Introducing Tommy Vercetti - IGN (original) (raw)

In the humid, neon-lit streets of Vice City, the depraved minds of a select few businessmen are bent on just a few things -- perfecting the art of street politics, the sweet science of the scam and the topper of them all, the ultimate score (not to mention, doing drugs and picking up on hot chicks, which goes without saying).
In Rockstar Games' upcoming new epic action-adventure-mob-simulator Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, gameplayers are invited into the volatile world of Tommy Vercetti, a relatively average mobster who finds himself in precarious situation within the corrupt world of drug deals, guns, and loose women.

In one of IGN's many upcoming features centering on the core aspects of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, we deliver an inside look at the game's lead character, Tommy Vercetti. Among the many changes that GTA: Vice City offers is the lead character's ability to speak, along with his new abilities to crouch, handle weapons differently, and to change clothes.

We spoke with Rockstar Games' VP of creative design, Dan Houser, who gave us a deeper look at what makes them tick and what shapes their character.

IGNPS2: Can you please describe Tommy for us? How old is he? Where is he from? What is his connection to Liberty City?

Dan Houser: Tommy Vercetti is a former mafia hit man, who at the start of the game is released from prison in Liberty City. He has been serving time in a maximum-security jail and hasn't seen the outside world for 15 years. During his time on the inside he never talked. He never admitted to his connections with the Forelli crime family, who from the 1960s to mid-1980s were the dominant crime family in Liberty City. Now, in his mid 30s, he's out.

The Forelli hierarchy is nervous about him being on the street. They thought he would never be released and are unsure what to do with him. The incident for which Vercetti got put in prison was extremely gruesome and there was talk that maybe Tommy had been set up by the Forelli¿s. Tommy has never voiced any dissatisfaction with the Forelli's, or questioned their integrity, but Sonny Forelli, head of the family and a childhood friend of Vercetti's doesn't want him in Liberty City, so he arranges for Vercetti to go down to Vice City on business.

IGNPS2: What kind of man is Vercetti?

Dan: Strong and dangerous and prepared to wait for the right opportunity to arise. He's waited 15 years, not spoken, not taken a plea bargain, and has always believed in the mafia code and in a sense of honor amongst thieves, but if people cross him, he will go to any lengths to get even with them. Knowing this, and what a confident foot soldier Vercetti is, Forelli wants to put him to work, a long way from home.

IGNPS2: Does Tommy climb the corporate ladder of crime from the very bottom?

Dan: Tommy has Mafia support in Liberty City, but in the mid 1980s, the mafia doesn't have any juice at all in Vice City. He goes there to set up business connections with local operations on behalf of the mafia. However, when things go very badly wrong, the mafia support turns into a Mafia threat. Tommy is accused of screwing them out of a lot of money and now has to find the money and take revenge on the people who ripped him off.

He doesn't have any authority in Vice City, but he does have a way in -- Ken Rosenberg, a corrupt and vice-ridden lawyer (they do exist) has been vaguely helping the Liberty City crime families down in Vice City for a few years and he knows all about how criminal operations are structured down in Vice City and who does what. Using Rosenberg's connections, Vercetti ingratiates himself with the rich, powerful and corrupt denizens of Vice City. Tommy also has support from a friend throughout a large section of the game -- Lance, a man who was ripped off in the same set up that has got Tommy into trouble, and together they figure out how to take the city over.

IGNPS2: Obviously one of the biggest differences is the fact the player character is talking. What does it bring to the game now that the player character shows more personality -- and why have you done this? Traditionally, the silent lead character enables players to take on make believe they are in that role. Adding a voice may distance players a little.

Dan: It's a development from Grand Theft Auto III. We are striving with the Grand Theft Auto series to make people feel like they are at the center of their own action movie and having a lead character helps us achieve that goal. We have tried to improve every single area of the game and giving the lead character a personality and a voice, if it was done right, is a way we felt we could really bring the world of Vice City and the experience of moving through the game's plot come to life, even more than in Grand Theft Auto III. We spent a lot of time ensuring it is something that enhances the player's experience.

Like the player, Tommy Vercetti, is new in Vice City and as he has just been released from prison, new to the 1980s, he turns up in Vice City knowing nothing but with a cynical attitude and a healthy knowledge of how to take someone's car without their permission. The rest is learned and as the player plays through the game, his character reveals itself and develops as the game unfolds. Apart from the obvious advantage of having a speaking character in cut scenes, now they are conversations, not monologues, and feel a lot more involving and cinematic.

In the game world, the fact Tommy can speak allows him to interact with the world in a way that was not possible in Grand Theft Auto III, and it makes the player feel much more a part of that world. Tommy talks, but prefers to let his actions do the talking. Lastly, because the game is set in the 80s, not in the early twenty first century as GTA3, we wanted to keep the period flavor intact -- Tommy won't use any modern slang.

IGNPS2: In Liberty City nobody minded that the lead character wore the same clothes for three days straight. In GTA: Vice City glamour is a lot more a part of the criminal mindset. How does Tommy keep up with the times?

Dan: Well, for many players, the main guy was wearing the same outfit for weeks or months straight. These are dirty times in which we live in which personal style is not seen as terribly important. In the 1980s, things were different. You had to look the part. Tommy, may have his own ideas about how to look cool while on a business trip down there, but you have to remember Tommy has spent a long time in prison and occasionally has to be told what to wear.

As well as the obvious humor in having Tommy change clothes, and look the part, whatever the part he's playing is, the fact you can now change clothes adds a whole new element to the gameplay and the kind of missions we construct -- disguise and look right for the job at hand become part of the game, as does donning a very smart deconstructed linen suit and a smart pair of Italian shoes. Similar to having Tommy talk, it will make the player feel more involved with the world (and the period the game is set) and lets the designers do things that weren't possible to give added variety to missions.

With all of the improvements we've made on Vice City, we've tried to stay focused on improving the experience people have -- there's more to do, more things to play with, vehicles to drive and you, as the player, feel more involved with the game and its world than was previously possible.