GameSpy Review of Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories

When it comes to handheld games that are based on existing franchises, you'll generally notice that there are a few different types of titles available. There are those that attempt (and often fail) to recreate the same experience found on the consoles, while others offer up something that's been crafted specifically with the portable device in mind. For the first time, however, it appears that a game has come along that somehow manages to find the sweet spot between the two approaches. Although it's not surprising that one of gaming's most popular franchises has made its way onto Sony PSP,

At first glance, it's easy to think that Liberty City Stories is nothing more than a port of Grand Theft Auto III, the game that helped to rocket the series into the stratosphere. After all, it takes place in the same city and features many of the same characters and gangs. Despite a few minor alterations made to the layout of the city, the proceedings all feel familiar, and it won't take veterans of GTA III long to re-learn all of the city's important locations.


Liberty City Stories puts you in the blood-spattered shoes of Toni Cipriani, a Mafia henchman that was introduce briefly in GTA III. Toni's just gotten back into town, and he immediately heads back to work for Salvatore Leone, the man at the top of one of the city's most powerful crime families. While you'll begin your life of crime by pulling small jobs for the Don, you'll gradually work your way up the ladder. It's a decent storyline, although it unfortunately pales in comparison to the well-rounded characters and wildly branching storylines of the last two console games in the series.

If you've ever played a GTA game, there's a good chance you'll feel instantly comfortable with Liberty City Stories' controls. The analog stick is used for controlling Toni, while the face buttons perform the same tasks as they do in the PS2 versions of the games. You can hop in cars using the Triangle, while X and Square are used for sprinting and jumping respectively. Switching between the weapons in your arsenal is as easy as pressing left or right on the D-pad. For the most part, the in-vehicle controls are the same, too. One of the game's nicest features (and one that will hopefully be included in the next console game in the series) is the new targeting system. You can lock on to targets by holding down the right trigger, then switch between them using the D-pad. It's a fairly simple system, but it's the new free aim mode that gets us really excited.

When you're aiming, pressing down on the D-pad will bring up a movable reticle, allowing you to direct your fire wherever you'd like. Best of all, the developers have included a way to combat the PSP's overly sensitive analog stick. By holding down the left trigger while in free aim mode, you can make the reticle's movement much slower, allowing you to aim much more precisely.

While there's no denying that the developers have been able to fit an insane amount of content into the game (the main storyline alone will take you upwards of 30 hours to finish), it's not without a few issues. The biggest problem lies in the camera movement (or rather, the lack of camera movement). The console games allow the player to move the camera around at any time using the right analog stick. However, since the PSP is limited to only one analog stick, you have to hold down the left trigger and move the stick to rotate the camera. While this can be annoying while you're just walking around, it's downright deadly when surrounded by enemies.


There's also a bit of a lock-on problem during certain intense firefights. Pressing the right trigger will simply lock on to whoever's closest to you, be it an enemy, ally, or simply an innocent bystander. This results in quite a few occasions when you'll be firing at what you think is an enemy, only to find out that all you've done is take damage from your real foes.

If there's one thing missing from the later games in the Grand Theft Auto series, it's undoubtedly a multiplayer element. Amazingly, the developers saw fit to unveil a surprisingly deep multiplayer mode on the PSP, where you've got a have a buddy nearby if you want to get your groove on. A total of 8 players can do battle over an Ad Hoc network, and we're happy to confirm that the experience is lag- and drop-free. There are a pretty impressive number of options on the multiplayer side of things. Although there are a total of 7 different gametypes (including variations on old favorites like Deathmatch and Capture the Flag), each of them can be tweaked in a number of different ways depending on what type of experience you'd like to have. Best of all, however, is the fact that the multiplayer action mirrors the free-roaming single-player game. You can go anywhere you'd like and steal whatever you need, so you're virtually guaranteed to see something new every time you play.

While the GTA titles have often been knocked for not being the nicest looking games around, Liberty City Stories is undoubtedly one of the prettiest PSP games we've ever seen. Its graphics are on par with those of GTA III, an amazing feat given the PSP's limited processing power. There are a few laggy moments (especially if you're thrown from a vehicle), as well as a rare long load times here and there, but it's nothing too troublesome.


One area where Liberty City Stories falls a bit short is in the audio department. In recent years, the series has featured a stunning amount of licensed music available on the in-vehicle radio stations. No matter what your taste, there was a station for you. Unfortunately, this game's soundtrack features more misses than hits. However, it should be noted that both the hip-hop and world music stations are excellent, and the always classy opera station makes a welcome return.

Although it's not perfect, there's no denying that Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories is the most ambitious title to hit the PSP to date. The amount of content in the game is simply amazing and, like the console games, you'll find yourself playing even after you've completed the main story. The developers did a great job of making the game look and feel just like the console game, too, without sacrificing any of the things that made the series great. If you're a PSP owner, this is the game you've been waiting for.

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