# Vice City was the GTA that established Rockstar’s killer formula – and 24 years on, it’s still one of the best games ever made

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/vice-city-was-the-gta-that-established-rockstars-killer-formula-and-24-years-on-its-still-one-of-the-best-games-ever-made/
- Published: 2026-11-14T10:00:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-14T10:22:54+00:00
- Original publisher: Eurogamer
- Original article: https://www.eurogamer.net/gta-vice-city-retrospective
- Topics: Gaming

## Key points

- Vice City grew from a planned GTA 3 add-on into a landmark standalone game.
- Ray Liotta voiced the series’ first fully voiced protagonist, Tommy Vercetti.
- The game was made in about a year, with a $5 million development budget.

## Summary

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City began as a proposed add-on to GTA 3 but became a major standalone game, released in 2002 after roughly a year of development. The article argues that its scale, celebrity cast and bold approach helped establish the formula that would define Rockstar and make the series a cultural force.

Ray Liotta’s performance as Tommy Vercetti gave the series its first voiced protagonist, turning an arrogant gangster into the centre of a revenge story with a thread of redemption. The game featured more than 50 story characters voiced by actors including Tom Sizemore, Luis Guzmán, Gary Busey and Danny Trejo; its development budget was about $5 million, alongside $13.2 million in marketing.

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