5 mistakes in GTA Vice City that no one talks about

GTA Vice City is one of the most recognizable games in the Grand Theft Auto franchise, and it's also one that's steeped in nostalgia. Although Rockstar did a great job of allowing players to relive the 80s, there are a couple of things they got wrong. Some of this might have been intentional, and some may have been them exercising artistic liberty, as the game is set in a fictional world and tells a fictional story.

Others may have been the result of technological constraints, given that the game wasn't the most graphically impressive or demanding when it was released. Here are some mistakes in GTA Vice City that often go unnoticed.

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5 mistakes that Rockstar made in GTA Vice City

1) Too much neon

It's impossible to imagine Vice City without neon-drenched streets and buildings draped in neon tubes, but that wasn't the case in real-life Miami in the 1980s. Even some of the bridges in Vice City are covered in neon, which couldn't be further from the truth. Of course, it makes for impressive visuals and is part of what makes the game so appealing.

There's also the fact that Rockstar only included some of the most important parts of the city, like Ocean Drive. The real-life areas that inspired these locations were indeed lit by neon lights.

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2) Anachronisms

Grand Theft Auto Vice City is set in 1986, but many details in the game are not historically accurate for the year. For instance, the M4 rifle wasn't produced before 1991, yet the game has it. There are a few anachronistic buildings in Vice City that shouldn't exist, as they were based on those from the '90s. One example is the design of the Link Bridge, which was inspired by the Port Miami Bridge from the mid-90s.

A few GTA Vice City tracks that don't belong in the 1986 setting are A Gozar Con Mi Combo by Cachao (1994) and Compay Gato and Campesino by Los Super Seven (both 2001). The latter two are only heard in select cutscenes and aren't included in any radio stations.

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3) Clean streets

The city streets in all the 3D Universe games are extremely clean, but this makes the least amount of sense in Vice City. Littering was far more common in the 80s than it is now, and this was also the case in Miami. However, it's highly likely that this was just a technical limitation. The Renderware engine was already being pushed to the limit with what the GTA games were able to achieve on consoles.

As such, adding more props and debris would certainly have come with a huge impact on performance. GTA San Andreas, however, which came out just two years later, had visible trash in many areas.

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4) Weapon inaccuracies

Rockstar can make really accurate and detailed weapons if they put their effort into it, and this is best seen in Red Dead Redemption 2. However, in many of their earlier games, they used their artistic license or made minor mistakes when designing the weapons.

The so-called M4 in Vice City is actually a Colt Model 733, also known as the M16A2 Commando. The front sight on the rifle is turned backward in-game, which is also the case with the M60. Several other weapons, which were all correctly modeled on the PS2 version, had many mistakes in the later editions.

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5) Missing buildings and locations

The map that Rockstar created for Vice City is a compact representation of Miami that appears to have been designed for tourists rather than residents. There are several locations and structures that are missing, like schools, colleges, or universities. There aren't many residential areas either.

Meanwhile, Miami already had a subway system in 1986 (Miami-Dade County Metrorail), but Vice City doesn't have this or any railway lines either. However, the GTA 6 gameplay leaks revealed that the next game will feature the Metrorail.

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Check out our other GTA related articles and guides:

Singers reused in GTA titles || Strange GTA Vice City facts || Essential Vice City mods || Lore-friendly Vice City mods || Vice City remastered in RAGE || Funniest comic relief characters