Miami Vice gets exclusive PSP game

Time to dig out your pastel suits and sunglasses, Miami Vice is back and it's coming to a wide screen near you.

Well, two actually!

You've probably already seen the posters for the movie that's due to hit cinemas at the end of July. What you won't have seen, however, is the accompanying third-person action game that's coming exclusively to PSP around about the same time.

Set in present-day Miami (and just before the events of the film), the game slips players into the linen suits of undercover Narcs Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs and lets you explore "a rich, glamorous and decadent world – where badges don't count." Indeed.

Promising to be more than just a standard shooter with added sunshine, Miami Vice demands that you build yourself a reputation as a player in the underworld by trading contraband, hacking protected files and being generally aggressive with drug barons.

Naturally there'll be plenty of gunplay too, with a wide variety of locations and weapons lined-up, including high-speed boat-to-boat shootouts through Miami's treacherous waterways. We particularly like the idea that extra kudos will be awarded for recklessness when pursuing criminals. The ability to play as either Crockett or Tubbs or team up with a buddy via a wireless connection sounds intriguing too.

Indeed if developer Rebellion can make the most of these features, then even the mighty GTA could be looking nervously over its shoulder.

Of course, old hands will remember GTA: Vice City, the PlayStation 2 breakthrough game that paid more dues to the Miami Vice TV show than a fat drug lord with half of Florida's finest on the take. Like the fashion for pink power suits, it's perhaps a case of what goes around, comes around.

We'll certainly be keeping tabs on developments – you can tap the wire by simply clicking 'Track It!' above. And if all this has whetted your appetite for a slice of the original '80s cop show, you can always get a taste of the action via Infospace's mobile version.