Soviet Sensibilities in the Sunshine State: GTA: Vice City Stories
Set in 1984 during the height of Cold War tensions, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (2006) cleverly embeds numerous Soviet-themed references into its satirical portrayal of 1980s America. These allusions serve as both cultural critique and nostalgic parody.
Two prominent Soviet weapons appear in the game:
AK-47
A recurring symbol of global revolutionary violence and Soviet military influence, the AK-47 is a mainstay in GTA: Vice City Stories. Its inclusion reinforces the Cold War-era arms imagery associated with proxy wars and organized crime[1]. However, its appearance is anachronistic—Kalashnikov rifles were banned from being imported into the US during the Cold War due to sanctions on communist states, meaning only copies from nations like China or Egypt were available, and in limited numbers.
AK-47 vs. M16
GTA III helped popularize a common video game trope: portraying the AK-47 as inferior to the American M16 (AR-15 platform). Despite real-world debates—where the AK is praised for its reliability and simplicity, and the AR for its accuracy and ergonomics—games often depict the AK as a crude “third-world” weapon, while the AR is shown as a sleeker, more powerful, high-tech rifle. In GTA: Vice City Stories this is clearly the case, as the M16 deals higher damage and is more accurate.
SVD Dragunov
This Soviet sniper rifle, designed for long-range precision, adds to the militaristic atmosphere and reflects the era’s fascination with Soviet firepower[2]. Like the AK-47, it is highly unlikely such a weapon could have been acquired from outside the Iron Curtain.
Molotov Cocktail
Though simple in design, the Molotov Cocktail has a charged history. Its name dates back to the Winter War (1939–1940), when Finnish troops mockingly named their homemade firebombs after Vyacheslav Molotov, the Soviet foreign minister who claimed that Soviet bombers were delivering food, not explosives. The term stuck, and even the USSR later adopted similar devices during World War II.
In GTA: Vice City Stories, the weapon’s use in gang conflicts mirrors its legacy: a symbol of improvised resistance born from wartime necessity, now repurposed for street-level chaos.
Jack Howitzer and Gordon Moorehead, Anti-Communist Fictional Heroes
The fictional action star Jack Howitzer reappears from his GTA: Vice City days, parodying Reagan-era American cinema. In GTA: Vice City Stories, promotional posters and radio commercials reference Push Up: The Movie—a clear satire of the Sylvester Stallone film Rocky IV (1985), where an American boxer triumphs over a hyperbolized Soviet opponent. This parody reflects the hypermasculine, jingoistic media of the 1980s that routinely cast Russians as the default villains[3]. Released in 1984 and produced by Partial Pictures (a reference to its bias), the film stars Jack Howitzer as Bruno, a washed up alcoholic and former push-up champion who now works as an insurance salesman. His fall from grace has caused his first wife to leave him for a tennis coach and his son Timmy no longer shows him respect. Bruno's current wife has also left him (though she later returns to his side, again referencing Rocky IV, which Timmy claims is to "bang [Bruno] for coke money"). In order to regain the respect of his son, Bruno begins training hard in order to regain fitness and represent the United States in a push-up contest being held in Tokyo (China, as a joke), where his opponent is a Soviet man representing the "Collective System of Oppression" (the Soviet Union). The man has a thick Russian accent made to resemble Ivan Drago from Rocky IV, and taunts Bruno, saying "Ja, I push up for the Collective" and "are you tired now, American?" Bruno refers to him as "that big Russian" and then later to his enemies in general as "commie pricks!"
Another fictional show, Moorehead Rides Again! (audible in full on the talk radio station VCPR), spoofs McCarthy-era spy thrillers by drawing on noir archetypes while stoking Red Scare paranoia. In a darkly humorous twist, detective Gordon Moorehead embarks on a missing person's case only to reveal that he had already killed the missing fisherman’s daughter he was looking for—suspecting she would turn to prostitution—and later sets the grieving father ablaze with napalm, accusing him of communist sympathies[4] as he justifies his actions to his sidekicks. These narratives mock the jingoistic, xenophobic tone of right-wing anti-communist rhetoric in Cold War America. Gordon Moorehead seems to be based on characters from Dragnet or Dick Tracy.
99 Red Balloons Reference and Nuclear Anxiety
A clever, interactive nod to Cold War fears appears in the form of red balloons scattered throughout Vice City. Popping all 99 unlocks powerful weaponry—a direct echo of the 1983 anti-nuclear protest song 99 Luftballons by Nena, which envisions a minor misunderstanding spiraling into full-scale nuclear war. This Easter egg subtly references Western anxieties over the potential for nuclear escalation.
Conclusion: Paranoia in Paradise
Like its predecessor Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories taps into Cold War paranoia to paint a satirical portrait of 1980s Miami. The presence of Soviet weapons like the AK-47 and SVD, along with fictional media such as Push Up: The Movie and the Moorehead Rides Again! show, plays on exaggerated American fears of Soviet infiltration and aggression. These elements—equal parts absurd and symbolic—stoke the era’s anxieties, capturing the way entertainment, politics, and public perception blurred during the Cold War. In doing so, GTA: Vice City Stories transforms its tropical backdrop into a stage for critiquing the jingoism and hysteria that defined the decade.
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
Developer(s): Rockstar Leeds
Publisher(s): Rockstar Games
Producer(s): Leslie Benzies
Programmer(s): Obbe Vermeij, Adam Fowler, Alexander Roger, Al Dukes, Andrew Greensmith
Artist(s): Aaron Garbut, Ian Bowden
Writer(s): Dan Houser, David Bland
Series: Grand Theft Auto
Platform(s): PSP, PS2
Release: NA: October 2006
EU: October 2006
Genre(s): Action-adventure
Mode(s): Single-player
About: Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories is set in 1984, two years before Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. The game follows ex-soldier Victor "Vic" Vance as he teams up with his brother Lance to build a criminal empire in Vice City. Initially driven by the need to pay for their brother Pete’s medication, Vic soon finds himself entangled in a dangerous world of gangs, drug lords, and rival factions.
References
- Poyer, J. (2004). Kalashnikov Culture: Small Arms Proliferation and Irregular Warfare. The Journal of Conflict Studies, 24(1).
- Ezell, E. (1988). Small Arms of the World. Stackpole Books.
- Chapman, J. (2002). Cinematic Cold War: The American and Soviet Struggle for Hearts and Minds. University of California Press.
- Shaw, T. (2007). Hollywood’s Cold War. Edinburgh University Press.
- Kinsella, H. (2005). Symbolism of the Cold War in 1980s Pop Culture. Cultural Studies Journal, 18(3).