 Review By: Andrew Joy |
Developer: | Rockstar Games |
| Publisher: | Rockstar Games | |
| Genre: | Action | |
| ESRB: | Mature | |
| # Of Players: | 1 | |
| Online Play: | No | |
| Accessories: | Memory Card | |
| Buy Now: |   |
Being as big a Nintendo fan as I am, I usually have to find some pretty compelling reasons (or become a victim of sheer desperation) in order to deviate from my brand loyalty and pick-up another system. With Sony’s PlayStation Portable though, I bought it for one thing and one thing only: Grand Theft Auto. When all is said and done, I’ve usually found several titles on competing systems that I’ve ended up and enjoying and am glad I didn’t miss. But, again, the PSP is the exception, with Rockstar’s controversial series being the only real standout that I can think of. Of course, out of all the games I’ve played for the system, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories is in a whole different league. Apart from just its winning sandbox formula, for a PSP title, the game has proven itself with excellent graphics, controls actually designed ground-up for the system, and a decent multiplayer system. And, when they decided to port the game over to the PS2, Rockstar essentially killed all of that. Bullet to the brainpan. Squish.
Like the back of the box says, "There are a million stories in Liberty City. This one changes everything." Well, that may not be exactly true – it doesn’t change everything, but Liberty City Stories certainly explains a lot. Set three years before the events of Grand Theft Auto III, you play as Tony Cipriani, who was a mere supporting character in that game. After killing a made man (someone who has the protection of the mob) for the Leone family, Tony has to go and hiding for a while. When he returns, his welcome is...less than expected, and he begins at the bottom of the family. The story itself, with its humor, scenarios and oh-so-varied cast of characters, makes Liberty City Stories seem like a mix between Goodfellas and Big Tony from The Simpsons. As Tony (the Cipriani) works his way back up, he takes on all sorts of jobs, from generic goon work – like roughing up people – to the sort of stuff reserved for a right hand man – like saving the boss.
Of course, as anyone who’s played a Grand Theft Auto game before can tell you before, the actual levels are only a small part of the game. Naturally, you’ll still need to work your way through the missions, otherwise you’ll be stuck on Portland Island, as Liberty City Stories sticks to the stringent formula as all the other GTA games. But, the real beauty of the series is the ability to do pretty much anything you want to...with something of a criminal slant. Need some money? Rob someone. Want a car? Steal it. Did some crazy driver smack into your shiny new wheels? Speed after them, rip them out of their car, and got to work on them. Sick? Yes. Satisfying? Oh, hell yeah. Don’t get me wrong, though, there is a lot more to the game than that, as you can only run over people for so long. Outside of the story and all your deviant criminal fantasies, the game offers a number of side quests that players can fulfill (though most are completely optional).
Once again, you can taxi people around, chase down other criminals, put out fires, and rush people to the hospital, all for special bonuses. Another time drain are the Rampages, which give you a specific weapon, a specific target and a time limit, and the car lists, which will pay you for stealing and delivering the desired vehicles. And, as you traverse all three islands, you may find some of the hidden packages (and I say some, because quite a few are really hidden), which will provide you provide you with special rewards for reaching milestones. Unfortunately, in what I found to be a MAJOR blow to Liberty City Stories’ PS2 release, every bit of the PSP versions’ multiplayer modes has been removed. So far, the only console version of GTA to include it has been Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which was made before this game, so I don’t see why it couldn’t have been included for at least two players here.
Looking at the PlayStation Portable’s library, I don’t think anybody will disagree that the system has a heck of a lot of PS2-to-PSP ports. Now, in those situations, the transition isn’t always a smooth one, with simply too many functions crammed onto a system with too few buttons. As I mentioned in the introduction, when Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories was being developed for the PSP, it was being developed for the PSP. What I mean by that is, the game was somewhat trimmed down, with the button to function ratio running very close. On its jump to the PS2, Rockstar has put some of the fat back in, like giving the right analog stick constant control over your camera, just like most other console games. For the most part, the transition is a smooth one there, though the controls did seem a little loose to me, and lot of problems with the original – such as targeting – were shamefully left untouched.
One area of the game that didn’t make the jump so smoothly, however, is the graphics. For the system, and the point in the system’s life at which it was developed, Liberty City Stories on the PSP was simply a marvel of the technology, being far and away one of the best games on the system. Even today, I can really only name a handful of titles that have surpassed it, and one of them is another GTA game (Vice City Stories, which is unfortunately dragged down by a ton of other problems...but I digress). On the PS2, GTA: LCS is, for lack of a better word, "fugly." The game didn’t make the switch well at all, with too small a picture now being squashed on to too big a screen - unless, you know, you’re playing it on one of those little mini-van TVs, but at least then the sound of the engine would drown out the sound of the game’s sub-par soundtrack (which was bad even on the PSP, though that at least included custom soundtracks). So, in the end, what was a top tier, boy-I’ve-got-to-own-this game on one system ends up becoming just your average, maybe-I-should-just-rent-this title on another...and I say that with more than just the graphics in mind.
Bottom Line:
Normally I’d go on and on in this point, summing up most of the key points of the review, but this time I can do it all with one piece of advice: If you want to play Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, go buy a PlayStation Portable.
| Pros: | Cons: | Final Score: |
|---|---|---|
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| 7.0 |
Posted: 2007-04-21 06:17:00 PST