Introduction 

Grand Theft Auto has always brought us exciting action packed games for many systems. With their controversial release of GTA: San Andreas the media and concerned parents were right on Rockstar's back about the type of content found within the game. But Rockstar was persistent and continued the series with GTA: Liberty City Stories for the PSP.

The time is around 1998 and you play as Toni Cipriani working for Salvatore Leone. This installment covers all the gangs we have seen before and really takes handheld gaming to a different level. In the past all the handheld versions of the game were lacking and felt very poorly done. But the PSP gives you everything the console version gives you: third person view, immersive environments and the wonderful array of vehicles and weapons.

Gameplay 

On first playing the game I realized that the controls were a bit difficult to get used to although after about twenty minutes the game felt like I was using a ps2 controller. The little joystick is what you use to move around the main character, the keypad is used to switch weapons and change radio stations in the vehicles, the left shoulder button when held down is used to look around and the right button is used for the auto aim. The controls are not exactly what we call perfect, but it is tight nevertheless.

Throughout each mission you will realize that the story is so dull that you will be skipping cut scenes like they weren't important. Nothing really ties together and after you complete one section you will be like "Why did I have to do that again?" It seems that they tried to stretch out the gameplay by dropping in some missions that aren't even important to advancing the story.

Load times, the downside of the game. They are manageable and quite fast at times but it happens every time you enter a mission for the cut scene then when the scene is done it has to load again to be back in control. This sometimes gets tedious and a bit annoying, but when you think about it the load times should actually be longer due to the content on this UMD disk.

A great feature with this game is the environments, huge immersive places to be. And you would think that with these environments the game must have a very low frame rate. Surprisingly the whole game is just fluid and absolutely amazing. The PSP takes this title and shows off just what this system can really do.

Another thing I really like about the PSP is the feature of just switching off the power and starting back right where you left it. GTA also uses this; you can be in the middle of a mission switch off the system, turn it back on and return to exactly what you were doing, nothing changed.

Gameplay is truly immersive and fun. GTA takes the handheld third person franchise to another level with this great title.

Visuals

Well it's the PSP so you know it looks amazing. Graphics are standard PSP level and the cut scenes look just as the console versions do. Explosions, gun fire, car detail, nothing is left without close touch ups.

Sound

Great voice acting, we can always expect this from GTA titles. Everything sounds like it should with no exceptions. No downside in the visuals and sound department.

Overall

With the release of the PSP everyone were amazed by the graphics, the sound and the overall sleek look of it. But games have been the downside to all these features. Developers just slap on some PS2 rip offs and not much exclusive titles. But Liberty City stands out of the crowd by delivering one of the best PSP games of all time. A definite buy for the GTA fans and for gamers of all types.