GTA Liberty City Stories for PSP
The Good
- Crams all of Liberty City onto a UMD
- Load times are quite manageable
- Good sense of humor from the radio stations
- Captures a lot of the cool stuff from the Grand Theft Auto series
The Bad
- Unstable frame rate
- Dull mission design
- Storyline never really goes anywhere
- Occasionally feels more like a GTA III expansion pack than an entirely new game
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories was, and still is, the most impressive game on the PSP. You could argue that other PSP games are more fun, but in terms of size, scale, and pure gameplay horsepower, LCS is unparalleled on handheld systems as far as what it brings to the table: more than 20 hours of ripe GTA goodness. Mere months after LCS hit the PSP, rumors began to fly of its release on the PS2, and sure enough, Rockstar soon confirmed that LCS would in fact land on the PS2 in the near future. After a bit of delay and a no-show at E3, LCS has arrived where the rest of the GTA installments began: on the PlayStation 2. If you've played the PSP version, then you know that LCS is another commendable extension of the GTA franchise. It has a better story and more interesting plot lines than GTA 3 and Vice City, though San Andreas outdoes it in terms of character development -- well, with the main characters at least. LCS follows Leone mafia member Toni Cipriani through his many adventures in the three islands of the city: Portland, Staunton Island, and Shoreside Vale. You'll meet familiar characters such as Salvatore Leone (Toni's boss), Donald Love, and 8-Ball, as well incur several run-ins with the ol' Triads and Yakuza. And, as expected, there are lots of new characters to meet along the way; women, the mayor, and even Toni's mom (we soon find out Toni is an interesting breed of mama's boy). In general, the story is good. It takes surprising turns, and unlike GTA 3, the transitions between the three islands are very fluid. For example, a chase and jump over the Callahan Bridge leads Toni into Staunton Island. Very fun. Remember back to GTA 3 and how long it took for the missions to get challenging. This is not the case with LCS, as by the third mission or so, you'll be in some serious sh*t. But, where the missions in GTA 3 got ridiculously tough as the game progressed, LCS doesn't have the same flow of difficulty. In general, most missions are passable on the first or second try, and if you've got body armor and some nice strappage, you'll have even less trouble. That's not to say LCS missions aren't fun, because they are. But don't expect LCS to be more difficult than San Andreas, because it's not even in the same league. Also, missions are a little less quirky than previous GTA games. GTA 3 and Vice City had lots of RC car/plane/heli missions, but there are much fewer in LCS; the majority are based on enormous explosions. Admittedly, there is a nice supply of sniper and rocket-play, which one can never argue too much about. Possibly the biggest improvement to Liberty City are the motorcycles. Yes, they are all there -- the PCJ-600, the Sanchez, the Freeway, and even the Faggio scooter. Sadly, the insane speed and maneuverability of the bikes meant I rarely wanted to drive anything but a crotch rocket, unless it was a Banshee (what can I say, I'm a classy guy). If your last GTA experience was with San Andreas, then the on-foot controls for LCS will feel like a few steps down.
- From GAMEPRO.COMRead full review
