iOS
AndroidGTA: Liberty City Stories ©Copyright by Gamdise Do not Reproduce. By JoJo
It's a GTA game, so the core gameplay is as fun as ever. The game is the first 3D title in the series to be released for handheld devices, and acts as a prequel to 2001's Grand Theft Auto III, using the same set of Liberty City (a fictional parody of New York City). The layout of Liberty City is roughly similar to Grand Theft Auto III , but it also incorporates elements from the successor works of Grand Theft Auto III, such as more indoor environments, clothing changes, and motorcycles. Although Vice City and San Andreas have flyable planes and helicopters, there are no flyable planes in the Liberty City story and the helicopters can only be accessed through certain loopholes.
The Mobile version of GTA: Liberty City Stories uses the same controls with previous mobile titles - on-screen analog on the left moves Toni and the right side has on-screen controls for run/jump, attack, free aiming, answer/hang-up phone calls, and enter/exit vehicle. When in vehicles, players have the option to steer using on-screen analog, on-screen L/R buttons, or swipe L/R to steer. Zooming and changing the camera on foot is now done by pinching the screen with 2 fingers, and an additional "shoot" button is available on the left side so players can aim with their right hand (Only on certain weapons). There is no Target button in the Mobile version - players must tap on the enemies to target them with both firearms and melee. An option allows Toni will automatically target enemies in front of him when holding a gun, however.
In keeping with recent Grand Theft Auto games, players have greater flexibility in moving the camera to view their surroundings. Unlike the previous release of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is the "3D universe," the protagonist of the Liberty City story cannot climb and swim - contact with deep water would be immediately fatal. The entire game's open world, as it is based on the original Liberty City layout, is much smaller than San Andreas.
Over the years, Grand Theft Auto's missions have become more complex, but less difficult overall. However, the missions in Liberty City Stories are for the most part very simple. If you're familiar with the various mafias that have appeared in the last three GTA games, you'll recognize some of the names and faces here. But this story is self-contained and doesn't require you to remember the individual actors. Most of the given missions are one-dimensional, such as stealing a specific car and driving it back to a certain location without damaging it, or taking out a series of gang members and blowing up their precious tanks. If you stick to the missions and don't mess around, you can complete the game's story mode in 10 to 12 hours.
However, some parts of it do look unsightly. Although the frame rate is certainly not stable, when you drive fast, the game can still convey a good sense of speed. As stated in the IGN preview, "Rockstar abandoned Renderware and instead adopted a brand new internal engine to make the best use of PSP's resolution, texture density, and particle effects." Liberty City Stories uses Image Metrics to make facial animations for the game. The characters in the game look as good as you'd hope, and they perform very well in many of the game's cutscenes.
The game is overall an amazing experience. While 10 years has dated its visuals, and the game’s touch controls are less than perfect, GTA Liberty City Stories, with its hair-pin tight controls, bite-sized missions, and nuanced open-world gameplay, is nearly a perfect mobile game. Get it.
