Grand Theft Auto Vice City (PC Rockstar R18)

By PETER ELEY

(Herald rating: * * * * *)

The original Grand Theft Auto spawned parental outrage across the Western world. You played the part of a bad guy, and boy, was it fun.

GTA has been through several incarnations since then and has been ported over to the Play-Station 2.

That was where Vice City made its debut, earning a reputation as one of the best games ever. Now it has been released for the PC, but be warned: If you were shocked by the original game, you will be electrocuted by this one. It really shouldn't be played by anyone lacking a sense of humour.

Vice City is set in Miami, circa the days when Don Johnson was running around in a white suit.

The game caricatures that over-the-top Miami Vice culture with some cutting dialogue and scenarios. It's much harder to be outraged when you're laughing.

The cartoonish nature of the graphics helps, too. They reflect the console origins of the game and, while more than adequate, aren't up there with the best-looking PC games.

But some parts of the game stretch the bounds of what many would find acceptable, especially in the way it interweaves sexual content and violence.

You play small-time crook Tommy Vercetti, who gets offside with the Mob when he is double-crossed in a drug deal. The aim of Vice City is to get Tommy's money back and take revenge on the crowd that swindled him.

Much of the game's quality results from an outstanding attention to detail. Take the radio stations you listen to as you drive around in stolen cars. There's a Latino station, a rap station, punk, heavy metal, classic rock, even a couple of news stations, and all sound authentic.

The company which developed the game, Rockstar, reckons there is more than eight hours of music, which isn't bad when you only get an hour or so on a $35 CD.

The playing environment is huge, too, and there are lots of vehicles, ranging from 50cc motorcycles to helicopters, to steal and drive.