If you, like many others, spent a lot of your Grand Theft Auto: Vice City playtime screaming in frustration at that mission where you have to blow up a building with an RC helicopter, I have good news: that mission is back, in the form of a $2 PS4 game!
If you head over to the PlayStation Store right now, you'll find a neat little game called HeliCity Demolition Man. Released on August 30th by developer Erik Games, the official description reads that “you'll take control of a powerful demolition helicopter as you navigate a high-stakes urban environment. Your mission? Strategically place explosive charges across a towering construction site, all while facing off against new and unpredictable adversaries.”
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Check out the HeliCity Demolition Man trailer above. If the pink details, low-poly buildings, white van with a funny pun on the side, minimap layout, and UI details don’t give you away, this is, in fact, an unlicensed remake of GTA Vice City’s Demolition Man mission. It’s all the same down to the last detail. Seriously, check out the video below for a comparison.
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There are all kinds of games popping up in platforming every day that you probably don't want to buy, and I'm not even here to bash Erik Games. The studio also has a party game called Potato Arena on Steam Early Access that looks totally cool and well-made. I'm mostly just wondering how the hell something like this makes it through the PlayStation certification process.
Someone at PlayStation probably had to approve this game. I think the fact that it has “Demolition Man” in the title (the name of a fairly famous 90s sci-fi movie) would immediately set off some alarm bells. If not, you might see the “Bunch of Tools” shop in the screenshot that shares its name with the same shop in Vice City. At some point, you might even notice that this game uses Literally the entire Vice City UI.
Well, if Sony is okay with HeliCity Demolition Man, I guess there's no real problem here, save for a bit of extra clutter on the PlayStation Store. And hey, it also seems to be an easy platinum trophy, so if you're willing to shell out $2 for a new platinum, you might want to grab this one before it's gone. Or just wait for GTA 6 to come out if you want to revisit Vice City in more style.
Some people want GTA 6 to be dark and gritty, but after replaying Vice City on PS2, I hope Rockstar hasn't lost its sense of humor.