When it comes to Grand Theft Auto, it’s all about the weapons. Yes, cars are in the game’s title, but it’s not easy to steal said cars and fight off hordes of police with just your fists. Each game has its own set of weapons, though some repeat, and each player usually has their own favorites for various reasons. A combination of style, effectiveness, and versatility lands a weapon in the best category when it comes to the franchise. Choosing a less effective weapon for style purposes is up to you, but either way, it’s a big part of Grand Theft Auto.
After the leaked news of the new Grand Theft Auto game’s setting, it’s time to revisit one of the franchise’s classics. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City dropped from developer Rockstar Games in 2002. The setting of that game is essentially Miami in the 1980s. In the new game, we’re going to revisit that city almost forty years later in the present day.
The original Grand Theft Auto from 1997 has five total weapons, with one of them being bare fists. We’ve come a long way since then, though, with Vice City amping that number to thirty-five total weapons just five years later. With so many options, it’s good to know which are the best to shoot for when it gets down to it. Below are the top 7 weapons in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
1) Spas-12 Shotgun
The Spas-12 can kill with a single shot and holds seven shots at a time. This combat shotgun is the premier weapon in Vice City, where it makes its first appearance in the franchise. It unloads multiple rounds when you fire for maximum damage to the enemy or enemies and anything around them. Add to that the gun’s near-broken auto-fire capability, rather than having to keep pulling the trigger, and you have yourself a go-to weapon to get things done. The Spas-12 is the gun you want to take when you need to fight groups of enemies or want to stop a vehicle from ever driving again. The auto-fire combined with the gun’s high damage and wide damage area are so overpowered that they changed it after this game.
- Ammu-Nation for $4,000 after completing “Bar Brawl”
- Received during Gun Runner
- Received during “Keep Your Friends Close”
- Available one time during “Loose Ends” at the top of the metal staircase
2) M60
The M60 is another near-broken gun that allows for unparalleled devastation. It’s a machine gun, so of course, the bullets fly freely without any hesitation, and to make things fun, the magazine holds 100 bullets at a time. These features are just a piece of why the M60, which debuted in the Vice City, is the machine gun of the game, though. It has the most damage of any other gun per shot. In fact, it’s categorized as a heavy weapon because it’s so heavy-duty. With most heavy weapons, movement gets sacrificed for firepower, but that’s not the case with the M60. You can walk normally while unleashing your 100 bullets at a time or even try jumping while blasting away. The M60 looks like a gun that does massive damage, so if making an impression is your thing, this is the gun for you. Try using the M60 to obliterate oncoming cars, drop trailing police helicopters, or eliminate a rival gang in a single sitting.
- The West guard tower in Fort Baxter Air Base
- Phil’s Place in Little Haiti for $8,000 after completing “Boomshine Saigon”
- Received during “Phnom Penh’86”
- Received during “Gun Runner”
3) Katana
The katana makes its franchise debut in Vice City as a powerful melee weapon that doesn’t impact your movement. It is the only proper sword in the game and is the only one you need. The katana is the classy and silent counterpart to the chainsaw. It’s a close combat weapon that gets the point across without being flashy. The katana also has the special ability to decapitate enemies with a single swing. While other weapons can blast people apart, the katana is the proper way to remove someone’s head in Vice City.
- Tooled Up for $300 after completing “The Chase”
- In the garage of the house west of your mansion on Starfish Island
- Tarbrush Cafe in the North Point Mall in Vice Beach before “Cop Land”
4) Chainsaw
The lumberjack’s best friend debuted as a weapon in Vice City. While it does have the single downside of slowing a player’s movement, it otherwise certainly belongs on this list. The chainsaw is about a combination of mayhem and style. Yes, you could use a katana and move around better, but a chainsaw is a choice. A choice that not only looks scary but sounds terrifying as well. Walking down the sidewalk revving a chainsaw to scare pedestrians or carving into someone’s car hood just hits differently than other weapons. The carnage-causing close combat weapon does high damage and, as a bonus, leaves bloody bubbles on the screen whenever used on a person.
- In Ocean Beach, Apartment 3C in Vice Beach
- Ocean View Hotel, Hyman Condo, Vercetti Estate after collecting 20 of the 100 hidden packages
- In the mission “Treacherous Swing”
- Screw This in Vice City Mainland for $500 after completing “Phnom Penh ‘86”
5) Molotov Cocktail
The Molotov is another classic for the franchise as it debuted in Grand Theft Auto 2 in 1999 and has appeared in every game since. The Molotov is a thrown bottle of liquor with a lit rag that ignites the fluid as the glass shatters on impact. The result is widespread fire and damage in Vice City. The Molotov will not only regularly kill groups of pedestrians at a time, but it can also destroy the Rhino tanks in the game. Aside from the rocket launcher, the Molotov is the only other explode-on-impact weapon. It’s also as effective at lighting up enemies, vehicles, and buildings.
- Outside the Tacopalypse restaurant in Downtown
6) Rocket Launcher
The good old rocket launcher is an oldy, but a goody as it debuted in Grand Theft Auto 1997. It is one of that game’s five weapons and has continued to appear in every game in the franchise since then. Its recurrence is due to essentially the same reason why it’s on this list. The rocket launcher is an easy go-to because it’s accurate, can stop a vehicle with deadly effectiveness, and is fun to watch as its projectile travels and explodes.
- Phil’s Place in the Little Haiti neighborhood for $8,000 after completing the Boomshine Saigon mission
- The Hooker Inn in Viceport in a swimming pool
- Hyman Condo, Ocean View Hotel, and Vercetti Estate after collecting 70 of the 100 hidden packages
7) The Python
The Python is a .357 Magnum caliber revolver with a six-inch long barrel. It’s a one-shot, one-kill gun, as it also has the highest firepower of any gun in the game. If that’s not enough for you, it’s also the most accurate pistol in the game, so you can easily one-shot, one-kill up to 6 victims per load. The gun does have a downside that comes with all that power, but it makes sense. You want a hand cannon to have recoil so you know what you’re unleashing with every shot. Don’t worry; the Python’s recoil will only slightly slow you down from unloading the next shot. The hefty pistol is a go-to for those who like overkill and want that classic look of a bad man wielding a bad-looking gun.
- Received during “Gun Runner”
- Ammu-Nation (Downtown) $2000
- Hyman Condo, Vercetti Estate, Ocean View Hotel after finding 30 hidden packages
- Little Haiti in an alley by the billboard that says “Welcome to Hell”