Review: Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories is, hands-down, the first must-have PSP title.
The cheats and strategies for Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories are already hitting the Net, but we made good use of that extra time, and are happy to report that Liberty City Stories kicks some serious ass.
Shot in the Arm
GTA: Liberty City Stories is the first game in the series to hit the PSP, and you can bet it won't be the last. Given the dismal crop of PSP titles currently available, an original PSP-only GTA game couldn't have arrived at a better time. And the good news is, Liberty City Stories is a real Grand Theft Auto game, through and through.
Whether you love the GTA series or despite it, the fact is that Liberty City Stories is on the same quality level as its bigger brothers on the PS2, Xbox, and PC. You'll be surprised by how few compromises Rockstar made in order to bring the world of Grand Theft Auto to the PSP.
Pretty Violent
On a visual level, the game looks simply awesome. It's not quite as detailed as Vice City or San Andreas, but it absolutely destroys the original GTA 3. The graphics look so clear that you can read the type on fliers and billboards posted around town, even on the small-ish PSP screen. As series fans well know, the game is set in the New York-inspired Liberty City. Liberty City itself is ripped straight from GTA3, and it's never looked better. From the huge crowds of pedestrians to the cars, you'd be hard-pressed to tell Liberty City Stories from GTA3.
Toni himself looks fine, if a tad blocky. But in a welcome piece of news, many of the legacy character animations have finally been replaced, so longtime GTA fans won't have to keep looking at the same stupid jump animation that plagued that last three games. Liberty City Stories comes up a tad short when it comes to special effects; you'll notice that effects like explosions won't draw unless they're fairly close to you. But the weather effects are spot-on (and now include snow!), so it's a worthy trade-off. We could do without the infamous blur effect, though. And, there is a noticeable bit of ghosting on the PSP screen--especially when Toni runs; not the game's fault, but it should definitely be noted.
Perhaps most important of all is the fact that, despite its visual beauty, Liberty City Stories runs butter-smooth. Even during heated action or driving scenes, you'll be hard-pressed to spot any framerate stuttering.
Criminal-Minded
The core gameplay is ripped straight from earlier entries in the series, so you'll find that Toni can't pull himself onto walls or boost his stats like C.J. could in San Andreas. But aside from a few tiny compromises--you can no longer crouch, for instance--this is the exact same GTA you know and love. We think that's damn impressive. The single-player mode pits you against a succession of missions and side missions, just like the console versions, and this approach holds up very well for brief snatches of gameplay on the bus or the train. When it comes to handheld gameplay, Liberty City Stories is just a natural.
We especially love the new PSP-only multiplayer mode, which stands as perhaps the biggest single reason to pick up the game. Up to six players can compete in a local (or "ad-hoc") wi-fi match. There are seven modes in all, and they range from standard deathmatch (Liberty City Survivor) and races (Street Rage) to more sophisticated team-based games where you sabotage enemy cars (Protection Racket) or steal tanks (Tanks for the Memories). Our favorite?:Hit List, an addictive little game for larger groups. In that mode, one player becomes the target while the other players relentlessly stalk him through the city. Fun!
PSP Pwnage
Now for the nerdy stuff. The UMD loading speed is surprisingly fast, but load scenes still popped up little too frequently for our tastes. We also appreciate the fact that Rockstar supports custom soundtracks, but we detest the highly limited system that they're using to implement them--you're essentially forced to rip a CD straight to your PSP's memory card. Not an ideal solution at all.
But those are quibbling details. Liberty City Stories is a truly worthy entry in the Grand Theft Auto series. In fact, if you hated the crudely-implemented RPG elements of San Andreas, you might actually prefer this game's simpler approach. Regardless, this is the game that will finally make the PSP a must-own handheld device. You should buy it immediately.
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