"LCS: possibly the best reason why not to leave the bathroom!"

Since this great saga turned 3D in 2001 after 3 great 2D top-down view episodes, a vast legion of fans grew. One year later, Vice City came out with some new stuff added like helicopters and motorcycles for the first time and also, the main character had a voice unlike the silent guy from GTA III. Another 2 years later, the GTA saga concluded with San Andreas which received fabulous critics throughout the world! And now, for the first time ever, we can play GTA EVERYWHERE! Well, almost if you are careful... This is one of the most awaited games for the PSP in which fans kept asking questions about the game before it saw sunlight. Most people kept saying that this was going to be a "copy-paste" from GTA III PS2 to PSP. Keep this in mind: it's the same city but everything else is different like the fact that this game takes 3 years before the events from GTA III (1998)! Technically, it's a portable wonder, fully detailed with the usual GTA ingredients such as free roam, side-missions and crazy stunts. The developers had to sacrifice flight and swim because of technical limitations but that doesn't stop it from being one of the best portable experiences ever!! Enough small-talking: it's time to review it.

The main character this time is Toni Ciprianni, Sal's most trusted man (GTA hardcore fans might remember him from III) in a journey throughout Liberty City, once again the most dangerous place in America, doing missions, killing people, stealing cars and yadda yadda yadda. This game explains some events from GTA III and it's included as a prologue of some sort. You'll understand the reason why Toni despises the Triads so much, how Salvatore “conquered” Liberty City and how Toni got so fat in GTA III. You'll find some new characters and old ones from III and Vice City and for the first time, motorcycles in Liberty City! R* Games better have a good explanation for not including them in GTA III which is 3 years further... Unfortunately, the missions this time are a little shorter about 2-5 minutes to complete because of the PSP's battery which by the way is pretty weak in my opinion. And for some missions, you require a specific outfit and you will unlock more outfits the more you play!

About the graphics: like i said earlier, it's a technical wonder for a portable game because of the quality of the lightning effects and whatnot... It's a good thing that R* Games dropped Renderware this time (which was used in GTA III, Vice City and San Andreas)!! The characters are well modeled with nice facial expressions. The game play is almost like the PS2 controls but the analog nub might require some habit… This time you can't crouch, climb or swim but everything else like stealing cars and killing people is still there! About the soundtrack: it's not bad but it could be better… I recommend you listen to “Radio Del Mundo” which is a foreign station and also to Chatterbox with those hilarious conversations and ads from the series! If you're unhappy, you can use your own albums and create your own radio-station. The sound-effects are nice like the guns and the rain and the noise from the cars and… And finally, the longevity of the game: the missions might be shorter but this time, you got more side-missions in which most of them are new (like the Car Salesman ones), the usual hidden packages, the rampages, unique stunt jumps and a vast city to explore. It's incredible what R* came up with this time!! They even added multiplayer which is new to the series! At your disposal, you got 7 modes like Liberty City Survivor and Get Stretch (variations of Deathmatch and Capture the Flag with limos) and up to 6 players! Could it be better?? Maybe… If they added Infra-Structure (Online) because it only has Ad-Hoc (local).

Now for the final verdict: to buy or not to buy? That is the question. For all those GTA hardcore-fans out there, this is some game that you really don't want to miss!! If you're looking for a great game to spend your time on, don't look further: LCS has a lot of stuff to offer! Currently, one of the best games for the PSP. This is one of those games that makes the PSP sell for itself… And believe me, it's true!!

Graphics: 10/10
Gameplay:10/10
Sound:9/10
Replay Value:10/10

OVERALL:10/10

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 12/14/05