Gta Vice City 6 Stars
Amie Mandy
A Wanted Level tells the player how much they are wanted by law enforcement. The wanted level is measured on a six star scale, which in some games, the scale appears in the type right hand corner of the screen.
When the player commits a crime in a city, the wanted scale will start to increase, usually by one star. When one star is lit up, it indicates that the player is wanted by law enforcement. As the the player commits more crimes the level will increase more, attracting more powerful types of law enforcement in the process (see Wanted Level in GTA III Era for more information).
The player can decrease their wanted level in many ways. The player can pick up police bribes around the city, which only decreases their level by one star.. Also if the player is driving a car, they can respray their car at a Pay 'n' Spray that will eliminate all the stars. However, after respraying a vehicle at a repair shop, the stars will start to blink, meaning the police have lost contact with the player. If the player preforms a drive-by or commits a crime, the stars will reappear. Sometimes the player can change the protagonists clothes that will sometimes loose the wanted level.
Although Rockstar Games tends to cast unknown actors for its newer games, the company had a star-studded cast of famous voices in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, which is included in GTA Trilogy - The Definitive Edition. Since Rockstar isn't outright remaking Vice City in the new remastered GTA Trilogy, all of these actors will remain a part of the game's cast in their full glory. With talent like Ray Liotta and Burt Reynolds, some might wonder why Rockstar has largely moved away from casting big actors for its games, and that's partially due to the experience with those aforementioned actors.
With GTA Trilogy releasing in November, it's a good time to revisit the cast list and identify who is who in the iconic Rockstar title. Following the immense success of Grand Theft Auto 3, Rockstar was able to recruit some of the most legendary Hollywood stars for its second 3D GTA game. The game was a bit of a love letter to '80s crime films and shows like Carlito's Way, Scarface, and Miami Vice, so naturally, a cast of A-list actors could help replicate those stories.
At the time, Rockstar had one of the most stacked casts a studio could possibly get. Video games would sometimes have a random celebrity cameo but largely didn't have the money or the status to attract such high-profile talent for its core cast. A number of famous people played characters in GTA games after Vice City, but there are still few games with such big names in them as Rockstar's 2002 entry.
Goodfellas and Saints of Newark actor Ray Liotta played the lead role of Tommy Vercetti in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Vercetti was the first fully-voiced protagonist in the series and Liotta delivered an incredibly memorable performance that netted him some awards and kept him in the minds of fans. According to the book Jacked: The Outlaw Story of Grand Theft Auto (via Wired), Liotta reportedly felt frustrated with the limitations of voice acting when working on the game and had a bit of an attitude in the recording booth. To make matters a bit worse, Liotta was also allegedly upset with his pay after seeing how much of a success the game was. Issues with appropriate compensation would continue for years between Rockstar and other actors but have since fallen out of the conversation with the developer's more recent games.
Not much is known about what happened to Tommy Vercetti after Vice City, but it's likely fans won't find out since Rockstar has stated the PS2-era games are in a different universe from games like GTA 4 and 5. Some fans believed that Rockstar had brought Vercetti and Liotta back after seeing the first trailer for Grand Theft Auto 5 as one of the game's protagonists, Michael, looks and sounds similar to Liotta.
Legendary actor Burt Reynolds played Avery Carrington, a shady real estate mogul who hires Vercetti for some dirty jobs. The character is referenced in San Andreas and even returned in GTA: Liberty City Stories where the player is tasked with killing him, but Reynolds never returned to the part. Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser partially attributes Rockstar's avoidance of celebrities to Reynolds, noting his bad experience with the Boogie Nights actor in an interview with Vulture.
According to Jacked: The Outlaw Story of Grand Theft Auto, Houser almost cut Reynolds out of GTA: Vice City as a result of onset fights between Rockstar and the actor. Reynolds eventually went on to play himself in Saints Row: The Third.
Machete and Breaking Bad star Danny Trejo played Umberto Robina in GTA: Vice City, the leader of the Los Carbones street gang. Robina seeks Vercetti's help in his various criminal ventures such as taking on a Haitian drug ring. Ultimately, Vercetti earns the respect of Robina and his gang after causing chaos around the city. Trejo may not have had as bad of a time as some of the other actors as he has gone on to star in other games like Far Cry 6, Call of Duty, and Fallout: New Vegas.
Lethal Weapon and The Buddy Holly Story actor Gary Busey played Phil Cassidey in Vice City, a gun-loving wannabe veteran that had been played by a different actor in GTA 3. Cassidy is often seen sporting a confederate flag shirt, which has been removed for GTA Trilogy. The character is recruited by Tommy for a bank heist to help, leading to a long-term partnership where Cassidy supplies Tommy with weapons. Unfortunately, a drunken Cassidy eventually ends up blowing his own arm off with a homemade bomb, but Tommy manages to save him from dying by rushing him to an ex-army surgeon. Busey infused the character with a very unnerving, yet comedic off-the-wall behavior in his portrayal.
William Fichtner is one of the great character actors working today. He's starred in Heat, The Dark Knight, and a number of other classic films, but one of his most iconic roles is as Ken Rosenberg in Vice City. Rosenburg is similar to Saul Goodman from Breaking Bad and serves as a close partner to Tommy Vercetti.
Ken Rosenberg is still alive after Vice City and Fichtner even reprised his role in a prequel film to San Andreas. While theories have suggested he could return in GTA 6, fans will get to experience his character arc in Vice City once again thanks to the GTA Trilogy - The Definitive Edition.
The late Dennis Hopper played GTA: Vice City's alleged parody of director Steven Spielberg, Steve Scott. Scott is an adult film producer and is introduced to Tommy after he buys the InterGlobal film studio. In an effort to turn things around for the studio and help Steve Scott, Tommy hires new actors and blackmails a politician that's attempting to combat the adult film industry.
Real-life former adult film actress Jenna Jameson played a virtual adult film star in GTA: Vice City via Candy Suxxx. According to Jacked: The Outlaw Story of Grand Theft Auto, Jameson was reportedly offered $5,000 to do the game and she accepted because her boyfriend was a fan of GTA 3. In the game, Candy Suxxx plays an important role within the politics and story of Vice City.
Miami Vice star Phillip Michael Thomas played one of the most substantial supporting cast members in GTA: Vice City, Lance Vance. The character returned in the PSP prequel game, Vice City Stories, as the brother of protagonist Victor Vance. Victor is tragically killed in the opening of Vice City amidst a drug deal gone wrong, resulting in both Tommy and Lance narrowly escaping. The two become allies later in the game and form a close relationship, resulting in the sort of buddy dynamic seen in Miami Vice. Given the upcoming GTA Trilogy may be some players' first experience with Vice City, no spoilers will be found here regarding the character's overall arc.
Tom Sizemore is the third Heat actor to appear in the cast of GTA: Vice City. The actor made a name for himself in the '90s with films like Heat, Natural Born Killers, and True Romance. He would eventually end up as one of the antagonists in GTA: Vice City and Tommy's boss, Sonny Forelli. The character resides out of Liberty City for most of the game as that's where the Forelli crime family is based, but he's still an incredibly prominent figure in the story.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is a 2002 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the fourth main game in the Grand Theft Auto series, following 2001's Grand Theft Auto III, and the sixth entry overall. Set in 1986 within the fictional Vice City (based on Miami and Miami Beach), the single-player story follows mobster Tommy Vercetti's rise to power after being released from prison and becoming caught up in an ambushed drug deal. While seeking out those responsible, Tommy gradually builds a criminal empire by seizing power from other criminal organisations in the city.
The game is played from a third-person perspective and its world is navigated on foot or by vehicle. The open world design lets the player freely roam Vice City, consisting of two main islands. The game's plot is based on multiple real-world people and events in Miami such as Cubans, Haitians, and biker gangs, the 1980s crack epidemic, the Mafioso drug lords of Miami, and the dominance of glam metal. The game was also influenced by the films and television of the era, most notably Scarface and Miami Vice. Much of the development work constituted creating the game world to fit the inspiration and time period; the development team conducted extensive field research in Miami while creating the world. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was released in October 2002 for the PlayStation 2, in May 2003 for Windows, and in November 2003 for the Xbox.
Upon its release, Vice City received critical acclaim, with praise particularly directed at its music, gameplay, story, and open world design. However, the game also generated controversy over its depiction of violence and racial groups, sparking lawsuits and protests. Vice City became the best-selling video game of 2002 and has sold over 17.5 million copies. Considered one of the most significant titles of the sixth generation of video games and one of the greatest video games ever made, it won numerous year-end accolades including Game of the Year awards from several gaming publications.
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