A surprisingly good port of the PSP version that every Grand Theft Auto fan should check out.
Liberty City Stories begins similarly to the previous Grand Theft Auto games both story and gameplay wise. You become acquainted with some key characters and the main storyline, given a place to stay (the safehouse used to nullify your wanted rating), introduced to the basics of play and finally given a contact so you can start work right away. It's a typical GTA-style introduction that bears a humble resemblance to it's predecessors. It's a classic start to the game for veterans yet still welcomes newbies with open arms. This accessibility instantly propels the game above the clones in a strange way; it's an expansion proving to be more accessible than fully fledged rival free roamers. Just the beginning minutes demonstrate how excellent a company Rockstar is when a PSP-expansion-turned-Playstation 2-port can outpace the rivals. But like a hangover, the warm start and giddy optimism is cut short when you start to play for real. Most players will already know Liberty City like the back of their hairy, slightly sticky hand so strike one of past Grand Theft Auto's initial appeal will be non-existent. Like I said, there's no new city to unleash Toni upon, just the same mean streets of before. But don't dismiss Liberty City Stories just yet. For your money you are getting an expansion with as much love and effort poured into it as the bigger, more important versions of the series. It's fantastic since most expansions for console games are lacklustre with the odd gem sitting in the crown like Rainbow Six: Black Arrow or the Halo 2: Multiplayer Map Pack. This is a fully produced GTA with all the trimmings you would expect from the AAA series so far.
All the refinements of Vice City are included in the package like bikes, new costumes and new(er) actions like bailing out of cars, which is interesting as they didn't originally feature in GTAIII. The erratic targeting of old has been replaced by a stolen San Andreas reticule and aiming system (which in turn stole it from Manhunt). While not entirely perfect, it's a definite improvement over 2001's version. I occasionally found myself screaming at the television after locking on to the wrong person - that annoyance resulted in 30 minutes play time lost and yet another mission restart. Thankfully this is a rarity and when it does occur, it's a minor blemish. Along with the targeting system there are some general problems with the artificial intelligence and even weapon balancing. Even when equipped with a tiny pistol, the enemies seem to be able to outrange Toni's Kalashnikov. While the newly added manual crosshair aiming is quite handy in these situations, it is too clumsily implemented control-wise to be of any practical use. Other classic AI faults lie with drivers who crash into walls and keep driving forward despite brick and cement blocking their route. This is a problem that has been with the series since GTAIII and it's now painfully obvious that Rockstar are yet to overhaul their artificial intelligence system. This flaw can often result in either distinctly uninteresting chases or mission failure when the man in the Landstalker jeep refuses to shift into reverse gear - series veterans will know of this thorn-in-the-paw all too well.
Despite these glaring annoyances, Liberty City Stories retains the classic gameplay formula the series has been known for. The sheer thrill of the chase and the destruction of the army that accompanies a six star wanted level easily eclipses the small flaws. It is disappointing to play what is just a sidestep for the series though. The one forward thinking feature the PSP version of Liberty City Stories had was multiplayer via WiFi. I'm frankly flabbergasted that the PS2 version does not feature this luxury playable over the Playstation 2's online service. It would have been a blast to partake in a crime spree with friends online but this is probably reserved for the new blood coming October 2007 for next generation consoles. It feels wasteful having a fantastic feature of the PSP original thrown out. Perhaps it was a technical problem or if the game was rushed we may never know, but it's a disappointment nonetheless. Especially since Volition's sandbox romp 'Saints Row' on the Xbox 360 features online gang warfare in the style of Halo 2's matchmaking service. But online play or no online play, Liberty City Stories gameplay remains ever mischievous and often teases the player with a showcase of imaginatively titled missions and even more so subject matter. The hilariously titled 'Passion of the Heist' sees Toni recovering stolen diamonds from a gang of thieves, all for a priest at the local church called Father Ned. The sheer hilarity that ensues in a short dosage of this highly addictive digital crack is reason enough to own the game. Like most of the other Grand Theft Auto's in the third dimension, it will suck you in from start to finish. Just pack your suitcases and lose yourself in a second, more hedonistic virtual life for 20 hours and beyond.
It's not all sunshine and ice cream though. There are two complaints I have to make about the gameplay, however small. Firstly, the game is just the same old same old. Since number three, there have only been minor ideas and tweaks to the core formula and while it's not quite stale yet, I think Rockstar better refine their engine before it falls into the trap of growing repetitive and the almost childish enthusiasm vanishes. I hate it when a series has to reinvent itself to survive like Resident Evil 4. While that game was made even better after it had shed it's old skin, it made Capcom admit that their prized game was decrepit to play and needing a well overdue kick in the shins - it's painful to think of Grand Theft Auto in it's glorious state having to be told it's too old. October 2007's iteration better be something magical or the series could lose out on much of its appeal to the mass market. Secondly, the missions which are a little less sugar coated stand out more than those where the real work has gone into. You will really remember the awful sections a lot more than the spectacular parts. Some of the monotonous shootouts, good ideas poorly executed and the dull ferrying of NPCs yoyo the game from one tense and adrenaline pumping mission to times where i've had more fun at a funeral. The PSPs limitations likely constricted Rockstar's creative merit in Liberty City Stories' case. This is very obvious when the grandest the game can pull off is dwarfed by over half of San Andreas star Carl Johnson's escapades. Thus this keeps Liberty City Stories firmly strapped into expansion pack territory. Since when has the starter outshone the main coarse?
But despite this smell of old creeping in and a slightly limited visual scope, Liberty City Stories is still a marvelous follow up to a modern classic. The flaws are minute but are only amplified since they sit at ill with the rest of the game's greater aspects. One such perfection in the game is the sound design. Toni is fantastically realised and the rest of the characters retain the same impact and memorability they did in GTAIII. Salvatore Leone is still in top form after featuring so prominently in the Playstation 2 trilogy and nearly every character from GTAIII makes a return to tell of their rise to power or plunge from greatness. Every character is completely believable from the hilarious pedestrian chatter up to Toni himself. The hustle and bustle of the city streets is still fantastic despite the feeling that it's been re-used and re-used since the original venture in GTAIII. Nevertheless it still is excellently made, but the real brunt of the sound design lies in the soundtrack. Grand Theft Auto as a series has featured a stunning soundtrack since it's transition to full 3D and this is no exception. Liberty City Stories radio is perhaps the most diverse yet for the series mixing unknown and alternative tracks in with some of the more conventional pop hits of the late 90's. Bizarrely I found myself listening to the Middle Eastern themed Radio Del Mundo the most. The Pakistani presenter is hilarious and often talks of democracy being like a beautiful goddess with three breasts and how he feels extremely fertile after eating hummus! The best part is the music itself though with some of the catchiest tunes i've ever heard and a number of recognisable songs that catch you by surprise due to their familiarity. I often find that when i'm exposed to other musical cultures through Grand Theft Auto, I start to like the genre a lot more. Vice City branded 80's music into my skull, San Andreas got me into rap and once again - in an odd twist - I now like alternative Middle Eastern music a lot more!
Other music stations return including the classical Double Cleff, a station brimming with older Italian opera and orchestral scores. The generic pop, reggae and hardcore 90's dance music of Head Radio, K-Jah and MSX respectively make their welcome comeback and, in a pleasing surprise, Flashback returns having ditched the entire Scarface soundtrack. It now plays late 70's and early 80's disco electro (with a sex crazed German at the helm). A new addition to Liberty City's repertoire is the east coast rap station called The Liberty Jam featuring some surprisingly excellent artists. My favourite rap of all time called the Ruff Riders Anthem by DMX features which propels the game up high in my books. Another feature to make its return is the talk station Chatterbox. These station types are a usual trademark of GTA others try but often fail to steal correctly. A recent example is again Saints Row (perhaps the closest game to come even remotely close to the majesty of Grand Theft Auto) which falls flat when it comes down to ripping off the comedic elements, trademark scripting and hard work that goes into every advertisement ("Shaft Hotdogs: Taste of a Real Man's Meat"), every moment of hilarity and every imaginary celebrity talkshow. It's all trademark GTA, similar to the way the godly Tarantino writes dialogue - it seems realistic yet profound. Grand Theft Auto will always be king of this department and I doubt it will be dethroned anytime soon. While the gameplay and sound are both near perfection despite the minor niggles, the graphics of the game fall short of expectations. Since the game was originally for the PSP handheld system (which is like a watered down PS2 in your hands), it is logical for a direct port to lack the majesty of other games on the PS2. Grand Theft Auto has never been applauded for its graphics apart from when the series first went 3D and when San Andreas was praised for its incredible draw distance. This being just a PSP title, the graphics are worse than what we've seen so far. While some things look better than their Grand Theft Auto III counterparts (like the reflective car textures, character models and visual effects), as a whole it looks worse. It doesn't run as silky smooth as I expected, with a slight juddering in areas with a lot of road texture and detailed buildings - the grime and detail of Portland makes it the region worst hit by the flaw. Other problems include textures that bounce on and off of the wire framework and some pop up in the distance. Minor yes, but most likely caused when the game was ported and not entirely fixed. The PSP version had refresh problems and ghosting due to the small screen and these console problems are likely a result of the PSPs misfortunes not being fully addressed by Rockstar. Other than some minor problems, the game looks and runs generally well for an ageing Renderware production. Liberty City still looks as grimy and unkempt as it did in 2001 with nice little details like steam flowing out of sewers, soiled textures on walls, graffiti tagged gang areas and looming architecture in Portland's industrial slums. The sky looks as drab and industry destroyed as before and the surrounding sea looks just as polluted as in the future Liberty City. The inhabitants remain as brooding as they've ever been with the odd comedic moment intact.
There are differences with the Liberty City of 2001 and that of 1998 too. For starters the tunnels running between islands don't exist yet and instead there is a ferry service some people are struggling to keep. This dilemma is central to the early quarter of the game's mission structure and we soon learn how the ferries were abolished and the tunnels built in their place. The Staunton Island construction area where the Cartel and Yakuza dramatically met in GTAIII are blocks of deteriorating buildings begging to be torn down and turned into corporate skyscrapers. Shoreside Vale is also slightly different from a spacial point of view. Aside from these biggest changes (the word biggest in this case is possibly overstatement of the year), the rest of the differences in the environment are either subtle or require the power of eagle eyed observation. Portland, for example, features some areas under construction in 1998 which become horrible eyesores in 2001 - what a difference three years make in Liberty City! Most of the contrasts are with the people though. A few gangs get wiped of the map in that time and we learn how it came to be just one traditional mafia family controlling Portland and areas around Liberty City - i'm talking of coarse about the Leone crime family. However, all these differences don't quite add up to create a city that feels even remotely fresh or different. It's still the same old Liberty City, nearly identical in structure and marginally different on the surface which, as i've mentioned before, takes away a conventional Grand Theft Auto game's greatest unique asset. It's a bit disappointing at first since we're so accustomed to new things but we must remember that Liberty City Stories is only an add-on pack. It was to be expected.
Overall, Liberty City Stories has shown us many things. Firstly that Rockstar can craft an expansion with as much passion as a fully fledged effort. To me that shows an excellent company at work. Secondly, Liberty City Stories shows how the gameplay formula is beginning to grate after swaying very little from its original five-year-old template. It needs change but I have faith that the next generation will usher in some incredible new ideas from Rockstar North. Finally, the game shows that size doesn't matter. Even if a handheld game is ported or remade on the bigger consoles, it can still be a fantastic experience. And that is just what Liberty City Stories is. For such a low price, it's a top quality videogame. It may not make you feel emotive, or have you dangling on the end of an epic story, or stun you with innovation but for what it is, Liberty City Stories is good, solid fun. Not quite the masterpiece we're used to but nevertheless Liberty City Stories is well worth checking out, be you series veteran or complete newcomer (although if you are the latter I would highly recommend the original Grand Theft Auto III over this any day)....