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Reviews: GTA: Liberty City Stories
GTA: Liberty City Stories
What do you get when you cross the hottest gadget with the biggest gaming brand? No, not Colors on the Gizmondo, stupid. We're talking Grand Theft Auto on PSP, the handheld version of the series that revolutionised the industry. Free-roaming action, spiky storylines, over-the-top-and-round-the-bend violence - all pioneered by GTA 3. Achieving ultimate pop culture approval by antagonising the usual suspects, easily upset by the violence and language of the 18 rated games, didn't hurt either. But the real reason for GTA's success is that it made all other games redundant. Why buy a separate driving or third-person action game when you can get it all in a GTA game?
After 3 blockbuster titles on the home consoles, the release of the first handheld version is big news. Especially for Sony, whose PSP may look the part, but has been lacking the game to match. Not any more. Liberty City Stories is the real deal.
First things first, this is a serious technical achievement - a tour de force in miniaturisation. Poster quotes aside, it really is. Almost everything you'd expect to see in the PlayStation 2 version is here. The cars, the music, the annoying control issues. Yes, GTA is a wonder when behind the wheel, speeding through the traffic. Step out of the car and your character stumbles around as you battle as much with the camera as you do with your assailants.
So how does it play? Pretty much exactly like the PS2 versions, give or take a song or two. It's all up to you. You could head for the characters that give you missions - kill him, guide this, deliver that - and hurry the narrative along. Alternatively you could take a sightseeing tour of the city and uncover its numerous and enjoyable secrets. Ah yes, the city in GTA - the ultimate digital playground. Pastimes here include carjacking, whacking innocent civilians with baseball bats, street racing, stunt competitions - the story is yours to make. Bored with that? Then you could grab some guns, go on a rampage and mow down civilians and the police. Phew. GTA clearly exists in a moral vacuum. But play the game, which most critics of its content won't have done, and it's quickly apparent how the bald description of urban carnage fails to match up to the relatively humorous reality. The GTA titles are the ultimate gaming black comedies.
But even the most anarchic action eventually loses its appeal and the focus shifts to the missions that remain the meat of the game. Playing as returning Mafioso Toni Cipriani your story sees you working for different bosses on your way to the top. The cut-scenes and their excellent character animations certainly help spin the yarn, which, while overly derivative, at least gives the relentless violence some context.
But there is so much more to GTA's appeal than guns n' cars - take the radio stations for example. Riding a motorbike while Billie Jean blasted out was a highlight of the 80s styled Vice City. However, Liberty City's less than iconic setting %u2013 1998 - means musical highlights are thin on the ground. In fact there is hardly any really recognisable music and it is the pastiche ads and presenters that are the real audio stars. Thankfully the classical station, which adds gravitas to the urban carnage, makes a welcome return.
So all well and good then? Not really. The PSP controls are shaky, with the imprecise nub causing both heart and thumb ache. The lack or proper camera controls means you'll spend a lot of time running into walls or oncoming traffic, neither of which does your suit any favours. But combat is worse, with an unhelpful targeting system that makes it hard to nail the right enemy, especially in a group situation. Most battles quickly descend into an unsophisticated static shoot-out.
The biggest problem however, is the backtracking needed when you fail a mission. The uneven difficulty levels - some of the early sections are tougher than those later in the game - mean failure is a regular feature. Applying slightly too much pressure on a corner, clipping a streetlight or pedestrian, getting distracted while changing the radio - all can end your mission. Doing so means a tedious reload and drive back to the beginning. This is unforgivable game design for a handheld device - after all, time is tight on a 10 min bus ride.
One of the few nods to the host format is in the inclusion of some multiplayer games - a first for the series. But the variations on the usual standbys - king of the hill, capture the flag - don't really work unless you can gather at least four people to play. Even then they feel superfluous, more marketing tick box then multiplayer treat.
There's no doubting that GTA: Liberty City Stories is a serious technical achievement. Getting a fully-fledged GTA game into the palms of your hands is a big deal - kudos to the bearded guys responsible. You can drive, shoot and frolic in the urban playground, all while on the 7.32 to Waterloo. And for most people this will be more than enough. But there is a spark missing from LCS. Perhaps it's the loose controls or the relatively uninspired mission design or the fact that on-foot combat remains flawed. Or maybe, after 3 similar games on the home consoles, the thrill has begun to fade. Certainly the lazy racial stereotyping and misogynistic characterisation has got tedious. Play it, enjoy it, show it off - GTA Liberty City Stories deserves admiration but not adoration.
