Since the PSP has been released, I have been searching for the true “killer app,” of the system…and since I’ve played Rengoku: Tower of Purgatory a few months ago for my PSP, I truly thought that there was never going to be a “killer app,” for the handheld. I was wrong. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories has proven that it is possible to have a game on a handheld that can give you a complete console gaming experience.
To have a game like Grand Theft Auto on a handheld is an amazing feat. When I first heard of Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, I was very skeptical. I thought that something big would be missing from the game, or it would be top down just like Grand Theft Auto II. I was, once again, wrong! Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories was a complete Grand Theft Auto game. The same kind of driving, environments, humor, missions, and obscene violence was included in this game.
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories is a mixture of all of the previous games in one. As most of you already know, Liberty City Stories takes place in Liberty City, which is the same city from Grand Theft Auto III. This is also three years before the original. You play as Toni Cipriani in this game, who was in the original GTA III as a Triad hating gangster.
Unlike Grand Theft Auto III, the main character isn’t mute. He does have a voice, and so do the other characters in this game. Also unlike GTA III, you can ride on motorcycles. Funny how there weren’t any motorcycles in GTA III, yet in Vice City, set in the 1980’s, there were. I smell a time paradox. Unfortunately, like the original, you won’t be able to swim or go into several buildings like in Vice City or San Andreas.
You’re on a mission to become number one in Liberty City, but it won’t be that easy. Not because the missions are totally difficult (most aren’t at all), but because the missions themselves get boring very fast. Most missions don’t get much in depth, and the ones that do are very difficult. Missions consist of stealing a rival gang’s car/tank and/or destroying it, protecting someone, rescuing a character, killing a gang leader, or causing some mayhem. I found myself just cruising around the city more than accomplishing missions.
Like in GTA III, the story is lacking major excitement. Once you go visit a person who wants you to do a task for them, a short humorous cut scene comes up, and less than thirty seconds later, you’re off on a mission. The story does get interesting at times, but that doesn’t increase the excitement of doing another mission.
Now because this game is on a UMD, the soundtrack list doesn’t have several songs like in the previous Grand Theft Auto games. The soundtrack itself isn’t that bad at all. Although I do only recognize the Hip-Hop and Opera musicians on the soundtrack, I do occasionally enjoy other stations on the radio. There is a pop station, two techno/eletronica stations, a flashback station, a rap station, an opera station, one Jamaican station, an Indian station, and of course, a talk show station. I personally like Liberty City Jam (Hip-Hop) for its New York hardcore style rappers (the Lox, Method Man, Redman, Big Pun, etc.). Each station has its own very humorous commercials.
If you don’t enjoy the radio, you can always make your own custom soundtrack. You can download the custom soundtrack tool off of Rockstar’s website that will add tracks from your CD to your PSP game. I was surprised to see that each song I added took up very little space on my memory stick.
All of the enjoyment from Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories can be found by just cruising in your car and exploring the city. You’ll find many things you can do for fun. If you jack a taxi, you can play a taxi driver mission and pick up/drop off customers. You can do similar tasks with the police, ambulance, and fire truck missions. Something new I found was the car dealer mission. You drive to a car dealer, and go inside to sell your cars or motorcycles to customers. You simply drive them around the city however they ask you to until they are completely satisfied. Dump trucks are also now available for missions. You can pick up dumpsters and drop them off to the junkyard. Not only can you do these driving missions for fun, but you can also find hidden packages and extreme stunts to pull of, like in the previous games. There are also the Avenging Angels missions to complete. Once you go to your safe house and change your outfit to the Avenging Angels one, you can go up to anyone dressed with the same outfit as you, and they will help you defeat crime.
The frame rate in the game was a very frustrating aspect, but bearable. Occasionally, the game slows down and becomes choppy while driving or running from the cops, but it doesn’t ruin the action much. You’ll be able to push through without becoming too angry about it.
Aside from the frame rate, I can’t think of anything else that is disappointing in this game. The story and missions get boring after a while, but they still are great at time wasting. After all, this is a complete Grand Theft Auto game in your hands.
My overall thoughts on Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories: this is the PSP game all owners should have. The game features a custom soundtrack, the same driving and gunning as the previous games, and hilarious characters and situations. You’ll be playing this PSP game for ages.
Graphics: 9
Sound: 8
Gameplay: 10
Value: 7
Replayability: 10
Overall: 8.8
