From the decade of big hair, excess, and pastel suits comes a story of one man's rise to the top of the criminal empire. Vice City, the second 3D title in the Grand Theft Auto franchise draws much of its inspiration from 1980s American culture. Set in 1986 in Vice City (a fictional city modeled after Miami), it is a huge urban sprawl ranging from the beach to the swamps and the glitz to the ghetto. Combining nonlinear gameplay with a character driven narrative, you arrive in a town brimming with seedy opportunities and are given the chance to take it over as you choose, while building a criminal empire and seizing power from other criminal organizations in the city.

The story revolves around Mafia member Tommy Vercetti, who was recently released from prison. Nervous about his re-appearance in Liberty City, Tommy's old boss Sonny Forelli sends him to do business in Vice City. Upon his arrival in the sunny, coastal paradise, all does not go well. After being involved in a drug deal gone wrong, Tommy is left with nothing, and Sonny wants his money back. Tommy seeks out those responsible while building a criminal empire and taking control of the city.

The game uses a tweaked version of the game engine used in Grand Theft Auto III and similarly presents a huge cityscape, fully populated with buildings, a variety of vehicles (including high-performance cars and motorbikes, powerboats, golf buggies and helicopters),and people. Combining more than 30 weapons, and 90 vehicles, the game gives players the freedom to explore the entire city by land, air, and sea. It featues the "open-world" gameplay that gives the player total control over their playing experience, and has made the games in the Grand Theft Auto series such a success.

***Spoiler Warning***

The player takes on the role of Tommy Vercetti, a Mafia hitman released from prison after serving 15 years for killing eleven men.The Mafia family for whom he used to work, the Forellis, fears that Tommy's presence in Liberty City will heighten tensions and bring unwanted attention upon their criminal activities. To prevent this, they ostensibly "promote" Tommy and send him to Vice City to act as their buyer for a series of cocaine deals. During Tommy's first meeting with the drug dealers, an ambush by an unknown party results in the death of Tommy's Bodyguards Harry and Lee and the dealer, Victor Vance. Tommy narrowly escapes with his life, but he loses both the Forelli's money and the cocaine.

Vercetti is tasked with retrieving the money and cocaine and killing whoever was responsible for the ambush.Towards this end, he follows leads of Forelli lawyer Ken Rosenberg and contacts mid-level drug dealer and ex-military Colonel Juan Garcia Cortez, British record producer Kent Paul, real estate mogul Avery Carrington and a local criminal named Lance Vance. Vance is eventually revealed to be helping Vercetti as his brother and business partner was the dealer killed in the ambush, and he too is seeking revenge.Vercetti subsequently begins to do jobs for Cortez before being hired by Ricardo Diaz, a Colombian Drug Lord.

Suspicion for the ambush ultimately falls upon Diaz. Vercetti initially plans to continue the status quo to prepare for his own attack, but his hand is forced when Lance Vance attempts to take revenge himself. The two proceed to raid Diaz's mansion and kill him in his office. With Diaz dead, his empire quickly crumbles. Tommy and Lance personally take over Diaz's businesses becoming Vice City's cocaine kingpins and seizing the assets of several near-bankrupted companies.

Tommy becomes the head of his own organization, the Vercetti Gang. The more powerful and rich Tommy becomes, the more Lance begins to exhibit paranoid and sociopathic behaviors, to the point that he begins to physically abuse his own bodyguards and constantly calls Tommy in states of hysteria.

The Forellis find out that Tommy has taken over crime in Vice City without sending a cut to the don as required. The Forellis send collectors to force money out of Tommy's assets, although Tommy disposes of them. An angered Sonny Forelli arrives in Vice City with a small army of mafiosi and street thugs, intent on wiping out Tommy once and for all. When Sonny and his henchmen arrive at the Vercetti Estate, Tommy attempts to bribe them with counterfeit money. However, Lance, having come to resent Tommy's substantial share of their profits, betrays Tommy and allies himself with the Forellis. In the game's climax -- a pastiche on the end of the Brian De Palma film Scarface -- Lance, Sonny, and Sonny's henchmen raid Tommy's mansion. Tommy kills Lance on the roof and storms downstairs where he faces off with Sonny. Sonny reveals he is the one who set Tommy up and had him kill the eleven men who were expecting him. Tommy faces off against Sonny in a large, climatic gun battle, eventually killing him as well. His enemies vanquished, Tommy establishes himself as the undisputed crime kingpin of Vice City, with Ken Rosenberg, who has worked with Tommy throughout the events of the game, as his right-hand-man.