Vice City
Vice City is a fictional city in the Grand Theft Auto series and is the smallist City in the series. Vice City is closely based on Miami, Florida. Three versions of the city have appeared in different generations of the series:
The Grand Theft Auto 1 rendition featured Vice City only as a level of the game, which is dissimilar from the later versions of the city.
The Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories renditions are geographically very similar to Miami. This incarnation of Vice City consists of two major islands (Vice Beach and the Mainland) and several smaller islands: Starfish Island, Prawn Island and Leaf Links. Both main islands are separated by a large body of water similar to that of Biscayne Bay, which separates Miami Beach with mainland Miami in real-life. Each major island is divided into several districts. This rendition of Vice City also draws significant inspiration from 1980s Miami culture, where pastels reign supreme, and, as quoted on a commercial in Flash FM, "rock-n-roll is dead, and pop is in!"
The name "Vice City" is a double entendre: on one hand, it is a direct reference to Michael Mann's 1980's police television series Miami Vice, but it also conveys the actual definition of the word, labelling Vice City a place of sin, greed and overindulgence; making it literally, a city of vice.
Located in the Florida Keys, Vice City enjoys a subtropical or near-tropical climate with year-long sunny weather, occasional strong winds and rainfall. It is also suggested in GTA: Vice City and GTA: Vice City Stories that the city is exposed to hurricanes, as is Miami. Early in the story in GTA: Vice City, bridges are closed to the public as Hurricane Hermione is believed to be approaching the city. Similarly, in GTA: Vice City Stories, Hurricane Gordy is believed to be approaching the city.