User Reviews

All Reviews by blackzeppelin

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories - PSP

Pros Cons
Engaging story Ugly visuals
Loads of content Braindead computer AI
Addictive gameplay  
Tight controls  
It's like Grand Theft Auto... only smaller!

This prequel to Grand Theft Auto III was the reason I bought a PSP in the first place. I can remember all the portable fun I had with this baby. Taking Liberty City and condensing it to fit in to that cute and tiny UMD was no small task. Taking place in 1998, roughly three years prior to GTA III, you are in control of Toni Cipriani, who Salvatore Leone told him to kill a made man. After lying low for several years, he is once again employed by Leone. Like in typical GTA fashion, you run errands for the dregs of society, and basically be a naughty boy. The story, while not ground breaking, is really enjoyable and at times funny. (The part were Toni's disapproving mother sends hit men on him gets me everytime.)
Overall, it's a must have for your PSP library and is easily the best portable GTA experience to date.

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - PS2

Pros Cons
Awesome audio Ugly visuals
Loads of content  
Addictive gameplay  
So much content it'll BLOW YOUR MIND!!!

After the run away success of Vice City, how do you possibly top it? BY THROWING AS MUCH CONTENT AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN!!! San Andreas is ridiculously huge, and being a fictional state it contains not one, BUT THREE CITIES!!! Each one alone is roughly the size of Vice City. There's Los Santos, San Fierro, and Las Venturas which are fictional versions of Los Angeles, San Franciso, and Las Vegas respectively. Not only is there more geography to roam around, but more vehicles to use such as planes, hovercrafts, and God knows what else. You can now finally swim!!! (HOORAY!!!) The addition of being able to create a unique look to the character by buying clothes and hair is pretty neat however, the awful RPG elements of going to the gym and eating to increase your stats just doesn't feel right. I could go on about the other neat stuff you can do, but it would take waaay too long. Story wise, the game is another side story taking place in 1992 concerning Carl "CJ" Johnson, who is the first black main character in GTA history. 5 years after leaving the gang violence and corruption of Los Santos, CJ returns home from Liberty City after receiving word that his mother was murdered. Upon returning, CJ is haggled by crooked cop, officier Tenpenny and realizes that his gang the Grove Street Family has fallen apart. The concept of the South Central gang wars between Grove Street and the Ballas is a refreshing change of pace, and the story starts off promising. That all changes once Carl Johnson leaves Los Santos, as things get ridiculous and hard to follow. I found that I know longer cared about the story line and I become more interested in completing the missions and just being an asshole to the general public. Even though I perfer Vice City over this entry, it's still a great continuation of the Grand Theft Auto franchise. At times, it values more quanity than quailty, but I guarantee you won't find a much better sandbox game on the PS2.

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - PS2

Pros Cons
Awesome audio Poor storytelling
Engaging story  
Addictive gameplay  
Just plain fun  
With Grand Theft Auto, the chaos never ends!!!

Easily my favorite of the series. With an all-star cast and kick ass soundtrack (V-Rock is sick and DJ Lazlow is hilarious), Vice City is balls out, over top fun. The story revolves around Tommy Vercetti (voiced by Ray Liotta of Goodfellas fame), being sent to Vice City (a fictional Miami), by his old boss, Sonny Forelli, after being imprisioned in Liberty City. Forelli sends Tommy on a drug deal that goes horribly wrong, and as usual, Tommy is set up. Along the way, Mr. Vercetti meets sleezebag lawyer Ken Rosenberg, and that annoying bastard Lance Vance. (Voiced by Philip Michael Thomas who played Rico Tubbs in Miami Vice.) Without giving too much away about the story, it borrows heavily from the Al Pacino flick, Scarface. If you ever seen the movie, and you probably should since it's a classic, you'll know what to expect. As for the game itself, since it takes place in Florida circa 1986, the visuals are bright and flashy unlike the drab and grittiness of GTA III. While it isn't a huge leap over it's predecessor, Vice City adds new vehicles to the mix, such as helicopters and motorcycles. There's also some fun new toys like the katana, chainsaw, and my personal favorite, the minigun. (old painless is one bad SOB of a weapon XD) Even though the same bugs and glitches were never really addressed, and you STILL can't swim, it's easy to forgive since you'll be spending so much of your free time terrorizing innocent civilians to really care. It's by no means a pefect game, but it's so damn awesome to hear Tommy yell at the police during a homicidal rampage. I SLEPT WITH YOUR WIFE LAST NIGHT YOU POOR BASTARD!!!!

Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories - PSP

Pros Cons
Loads of content Ugly visuals
Just plain fun Doesn't live up to expectations
Just plain fun  
A soild title, but doesn't live up to the original Vice City

Chronologically, this entry is the first in the Grand Theft Auto canon. This side story takes place in 1984, roughly two years before the original Vice City. This time, the main character is Victor Vance (Lance's older brother), who gets unfairly kicked out of the army and turns to petty crime to support his family. Being a GTA game, things go downhill from there and that prick Lance Vance only makes thing worse. So the story is alright, but nothing really special. The graphics are pretty good on the PSP. While it's fun to finally return and tear Vice City a new one, it's basically been there, done that. There's these little additions like expanding your crime empire by running gambling rackets, smuggling drugs, and extortion. However, after a while it becomes tedious and repetitive and you constantly have to protect your turf from rival gangs by yourself. (Isn't this why crime bosses hire thugs?) Even though it's more of the same, it's still a soild title and will please most fans.

Grand Theft Auto III - PS2

Pros Cons
Addictive gameplay Ugly visuals
Innovative concepts Braindead computer AI
Just plain fun  
The game that started it all....

Arguably, this is one of the most import video games ever created. Before 2001, most games were incredibly linear in nature. After this bad boy showed up, gaming was never the same. Never before has there been this much freedom for players. Taking place in Liberty City, a crime infested New York city, where you can pretty much go anywhere you can imagine within the city limits. You can either follow the story line missions, or simply ignore them and blow s@#t up. As a nameless mute character, your basically an errand boy for crooks and complete goals for them. You can steal cars, and give the police one hell of a collective migraine. The story is pretty well done, but the graphics are primitive and ugly even by PS2 standards. Glitchs and pop ups are not uncommon either; gameplay is serviceable, but would take many installments to perfect the formula. As is, GTA III is one kick ass game and a good time waster. Rockstar from here on, keeps breaking the boundaries of what's possible and keeps improving upon itself.