GTA: Liberty City Stories - First Look Preview

PSP owners looking forward to the second wave of software will have something to shout about (along with the protestors), when Rockstarâ??s heavyweight GTA franchise hits Sonyâ??s handheld during October.

Having cut their teeth with the PSP conversion of Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition, Rockstar Leeds have been bustling on with the development of GTA: Liberty City Stories for the last two years (albeit under the careful eye of Rockstar North). Returning to the series roots and serving up a prelude to GTA3, Liberty City Stories takes places three years before the events witnessed in the title that first propelled the series amongst the masses.

Despite the recognisable locations and one or two familiar faces, Liberty City Stories is very much a new title in the series and benefits from the same level of production that youâ??d expect from a GTA title. Our brief demonstration was like taking a stroll down memory lane as we reacquainted ourselves with certain areas, albeit with a number of surprises and things that certainly werenâ??t there in GTA3; Staunton Islandâ??s Ferry Port being a noticeable one (we can only dream of what puts this out of action three years later) along with what becomes Luigiâ??s Sex Club 7 in GTA3, Paulieâ??s Revue Bar, owned by the shady sounding J.D Oâ??Toole!

Although Rockstar are being cagey when it comes to plot details, characters and the all-important soundtrack, we do know that playerâ??s take control of Toni Cipriani. Toniâ??s in a fitter shape since the last time we saw him, coming out of hiding after killing a made-man to discover a city caught in turmoil; deranged hitmen, morally depraved tycoons, cynical politicians and his own mother stand in the way as Toni attempts to bring the city back under Leone control.

The demonstration promptly kicked off with a mission taking place relatively early in the game for the Don Salvatore Leone. Accused of going through a mid-life crisis because of his new sports coupe, the Don asks Toni to pick up some money from Callahan Point; things take a turn for the worse however when Toni arrives on the scene with rival Triads blowing up everything in sight. This mission aptly highlights the fact that Liberty City Stories takes full advantage of the continuingly evolving targeting system, as Toni runs around collecting cash whilst shooting gang members at the same time. The frustrations of GTA3 have been removed, leaving in place a system very similar to that featured in San Andreas with the right trigger used to target and the d-pad to effortlessly switch between them. Naturally the PSPâ??s lack of a second analogue stick throws up some issues, and although weâ??ll have to wait and play it for ourselves, the camera technique appears to be robust simply requiring the left-shoulder button to be used in conjunction with the nipple.

Despite the implementation of a targeting system similar to that in San Andreas Liberty City Stories eschews many of the other innovations made in Rockstar Northâ??s last console outing, ditching such elements as the character RPG aspects and the ability to swim. Given the aim to focus on creating a highly-charged handheld experience this is understandable, and from what weâ??ve seen so far Liberty City Stories contains everything weâ??ve come to expect.

All the side-missions such as Vigilante and Taxi Driver are promised, along with insane stunt bonuses and the return of Phone Missions synonymous with the series until Vice City - something for the true GTA fan to grin smugly at. Costumes also make a comeback although these take the form of â??set-suitsâ? seen in Vice City as opposed to individual items witnessed in San Andreas; changing Toniâ??s attire was highlighted once through an interior scene, of which Rockstar assure us are in plentiful supply â?“ hmmmmmâ?¦

In addition to the gangs featured in GTA3 Rockstar promise a handful of extra ones and the return of others such as the Sindaccoâ??s from San Andreas. New vehicles are also promised, and whilst we didnâ??t get to see that much (we could have been there for hours) one new chopper known as the Avenger gives an indication of what to expect. The idea of downloadable data met with puzzled looks by the Rockstar representatives, so weâ??d consider that one rumour put to rest.

The demonstration quickly moved onto the second mission of the day, â??Caught In The Actâ?, taking to the waters and opening up one of the epic on-rails shooter levels. This stage provides an insight as to just how seriously Rockstar are taking the PSP conversion, taking use of the left shoulder button to reduce the sensitivity of a typically twitchy reticule. As Secret Service agents rained down fire from other speedboats the mission suggests that Liberty City Stories will maintain the series intense trademark; boats flew up into the air after taking too much damage, whilst one blockade saw Toni taking a ramp into the skies above them and firing down bullets on the nearby barrels â?“ BOOM!

Liberty City Stories also looks to uphold the series visual quality; itâ??s an amazement just to see such a full-scale, living breathing environment on a handheld. Not only that but the game actually makes improvements upon GTA3 with improved reflections on the vehicles, an advanced lighting engine that creates an atmospheric ambience and real-time shadows along with realistic particle effects. The one thing that most surprised us was the sheer draw-distance, an impressive feat that only emphasises the end result on the PSPâ??s crisp, 16:9 screen.

Running from a CD based dev-kit the demonstration featured no noticeable load-times, even when entering an interior. When pushed to explain the technical difficulties in streaming data from a UMD and the concerns of battery consumption, Rockstar were less then forthcoming suggesting that until the final UMD is mastered itâ??s hard to say. Rockstar rarely disappoints and so weâ??ll certainly given them the benefit of the doubt; regardless it remains one game best played near a power supply, largely because it looks to evoke that strange habit of turning a 5 minute fix into an hour long session!