A
Grand Theft Auto game really doesn’t need an introduction. If you’ve never
played a Grand Theft Auto game, then you’ve almost certainly at least heard of
Grand Theft Auto. So with the series’ first foray into the PSP world, the
question is not what is Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, but is Grand
Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories any good? Well, I’m here to answer that
question for you…
One of the biggest questions on your mind right now is whether or not this is
a “real” Grand Theft Auto game. The answer to that question is a resounding
“yes” as just about everything you expect from a GTA game has been shrunk down
and packed onto a UMD disk. You get the famous living and breathing city,
complete with pedestrian and vehicular traffic. You can jack and claim for your
own any of the vehicles that you see on the streets from mopeds to ambulances.
You get the rampages, secret jumps, races, and hidden packages. And lastly you
get the full mission-driven mafia storyline. Looks pretty “real” to me.
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| Toni hits the streets of Liberty City. |
In Liberty City Stories you are Toni Cipriani, a Mafioso who took a dive to
protect his Don, Salvatore Leone. Years have passed and you return to town and
are gratefully welcomed back into the family by Leone. As the game opens you are
given your first assignment as a mob enforcer and must work your way up to
becoming a made man. It’s not a very deep or engaging story but rather more of a
background excuse for a series of missions – and the missions themselves are
pretty much standard, straightforward affairs of the drive this car there or
kill those guys variety. It’s not that it’s a terrible storyline; it’s just that
you expect a bit more from a GTA game.
If you’ve ever played a GTA game before you’ll be right at home in Liberty
City Stories. The control layout is virtually identical to that of the PS2 GTA.
Control differs on two key points, though. The first is that due to the lack of
a right stick on the PSP camera control is a bit tricky. You need to hold down
the left trigger and use the nub to swing the camera on the PSP, but the nub is
also used for movement and so this is only an adequate solution when things are
calm. Under fire it can often be a struggle to get the camera to point where you
need it. The camera does swing around on its own eventually, but it takes its
time in doing so.
Another difference in the control scheme is in the game’s targeting system,
and in this case the PSP version is superior to its console cousins. Liberty
City Stories has a target lock system that you can engage with the right
trigger. Once in target lock mode the d-pad can be used to switch between
targets. There is also a free aim mode that lets you precisely place your aiming
reticule over your target, and if you hold down the left trigger while aiming
you’ll have finer control over the reticule to allow for even more precision.
In terms of gamplay, Liberty City Stories provides more bang for your buck
than any other game available on the PSP. In addition to the lengthy storyline,
you’ve got plenty to do striking out on your own and exploring the city. You’ll
find races to compete in and rampage challenges that send you on killing sprees.
There are 100 hidden packages for you to find. If you jack a taxi, police car,
etc., then you’ll be able to take on rescue, vigilante, and even benign taxi
service and pizza delivery missions. Of course you can also search for the ramps
hidden around the city and try to launch yourself into the air in one of the
many vehicles that you can steal off of the streets. There’s enough gameplay
here to keep you busy for weeks, and if you just play the game while you’re out
and about it could keep your travel time occupied for months or more.
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