Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories Review
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories was hailed as the “killer PSP game”. The popular GTA series had to come to the PSP sooner or later, and its debut on the PSP is great.
The game takes place, as the title suggests, in Liberty City, which is the city in which Grand Theft Auto III (the first 3D game in the series) is also set. Rockstar Leeds just turned the city into UMD and changed a few things to make it look more modern as the LCS is set after III. Having said that, the only real changes are the stores, which have different names and styles, which is quite disappointing. A new city to explore would have been much better.
You play as Toni Cipriani, a no-nonsense guy who’s willing to do anything and take out anyone in his path. Unlike in GTA III, he can talk, which makes cutscenes better. The basic story mode consists of missions that tend to get repetitive. You’ll go to a guy on your map, he’ll give you a quest that usually involves killing someone, and you’ll get paid once you’re done. Once you’ve completed enough quests, you’ll move on to the second island in Liberty City. There are three islands in total, and you unlock them over time. It’s a nice incentive to complete the missions, but for people who have played GTA III, there’s nothing really new.
Although the game is focused on quests, the ability to move around freely is really great. You may find yourself playing it over and over again and rarely get tired of it. There is no free roam mode, in fact there are no modes, the game just loads when you turn it on. Whether or not you choose to participate in a mission is up to you. If you choose not to, you can freely roam the city, wreaking havoc or just exploring. You can also collect various weapons, from pistols and UZIs to rocket launchers, flamethrowers and sniper rifles. You will also have melee weapons like knives and baseball bats. Or, if you want to deal damage from a distance, use a grenade or Molotov cocktail.
The cops are still around, so if you blow up too many heads, it will annoy you a bit. Cops are divided into levels with the usual system. You are 1 star at the beginning, and if you keep blowing things up, it will eventually increase to 6 stars, and you will have the army behind you.
Vehicles in the game are again similar to previous versions. Veterans will remember Patriot, Cheetah, Infernus, Banshee, etc., although some have redesigns that look more modern. You can also have motorcycles, which have never been seen in Liberty City before. Motorcycles are generally faster and have better handling than cars, and make it easier to pull off single jumps and such. There are no bikes in the game, which was a nice addition to San Andreas. As you progress through the game, you will also have the opportunity to ride boats. It’s not as much fun as it sounds, and it never has been in any of the GTA games. Ship handling is slow and not fun to drive. You can’t fly anymore. Anything. It is not a thing. The Dodo was a plane from GTA III that was located in the airport, which you could fly, or at least try to. This time there is no Dodo, no helicopters, no planes at all. It really feels like a missing factor, although in one of the missions it is possible to steal a helicopter, so the physics and controls are still technically in the game. Why there are no planes to fly is confusing. The police still have helicopters following you, so be careful.
A new mode of transportation is the ferry. It’s basically a slow boat ride and you can’t drive the boat. You even have to pay for the service. However, it is a quick way to get from one island to another, and you can keep your car.
General vehicle control is good. Sports cars have great speeds and handling, and slow cars have reduced cornering ability. Foot controls have been drastically changed. You use the little analog style stick to control Toni and the vehicles. The directional buttons are used to switch weapons and start various side quests. Of course, the PSP has fewer buttons than the PS2 controller, so condensing everything down was no easy task. The controls feel very complicated at times and can be frustrating when you need to quickly target things.
Adding to the “Toni can’t” list is the ability to swim. Implemented in San Andreas, this feature is absent. It’s only missed when you fall off a cliff into the water, as you could swim to the side and get out. Instead, Toni simply drowns. All stat-boosting skills are gone, but not much is missing.
Toni can change clothes, and there are some good options. She cannot change specific body parts, instead she chooses between entire outfits. Although changing clothes is a small part of the game, you would probably never notice this option if it wasn’t necessary for some missions.
If you don’t want to do any main quests, you can take part in some of the side quests. Famous throughout the PS2 GTA games, these usually involve Taxi missions, where you act as a taxi driver and deliver passengers before time runs out. Ambulance missions, where you take the sick to the hospital. Fire truck missions, which consist of putting out fires like burning cars. A new side mission is the dump truck mission. You simply need to collect all the green trash cans within the time limit. All of these missions are basically the same repetitive actions. However, the rewards are worth the effort.
There are also hidden packages throughout the game in various places. There’s nothing new in the series, but collecting all 100 adds weapons to your stash. Single jumps are big jumps where the camera changes and goes in slow motion. When you successfully complete a single jump, you will earn money for your effort. While these things are by no means new additions, they are nice to have and expand the game.
We all know that the PSP has wireless capabilities, and Liberty City Stories takes advantage of them. Wireless multiplayer action is amazingly good. You must have friends with PSP’s and copies of the game, but if you do, you’re in luck. The game allows totally free play with your friends. There are many different game modes that adhere to the premise of capturing the flag. Most games work this way. Liberty City Survivor allows players to play against each other. This is the mode where you will play endlessly. Even after you’ve beaten the game, you’re unlikely to get bored of the multiplayer action.
Liberty City Stories has the same radio soundtrack. When you enter a vehicle, you can choose from several radio stations, all of which have different styles of music. The soundtrack has some well-known tracks from the time, but nothing too impressive. Compared to the Vice City and San Andreas soundtracks, this is lacking.
The graphics throughout the game are quite cartoonish. The series was never intended to be a simulator, but some smoother graphics would have been nice. Sometimes Toni can appear to have multiple legs when he runs. Also, sometimes the frame rate has trouble keeping up, but only when there are a lot of them on the screen at once. For the most part, the frame rate holds up well. Loading times are acceptable. There is a loading period at the beginning and then as you cross between islands a loading screen will appear but only for a few seconds.
Overall, it’s a great addition to the Grand Theft Auto series and the PSP lineup. You can’t help but feel like it’s just a watered down version of a PS2 GTA, or just an expansion pack, that doesn’t expand much. However, the action in single player, and multiplayer in particular, is well worth buying.