26 screenshots of GTA 6 and GTA Vice City show how the city has changed over 24 years

Rockstar has finally shown off full gameplay from Grand Theft Auto 6, dropping a roughly 26-minute-long video. It is the most detailed look at the game so far, and it also gives fans a reason to remember that Vice City, Rockstar parody of Miami, has already served as the series playground before. Back in 2002, GTA Vice City launched on PS2 and became one of the most popular games of its generation.

Fans wasted no time doing the obvious thing – comparing new scenes frame by frame with locations from the 24-year-old title. Screenshots were pulled from both the PS2 version and the later PC port of the classic to keep the comparison fair. The gap between generations is massive even accounting for the age of the original.

One of the most telling comparisons involves the trailer park. In both games, Rockstar tries to recreate a rundown mobile home community somewhere in Florida, but modern hardware and the RAGE engine let them push the idea to a level that could only be dreamed of back in 2002.

Where flat textures and a couple of polygonal trailers used to be, there is now detailed clutter, clotheslines, and complex lighting.

The second standout example is nightclubs. The Malibu Club in Vice City was a cramped room with a handful of dancing NPCs and blinking lights. In GTA 6, the dance floor is packed with people, each moving with its own animation, and the whole scene feels alive thanks to volumetric lighting and reflections.

Closing out the comparison is a genre classic – the police chase. Lining up a chase from 2002 against how it plays out in the new game shows a difference that goes beyond graphics, extending to simulation density: traffic, pedestrian reactions, and patrol car behavior all operate on a completely different level.

Vice City looked impressive for its time, and even now, booting it up on PS2 still leaves an impression given the console limitations. The gap comes down to more than just technology though – it also reflects the scale of production: Vice City took about a year to make, while GTA 6 took nearly a decade.

Among other things, the new gameplay also reveals changes to mechanics. For the first time in a quarter century, stealing cars is no longer an instant action but its own process with added complications.

GTA 6 launches November 19 on PS5 and Xbox Series.