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View Full Version : Grand Theft Auto : Liberty City Stories (PSP) review

Kurrpt
10-26-2005, 07:43 AM
Hand held GTA is a very beautiful thing....



The basics : Think of GTA 3's city, improve the graphics, and add Vice City style rides, and you're almost there. Improved visuals, shorter load times, and hand held enjoyment that truely lives up to the hype (i hate talking about hype). The controls are standard PS2 GTA style. Getting used to the analog "knob" takes about 20-30 GOOD minutes, but I assure you, ITS NICE :thumb: . You can even connect wirelessly with up to 6 friends, which is an excellent selling point.


The main problem I have with the game is that you HAVE TO UPDATE YOUR FIRM WARE TO 2.0 :upset:

This means no more Super Mario Brothers :upset:

....yea i got over it too.


As Toni, (again) you come back to the family, only to realize you have to work for more losers, which the genre knows all too well. Missions are usually on the shorter end of the spectrum. I didnt know if i was going to be OK with this, but its nice to be able to bang out 4 missions in 20 minutes. It seems quite evident that this game was MEANT for hand held play. The pseudo-power off is excellent in the game. O SH!T, gotta eat? No problem.
I have even tried to mess the game up by turning it on and off, and the game is never lost. Theres a bried load time after you power back on, which is no longer than half a second, and you're right back into the action. I wouldn't recommend this on the 7th mission of 'PARAMEDIC' if I were you.
I'd almost go to a length to say this is my favorite. Obviously, the game doesnt have the magnitude that is San Andreas, but the convenience of playing it when you have free time is a huge live saver for me.


BUY IT!
infinate_ammo
10-26-2005, 08:01 AM
That firmware upgrade must be abit of bitch and may turn off some potential buyers. Is the game the killer title PSP has been waiting for that will convince DS fans such as myself to get a PSP?

*is awaiting metroid pinball review*
Kurrpt
10-26-2005, 08:10 AM
well, I can EASILY say its worth having a PSP for...


I agree that it might turn some people off. It was funny for me, cause me little nephew (4) was over and loves "crash 'em up" (what we call GTA so my sister, his mom, doesnt get pissed)

I was like "aw man, I dont think we can play crash em up"

He says "we cant"
"well, we can, but we cant"

<later>

"unky paul, when you said 'we can play but we cant, that doesnt really make sense" :confused:


..... i waited about 10 minutes trying to swallow the shear complexities of that decision. Hopefully the reprocussions wont have a last effect


/prepare Metroid pinball review
Zakath
10-26-2005, 08:56 AM
Sounds good, but I don't plan on spending any money on a PSP..
Kurrpt
10-26-2005, 08:58 AM
Sounds good, but I don't plan on spending any money on a PSP..


well, i can understand that...



i am glad i one on a side note
Zakath
10-26-2005, 09:09 AM
won*?
Kurrpt
10-26-2005, 09:12 AM
won*?


oh..


sorry i miss words sometimes when im talking on the phone at work, and trying to type on MX at the same time...


i cant quite do the michael angelo thing, but im getting a little better
Zakath
10-26-2005, 09:14 AM
i cant quite do the michael angelo thing, but im getting a little better
Maybe you should try harder?
Kurrpt
10-26-2005, 09:15 AM
Maybe you should try harder?


having 2 completely independant thoughts is pretty rare...


sometimes my thoughts skip around, like a movie might. I get the main themes, but sometimes miss the supporting details...


fuk it
Kurrpt
10-26-2005, 12:26 PM
i forgot to mention...


the soundtrack is actually, great. DMX, Big Pun, Fat Joe, and classical greats :D
AA-12
10-26-2005, 02:06 PM
I bought this game last night. It owns.
Kurrpt
10-26-2005, 02:09 PM
surely does...

you try the multiplayer yet?
littledrummerboy
10-26-2005, 03:36 PM
screens?
el doctor
10-26-2005, 03:45 PM
The main problem I have with the game is that you HAVE TO UPDATE YOUR FIRM WARE TO 2.0 :upset:

This means no more Super Mario Brothers :upset:You can run most homebrew programs on 2.0 now (including NES/SNES emulators). The only thing that doesn't work are programs that require the PSP to use kernel mode (File Managers, ISO Loaders, etc.).
Hep Kat
10-26-2005, 04:57 PM
ha! and you were worried about getting only one reply from infinate ammo


/wins
DLR
10-26-2005, 06:00 PM
You can run most homebrew programs on 2.0 now (including NES/SNES emulators). The only thing that doesn't work are programs that require the PSP to use kernel mode (File Managers, ISO Loaders, etc.).
and, you can also download a bit of software that allows you to trick games into thinking you have upgraded, when you haven't.
FlyingPaul_83
10-26-2005, 06:32 PM
i forgot to mention...


the soundtrack is actually, great. DMX, Big Pun, Fat Joe, and classical greats :D


What else?
Hep Kat
10-26-2005, 07:49 PM
DMX = ruff ridas roll
PowerStamp
10-26-2005, 08:38 PM
and, you can also download a bit of software that allows you to trick games into thinking you have upgraded, when you haven't.

while that's true, it doesn't work with GTA.

That, the UMD Swap trick (put in a game that only needs 1.5 or whatever, whenever the PSP screen comes up take it out and put in the other game), well to be blunt, there is no way to get around upgrading to 2.0

The upside is that it's a normal version of 2.0 (people were worried it'd be a 'fake' one, like it's really 2.1 and you can't downgrade) but the downgrader works to get back to 1.5 if you want
(http://www.pspupdates.com forums for more info)


This game rocks!
Aside from the decent soundtrack (most of it sucks really), once you beat a certain mission early on you can use CUSTOM SOUNDTRACKS!!
Any songs on your PSP in the Music folder can be imported and played through one of the radio stations!
EXCELLENT!
(There's a limit of 30something I think but that's still the best GTA radio station for each individual person!)
infinate_ammo
10-26-2005, 09:27 PM
One thing I always loved about GTA games, ever since the first one, was the radio stations. I don't understand why someone would want to go and customise there own station when the stations sort of add to the atmosphere of the game.
Kurrpt
10-27-2005, 07:31 AM
One thing I always loved about GTA games, ever since the first one, was the radio stations. I don't understand why someone would want to go and customise there own station when the stations sort of add to the atmosphere of the game.


answer : to me, theres nothing like rolling down the street, on a PCJ 600, sub-machine in hand, listening to some Twista...



yea, i just flat out upgraded. I was disappointed for a little bit, but quickly got over it when the gaming started.


so i can constantly downgrade, then upgrade when necessary?!


can someone linky me please :D
Kurrpt
10-27-2005, 07:32 AM
What else?


i heard some method man in there as well...



theres a jazz/funk station, and when i said classical greats, i meant like mozart
Prince of Darkness
10-27-2005, 09:13 AM
My friend has a PSP ill just play on his.
Kurrpt
10-27-2005, 10:56 AM
...or you could do that
Phill
10-27-2005, 11:52 AM
GTA looks real good, i dont want to lose my 1.5 software though or my hombrewed games, We will just have to see what happens with homebrew on 2.0

:)
Kurrpt
10-27-2005, 12:00 PM
i think the game is good enough to just do it...


thats what i did, and ive had homebrew games since the day before i bought mine :D
Phill
10-27-2005, 12:15 PM
What games do you have? are they full psp games iso's or stuff like sega games?
Kurrpt
10-27-2005, 12:17 PM
What games do you have? are they full psp games iso's or stuff like sega games?


my brother has like scorched earth, and some other stuff.


I just had SNES and NES games on mine
FlyingPaul_83
10-27-2005, 06:23 PM
my brother has like scorched earth, and some other stuff.


I just had SNES and NES games on mine


does it have any rock/metal stations?
Evil Peavey
10-27-2005, 06:26 PM
How long are loadtimes and how often?
anotherlamenobody
10-27-2005, 06:28 PM
I hope that they put a version of this onto a larger console someday, I hate thinking that there's a GTA out there that I don't own.
Rusty Metal Head
10-28-2005, 06:26 AM
i dont get it..whats so bad with a hardware update? I did it when I got Burnout...
Benzum
10-28-2005, 06:39 AM
Screenshots anyone?
Yppolitia
10-28-2005, 06:53 AM
Screenshots anyone?
http://www.gamespot.com/psp/action/gtalibertycitystories/media.html?sid=6136432&autoplay=6136432

Some trailers :)
Kurrpt
10-28-2005, 07:20 AM
i dont get it..whats so bad with a hardware update? I did it when I got Burnout...


updating your firmware can limit the amount of homebrew things you can run. The 2.0 version is supposed to limit people from running files off of the mem cards.....



meaning no SNES for me :upset:
Evil Peavey
10-28-2005, 10:44 AM
What about the Load Times, kurrpt? And how often do you have loading?
Kurrpt
10-28-2005, 10:46 AM
What about the Load Times, kurrpt? And how often do you have loading?


the load times are FANTASTIC...


lets say you soft-power the thing off (follow me), when you come back, i swear the load time is only like 1/4 of a second.



If they are loading up dialogue, like for a mission, i think its actually faster then the load times on my X Box San Andreas
AA-12
10-28-2005, 03:51 PM
Yeah, load times for this are way faster than any previous GTA game.

How far have you gotten so far?
el doctor
10-28-2005, 05:38 PM
updating your firmware can limit the amount of homebrew things you can run. The 2.0 version is supposed to limit people from running files off of the mem cards.....



meaning no SNES for me :upset:
You can run an SNES emulator on 2.0.
Kurrpt
10-31-2005, 07:32 AM
Yeah, load times for this are way faster than any previous GTA game.

How far have you gotten so far?


right now, im just shy of 20%. I got to a point where i only have J missions to do, and i just finished "Salvore's Salvation"
Kurrpt
10-31-2005, 02:42 PM
the first time i heard "N O R E NORE" by norega on this CD, i flipped the hell out..



they even have the ruff ryders anthem remiX!!!


"...my dogs dont stop, your dogs dont, and if they dont SHUT EM DOWN OPEN UP SHOP. First we had em like <OOOOO> now they like <NOOOOO> AS OUR RUFF RYDERZ ROLL!"
trysthedrummer
11-06-2005, 04:06 PM
If my bro wouldn't have won a psp then I wouldn't have bought it. It's a great psp game, probably will be one of the best. I couldn't believe how it looked at first play.

A few annoying things though:

I wish you can have the joystick for moving around and thwe directional buttons for the car movement, not a big thing really..........and that's all I can think of. -Although I have switched the dam thing off by accident when i was driving.

I was playing it for agesss today trying to get to staunton island, there's absolutely loads of missions to do!

And the ferry to get to staunton, well, I don't wanna pay bloomin' $25. :)

About the loading business. It loads to every island you go to, and even when u go in train station as well, and when u get out of one. I'd say when u go over a bridge it takes the same amount of time of any other gta game like GTAIII or Vc/