Well, hello there, dear steemians! Today is a special day, because I will talk about an emotional gaming moment. Oh, it is not a sad one, or a happy one. It is a moment which inspired an intense emotion: wrath. For this little story, we have to travel to a parody of 80s Miami.
Yes, we are going to Vice City, a place full of greedy assholes. We follow Tommy Vercetti, a mafioso who is there for a drug deal with a guy called Victor Vance. Everything goes wrong and Vercetti has to recover the money, or his boss, Sonny Forelli, will have his head on a silver platter. Tommy does oddjobs for a variety of colourful character, like drug lords, lawyers, local gangs and many more. Near the beginning of his adventure, he meets Lance Vance (Dance) who saves his ass from a Back Alley Brawl. They eventually become friends, and let me tell you, Tommy really needed a friend in this shithole of a city.
Thomas eventually starts working for a stupidly rich local drug lord, named Ricardo Diaz, an unhinged and paranoid character. Along the way, Lance joins too and finds out that Diaz was the one who arranged for the drug deal in the beginning to go awry, so our two best friends start plotting his assassination. Lance gets reckless and tries to do it alone, prompting Tommy to return the favour from earlier in the game. Time is short, as Lance is bleeding out, but Vercetti manages to bring him to a hospital.
The two pals know they won’t have any second chance, so they rush Diaz’s mansion with assault rifles and succeed in getting to him. He begs for his life and Tommy hesitates for a second. After this short episode, both him and Lance Rub Out the bastard. Tommy takes control of Diaz’s businesses and Lance becomes his lieutenant. Everything is sunshine and rainbows at first. Our friends are on top of the world, but greed takes over both of them. Initially, Tommy went through all of this in order to pay back his boss, but now he devised a plan to cheat him, while getting richer. Lance, on the other hand strains his relationship with Vercetti, being negligent with his assignments and, demanding a bigger cut and having the impression that Tommy will cheat him, just like he plans to cheat Sonny Forelli. Now, you might wonder, why do I go through a timeline of Tommy’s and Lance’s friendship? Well, it is necessary, because these guys went through a lot together, they are ultimately like brothers. You, as a player immersed in Tommy’s shoes put a lot of trust in Lance.
So, the time for action comes. Tommy managed to have enough money printed and took over the entire underworld of Vice City. With Lance at his side, he meets with Sonny and his grunts in the mansion that once belonged to Diaz. Everyone is tense. Sonny takes the briefcase from Tommy and reveals that he knew Tommy wanted to cheat him. At this point you are shocked, you do not know how Sonny found out. Lance goes to Sonny’s side and tells Tommy all about his betrayal. The pent up paranoia of Lance got the better of him, cheating out Tommy before Tommy had any occasion to cheat him out. When I reached this exchange in the game, I was furious. I was worried for him when he was captured, I was hoping he would reconciliate with Tommy, but no. He became everything wrong with Vice City. A greedy backstabbing asshole who does in even someone who is basically a brother. You know the saying, Keep Your Friends Close.
Now Tommy and the player act as one. They are alone against the legions of Forelli grunts trying to kill them and take their hard earned crime empire. You kill wave after wave, until a new objective activates: Kill Lance. You chase him to the helipad on the roof of the mansion, wanting to destroy him, but still with a small glimmer of hope he would come back. A big fight ensues, Lance and a few Forelli henchmen try to fill Tommy with lead, but they do not succeed. Lance is killed just like any basic enemy in the game, no cutscene, nothing. That is his value to Tommy now. Of course, in the end, Tommy survives the assault, kills Forelli and all that, but we are not interested in this.
So, going back to Lance’s betrayal. You do not expect it and it hits you like a truck. Initially, you think it is a trick in order to kill Sonny. After that you are blind with rage and want to kill everyone just out of spite, and then you put down Lance just like he is a rabid dog. Feels like mercy in a way. He is a shell o his former wise ass self. So, I lied a bit In the Beginning… of this article. It is not just wrath, but also a mix of sadness with a dash of pity for the bastard. That was the most emotional gaming moment for me. I finished the game back in 2008 or 2009 and this betrayal has stuck with me ever since. This, and the emotions attached to it. Hope you liked this trip down memory lane I took you along for.
@StefaNonsense @ROPname 