  Tony Cipriani cruising the streets of Liberty City.
For more screenshots from 'Liberty City Stories' check out the Screenshot Gallery. |
Hey, look! There's Salvatore Leone's mansion! Oh wow, check it out! The Cochrane Dam! And there's that hooker I used to beat down for cash after paying for her services! Man, it's good to be back in Liberty City.
Like its PS2 big brother before it, the PSP now has its killer app in the form of a carjackin', crime-spreein' entry in the tens-of-millions-selling Grand Theft Auto franchise. And not a moment too soon, either. Man cannot live on Lumines alone.
Okay, a bit harsh. But Liberty City Stories isn't just one of the best PSP games so far, it's the one that's going to sell the most hardware on its back. It's the Nintendogs of PSP, but with fewer Golden retrievers and more crack dealers.
Those sales will be justified, though. U.K.-based Rockstar Leeds has done a bang-up job of taking the free-form, open-ended gameplay of the GTA series and stuffing it into Sony's sleek handheld, with very little lost in the translation.
Like the genre-redefining Grand Theft Auto III, Liberty City Stories takes place in -- wait for it -- Liberty City. But this isn't some hacked-up version of the metropolis, it's almost every square inch of the city that you remember from GTA III.
And remember you will, as deja vu soon gives way to a feeling of being back in a familiar 'hood. It's frightening how the layout of Liberty City is likely still burned into your neurons, but hey, it beats learning the layout of a whole new map.
You play as Tony Cipriani, a member of the Leone crime family and a soldier in the war against rival Mafia syndicates. The characters aren't quite as well fleshed-out as in the most recent GTA games (and there's nary a recognizable name in the voice credits), but the missions are nearly equal in variety and quality to their console counterparts.
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Click here for the official 'Liberty City' trailer. (Windows Media Player: 7.21 Meg) |
Like so many other PS2-to-PSP adaptations, Liberty City Stories suffers from the lack of a second analog stick. Not having independent camera control is a definite downer, and quickly picking out and shooting specific targets in a crowd can be nigh on impossible at times, as you fumble with the D-pad to change targets or to toggle the game's free-aiming mode.
But that's a shortcoming in the PSP itself, not the game. And while there are a few other notable absences, like aircraft that you can fly, most of the extra goodies that we've come to know and love in GTA games are here: Motorcycles, taxi missions, vigilante missions, unique stunts, hidden packages, and ... garbage truck missions? I don't actually remember those being in any other GTA games.
My only true Liberty City Stories gripe is with the music. Hardly any licensed songs are used, and while the original tunes aren't bad (and the between-song radio banter is every bit as funny as the earlier games), GTA games have always been defined by their signature tunes. You can download an application that lets you rip music from CDs for a custom in-game soundtrack, but you can't simply have it read existing MP3s on your PSP memory stick. Grrr!
But what few features Liberty City Stories loses in the transition from the console to the handheld, it gains from being able to take this particular show on the road. And the addition of some simple but fun wireless multiplayer modes are sweet icing on an already satisfying cake.
Yep, it's good to be home. Now come give daddy some sugar.
BOTTOM LINE
All the fun and mayhem of a full-sized Grand Theft Auto game in the palm of your hand. The PSP has truly arrived.
WHAM! Rating: |
9 out of 10 |
ESRB Rating: |
M (Mature) |
Official Web Site: |
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