This is the very first GTA game in the series to be ported for the PSP, and it's successor Vice City Stories was the second GTA game on the PSP. It features the same types of graphics from GTA 3, Vice City and San Andreas. But this game returns the gameplay back to the roots of GTA 3, yet still it is a great game.
Plot. Three years before the events of GTA 3, Toni Cipriani returns to Liberty City after laying low for a time when he killed a made man, as a personal favor to his boss, Don Salvatore Leone. Now, Toni is back and it's time for him to set things right. Liberty City is under turmoil, as mafia gangs vie for control of the city as it begins to self-destruct under waves of political corruption, drug trafficking, union strikes, and organized crime. Standing in Toni's way for his reach to the top, are deranged hit men, cynical politicians, morally depraved tycoons, and even his own mother. He must fight his way to the top, and bring Liberty City under the complete control of the Leone Family.
Players can play also in Multiplayer, but it is only accessible via the PSP's WiFi ad-hoc. The game features seven modes of multiplayer gaming.
Concept. The purpose of the game is to guide Toni throughout Liberty City, by completing various jobs for his employers such as Salvatore Leone, Vincenzo "Vinnie" Cilli, his mother, and even Donald Love. Like in any GTA game: mob bosses need favors, crooked cops need help, and street gangs are after you. Toni has to rob, steal, and kill to stay out of serious trouble.
Design and Development. The game's graphics are the same kind of 3D rendered graphics as the PS2 version. At the time of the game's development, IGN stated in a preview: "Rockstar dropped Renderware in favor of a brand new in-house engine to best utilize the resolution, texture density and particle effects of the PSP". Until the release of Liberty City Stories, RenderWare had been the game engine behind every 3D game in the GTA III era. Liberty City Stories used Image Metrics for the game's facial animation.
Music. Some radio stations from GTA 3 return, and there are also a few new ones such as: Radio Del Mundo, LCFR, and The Liberty Jam. However, players can add some of their music through a special feature for the PSP, having the ability to listen to custom soundtracks. Previously, only GTA games on Xbox and PC had these features. When Liberty City Stories was released, the custom soundtracks option was featured in the "Audio" section of the menu (by pressing Start in gameplay) but did not have any use.
A few days after release of the game, Rockstar placed the application called "Rockstar Custom Tracks v1.0" on the official site under the "Downloads" section. This then gave people the chance to use the custom soundtracks feature. The application is based on Exact Audio Copy.
Voice Acting. Frank Vincent (Goodfellas, Casino, The Sopranos) returns once again to voice Don Salvatore Leone, but most of the voice actors are not Hollywood stars like previous games. However, C.S. Lee (Dexter), provides voice for one of the pedestrians. Since Toni is a bit younger in this game, he is not voiced by Michael Madsen, and instead he is voiced by Daniel Mastrogiorgio. Will Janowitz (The Sopranos), voices Donald Love.
Rantings. My rantings for this game are that Toni cannot even swim either, and another thing that still pisses me off is the police, because I can't stand them. Another thing that bothers me, is that you can't pilot planes, which you could do in Vice City and San Andreas.
Good Aspect. The storyline about Toni is great and very well written. Liberty City Stories has a lot of replay value and many great qualities. This game can be very exciting when performing stunts with cars and bikes, in order to make great landings.
Overall. GTA: Liberty City Stories can be purchased on the PlayStation Network or you can buy it on your local GameStop or Best Buy. This game gets a 9 out of 10