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Oct 28 2005
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories Review
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| Summary: GTA in your pocket
93
I've been waiting for this game since I heard it announced, and a few months of stewing has created high expectations. My high hopes bred some criticism in the few first minutes I played the game, but dissapeared quickly. This is Grand Theft Auto, plain and clear. Everything is here. You will find a complete city- full of pedestrians, cars, back alleys, enormous jumps, all driven by a story.
I've played all of the three major GTA's, and this one falls closer to Vice City than San Andreas. For instance, I love the bikes. I just wish Tony could learn to ride them better, as CJ could. I still feel like I fall off too much. There's no character upgrading in LCS. I know I fell off less than this after some character-building on GTA-SA.
The tasks are still great, story driven, and generally challenging. The tasks change often enough that you don't feel like you are repeating the same crap for the most part. The story makes a big difference in why it's fun to complete a task.
I love the GTA world. This is freestyle portable mayhem at its best ever.
I think the best part of the recent GTA games has been well ported to the small screen, and that is the story. It's simply more fun when you are killing a few dozen thugs because it's a doublecross. The story in GTA 3 was slow to pick up, but Vice City improved on that. San Andreas was great at it. Liberty City Stories is somewhere between the last two. That's not a criticism. Trust me, it's good. The story picks up early and moves well.
Fantastic. I'm a hand-held junkie. I had the Game Boy when it first came out. I bought the Game Boy Color when it was released. When the Game Boy Advance came out I was ecstatic. The PSP is the hardware I've been waiting for, and GTA really showcases it. Beautiful.
Sound was one of the first things I noticed as a negative. It sounded a bit tinny, no doubt due to the compression. When Salvatore talked it almost sounded like he was in a gym, and not a small office.
All of the sound in the game has this touch. It's minor, and ignorable after a bit. The thing is, there are tons of great things on here, all well worth a little compression. When you stand on the beach and hear the waves crashing and the seagulls chirping, you really aren't going to care about tinny.
The radio stations are good, and the talk is entertaining! I'm not completely sold with the songs though, as I recognize far fewer than I did in past GTA games. Could be a taste issue, but I would guess it has more to do with Rockstar's licensing budget for LCS.
Tinny or not, this game, like all GTA's has a dedication to sound that is hard to ignore. Radio is the word of the day.
Apparently this is a bit of a sore topic with some gamers. I'm not really sure why. I did think the control was rough at first, but it didn't take all that long to get used to it. Now it just feels like any other GTA.
Keep in mind, you can change the settings so the D-pad is your character control. Though I have no idea why you would. The analog stick is completely functional, and doesn't have the annoying transitional jerkieness of the D-pad. Another note: Never forget the left shoulder button when your are using a gun like the sniper rifle or grenade launcher. It slows down your movement, and makes aiming much easier.
Give it some time, I suggest the default controls unless you really hate them. If you do, fiddle with the options. That's what they are there for.
Non-existant. Ok, thats a lie. They are wonderful though. Liberty City Stories loads infrequently, and quickly. The only time it will annoy you is when it happens in the middle of a cut-scene. This happens occasionally, but is relatively easy to ignore. After playing Midnight Club 3:Dub Edition for so long I'd almost swear LCS never loads.
The biggest problems I mentioned were tinnyness of sound and difficult control. Play the game for an hour or so- you will forget about the tinnyness (if you ever noticed it). Control problems will dissapear with practice. Every time I pick this game up I'm still feeling a high that I have GTA on a handheld. I would suggest this game to any PSP owner, over 17 of course.
REVIEW IT
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Comments
10/30/05
30 
Chance
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| Florida USA | XBC: Chance | KAI: Chance | SOCOM: Chance2
I enjoyed your review. I found it to alot more informative to the NON-gta initiated..like me. Trying to learn about this game..without having ever played it..doesnt seem to work with most reviewers..who assume you have. Thanks!
+
10/30/05
3
sklnathaniel
| USA
haha,over 17 yeah right you know evey underage gamer has his or her ways to get the M's.
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10/31/05
1
pspdragon
| USA | SOCOM: Paul-Pierce
i m 15 and my mon got it for me
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11/03/05
40
BlkB18Csol
| South Carolina USA
i'm 27 and i wont let my 13 year old Brother play.. hehehe... gues i'm just a PSP Hog, it is mine though...
+
11/04/05
22
s2w
| Mississippi USA
love this game. it's a m-rated game for a reason. i like the second default controls so that i can glance right and left without having to move the camera around.
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