Its arrival adds verity to a platform dominated by titles that are either unique Indie games, Arcade ports or an embarrassment to the medium. While casual gamers are consistently blowing their money to progress in some freemuim title, hardcore gamers will enjoy a real game on their iPhone.
Set before the events of Grand Theft Auto III; three families are fighting for control of the criminal enterprise of Liberty City. Everything changes when Toni Cipriani returns from exile and sets in motion a series of events that ensures the Leone Family become the most powerful crime family.
It’s the classic crime story that fans love with The Sopranos being an obvious influence. At the same time the works of Martin Scorsese could also be sensed with films like Mean Streets and Goodfellas being an inspiration.
For gamers who grew up playing the Grand Theft Auto series on the PlayStation 2, Liberty City Stories will feel like a crime spree down memory lane. Old school gamers will feel right at home as they return to the Liberty City and interact with the characters they fell in love with back in 2001.
Compared to every other version and port, the iPhone version is without a doubt the superior game. It has the classic GTA gameplay but with sharper graphics that neither the PSP nor PS2 version had.
However its far from perfect as it too has a few minor flaws. The most obvious being that the controls are a little difficult to work with, a problem that has plagued every version of Grand Theft Auto for the iPhone. Another issue is that Michael Madsen did not return for the role of Toni Cipriani, but this is something that can be easily overlooked.
Despite its minor flaws, this is a good game to have for someone who who needs to kill time on their commute but is not dumb enough to find Candy Crush challenging.
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories is not only a nostalgic crime spree that but the games return to the mobile platform. Gamers who miss the gold old days of the series will take enjoy the return to Liberty City in the role of a familiar character.
Final Score: 4/5
