5 notable differences between Vice City and San Andreas in the GTA series

When it comes to locations in the GTA series, Vice City and San Andreas are worlds apart.

One location is based on Miami, whereas the other has elements of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Las Vegas. As these real-life locations have some notable differences between them, it's only inevitable that the GTA cities would have some too.

It's worth noting that this article will only cover the 3D and HD versions of these locations. The 2D universe has some other notable differences, but those iterations aren't as familiar to modern GTA fans.

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Some notable differences between the two GTA locations: Vice City and San Andreas

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5) The 80s vs. the modern era

GTA Vice City is basically the GTA game that people associate with 80s culture (Image via Rockstar Games)

This point is more relevant for GTA 5 versus the Vice City games. Still, San Andreas has been seen in a modern setting (albeit with some futuristic elements in GTA Online). Even something like GTA San Andreas took place in 1992, making it more modern than its predecessor.

In GTA Vice City and Vice City Stories, everything happens between 1984 and 1986. Thus, it lacks much of the modern technology that players see in the other games.

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4) Consistent design

San Andreas has two different looks (Image via Rockstar Games)

Vice City has had the same look across three notable games (Vice City, Vice City Stories, and the GTA Trilogy). San Andreas has two notable variations:

1. GTA San Andreas & the GTA Trilogy
2. GTA 5 & GTA Online

The differences between the two variations are massive. For example, the latter lacks San Fierro and Las Venturas as visitable locations. However, it makes up for it by being significantly larger than its 3D universe counterpart.

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3) Vice City is a flat map

GTA San Andreas isn't as flat (Image via Rockstar Games)

Verticality varies from one GTA game to another. In Vice City's case, it's primarily a flat map as far as road designs go. Compare that to San Andreas, where there are several hills and mountains to change things up.

The lack of content in Vice City's water also ensures that players don't have much reason to navigate through anything but the city. One could swim in Vice City Stories, yet it didn't change much in this department.

Buildings do give Vice City some verticality, but there's seldom a reason to go on top of them in most situations.

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2) Countryside

GTA 5's countryside is the most impressive version of the San Andreas countryside (Image via Rockstar Games)

The 3D universe's iteration of Vice City has virtually no countryside. There aren't many off-road locations, in general. There is a beach, a golf course, and the occasional patches of grass. Compare that to what San Andreas offers.

Both versions of San Andreas have a huge countryside respective to their games. Something like Mt. Chiliad doesn't exist in other locations in the GTA series, not to mention forests and other similar areas.

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1) Size

Some size comparisons (Image via GTAForums)

Regardless of whether it's GTA San Andreas or GTA 5, San Andreas has always been noticeably bigger than Vice City as far as locations go. That's not even mentioning how much of the Vice City map is allocated to useless space.

For example, Vice City's eastern island has a gargantuan beach relative to the city. There isn't much to do there except give the illusion that Vice City is a bigger location.

By comparison, San Andreas is a large area with a massive countryside. There are beaches, but they don't take up a comedically large portion of the map.

Note: This article reflects the writer's personal views.