Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories

Grand Theft Auto is back, although it's hard to remember when it ever left. The series has dominated game consoles for the past five years and now GTA expands its resume to include the PSP and does so in true RockStar style. This is not a port or a re-imaging, it's a fully realised new game and it's frickin' sweet!

Welcome to Liberty City. If you're a fan of the GTA series, you've already navigated its hilly streets, tree-filled parks and wide-open docks in your time in Grand Theft Auto III. But others may recognise it as the city CJ was hanging out in before his San Andreas shenanigans. But that was then, now you find yourself in a different time, before the events of GTAIII as the various mob factions fight it out for superiority against each other, the Mayor and the police force. You play tough guy Toni Cipriani and as the game begins you are returning to Liberty City following a forced exile that resulted from your assassination of a made man for mob boss Salvatore Leone. Leone hasn't forgotten your good deeds, and he enlists you as one of his more brutal enforcers, but old grudges are not forgotten.

Like all the GTA games, the story plays a pivotal role in this title and strong vocal SFX (from a relatively unknown cast), good cut-scene direction and plenty of strong-willed dialogue will have you hooked from the outset. Even more impressive is the way the story fits in with what we already know about the GTA world and you will not only come across familiar characters, but see the development of secondary plot-lines that explain occurrences in GTAIII, which is very rewarding.

The gameplay template stays true to what gamers have come to expect in the last few console outings. You find yourself in an open world (split into three islands that are gradually unlocked as your progress through the game) with a radar directing you to story progressing missions, save points and other notable destinations. Story progressing missions are essentially the same as previous games, including the likes of pick-up and drop-offs, kill-an-individual, head to this destination etc. On top of these you have a host of side-missions and quests, with the return of Taxi, Ambulance and Vigilante mini-games, some 28 random missions and tonnes to discover along the lines of unique jumps (24), rampages (20) and hidden packages (100). Getting 100% on this puppy is going to take you a hell of a lot of bus/train trips!

And there's plenty to explore. While the city is nowhere near as massive as San Andreas, it is so full of nooks and crannies that you'll never truly feel like you have seen it all. Stunt jumps, trains, ferries, pick-ups and the like litter a landscape already pulsing with pedestrians and a large range of vehicles. There is no reduction in the quality of the gameplay on the PSP and like the other GTA games you will get sidetracked for hours car-jacking, cop-baiting and causing city-wide destruction. Thank God then that the Taxi feature has returned, taking your straight back to your last mission should you find yourself waking up at the nearest cop shop after a thirty minute fight-out.

So yes, rest assured GTA fans. Your favourite game has gone portable without hiccup. But it has been de-evolved from San Andreas and directly comparing this, a handheld game, with a full console juggernaut may disappoint those with unrealistic ideals. Missing from GTA:LCS is swimming, climbing (which is a real bugger), varied fighting styles (you're back to basic button bashing), stats and customisable lead character. At first this can be quite disconcerting, especially when you see a cool island out to sea and dive into the water in doomed hope - but these limitations barely register on your overall enjoyment of the title.

And anyway, cool new features like being able to look outside when inside a building and ride bikes around Liberty City make up for it. Plus, all the best weapons (over 30, including rocket launchers, Molotov cocktails, timed-grenades, shotguns, AK-47s, chainsaws) and vehicles (over 70, including hum-vees, choppers, boats, scooters, muscle cars - but no planes) from the series are on hand.

As for the controls, they remain very similar to the console games, which means you will be controlling Toni using the PSP's dubious analogue stick. On foot, this does take a while to master thanks to the little tagger's sensitivity issues, but using your lock-on mechanism ensures that you never get 'lost' during combat. Behind the wheel the controls are simply unreal and you will find a lot of pleasure drifting around the world, doing hand-brakes and pulling off insane jumps. Kudos must also go to the varied vehicle physics and you will really enjoy a different sensation every time you jack another vehicle.

It's a testament to the PSP's power that GTA:LCS looks as good as the PS2's San Andreas, even better in places. The city has the same scope and depth to it here as on the console version with an impressive draw-distance and plenty of on-screen action. Loading times across the city are non-existent and entering buildings and missions is far faster than experienced with San Andreas. Very occasionally we came across a bit of frame-rate slowdown and there was a bit of pop-up, but these are weak complaints when you have a full 3D day/night cycle, weather effects and hundred-odd pedestrians and cars doing the biz on a handheld.

And the pedestrians are just as toey as ever. As you will often do in GTA, you will find yourself heading off the mission trajectory to hand out some beat-down on lowly NPCs. They will often fight back and seem tougher this time around which is why chasing them down as they run away with chainsaw raised for the strike is a preferred option - just watch out for those roving gangs! Also tougher this time around are the cops, however, they are less frequent. You seem to be able to get up to a bit more mischievous this time around before you star rating gets going, but you will find escaping the ire of the law a lot more of a challenging, as exciting as it is.

That's right ladies and gentleman, egg your fellow gamer towards that PSP purchase now as GTA:LSC comes packed with a host of multiplayer modes that are very, very cool. Making use of the wireless adhoc mode, the game features seven multiplayer options that put you and five other gamers into heated competition on the living, breathing streets of Liberty City. In Multiplayer games, the city gets sprinkled with a host of useful weapon, armour, health and special pick-ups that light up on your radar, as do your fellow combatants. But not only must you negotiate the human enemy, but all the NPC pedestrians and traffic (although no cops), making for gameplay unlike any you have experienced before. Furthermore, the games are really well thought-out and fun, making this the ultimate icing on an already tasty cake.

GTA: Liberty City Stories captures everything you know and love about the GTA world and puts it on a handheld so you can take it anywhere and everywhere you go. And you better believe it is still the epitome of mature gaming with all the dodgy sex connotations, drug use, swearing, violence and ridiculously funny social sarcasm which has made the series such a vital and loved component of the games industry. Ok, so the controls take a bit to master and some of the gameplay features of San Andreas are missing, but if you think there is a better experience on the PSP in either single-player of multiplayer capacities, then you're kidding yourself. Liberty City Stories rules.

Score = 10/10