To read other reviews that are polluting the Internet's very digital fabric, it's quite obvious that most journalists have a warped sense of reality, because to them, Rockstar's latest gangster adventure, Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories was forged by a god that just so happened to let us mere mortals delight in its sheer brilliance. But as I played this game (and thoroughly enjoyed it), I just didn't see this apparent immortal craftsmanship. Therefore, I'm not going to BS you and use this review as a vehicle to gush like an open wound. Liberty City Stories is a solid game and a great addition to the PSP's growing library. Period.

I don't think I need to remind you that human beings did in fact develop this title, especially since that's evident by the imperfect camera that sometimes obscures one's vision, the imprecise analog control that makes driving sloppier than a pizza burger, and the ho hum visuals that, despite being impressive for a hand held, represent aged technology.

That's another important thing to note about this game, the graphics. Yes, Rockstar's essentially managed to take GTA III's visuals and transfer them to the PSP, and for the most part it was a successful operation, but let's not be stupid. The fact that Rockstar was able to bring an engine that's already more than three years old to a fairly new piece of sexy technology is about as impressive as Nintendo shoving Super Mario 64 onto a cartridge no bigger than my largest toenail. Fan boys delight in such easily understood concepts, and if you're one of those people, this is how technology works. Get over it.

Taking all of this into account, I approached this GTA as just that, another GTA, which it most certainly is. Taking place in Liberty City before GTA III (which takes place in the same...err...place), there's plenty of recognizable territory, yet that's not necessarily a wonderful thing since the familiarity makes it feel like a rehash. With that being said, even though this GTA revolves around Tony Cipriani (who was introduced in the third installment) and it features a new story, this excursion into Liberty City's seedy depths looks and feels like a rerun.

The same goes for the game's go anywhere/do anything atmosphere, which isn't as cool as it was several years ago. I've lost most of the desire to hop into a car, run lots of people over, then engage the police in a high speed chase, at least using this engine. Therefore, and I found this strange, it was the actual story that drew me into this title, and it and it alone is the reason why I actually recommend purchasing this game.

Rockstar is one of those publishers that's games aren't necessarily good looking, but there's no debate about the heart it puts into a title's presentation, and the same can be said of Liberty City Stories. The art work that adorns the intro is just as stylish as it's always been, the opening music is superb, and the radio stations (there's less licensed music this time around) are still hysterical and therefore worth listening to.

The actual story is about as stereotypical as cookie cutter narratives come but it's engrossing nonetheless. The missions are, for the most part, the same old and now dry crap that they've been flinging at us for years (pick up that person, assassinate that guy), but right from the get go the developers establish intrigue. Toni comes back home, the mob boss doesn't treat him with the respect he thinks he's entitled to, and now he's running errands for one of his lackeys. I was driven, not by senseless killing, but by the razor sharp desire to discover how it all played out, an uncommon occurrence because I normally treat the actual story as something to be experienced at my leisure and in very small doses. But with this game, I just wanted to view all of the cut scenes and examine how Toni interacted with the world around him. It also helps that, as usual, the actors have contributed high caliber performances. The main characters are all larger than life, just as they are in GTA: San Andreas.

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