GTA Vice City Nextgen Edition Is Bad, Here's Why...

The speaker challenges the popular positive reception of GTA Vice City Nextgen Edition, aiming to provide a comprehensive, albeit controversial, critique based on a full playthrough. He clarifies that the mod is a port of Vice City into the GTA 4 engine, not a remake, and stresses that his review is based on the first public build, acknowledging potential future updates. He notes the mod's stunning visual overhaul and quality-of-life improvements from GTA 4, like swimming, autosave, and improved graphical settings, but also points out minor bugs such as save teleportation and body armor loss, along with low-quality AI-generated voice lines for new content.

A significant critique is directed at the developers for making arbitrary and detrimental changes to core gameplay mechanics and mission requirements. For instance, the main progression now demands completion of almost all assets, leading to excessive money grinding. Missions like 'Hands-On Deck' are made mandatory, whereas they were optional in the original. Many missions have altered objectives and difficulty, which the speaker attributes to either arbitrary design decisions or developer incompetence, given the availability of original game scripts.

The mod is criticized for its unacceptable technical state at release, despite a delay. The game frequently crashes (every 10 minutes), and the combat balance is poorly adapted to the GTA 4 engine. Many issues are particularly prevalent in the second half of the game. For example, dying often leads to a crash, and some mission dialogues use generic GTA 4 character voices. Ammo scarcity in the early game and inconsistent explosive barrel behavior are also highlighted.

The notorious 'Demolition Man' mission is discussed; while beatable, its toy helicopter controls are janky, and the camera is poor. More critically, completing the mission frequently leads to catastrophic glitches like falling into the interior world, severe lag, and game crashes, making it an unpolished and frustrating experience for many players.

The mod's implementation of the chainsaw is critiqued for being poorly coded as a 'gun' in the GTA 4 engine, a clear workaround. In 'More Shootout,' the target's AI pathing is randomized, deviating from the original game's dedicated route, which either indicates intentional, arbitrary changes or a lack of understanding of original mission design.

The mod consistently crashes upon player death, a critical bug that should have been addressed before release. Additionally, some missions feature severely low-quality, crunchy audio, worse than the original PS2 version. 'Phnom Penh' showcases arbitrary enemy additions and poor mission logic, highlighted by the ability to soft-lock the game by hijacking Lance's helicopter, demonstrating a lack of playtesting.

Boats are described as ridiculously slow and handle poorly, impacting missions like 'The Fastest Boat.' 'Sir, Yes, Sir!' demonstrates issues with the tank, which behaves like a regular car rather than a destructible vehicle. In 'Death Row,' Lance's AI is poorly implemented, making him highly vulnerable and easily killed by chasing enemies inside the car. The reviewer notes that the devs impressively recreated Lance's horrible AI.

A persistent issue is that completing missions no longer removes the wanted level, forcing players into an annoying cycle of evading cops or teleporting to Ocean Beach, which further disrupts gameplay. The Cop Land mission garage trigger is bugged, requiring players to wait for the mission to 'catch up.' Asset missions also suffer; 'Kung Fu Crazy' is broken, failing players for not physically breaking cones, yet ironically, it's easier to cheese for cash due to a different bug.

Visual models of vehicles and map elements often lack proper collision detection, allowing players to walk through objects. A game-breaking bug in 'Sunshine Autos' causes visual assets to stop loading, eventually making the game unplayable, which is a known issue according to the mod's FAQ. The 'Cabmageddon' mission is also severely bugged, with an arbitrary fail condition, and a VIP who consistently dies for no reason, effectively halting game progression as this is a mandatory asset.

'Messing with the Man' is criticized for relying on random chance to progress, making it entirely luck-based. 'All Hands on Deck' is incredibly broken, as failing it can reset mission progress in the save file. This mandatory mission frequently crashes when the Hunter helicopter spawns, preventing players from completing the game unless they immediately destroy the Hunter. Payphone missions like 'Check-Out at the Check-In' also feature buggy AI and triggers, and the final payphone mission unlocks incorrectly.

Film studio missions are riddled with issues. 'Dildo Dodo' features bugged checkpoints. 'G-Spotlight' is deemed 'impossible' to complete as intended, with physics making stunt jumps unfeasible and leading to death upon completion. The final mission is equally broken: Lance becomes invincible, leading to soft-locks and unpredictable behavior. Sunny's spawn is contingent on killing a money-stealing NPC whose corpse continues to steal money, preventing progress until it despawns, making the final mission an arbitrary and bug-ridden mess.

The reviewer concludes by acknowledging that many more bugs exist beyond those mentioned. Despite his comprehensive negative critique, he encourages players who enjoy the mod to continue doing so. He expresses hope that developers will address the issues in future patches, realizing the mod’s true potential, and supports the modding community against corporate interference.