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Vice City: Difference between revisions
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Here, there is law, but it bends to the wallets of the powerful criminals, or the temptations of the law enforcers. Much less chaotic than some [[Wretched Hive|Wretched Hives]] as the vice in the city is caused by organized corruption rather than greed induced every-man-for-himself-ism. The police are often noticably ineffective in [[Vice City]], [[Optional Traffic Laws|only getting off their asses to stop a criminal who is running over little old ladies]] ''repeatedly'' in the middle of the street. [[Cardboard Prison|They'll only incarcerate the offender for a few seconds]], too.
The setting used in most [[Wide Open Sandbox]] games, particularly the "true crime" ones of the ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]'' variety. The city may be based on a real one, such as the ones seen in the ''Spider-Man'' games, but mostly it will be a [[No Communities Were Harmed|loose amalgamation of various cities]], so the designers don't have to worry about adhering to the laws of geography.
[[Hide Your Children|There will almost never be anyone under the age of 18 in Vice City.]] Presumably, children are shipped away from their parents to a certain boarding school or [[Video Game/Bullypr|somesuch]], and only allowed to move in once they hit the age of 18.
Some of these cities are so bad they can bring about [[Fridge Logic]] when there are [[More Criminals Than Targets]]. Occasionally, there is a [[Close
Compare [[City Noir]]. For more general crime infested areas see parent trope [[Wretched Hive]].
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** And ''[[RoboCop]]''
* ''Cidade de Deus'' (City of God) as presented in the [[City of God|2002 film of the same name]] -- it is a part of the Favelas, and thus a case of [[Truth in Television]]. Notably, none of the scenes of the film were shot within the City of God itself, because the location was too dangerous to film in.
* [[Streets of Fire]]'s unnamed city is an example from a film.
* The song "No Place Like London" during the 2007 film adaption of ''[[Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (film)|Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street]]'' pretty much summed up London as this.
* "New Angeles" in the film, ''[[Double Dragon]]''.
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== Video Games ==
* The [[Trope Namer]] is ''[[Grand Theft Auto Vice City]]'', though all the games are set in one of these. ''[[Grand Theft Auto San Andreas]]'' expands this into a Vice ''State''.
** Its schoolyard counterpart ''[[Bully (video game)|Bully]]'' is this, BUT FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY!
* Paragon City in ''[[City of Heroes]]'' is a far more idealistic version, with clear lines drawn between good and evil. The upshot of this is, even though there's just as much crime going on, you don't get to partake in any of it. You're a superhero, after all. The Rogue Isles in ''City of Villains'' are closer to this, though with their own twists. (For one thing, the "police" will attack you even though you technically work for them.)
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* New York in the ''[[Spider-Man (Comic Book)|Spider-Man]]'' videogames -- particularly ''Spider-Man 2'' and ''Spider-Man 3''.
** Even more so in ''[[Max Payne (series)|Max Payne]]''.
* To a lesser extent, Tokyoto from the ''Jet Set Radio'' franchise.
* Haven City in ''[[Jak and Daxter|Jak II]]'', Spargas City in ''Jak 3'' is like this, but much more orderly, considering ''everyone'' is armed, and are likely to shoot you if you try anything funny with them.
* Rogueport in ''[[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door]]'' is a parody of this setting.
* In the ''[[Saints Row]]'' series, the first two games have Stilwater, while the third has Steelport. They range between [[Vice City]] and [[Wretched Hive]].
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* Zozo in ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]''. Everybody's a thief and a liar, and unlike most towns, you'll hit random encounters while exploring.
* ''[[Condemned]]'' [[Deconstruction|deconstructs]] this concept by showing how scary such a setting would be. All the crime ridden buildings in Metro City that the main character has to crawl through (and there are a lot of them) are filled with nothing but junkies and crazy homeless people.
* ''[[True Crime]]: Streets of LA'' and ''New York City'' took this to a unique level by having the featured cities replicated, or at least with an accurate street and landmark layout. One review for the first game claimed that real life residents of LA could use any shortcuts they know in [[Real Life]] in game.
* Omega, the unofficial capital of the lawless Terminus Systems in ''[[Mass Effect]] 2'' fits in the trope quite well. More subtly all the basic elements of the trope also fit to Illium, an asari colony world where everything is legal as long as there is a contract for it, and criminal organizations and ruthless CEOs struggle for power behind the serene image presented for tourists.
* ''[[The Godfather (video game)|The Godfather]]: The Game'' presents NYC this way: You can't go far without running into [[Legitimate Businessmen's Social Club|a business controlled by]] [[The Mafia]], [[Dirty Cop|Dirty Cops]] are a dime a dozen, and even staying away from known Mafia fronts doesn't guarantee your safety from running gunfights in the streets.
* [[Pokémon Colosseum|Pyrite Town]]. Even for a [[Lighter and Softer]] work like ''Pokemon'', Pyrite is a Vice City within a [[Wretched Hive]] - it's the only city with police officers in all of Orre, and despite them the hoods freely roam the streets! Let's not forget that this is a city ''[[Ensemble Darkhorse|Miror B.]]'' ruled over during his days as a Cipher Admin...
* In ''[[All Points Bulletin]]'', San Paro has some of the things mentioned, minus the prostitution, but it does have drug rings, assassins, and carjackings. As a side note, you have the choice of playing a criminal or a cop.
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* Some of the favelas in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo also qualify.
* Many areas of Detroit and Los Angeles may qualify.
* Many cities become this under weak or nonexistent central authority. Over two-thirds of the world's heroin came through Kabul before the Taliban rolled in. Iraqi cities are the leading suppliers of child prostitutes in the world.
* Israel during the reign of Jeroboam II. The prophet Amos blasted it for its corruption, its decadence and its lack of concern for the poor.
* New York City until the mid-90s.
* Hialeah, Florida also qualifies.
* [[Blatant Lies|Heroica]] Ciudad Juárez in Mexico is practically overrun by [[The Cartel|drug cartels]], [[Gang-Bangers|street gangs]], [[Serial Killer|serial killers]], [[A Fate Worse Than Death|rapists]] and so on. Experiencing an average of eight homicides ''a day'', Juárez has been nicknamed "Murder City" ("''Ciudad Asesino''"). Some, like [http://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/blogcritics/article/Book-Review-Murder-City-Ciudad-Juarez-and-the-890794.php Charles Bowden], even allege the police and army are really fighting the cartels—and ''each other''—for control of the drug industry, not to restore order.
* Las Vegas during the 1950s came pretty close. The ''official'' crime rate was twice the national average in almost every category, and the amount of unreported crime was apparently greater.
* Chicago in the 1920s was notorious for rampant corruption, gang activity, and prostitution.
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