5 Biggest Changes GTA Has Made Since The Original Vice City

"Grand Theft Auto: Vice City" debuted in 2002 and made an unforgettable impression on an entire generation of gamers. The game's fictionalized version of Miami felt more realistic than just about any video game city ever created, and characters like Tommy Vercetti, Ken Rosenberg, and Lance Vance became instant fan favorites. The entire "Vice City" story raised the bar for "GTA" games across the board and pushes the series further along the cinematic path it's still taking today.

Since "Vice City" was first released, the series has continued to evolve, and the stunning transformation of the "GTA" franchise has become one of the most impressive stories in video game history. "GTA" games today still have quite a few similarities with the games Rockstar released over two decades ago, but when players make their long-awaited return to Vice City in "GTA 6," they'll be surprised by just how much the series has changed.

Even on a PlayStation 2, the water near Vice City looks enticing. Gamers who played "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City" were constantly tempted to take Tommy Vercetti down to the beach for a swim, but anyone who actually tried relaxing on the water in that game became sorely disappointed. In the original "Vice City," if players entered anything more than ankle-deep water, they'd start losing health and quickly drown to their death. There were a handful of missions that sent Tommy out on a boat, and with enough money players could even buy sea-cruising vehicles of their own, but ultimately the water activities in "Vice City" were extremely limited.

That all started to change with the next game in the series. "GTA: San Andreas" incorporated a full set of swimming mechanics, and ever since then, exploring via the water has become a larger part of the series. Players were free to go swimming in "GTA 4" and "GTA 5," and when they return to Vice City in "GTA 6," they'll get to spend more time in the water than ever before. Rockstar has revealed dozens of side activities that are in "GTA 6," so we know players can boat, scuba dive, jet ski, and swim to their heart's content in the latest game.

The core of the "Grand Theft Auto" formula hasn't changed much over the years. The games have always been about exploring cities, stealing cars, and creatively using a massive arsenal of weapons, and each new iteration strives to make all those activities more realistic and fun. When Tommy Vercetti first strutted down the streets of Vice City, he carried his entire armory in his pockets. Players had to cycle through Tommy's weapons one by one, a clunky system that becomes extremely tedious in a well-stocked late game.

"GTA: Chinatown Wars" finally removed weapon scrolling from the series in 2009. The spin-off game was designed for handhelds and introduced "GTA" fans to the weapon wheel. Holding down a button brings up a radial menu showing all of the weapons the player-character has on hand. The radial menu limits how many weapons a player can carry at once, true, but it also lets them quickly switch to a specific weapon in their inventory.

The radial weapon menu made its way into the mainline series in "GTA 5." When Rockstar released "GTA: The Definitive Edition," the devs retroactively added the radial menu to "Vice City." Fans have gotten used to the radial menu by this point, and that same control scheme is sticking around for "GTA 6."

"GTA" started as a top-down, single player game that had more in common with early arcade titles than big budget movies. Modern "GTA" games are cinematic experiences with hundreds of hours worth of side activities and budgets that would make a movie executive's eyes water. Every game has helped change the series in some way, but "GTA 5" revolutionized the franchise and its approach to storytelling.

"GTA 5" follows three different main characters, and with a few restrictions, players can switch between them at will. Sometimes that means jumping across the map to check in on what another character is doing, and at other times, the game forces players into the shoes of a character who's about to go through a major event.

The character swapping system makes "GTA 5" feel completely different from its predecessors. Clearly that system also inspired the developers at Rockstar and got them excited about the different storytelling possibilities it enabled. "GTA 6" has two main protagonists, Jason and Lucia, and Rockstar has revealed players can switch between them even more seamlessly than they could jump between the "GTA 5" protagonists.

"Grand Theft Auto: Vice City" brought a handful of new features to the franchise, and since then the series has greatly expanded on some of that game's small innovations. In "Vice City" players could change Tommy Vercetti's outfits, allowing some amount of character customization for the first time in the series's history. "San Andreas" took the idea even further, and players could completely transform CJ's physicality by hitting the gym or eating fast food burgers for every meal.

Both "GTA 4" and "GTA 5" took a step back from the "San Andreas" body changing mechanics, but "GTA 6" allows for a degree of character customization that the franchise has never seen before. Fans expected that they'd be able to change clothes as either Jason or Lucia, but the "GTA 6" extended look on Netflix revealed just how much more the new game will allow. The body morphing systems of "San Andreas" are coming back with added improvements, so there's a real reason for players to make their character hit the gym. Beyond that, players will also be able to choose custom hair and facial hair styles for their characters, making "GTA 6" the most customizable game in the series to date.

When fans originally got their hands on "Vice City," it felt like the most realistic crime simulator ever made, but in reality, its systems are pretty simple. When players commit a crime, whether it be murder or true grand theft auto, police are immediately alerted and sent on the hunt. Players earn more stars the more crime they commit, and each star raises the intensity of the police response. Police NPCs recognize players on sight, and the only way to ditch the star rating is to stay hidden until things calm down.

When players return to Vice City in "GTA 6," they'll get to see what a truly advanced crime simulation system is like. In the new game, an NPC needs to actually witness players committing a crime before the police are involved. The police in "GTA 6" remember specific details about players, so dodging the heat now means changing clothes, swapping vehicles, or pretending to hang out with civilians rather than criminal contacts. Once players have gotten out of the heat of the moment, they'll still have a criminal reputation with the authorities that will affect gameplay in dynamic ways.

Every "GTA" game since "Vice City" has added new wrinkles to how police respond to crimes, but "GTA 6" offers the most realistic system yet. Alongside the advanced police response systems, the game also makes stealing cars and holding up stores feel more realistic by adding mechanics like specialized automobile locks or CCTV security systems.