It's been less than a year since we saw IGN's 2005 PSP Game of the Year, Liberty City Stories, and the team at Rockstar is already putting the finishing touches on its next project, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. But what's different and why will gamers want to revisit the GTA universe so soon? To find out, we talked with Rockstar Leeds honcho Gordon Hall to get their official take.
IGN: Vice City is a living, breathing city. What have been the largest technical challenges you've had to overcome to create this sort of dynamic setting?
Gordon Hall: One of the biggest technical achievements in Vice City Stories has been the enormous effort involved in making Vice City this incredibly vibrant, detailed and alive place.
The detail seen in the city has been ramped up massively over Liberty City Stories. We now have double the number of polygons in a city block, with new features such as animated textures and neon light effects and an all-new radiosity lighting model. On top of this we had to push for an even greater draw distance, especially now that we have the addition of helicopters and planes -- it's a real blast taking to the sky in these things and seeing the city sprawl beneath you. And just for good measure, Vice City Stories is even faster and smoother than Liberty City Stories.