GTA San Andreas vs GTA Vice City: 5 major differences

San Andreas and Vice City are two comparatively early titles of the Grand Theft Auto franchise that are mostly responsible for making the series a household name. It was only after these two games that every teen and adult started playing GTA, and in that sense, both were revolutionary.

So it’s only understandable that both games often get pitted against each other in a battle to decide which is better. Although we might never be able to reach that conclusion, we compare both and count five things that set them apart.

GTA San Andreas vs GTA Vice City: Five major differences

The Maps

Map of Los Santos (Image Credits: WikiGTA)

One significant improvement that San Andreas brought to its predecessor’s gameplay was the scope of the in-game map. While GTA Vice City’s map was based on Miami and was pretty great for its time, San Andreas’s map took it to another level. The latter truly made the game a free-roam entry and introduced a wider area for exploration, creating much more immersive gameplay for the players.

Personal Stats

Another significant improvement added to GTA San Andreas' gameplay was the introduction of personal stats. It allowed the protagonist, CJ, to either get fat by eating a lot of junk food at restaurants or get buff by visiting the gym often. There are stats like fat, muscle, sex, appeal, and stamina that you would have to maintain to make the most of the gameplay.

Swimming

Although it might seem like a small thing, GTA San Andreas added the swimming mechanism to the gameplay. For a game with quite a few beaches throughout its maps, it is essential to allow players to swim around and frolic in the water, even creating a few missions that require gamers to do so. However, GTA Vice City lacked this option, and it is one thing where it loses out against San Andreas.

Car Customization

GTA Vice City only allowed repainting when it came to customization of cars. But with GTA San Andreas, Rockstar Games introduced the ability to customize the car a little further. Players could finally change the car tires, bumpers, and even add a nitrous speed boost. All of this improved the personalization element in the gameplay.

The Extra Activities

How to recruit gang members (Image Credits: GTAall.com)

One big difference between the two games was that San Andreas was turned into a true RPG game, in which players could cultivate their own storylines and level up in stats to gain access to new activities. For example, having a high sex appeal meant that they could have ongoing optional relationships in the game.

Players could also gain enough respect in the game and start recruiting people into their gangs. On the whole, this quality of GTA San Andreas gave it an edge over Vice City.

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