Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories

Written by Adam Woolcott  on October 11, 2005

Multiplayer Preview: The future of GTA, and PSP owners are the ever-so-willing guinea pigs.

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Ever since Grand Theft Auto III exploded onto the scene back in 2001, a loud segment of the gaming population has eagerly awaited a GTA game that included a multiplayer option. Owners of the PC versions have experienced this first hand, albeit in the form of community mods rather than officially released patches and/or expansions. Of course, San Andreas also featured a form of multiplayer, but this was a mere cooperative setup without too much depth Ц merely a diversion for those who've wanted to raise hell with a friend. That all ends on October 25th though, when the newest installment of GTA arrives on the PlayStation Portable. That's right, after months of speculation, Rockstar made it official with the announcement that Liberty City stories will feature true multiplayer action for up to 6 players in a wide variety of game modes that are designed in a traditional fashion, but keep the GTA feeling all the same. The result should be a solid set of game types to keep fans playing well after reaching 100% in the single-player adventure.

Many will be disappointed to learn that Liberty City Stories multiplayer will feature just local wireless play, meaning you'll need to find up to 5 other people with a PSP and a copy of the game locally rather than via wireless LAN, unless LCS contains some form of game sharing, or you take use of tunneling programs such as Xlink or XBConnect (yes, the same thing you used to play Halo 'online' with will work). Lack of infrastructure aside, Rockstar Leeds is making sure that those who do know enough people with a PSP and a copy of LCS will have more than enough game types to keep them occupied for a long time. Rockstar promises 7 different types, but as of now, they've only announced 3. As more get announced, Gaming Target will be sure to cover it, but for now, let's take a closer look at the three game types announced thus far Ц all of which will seem familiar, yet unique, to fans of numerous other titles.

Liberty City Survivor
Ardent fans of GTAIII will definitely recall one of the numerous commercials on the radio, advertising something called Liberty City Survivor. LCS's version of...uh...LCS is your traditional single and team deathmatch option. In traditional GTA fashion, you can use cars littered around the city to get from place to place, or even as a trap to sucker other players in. As you get to use any of the 3 Liberty islands for the map, the massive size requires use of vehicles to get around to find your opponents, as well as the numerous pickups, ranging from common GTA weapons to multiplayer-only items that make you invisible, invincible, etc. In single deathmatch, you get a point for each kill, but if you end up killing yourself somehow (car blows up, drown, etc) you lose a point. Whoever has the most kills after the round is the winner. The team version works the same; whoever has the most kills collectively is the victor. It will be interesting to see how the game functions considering GTA has always used lock-on targeting for on-foot gameplay, making it far too easy to take out other players. I have a hunch though, that this mode will turn into a demolition derby with use of cars rather than weapons.

Protection Racket
Based on the Siege gametype from numerous games, Protection Racket puts you in charge of both defending your own base and destroying their own Ц except in this case, the 'base' is actually 4 limousines. The two teams are split into offense and defense, so to speak Ц either you're defending your base or attacking theirs, but never at the same time. Your job on offense is to destroy the 4 limos as quickly as possible, while the reverse needs to happen if you're defending them. Once the attacking team manages to destroy the limos, the time it took is recorded and the defense now goes on offense, with a goal of blowing up the opposing limos quicker than your opponents did. If the team manages to achieve the goal in less time, they are the victors, and if they fail, they lose. It's a bit basic and really, it would be far more intense if you could be both attacker and defender, but it seems like a good time. I have only one question that Rockstar hasn't really answered Ц is it possible to actually kill off the attacking team in the 1st round without them destroying the limos? I guess we'll find out when the game ships.

Get Stretch
Most gamers know what CTF, or Capture the Flag, is Ц you and your teammates attack the opposing base, steal the flag, and return it to yours before they can do the same thing to you. In many ways it's the cornerstone gametype for those who want to move beyond traditional deathmatches. Get Stretch is CTF, GTA style. Instead of a flag, your goal is the opposing team's car Ц and your job is to steal it and deliver it to your base before they do onto you what you're doing onto them. With the vast city of Liberty at your disposal, it sounds like this could be a bit simple (after all, any of Liberty's islands are monstrous and full of hiding places, and the sheer size means you could drive all over without running into much trouble) but it could be quite strategic if you can, say, set up your teammates to cover the driver of your target car (usually a limo) with their own rides or place them in strategic places to pick off your opponents. When the car is in play, the team who owned the car at the start can safely blow it up, to kill the thief and return ownership of the car to them, as it will respawn at the base in this situation. The car also respawns if it's left unattended for a while, an obvious attempt to keep the focus on it. Whoever can pull off the heist successfully and claim ownership of both cars is the winner. I would fully expect this to be the most popular mode of play...but then, we don't know the final four multiplayer types.