CLOCK AND ROLL

Stick to the modern day or go back to the ’80s? With this latest entry it could be time to turn back the clock again

Even though it’s set in the 1980s, whenever I revisit GTA: Vice City there’s something timeless about it. The glowing neon and sunshine of Vice City’s pastiche of Miami circa 1987 represents GTA at its best, Tommy Vercetti’s journey through the criminal underworld oozing flair and personality.

The trademark satire on modern-day

America flowed freely through its streets but the setting also allowed Rockstar the freedom to really embrace its inspirations, such as Miami Vice, Scarface, and The Godfather (okay, that one was early

“It’s rumoured that the game will be set in multiple cities, but what about covering multiple eras?”

’90s, but it fits). While the ’80s has become synonymous with popping colours, glam, and clubbing in the cultural memory, it was also a time when drugs and gangs were centre stage politically, with the US ‘crack epidemic’ resulting in some hardline policing. While you could imagine Rockstar taking a similar tack with something set in the ’90s, I just can’t help but feel like the ’80s is where the heart is. Returning to Vice City would feel like familiar ground, even though that game came out 20 years ago. A redesigned approach to the region could see it take on a new lease of life, especially if it included some different Florida environments like swampland (Red Dead Redemption 2’s own muggy take worked very well).

LAND OF THE FREE

Alternatively, revisiting Liberty City with an ’80s setting could work just as well. The city is based on New York, which had a unique cultural identity in the ’80s (and was also hit hard by increased drug policing).

But why stop there? It’s been widely rumoured that the next game will be set in multiple cities, but what about covering multiple eras instead? GTA could dip its toe into Mafia territory by having you switch time periods, jumping protagonists between the 1980s and the 1930s, towards the end of Prohibition. Smuggling alcohol through the city would be a fresh take on some of other drug plotlines we’re used to, and the thematic link between both periods could still tell a cohesive plot about criminalisation and the desire to make it big as Rockstar riffs on classic gangster movies. Oscar Taylor-Kent

1 2 1 Response to Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy’s recent remaster was mostly negative, but the positive vibes around Vice City remained strong. 2 2K’s historically-set Mafia games have seen a revival lately, but the series has kept changing developers. Could Rockstar turn back time and give it a run for its mob money?