to shit on it and actually start with an open mind the game is fine...
Stability and Bugs:
From all 3 remasters GTA VC is the highest quality one. As of writing this review game runs stable. I had not a single crash happen in my 25 hours of playing. I was able to complete 100% of the game (including all achievments) without encountering any soft locks or bugs which would prevent completing any missions.
There were some minor visual glitches here and there though, like some lamps floating 1cm above ground or
some road being lower than the collision player is standing on or in rare cases a few fences missing in some alleys, while collisions remain. But all of them were hard to spot and mostly if you looked for them. In normal gameplay they may as well not exist. Same goes for some minor signs or spelling issues that no one would ever notice unless they spend hours just searching for them.
Visuals:
This is the best remaster of all 3. The game looks amazing with new lighting engine, shadows and relfections. Especially in Ocean Beach with all those neon signs and colors at night. Definitely a leap forward in quiality compared to original. Car/Building models are more than fine. Even those dreaded character models dont look that bad once you start playing. After 3 or 4 missions you get used to them and stop noticing. The art style actually sorta fits the new engine.
Oh, and yes, hitting a lamp post will make it fall into the void, but seriously its not something you notice nor care in actual gameplay.
Gameplay:
All new additions are more than welcome. Being able to freely rotate camera while in a vehicle is a nice addition. Not having to install tons of patches and fixes to play on modern devices and widescreen is also a bonus. Better aiming with more free-aim options etc all enhance the gameplay and make the game feel less old than it actually is. All new mechanics feel natural to have.
Summary:
Overall, after latest patch game is stable and worth playing if you see it on sale. Best of 3 remasters.
More stable than the original on W10 for me at least.
I do recommend installing a few mods like ones that add missing songs or change Tommy's face model to look less chubby. No noticable bugs or glitches during gameplay. All missions can be completed without any workarounds required.
Definietly the only remaster I will chose over the original if I ever want to replay it again.