Vice City Extended Features

[Kimberly Ballas]

Whetheryou're a newcomer to the Grand Theft Auto series or simply reliving the nostalgia, this GTA Vice City Beginner's Guide details everything you need to know about getting started in-game. Throughout this page, we'll break down Vice City's main missions, as well as how to earn some quick money, finding collectibles, and of course, cheats and secrets. This guide includes an update for the GTA: The Trilogy - Definitive Edition release for Xbox, PC, and PS5.

Welcome to the 1980s. From the decade of big hair, excess, and pastel suits comes a story of one man's rise to the top of the criminal pile as Grand Theft Auto takes a one-way ticket to Vice City, Florida.

Having arrived in Vice City after an extended stay at the maximum-security prison in Liberty City, Tommy Vercetti has been sent to the city by his old boss, Sonny Forelli, as the two deemed it too dangerous for him to return to the streets of Liberty City.

However, as you may have come to expect, Tommy's arrival to the glamorous, hedonistic metropolis of Vice City doesn't exactly go all that smoothly after a deal goes south. Having been left with no money or merchandise, and the pressure from Sonny to return what's been lost, it's up to Tommy to work out a way to get it all back, even if it means fighting his way through the biker gangs, Cuban gangsters, and corrupt politicians.

When it comes to completing Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, you can expect an average playthrough to take approximately 12 to 15 hours. However, if you're looking to get 100% completion, which includes all side missions, activities, and collectibles, you can expect the average playthrough to take upwards of 25 to 30 hours.

Need help lowering your wanted level or simply want to cause some chaos with a Rhino Tank? Well, look no further than our helpful list of Cheat Codes and Secrets, which details a complete list of every available and working cheat in GTA Vice City.

Need help earning some extra, passive cash without all the unwanted trouble and hassle that's useful involved when making money? Why not check out our helpful Tips guide, which contains a detailed list of handy tips and tricks that will make exploring Vice City a complete breeze.

In addition to our Tips and Tricks guide, we've also listed a handful of secret Easter Eggs that have been hidden all across Vice City. So it's a rather questionable lighting pattern that appears on a well-known hotel, the effects of shooting at the moon, or discovering sunken surprises, we've listed every known Easter Egg and Secret in GTA Vice City.

Several helpful pick-ups can be found at special spawn locations around the map that can restore your health to full and add Body Armor, increase your Adrenaline, and lower your wanted level. All of these pick-ups serve a purpose and will be immensely helpful should you happen to stumble across one when exploring Vice City. In order to pick up these floating pick-up icons, simply walk into them and you'll have managed to obtain them.

A Heart pick-up restores your health to full. These are extremely valuable and can restore your health instantly, which is particularly handy when you have people trying to kill you. We recommend that you try to use these only when your health is really low, in order not to waste the full charge of life.

In short, Body Armor allows you another life, as it will appear next to your health meter, much like a full bar of health. You'll want to always be wearing Body Armor, as any damage will always be dealt to the Body Armor before it begins to eat away at your health. A word of advice, always have Body Armor before heading into any major missions - you'll be surprised just how much a difference this extra protection can make.

This will slow the game down Matrix-style and allow you to perform functions in a slowed-down world. Use this when swarmed with enemies in order to be able to deal with each baddie individually more readily. This pick-up also allows you to have super-strength. Any punching you do will send your opponent flying. You can also push heavy cars around quite effortlessly.

A wanted level occurs when a member of law enforcement sees you do something wrong. Based on your offenses, there are varying levels of attention you can draw. If you do something really bad (like running over a cop or going on a killing spree), your wanted level will rise rapidly.

If you continue this behavior, more and more stars will be added to your wanted level, bringing more law enforcement on to you. The higher the number of stars, the harder it will be for you to move around and not get caught. In addition, if you're really wanted, the cops will gun you down or run you over to get you to stop. Otherwise, you'll be busted and have to take a trip to the police station. Either way, all of your weapons will be stripped from you, and an arrest will be added to your Stats rap sheet.

If your wanted level is a mere one star, all you have to do is stay out of the policeman's eyesight for a bit, and the wanted level will go away. Pursuit in motor vehicles is weak at best... so just find a quiet neighborhood to drive around in, or run to a secluded spot and just wait it out.

One easy way to drop your warning level is to change clothes. You can do this at your safehouse or go to a store such as Rafael's. Changing clothes will clear up to a two-star rating. We recommend that you memorize the location of all outfit changes, as they are very helpful in removing wanted levels without having to visit a Pay N Spray or hiding away from the public eye. Once you've managed to change clothes, your rating will be cleared and you can continue with your dastardly business.

If the wanted level is higher, you'll be needing to get to a Pay N' Spray. There are two of them on the map--one as you get off of the Starfish Island bridge (in Little Havana), and one in the southern tip of Ocean Beach. To make it happen, drive into the garage. It will cost $100 a pop, which is hardly anything when you consider you'll stay out of jail for a night. After you get your car sprayed, you'll need to be extra cautious for a little while, as you'll notice your stars are still flashing. While your stars are flashing, you'll need to avoid any trouble, otherwise, your warning level will immediately vault back up to its original glory.

Another way to whittle away at your wanted level is to find Bribe icons and walk over them. Doing this will lower your wanted level by one star, which could be the difference between freedom and the slammer. The final way to drop a wanted level is to finish a mission. Even if you're at six stars, the second you finish, the threat will go away.

In the unfortunate circumstance that you die or get busted, you will be taken to the hospital or hospital immediately. That means you'll lose your current mission, be stripped of your weapons, and lose some money as well.

There are a plethora of new Vehicles available in Vice City, including motorcycles and helicopters. These two vehicles add a lot to the experience, as do the speedboats, scooters, golf carts, baggage handlers, and other odd additions to the catalog of rides. What's neat about Vice City is that virtually any vehicle you see in the game is able to be stolen, driven, or flown.

This is the bread and butter of the game. To steal someone's ride, run up next to the car and press Triangle - or your platform's equivalent button. As long as the car is going slowly enough, you'll dig the person out of the passenger side and take the ride over. If there is a second passenger, it's possible to take off while they're still inside.

Jacking a car is most effectively done from the front. Stand directly in front of the vehicle (most don't run you over) and attempt to hijack the vehicle, which will see Tommy move around the car and take it over. Attempting to It isn't as easy to jack a car while running alongside it, although that can be done. Most cars will speed up and try to avoid you, but remember-- the rest of the traffic obeys the law... so you can camp out at intersections and steal from there.

As you make your way through the main campaign, you'll begin to unlock all-new side missions. While there will be purely optional missions, some will happen to be critical to complete to progress throughout the story. The path that you choose to take through the game will determine when these will be available to you. When following our main Mission walkthrough, we'll give you hints as to when these might happen.

There are 100 Hidden Packages in the game, scattered in various unlikely places on the map. Collecting them yields bonuses that can be added to your safe houses, so it's recommended that you start collecting them early in the game. All 100 packages and where to find them (including detailed pictures) are explained in our Hidden Packages section.

You can earn money and prestige by completing crazy jumps and stunts located throughout the game. Insane stunts will bring you money and fame (well, at least in the Stats department), but Unique Stunt Jumps are needed to fully complete the game.

When you find a skull icon somewhere, it's time for a Rampage. A Rampage calls on you to kill a specific number of gang members in a required amount of time, using a predetermined weapon. For info on how to complete each of the 35 Rampages in the game, visit the Rampages page for more in-depth details.

Among the already long list of Side Missions and Activities, you'll have the ability to complete Robbery Missions. As the name suggests, you'll be tasked with sticking up several businesses that are scattered across the map. Not only are these Robbery Missions required for 100% completion, but they also offer a great method for making some quick cash - especially if you manage not to get caught.

In addition, each time you are sent to get new clothes in the game, those same duds will be available for you to wear around. For a more complete description of everything you can buy, and what that does for you, visit the Real Estate/Stores section of this guide.

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