Learn about the Wanted Rating system in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, including how to get stars, how to lose them, and what to expect at each of the six levels.
Every metropolis has a Police force and Vice City is no different. When you do something bad near a Cop, like mugging a person, then one of the stars below your Health and Armor status will light up indicating a Wanted Rating. The Cops will then try to bust you. The more stars you have, the more aggressive they will be.
There are several ways to get rid of a Wanted Rating:
- Hiding out somewhere for a bit (only works at 1-Star).
- Driving a car (excluding rescue and Police Vehicles) into a Pay 'N' Spray.
- Getting a Police Bribe Icon (drops the Wanted Rating down a notch).
- Completing the current mission (if you get a Wanted Rating during one).
- Getting Busted or Wasted.
- Changing into a different Outfit. Works up to 2-Star.
There are six Wanted Rating levels. The higher you go, the more aggressive the pursuit. Below are the Wanted Ratings and what you can expect:
1-Star
You are of mild interest to the Cops. They will chase you on foot, and they are pretty fast in Vice City Stories, and they will smack you with their Nightsticks when close enough (and are pretty good bare-fist fighters too). Even at this Rating they are pretty aggressive and will put you on your ass quickly if you try to fight them without some kind of weapon (although you can grab hold of one and beat him senseless). Hiding out somewhere for awhile will get rid of a 1-Star Wanted Rating.
2-Star
Things get a bit more serious here. The number of Cops increase a bit and they will start shooting you instead of whacking you with their clubs. They are also very aggressive in vehicle pursuit, almost too aggressive. You can't wait things out this time but you can still switch out clothes to get rid of a 2-Star rating.
3-Star
At this level a helicopter will start pursuing you and will shoot at you if you stand still long enough for it to do so. And the Police will get more aggressive in their pursuit of you including the use of Spike Strips which are used to blow out the tires of your car. In addition, the Vice Squad, with their Crockett and Tubbs look-alikes, will now join in the chase (in their high-priced Cheetahs).
4-Star
Now the SWAT team joins in. They will try to blockade the road with their Enforcers and rappel down from the Police helicopter. This is in addition to everything else being thrown at you. And the Police become more aggressive still in that when you approach a roadblock all of the SWAT fire together at your vehicle and will damage it considerably by the time you approach it.
5-Star
The FBI will now lend their assistance in hopes of bringing you down. They will ride in large FBI Washingtons and carry four agents, all packing SMGs, and they are not afraid to use them. Approaching an FBI roadblock in anything other than a bulletproof vehicle is nothing short of suicide since they can quickly destroy even the toughest car before you can approach the roadblock. You can max out at 5-Star after completion of the mission "To Victor, the Spoils".
6-Star
After making mincemeat of the Police force, including the FBI, then the city will now call in the Army to deal with you. They will come in with Rhinos and trucks and will mainly try to kill you (but they will arrest you if the opportunity presents itself). The soldiers will kill you quickly with their SMGs and barely getting touched (while in a vehicle) by a Rhino will spell certain death. It will be quite difficult to survive at this level for very long. You can achieve this maximum rating after completion of the mission "From Zero to Hero".
Police Vehicles
In addition to all of the other cars you can take in Vice City you can also use Police Vehicles. The main reason for acquiring one is for the Vigilante Mission which is explained later in the guide. In addition, some have additional features and bonuses that can help you.
VCPD Cruiser — This vehicle can be found on the street and at all Police Stations. In addition, you get five Shotgun shells when
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