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However, one thing not particularly improved is the framerate which doesn't seem to get much above 30fps. In places it also dips considerably lower when there's a lot of action happening but luckily it doesn't seem to affect gameplay much at all. With a game world so large and so full of detail being drawn on the PS2's limited architecture this was bound to be a trade-off but quite honestly we remain more than impressed with what Rockstar have achieved all-round. It's the sheer size of the place and the amount of stuff going on that sets the amazing technology in the GTA games, much more so Vice City, apart from any other game seen on the platform so far.

Which is probably a good time to mention the vehicles in the game. The first thing you'll notice around Vice City is the abundance of 2-wheeled alternatives to the cars. Scooters (hilariously named "Faggios"), off-road bikes, performance road machines and Harley-styled biker specials are all there for you to use and it can't be stressed enough here how well they handle. Rockstar have really perfected the mechanics of these machines and you can really fly around the place on the racier models as well as pull some insane stunt jumps on others where the bike can be controlled in mid-air! Fall off though and expect to sustain physical damage as you would in real life.

There's obviously also a huge array of cars, vans, trucks and buses that can be driven, all with their own individual handling mechanics. Some of the 80s-styled sports cars are amazingly fast and you can get from A to B extremely efficiently but again it's the 80s beats blaring out of the radios as you cruise down a neon-clad boulevard that'll crack you up every time!

When it comes time to traverse the waterways or fly the (un)friendly Vice City skies there's a large number of various boats, helicopters and planes to choose from that become available as you progress. Several missions also have you piloting 3 different RC vehicles – a car, a helicopter and a plane. In all, Vice City apparently contains 120 different vehicles as opposed to GTA3's 50! Oh and a new feature is that you can now shoot out tyres but beware as the cops know this and will attempt to do so during a car chase! A shot tyre can dramatically change the handling capabilities of your vehicle.

And now the most important bit for most of you we're sure – weapons! GTA3 had 15 available weapons in it's arsenal but Vice City now gives you the choice of – 40! Hmmm, you're almost spoilt for choice there but that number includes quite a large range of melee, or hand-to-hand combat weapons that were unavailable in GTA3. These include Brass Knuckles, Screw Driver, Hammer, Knife, Meat Cleaver, Machete, Samurai Sword, Baseball Bat, Golf Club, Night Stick and a Chainsaw. Whilst it's initially a lot of sadistic fun testing out the various "actions" on unwilling subjects, and they do have some nice sound effects, you'll soon settle for maybe one or two that'll get the job done and realize that they're all mostly quite surplus to mission achievement. Quite effective when impressing mates into buying the game or upsetting oldies not familiar with videogame violence though!

Other weapons included for your enjoyment are – Colt 45, Colt Python, Colt M4, Spaz Shotgun, Stubby Shotgun, Chromed Shotgun, Uzi 9mm, Ingram Mac, Tec-9, MP5, M60, Ruger, Gattling Gun, Sniper Rifle, Flame Thrower, Rocket Launcher, PSG-1 plus Grenades, Molotovs, Teargas and a Bomb/Detonator.

Controls are something that quite honestly needed attention from GTA3 we thought, especially in the area of character movement whilst on foot and aiming control during combat. Whilst Rockstar have certainly addressed this in Vice City it's still something that could have been improved somewhat more in our opinion. What they have done is to increase the size of the aiming reticule brought up on an enemy while holding R1 as in GTA3 but also have introduced a targeting priority system which supposedly targets the greatest threat first. While you're holding R1 you can also cycle through targets by pressing L2 or R2. The biggest problem is that during intense firefights when you're surrounded by a group of enemies it can be tricky to quickly manoeuvre and target individuals and you'll quite often go down frustratingly in a hail of bullets in this situation whilst struggling with the controls. As we said before though, a little thought can help and a more tactical approach quite often brings better results than merely blazing into the fray!

A couple of new moves have also been added as you can now crouch and your character will roll when jumping from high places so as not to deplete health too much. Vehicle control is also as good as ever in land-based vehicles, especially the bikes (with which you can pull extended wheelies and hence add a new statistic to your status!). Boats, planes and especially helicopters take just a little getting used to but you'll soon be buzzing all over the place once you do.

The sound plays a MAJOR part in Vice City. Detailed weapon, vehicle, character and ambient noises all contribute to realism in a big way. However, it's the music soundtrack that's one of the most impressive features of the game and indeed stands out as something way beyond anything yet experienced in any other game.

Now we mean this on several levels. Firstly there's the sheer scale of it. 9 full hours of 80s music across several genres featuring 90+ songs licensed from well-known artists from the era plus snippets of talk-back, commentary and commercials. All of which can be accessed on the 9 different radio stations whilst in vehicles by pressing L1 to switch between them. This builds considerably on the feature seen in previous GTA games. This time Rockstar have even released all of the music tracks on 7 CDs separately to the game release – each CD representing one of the radio stations from Vice City! Now consider that all the full-length songs on the 7 CDs are contained along with all the other sound elements PLUS all the game data on ONE game DVD and you see what we mean when we say IMPRESSIVE!

The next thing that blows us away soundwise is the awesome list of voice actors Rockstar managed to employ for Vice City. Just look the line-up – Ray Liotta (Tommy Vercetti), Tom Sizemore (Sonny Forelli), Dennis Hopper (Steve Scott), Burt Reynolds (Avery Carrington), Luis Guzman (Ricardo Diaz), Phillip Michael Glazer from Miami Vice (Lance Vance), Gary Busey (Phil Cassidy), Lee Majors (Mitch Baker), Fairuza Balk (Mercedes Cortez), 80s pop diva Deborah Harry (the Taxi Controller) and real-life porn star Jenna Jameson (as the virtual porn star Candy Suxxx) among others!

Thirdly is just the effect that listening to all this music has on you in-game! For example, nothing gets you more pumped heading to a mission involving lots of shooting and mayhem than listening to "Raining Blood" by Slayer on V-Rock. And at the other end of the spectrum you'll more than likely find yourself singing along to more than one 80s pop tune from time to time – say "Fascination" by The Human League or Blondie's "Atomic" as you're driving down a neon-lined night time city street. Or maybe "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five as you cruise the gang turf of Little Havana. There's enough variety here to suit all tastes and every situation and it really is quite the perfect 80s soundtrack.

Well, while there's heaps more we'd love to rattle on about like the improved AI of the cops, the new ability to go indoors whilst viewing action still going on outside, the spectacular weather effects and all the hundreds of minute details and touches that make Vice City soo great, we simply just don't have the room here to do so. Besides we don't want to spoil all the surprises for you!

What we'll say then to summarise is that Vice City is everything you expected from the next Grand Theft Auto instalment – and more. It is truly a game worthy of the "classic" label as it builds on GTA3 in just about every way with its size and added detail as well as its excellent storyline. Any flaws mentioned earlier are minor and in no real way affect the overall experience and we thoroughly recommend this game to both diehard fans of GTA3 and all newcomers alike!

Note: Parents should be aware that Grand Theft Auto: Vice City has an R18 rating and contains adult themes relating to drugs, sex and violence. The local release is also the uncut version.