I bought my copy yesterday from EB Games ($50.00NZ) and am really loving it so far.
THERE MAY BE A FEW SPOILERS BELOW, SO SKIP PAST THIS POST IF YOU WANT
So far these are the things i love;
- That Vic has (at this stage of the game) such good morals, i.e. not wanting to get into any trouble.
- The graphics, i have trails turned on and some of the lighting effects from the sun/sky etc are close to what Just Cause on the Xbox looks like - very impressive (although those who play a lot of games probably won't think they are that good).
- Love how you start off in the military base on the last island you unlocked in the first VC (theoretically, the second one as the very first GTA has VC too).
- Like all of the construction and different things going on compared to the other VC (i.e. Sunshine Autos' new building under construction right beside its current one, the big mansion on Starfish Island about 80% built and with a pond instead of the maze, roads where there are not roads in the other VC - like from the airport straight to the entrance of the old Sunshine Autos, and more)
- I like how you can enter shops and smash stuff, can shoot tv's, stereos etc and they actually get smashed up (something i haven't seen in ANY GTA game before). Or go into a clothing shop and destroy all the clothing racks, smash glass displays in other shops etc.
- As mentioned, Vic can swim (surface only). BUT - he has a stamina bar which when fully depleted results in drowning. It depletes faster if you are swimming faster. Still, at least you don't drown straight away!
- The soundtrack is seriously awesome - Phil Colllins himself voices on a promo for Flash FM saying something like "Hi, this is Phil Collins and i always listen to the best radio station in Vice City, Flash FM" << Something along those lines.
Favourite songs so far include: Gloria - Laura Branigan, Easy Lover - Phil Collins, Love Is A Battlefield - Pat Benatar, I'm Not In Love - 10CC, Harden My Heart - Quarterflash, I Want To Know What Love Is - Foreigner, Never Never - The Assembly, We Belong - Pat Benatar, In The Air Tonight - Phil Collins, Avalon - Roxy Music, I Can Dream About You - Dan Hartman, Nightshift - The Commodores (in the credits, but haven't listened to the station it is on yet), Heart Of Glass - Blondie (also haven't heard in game yet) and more.
- The game manual once again is in the form of a newspaper rather than a manual, which i love.
- Love the design of the planes at the airport, the front looks like a Boeing 747-400 and the back looks really awesome with the three engines right at the back and the horzontal wing thingy at the top of the main tail bit (pictures would help greatly here
). Best looking in-game planes ever in a GTA game in my opinion.
- Love how you can buy back your weapons from the hospital if you end up there.
And there are heaps more awesome things in the game. Quite a few, i've found, have never been in a GTA game before, or have but in a different form. The pager from the original GTA games also makes a welcome return.
So far i've done about five or so missions and have my first house. Completed all the shooting range levels over at Phil Cassidy's after about four or five tries and popped a few of the
99 red balloons - no doubt a reference to the song.
Also seen a few disguised company names in the game. In the manual they have an ad for a computer and it is made by a company called Fruit (a.k.a. Apple). And i suspect Me TV is a play of MTV. There may be others, but haven't spotted/worked them out yet.
But yeah, so far i really love it and i'm really glad that i didn't bother to research/find out anything about the game before i bought it as all the discoveries i'm making wouldn't be as surprising. Serously considering turning a blind eye to all GTA IV information and just buy the game when it comes out, GT5 similarly.
-- Great sound track from what I can see-- as good as VC's was IMO
(feel free to make up the difference Spuds 
)
