Items
This section details the items you can pick-up across the city.
Health-
Your health is represented by the pink gauge in the heads up display to the right of your screen. When you are shot at, run over, punched and so forth you will lose HP, and thus the pink bar will go down. When the bar is completely drained, you will be regarded as 'wasted' and immediately taken to the nearest hospital. By running into a health pickup (heart icon) your life can be fully restored. The maximum volume of health HP you can have is 100, this can only be topped by completing the 'Heli Rescue' odd job (see odd jobs page for more details) which will take your to the grand maximum of 150. You are most likely to find these health pick-ups outside hospitals, but you can only pick them up if you have lost HP.
Armour-
If you don't feel health on its own is enough to see you through the game, then getting some body armour is the answer. The extent of your body armour is measured by the light blue gauge, directly above your health bar, in the heads up display. Similarly to your health, when you are shot at, run over, punched and so forth your bar will begin to drain. Only this time, when it is completely empty you will not die. Instead, you will be left with your health to keep you alive. This is as when you have armour, you can only lose health by jumping off buildings and injuring yourself - not being shot at, run over, etc. The maximum volume of armour HP you can have is 100, this can only be exceeded if you successfully defeat all levels of the 'Vigilante' odd job (see odd jobs page for more details), where you can gain a grand maximum of 150HP and a "+" sign will appear at the tip of your armour gauge. You can either pick-up the kevlar vest body armour from various locations around Vice City, or buy one in Ammu-Nation for the reasonable price of $240.
Police Bribes-
A police bribe is one effective way of reducing your wanted level. One police bribe will take away one star from your wanted level, two police bribes will take away two stars, three will take away three, and so on. When you collect a police bribe they will disappear for a while before respawning, much like the other items. Police bribes are conveniently dotted around the islands to keep you out of the hands of the law. If the cops are hot on your tail and there isn't a Pay 'n' Spray shop nearby, picking up a police bribe is the best alternative.
Adrenaline Pill-
When you walk into one of these pills your game will go into slow motion mode, and you will be able to hit people with more power and effect than you normally can. When the one minute adrenaline rush stops, your gameplay will revert back to normal. Due to the slow motion mode you are stationed in, adrenaline pills can be of great use in a mission where you need to be accurate and/or dodge bullets.
Hayulp!-
Run into one of these information icons to get some advice. Ordinarily located outside the local hospitals, police stations, Ammu-Nation stores and the alike.
Saving
Whilst not on a mission you can save your game progress. This can be done at any of your safe houses by walking into the save icon and following the save game procedure. To locate your safehouse(s) follow the save icon (in the title) on your radar map. When you exit the saving menu, time will have advanced by 6 hours. You can load your save data from the start menu. *Always save after every mission and keep at least one backup copy of your data!*
Money
Much like in real life, money in the game is a necessity. You'll learn this more than in any other GTA, with Victor starting life in a trailer park, not the most luxurious part of the city. You can use money for lots of things; protection resources for yourself - weapons and body armour, to bribe the local authorities, and small things like to pay the local cabman for a 'tripskip' drop-off, and more. Building money for a tripskip can be as easy as killing a pedestrian and taking the money he/she may leave. For ammunition, however, pay-offs from missions, side missions, oddjobs and collectibles would be more appropriate.
Stats
You can look through your game statistics by going to the start menu (start button) and clicking on 'stats'. A list will scroll down and give you just about every statistic you could possibly need - from the percentage of the game you have completed, to the name of the costumes you have unlocked. You can also find your criminal rating here - at the top corner of the screen. (see criminal ratings page for more details on what this means).
