[PSP] Hands on GTA Liberty City Stories

[Turrican3]

Fonte: Gameinformer

immagini: http://www.gameinformer.com/News/Screens/ScreenShots.htm?CS_pid={6F321685-85C6-4FDC-A4AD-F9BFFD8FA989}

Given all of the watered down ports appearing on PSP, it's easy to start worrying about Grand Theft Auto's first appearance on the system. Will it be boring to retread the same old Liberty City from GTA III? Will load times be off the charts? Will it be too short for GTA pros used to dozens of hours of city crumbling mayhem? Well after some solid hands-on time with Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories it's safe to say that everything that makes GTA great survives the transition, but watch out for some classic problems.

The story begins with Toni Cipriani returning from hiding as a favor to Leone mob boss Don Salvatore. Toni gets back into the game running errands for royal prick Vincenzo Cilli three years before the events in GTA III. Like always, Toni will take on other clients shortly and begin racing, assassinating, shaking down, delivering hookers, and protecting mob property. As players get deeper into LCS's three-act story, they'll become a key player with the Leone family in the large scale gang war against the Sindacco and Forelli gangs. They'll even work to move a complete sociopath into power as Mayor of Liberty City.

LCS isn't quite as large as the enormous San Andreas, but the dozens of hours of main story will keep GTA veterans more than satisfied. And that doesn't even count the bevy of side missions. Do all the classics like vigilante and taxi missions, but also look for all-new quests like a car salesman job where you take customers out on test drives according to what their preferences are. If someone's looking at a spicy sports car, you'll want to hit the gas. If some old lady just got her hip replaced and is looking at a station wagon, you'll probably want to keep it slow.

In general, it seems like enough time has passed since our last visit to Liberty City that it doesn't feel like a stale rehash. All of the different missions and Toni's alternate perspective and goals within the metropolis manage to keep things as fresh as they could be. It still would have been great to see an entirely new city, but I guess Rockstar is saving all of that up for the next console edition. Cutscene scripting, acting, and directing is all fantastic, and load times are surprisingly brief. There's one decently sized load when you first start up the game and some very short ones before and after every cutscene. But during standard city rampaging you're never going to be interrupted.

Even though LCS isn't quite as deep as San Andreas the game still surprises with what's capable on a portable system. Don't look for CJ's weight rooms or burger joints around town or expect a ton of character customization. However, for the first time in Liberty City players will be able to change overall outfits, ride motorcycles and helicopters, shoot out tires, and have a protagonist that can actually speak.

The PSP's analog stick feels just right for steering and running around. But just like every game that moves from a dual analog setup to the PSP's single stick, there are some rough transitions. Instead of using the right analog to move the camera around, you must stand in one place, hold down the L trigger and use the analog stick to swing the camera where you want it. You can also click L to center the camera behind you. Prepare to do that all the time.

Another thing you'll do constantly is target civilians your enemy is standing right next to. Unless it's just you versus a group of bad guys with no one else in sight, the R trigger will almost always lock on to everyone but the person you're after. The same thing can happen, albeit less frequently, when you're trying to enter a specific car. One time I was trying to board a truck with a bomb inside to drive it away from a Leone casino. Simple, right? Since there were a few other cars surrounding it, Toni kept climbing into some pointless station wagon instead, and the truck blew up in my face.

I was also pretty fed up with the pain of restarting failed missions. Rockstar has added a taxi that will pick you up from the hospital or police station when you die or get arrested to take you back to the mission site. But what happens when you die in a GTA game? You lose every single weapon in your possession. How are you going to take down waves of street gangs with just your fists? So even if you do use this shortcut back to the mission site you'll still have to run around and find or buy another weapons cache to take it on again. Almost everyone will just reload their save, and this just plain sucks because you're going to have to waste time driving all the way back to the mission site. Why can't we just have a "restart mission" option at the death screen? Gamers are going to have to waste countless hours throughout their play-through just because of a pain-in-the-ass design choice.

Quintessential GTA radio stations are back with all new DJ dialogue and songs. Rockstar uses the talk radio segments to dish out everything from biting cultural criticisms to crass vaudevillian ad jingles about feminine products. Soundtrack fans may be disappointed to learn that the music consists mostly of unknowns. Save the presence of DJ Danger Mouse's awesome theme song and popular rappers like DMX, Method Man, and Noreaga on the Liberty Jams station, you're most likely not going to recognize a thing. This seems like a slight step back after getting such rich 80s and 90s soundtracks for the last two games. But you can access MP3s on your memory card for a custom soundtrack mode if you don't like the music that's piping through the speakers.

Perhaps the most drastic update is GTA's first real commitment to multiplayer gaming. Though many of the seven modes are based off of typical FPS-type multiplayer scenarios, they still have that GTA feel. Take a max of six players into old favorites like deathmatch, capture the "limo", racing, and defend the base. There's also a twist on juggernaut mode where players take turns in a tank to see who can survive the longest against everyone else. Another similar mode pits one marked man against all of the other players for survival time, but offers no special tank protection. "The Wedding List" has players chasing down one car and trying to get it to a specific garage for cash before everyone else destroys it. Whoever has the most money when time runs out wins. Since you can only participate in multiplayer through local wi-fi, it seriously limits the amount of players you can meet up with. Unless you know five friends with PSPs that all plan on buying LCS (a total of $1,800 in hardware and software, before tax), you'll most likely be stuck with two player matches most of the time. And the only matches that are even remotely fun with two players are deathmatch, racing, and the wedding list. But it's exciting to say the least when you picture the possibilities of an expanded, fully online mode in future home console versions of GTA. At least we know Rockstar's thinking about multiplayer now.

Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories should make every GTA fan happy with its fully fleshed out storyline, hefty amount of gameplay, and expertly voiced characters. Every PSP owner needs to have this game in their collection (ages 17+, of course), and we all know Sony's hoping the game will convince a mass of undecided gamers into finally buying their portable machine as well. Though I think Rockstar is gouging its loyal GTA fanbase just a little by charging $50 for the game. It seems their strategy is, "It's going to sell no matter what so why not release it at full home console prices?" But the game has more hours of play than most home console titles so maybe this move isn't too heartless.